China’s brain-computer interface industry moves forward
Elon Musk’s Neuralink likes to say that it is a “pioneer” in brain-computer interfaces (BCI), but China’s BCI industry is already quietly transitioning from research to scale-up. With stronger policy support, expanded clinical trials, and increased investor interest, a new wave of startups is racing to commercialize both implantable and non-invasive BCIs. So says Phoenix […]
6 days left until disruption rate locks in at lowest level in 2026
Super early bird pricing for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ends on February 27th at 11:59pm PT. That means you only have six days left to secure this year’s lowest-priced flights. If Disrupt is on your must-attend list, now’s your chance. Save up to $680 on individual passes and secure up to 30% off on community passes […]
Scientists discover ancient black holes are breaking the universe’s ‘velocity limit’, casting doubt on multiple theories
Amazingly voracious black holes from the dawn of the universe break two big rules. Not only does it exceed the “rate limit” for black hole growth, it also produces extreme X-ray and radio emissions, two characteristics that are not predicted to coexist. The object, a quasar known as ID830, is an extremely bright and active […]
Powerful software can reduce the time required to simulate large molecule reactions from weeks to just minutes.
A powerful quantum chemistry engine is now available to help scientists tackle complex chemical problems. The new technology has the potential to significantly speed up research in drug discovery, materials science and other fields, claims the system’s developer, QDX. QDX representatives said in a statement that the Extreme Scale Electronic Structure System (EXESS) can perform […]
A rare “planetary parade” returns to the evening sky this week
A parade of planets is about to take six of Earth’s neighbors into the night sky at once. But it’s not easy to see. According to NASA, if you have a clear, unobstructed sky looking due west on Saturday, February 28, Saturn’s two inner planets, Venus and Mercury, will be visible in the night sky, […]
A 9,000 pound monster that I don’t want to give back.
Before leaving on a trip to Tahoe last weekend, GM offered me a week to test drive the company’s 9,000-pound monument, the new 2026 electric Escalade IQL (priced from $130,405). Before continuing, please note that I am not a professional car critic. TechCrunch has some great transportation writers. I’m not one of them. But I […]
Why is there a desert next to the sea?
When you imagine a desert, you probably imagine a vast, empty landscape far from water. But surprisingly, some of the driest places on Earth are right next to the ocean. The Atacama River in Chile and the Namib River in southern Africa both run along coastlines. So how did this extreme desert form in a […]
Sam Altman wants us to remember that humans also use a lot of energy.
Speaking at an event hosted by The Indian Express this week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed concerns about AI’s environmental impact. First, Altman, who was in India for a major AI summit, said concerns about AI’s water usage were “absolutely fake,” but acknowledged that it was a real problem at the time, “when we were […]
Wikipedia blacklists Archive.today after suspected DDoS attack
Wikipedia editors have decided to remove all links to Archive.today, a web archiving service that is linked more than 695,000 times throughout the online encyclopedia. Archive.today — which also operates under several other domain names, including archive.is and archive.ph — is perhaps most widely used to access content that is inaccessible behind paywalls. Therefore, it […]
Scientists may have witnessed a star collapsing directly into a black hole without exploding first
The theory is that a star could collapse directly into a black hole without first exploding as a supernova. In fact, this is relatively common. However, despite this, astronomers have found little observational evidence to support this. But it could also have happened in our neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, and astronomers almost missed it. In […]