Author: Brett Venter

We never thought we’d be discussing the role of sperm cells in microrobotics, but it’s 2025, so it’s probably about time. Scientists from the University of Twente in the Netherlands have published a paper in Nature titled Sperm cell empowerment: X-ray-guided magnetic fields for enhanced actuation and localization of cytocompatible biohybrid microrobots. If that’s all a bit much to take in, the folks behind this fresh load of innovation reckon they’ve discovered a way to turn the humble wiggly tadpole thing into a medical delivery system. Of course, that’s already what it does, albeit in a very specialised manner (it’s…

Vivo’s X-series smartphones are typically fantastic slabs of camera hardware, and the upcoming X300 isn’t expected to be any different. But where do you go when you’ve already got a 200MP camera sensor stuck inside the main array? You add another one, of course. The still-murky smartphone series will launch in vanilla, Pro, and Ultra guises, with the latter possibly sporting dual 200MP rear sensors, along with a 50MP ultrawide lens to round out the set. X300 ready for launch? Why you’d need 500 megapixels of camera power in a single phone — the X300 Ultra will supposedly also feature…

There are literal tons of Star Wars products in storefronts all over the world, covering everything from George Lucas’ setting to Darth Vader, everyone’s favourite villain. But there are some things that just can’t be sold at retail. One of those things is the Sith Lord’s lightsaber. The real one. The actual prop used in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Search your wallet, Luke The folks at PropstoreAuction turned up the item, which was constructed from part of a camera flash bulb from the 1950s — specifically, a Micro Precision Products Microflash — and put it…

The e-reader battlefield features relatively few combatants, but there’s a new challenger on the horizon. The DuRoBo Krono is the latest device to emerge in the quest to replace dead-tree books with something more technological. Revealed at IFA 2025 in Berlin and currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter, the e-reader seems to have loads going for it. Literally, if we’re talking about storage. 128GB of space is packed into its frame, more than enough to carry every book you’ll ever read (possibly — some readers are truly voracious). There’s another reason for all that space, however. Defeating Kronos The Krono isn’t…

LinkedIn, the social media platform for people who only talk about work, is introducing more user verification obligations for certain users, ostensibly to cut down on the number of employment scams running rampant on the site. Users who change their job titles to anything recruiter- or executive-related will have additional hoops to leap through in the form of (slightly) more stringent verification. The change probably won’t have much impact on existing scam networks, as it only applies to new changes going forward. Even more LinkedIn Still, LinkedIn profiles that hop between job roles to convince users that they totally have…

ChatGPT might be in a spot of trouble just now, but what better way to take everyone’s mind off that than to release a new feature to free users? Projects, the AI platform’s folder organisation system previously reserved for paid users, has now been thrown open to everyone. Behold my ChatGPT Projects Well, everyone using the Android or web version of the app, at any rate. According to the company, Projects is “rolling out to iOS users over the coming days.” Projects are a way for ChatGPT users to separate and customise different chats with the AI/chatbot by subject while…

If you’re a South African Android TV user — essentially any set powered by Google’s OS — then you now have one more streaming option. eVOD, the on-demand service operated by local channel e-TV, has just launched for Android TV devices. eVOD incoming That means all Android devices are now supported, alongside iOS, Huawei, and the good old-fashioned web browser. As before, streaming e-TV’s content is free, but if you’re attempting to block ads, you may encounter a block or two of your own. “Our Android TV app offers a smooth, premium viewing experience, matching—and in some cases exceeding—what users…

Amazon’s newest AI-powered function was revealed this week. Lens Live plans to turn users into even more effective consumers by pairing the company’s Rufus AI with a smartphone camera to let you buy anything you can see. Assuming it exists for sale on Amazon, of course. Lens Live is an extension of Amazon Lens, which uses a photograph, image, or bar code to find similar products on the online shopping platform. The difference here is that you can point the Live version at a specific scene — for example, restaurant decor — and it’ll pick out and identify similar (or…

In case you missed it, AI assistant ChatGPT and its owner, OpenAI, face a lawsuit alleging that the platform helped sixteen-year-old Adam Raine plan and execute his suicide. On the heels of this, the company has revealed that it is “rolling out Parental Controls within the next month.” This won’t help the AI platform avoid any criticism already levelled at it for inducing mental psychosis in some users. ChatGPT and OpenAI’s implementation of more safety features — assuming they work — could minimise the effects of this in the future. Just don’t expect it to be the near future, though.…

Google’s antitrust case, taking aim at its monopoly of the search market, continues, but the company has sidestepped the worst. Chrome will remain under Google’s banner, despite what other courts and AI company Perplexity were hoping would happen. Chrome buffer Washington DC District Court Judge Amit Mehta, the same one who said that “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” has now ruled that the company won’t have to give up its web browser as a result of ongoing antitrust action. Instead, the company will face other remedies, since, Mehta ruled, “[p]laintiffs overreached…