Here are today’s 10 verified tech & science stories, covering Tech & Apps, AI Tools and Science & Space.
Table of Contents
Every item below links to its original source.
The TLDR
- Tech & Apps: iPhone Duo Pre-Order Prep Opens Ahead of Friday Launch
- AI Tools: WindBorne Lands Up to $49 Million Air Force Contract for Balloon Weather Data
- Science & Space: SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Starlink Mission After Three-Week Gap
Tech & Apps
iPhone Duo Pre-Order Prep Opens Ahead of Friday Launch
Apple opened an early pre-order prep window for the iPhone Duo today, letting shoppers save their exact configuration — color, storage and carrier — through the Apple Store app or website before official pre-orders begin Friday, October 16. Buyers can also line up a payment method in advance, including full payment, Apple Card financing or the Apple Upgrade Program, according to 9to5Mac. The phone is listed in Night Sky and Star White color options. If you’re also trying to clear space on your current iPhone before trading up, check out these tips for fixing almost-full iCloud storage without paying for more.
No Man’s Sky Is Coming to iPhone and iPad on October 28
Hello Games confirmed that its space exploration game No Man’s Sky will launch on iPhone and iPad on October 28, bringing its procedurally generated universe to Apple’s mobile devices for the first time, per The Verge. The mobile version is also one of the titles Apple is spotlighting during its App Store’s Indie Games Week.
Apple Spotlights Seven Games for ‘Indie Games Week’
Apple kicked off an “Indie Games Week” promotion on the App Store, highlighting seven titles that have recently launched or are launching soon — including Sifu, Vampire Crawlers, Little Kitty, Big City, 9 Kings, Dome Keeper and Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall, alongside No Man’s Sky’s mobile debut — according to 9to5Mac. Apple’s App Store chief Carson Oliver said the showcase celebrates developers “who take creative risks to push gaming forward.”
Kojima’s Long-Lost P.T. Horror Demo Gets a Fan-Made PC Port
A fan-made native PC port has brought Hideo Kojima’s famously discontinued P.T. — the 2014 PlayStation 4 “playable teaser” for the canceled Silent Hills — off aging PS4 hardware and onto PC, according to Ars Technica. The project rebuilds the game’s logic and rendering natively, but players still need their own copy of the original PS4 release to run it.
Google Unveils Fitbit Edge, a Tracker Between Fitbit Air and Pixel Watch 5
Google officially introduced the Fitbit Edge, a new wearable positioned between the screen-less Fitbit Air and the full-featured Pixel Watch 5, adding a display and extra features the Air lacks without going as far as a true smartwatch, per Ars Technica. Unlike the Pixel Watch 5, the Fitbit Edge doesn’t run Wear OS, so it skips features like Gemini Intelligence in exchange for longer battery life. If you’d rather not add another wearable at all, our guide to the best sleep tracking apps that don’t require a ring is worth a look.
AI Tools
WindBorne Lands Up to $49 Million Air Force Contract for Balloon Weather Data
Weather-balloon startup WindBorne won a US Air Force contract worth up to $49 million for its atmospheric sensor data, though the Air Force’s initial order is just $1.7 million, per TechCrunch. Co-founder Andrey Sushko said the deal will help fund continued growth of WindBorne’s balloon fleet and further hardware development.
Science & Space
SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Starlink Mission After Three-Week Gap
SpaceX launched 27 Starlink broadband satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on October 12, its first Starlink mission since September 19, according to Space.com. The flight added to SpaceX’s broadband constellation after the company’s longest gap between Starlink launches in some time.
SpaceX Sends 6,300 Pounds of Cargo to the ISS
SpaceX launched its CRS-35 Cargo Dragon mission to the International Space Station on October 13, carrying more than 3 tons — about 6,300 pounds — of food, medical supplies and science equipment, per Space.com. The capsule is also carrying the final two ISS Roll Out Solar Arrays meant to boost the station’s power supply, with docking expected October 15.
Researchers Spot Large Hammerhead Shark Gatherings Off Australian Beaches
Marine researchers recorded juvenile hammerhead sharks gathering in large numbers off Queensland’s Burleigh and Noosa beaches, with as many as 100 sharks seen at once in drone footage collected between 2020 and 2024, according to ScienceAlert. Scientists, led by Maddison Cross, suspect the young sharks may be gathering near reefs to feed, shelter or avoid predators, though the exact reason remains unclear.
Cheap Deworming Drug Shows Early Promise Against Resistant Lung Cancer
A laboratory and animal study published in PLOS ONE found that combining the deworming drug mebendazole with the lung cancer drug gefitinib slowed tumor growth in cancer that had become resistant to gefitinib alone, according to ScienceAlert. In mice, the combination roughly extended how long it took resistant tumors to double in size compared with gefitinib alone; researchers caution this is early, preclinical work with no human trials yet.
Explore more: tips for fixing almost-full iCloud storage, best sleep tracking apps that don’t require a ring, best AI apps for gift-giving.
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Photo: InvadingInvader / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.