How AI is creating a UK super-museum and revealing our planet's history Researchers are using AI to create a vast digital museum of millions of specimens from collections across the UK that they say could supercharge our understanding of the natural world. People will eventually be able to see around 70 million animals, plants, fossils and rocks from their phones and computers. Robots and AI are being used to scan and analyse the specimens - some collected centuries ago - speeding up the digitisation process from hundreds of years to a decade. The new digital museum will enable researchers to understand how the UK has changed over the entire history of our planet and predict future changes to the climate, food supplies and species loss. The resource will be something that the public can access and enjoy too, says Dr Joanna Dunster, who is an associate director of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) - part of the UK Research and Innovation Agency which is funding the project.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series Haley Henschel is a Chicago-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable who reviews and finds deals on popular tech, from laptops to gaming consoles and VPNs. She has years of experience covering shopping holidays and can tell you what's actually worth buying on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Her work has also explored the driving forces behind digital trends within the shopping sphere, from dupes to 12-foot skeletons . All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series OpenAI is coming after Meta's Muse AI personal assistant. Matt Binder joined Mashable's tech vertical in 2018, where he covers social media, tech policy, cybersecurity, online scams, cryptocurrency, AI, creator news, weird tech, and other related tech beats. OpenAI unveiled quite a few new products at DevDay 2026. September is a big month for Big Tech events, where companies showcase their latest products. And now, OpenAI has just joined the party with DevDay 2026 in San Francisco.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series Forget Muse, there's a new AI agent on the scene. Matt Binder joined Mashable's tech vertical in 2018, where he covers social media, tech policy, cybersecurity, online scams, cryptocurrency, AI, creator news, weird tech, and other related tech beats. At Dev Day 2026, OpenAI's annual tech conference, the company made more than 20 announcements, but none bigger than the launch of Dots, always-on AI agents built to handle everything. The launch of Dots comes shortly after the launch of Apple's new Siri AI app and, more recently, Meta's Muse AI . Muse has jumped to the top of the app store charts.

Technology Cold War espionage added $4.6 billion to East Germany's economy Stolen trade secrets boosted the country's output--to a point. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. A Wartburg 353 and Trabant cars parked beside the Berlin Wall while a queue of East German people wait to cross to the West after the Wall fell and travel restrictions were lifted, Berlin, December 1989. No matter what side you were on, espionage was a cornerstone of Cold War political life . But it was also big business.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series The Jackery Red Cross portable power stations are now available. These HomePower models are ideal when grid power fails. Lauren Allain is a freelance journalist covering deals at Mashable. She graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in journalism and holds an M.B.A from Webster Leiden. You can find more of her work online from publications including Reader's Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Refined, and more.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series New Sonos Ace Ultra headphones have a genius'linking' feature I can't live without Amazingly, no one really did this one before. Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car.

A nine-year-old boy who completed the Three Peaks challenge alongside his dad after losing his leg has met Catherine, Princess of Wales to celebrate his success. Albie-Junior Thomas, from Holywell, Flintshire, attended a tea party at Windsor Castle after his father sent a letter describing how he had climbed the highest mountains in Wales, Scotland and England . Dad Daniel said he thought the message would resonate with the princess after she completed her own Three Peaks challenge in aid of the hospital where she was treated for cancer. In a post on X, the princess said it was a pleasure to hear the stories of resilience, determination and hope shared by each person she met. The youngster was born without a fibula in his left leg, and his foot was removed at 15 months.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has accused Russia of "sabotage" following an August arson attack on a defence company, Milrem Robotics, a claim the Kremlin rejected. "We can conclude with certainty that the arson attack in Tallinn was an act of sabotage ordered by the special services of the Russian Federation," Tsahkna wrote on X on Tuesday. "This act of sabotage is part of Russia's broader campaign across Europe, aimed at intimidating us and weakening our support for Ukraine," he wrote. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the allegation. "Such statements are baseless, ill-considered, have absolutely no relation to reality, and lack any form of reasoning. Consequently, we cannot and will not take such statements seriously," he told reporters.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series The iRobot Roomba 115X robot vacuum and mop is $199.99 at Amazon -- act fast to save $270 If you're a Prime member, now is your chance to grab this robot vacuum and mop for less than $200. Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer with Mashable. She's written for various entertainment websites since 2017, covering everything from tech to games to film. You'll currently find her work on IGN and Fangoria alongside Mashable, but she also has bylines at Rock Paper Shotgun, Collider, Screen Rant, and more. When she's not writing, she enjoys catching up with the latest films and shows -- horror, in particular -- and has a deep love of FromSoft games, which she continues to happily replay.