Waymo is now offering robotaxi rides to the public in three more cities. Starting today, its service is available in Denver, San Diego and Tampa, Florida. The company says tens of thousands of people in each city have signed up. It will gradually open up access to them before everyone else. Moving into these latest locations means Waymo is now running robotaxis in 14 cities in the US, with more to follow. The company is also planning an international expansion, including in Tokyo and Munich.

Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series The autonomous taxi service is expanding. 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.

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance recently reintroduced the amphibians in Bluff Lake. 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. Both species of mountain yellow-legged frogs are endangered. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

'Darth Vader' Wants You to Know He Definitely Supports Flock Surveillance Anthony Ralphs was frustrated by the San Diego City Council's support for Flock. He decided it would take something more than reasoned argument to get their attention. At the San Diego City Council's most recent budget meeting, Sith Lord Darth Vader had some points to make. Between gasping breaths, Vader praised the council's recent votes to renew its contract with the surveillance company Flock Safety, which has been making headlines recently as more and more stories of police officers abusing its tools have continued to come out--and as a WIRED review of code for a new AI tool already in use by some police departments has made clear that it is watching far more than just license plates. "The emperor is a fan of Flock. And we must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the rebel scum as they move from playground to playground, from playground to pool, from pool to gymnasium."

NCAA wins Tenth Circuit'stay', but faces more eligibility lawsuits from 2022 class athletes in chaotic time Jacob Misiorowski's MLB-leading ERA and WHIP make Milwaukee Brewers the pick against Atlanta Braves Texas AG Ken Paxton sends message to WNBA amid'concerns' over treatment of Sophie Cunningham supporters NFL to NCAA? Courtroom chaos Is giving pro athletes a bizarre path back to college, and it's only just begun Another sex toy was thrown during a WNBA game, and Dream's Angel Reese absolutely lost it AEW star Willow Nightingale shares how she's able to keep her joyful personality going Peyton Manning's freshman son makes his debut, but freak running back steals the show How Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza are building'great' relationship through Raiders work, faith and more IndyCar star Alex Palou reflects on White House, Oval Office visit with Trump: 'incredible experience' I was a sports columnist at the Seattle Times for 11 years. Paige Bueckers grabs Caitlin Clark's arm, draws foul in tense moment before halftime of Wings win over Fever Mom of ex-SJSU volleyball star Brooke Slusser leads 8th'Sophie Night' rally in Dallas before Fever vs Wings Are American workers really using AI? Gen. Jack Keane details US military strategy as Trump warns of Iran's nuclear threat ISIS indoctrinating Americans with'ease,' ex-NYPD detective warns Clancy defense expected to wrap its case amid'voice' testimony RNC gets record cash but Mike Lee warns a'BLOODBATH' could still be coming Fans spot a raccoon reaching through the stands at Citi Field to grab peanut shells and later a whole hotdog. It's been pretty rough sledding for the New York Mets and their fans for most of this season. While their team has the highest total payroll in MLB this year, the Mets have subjected their loyal supporters to last-place baseball and a losing record on their home field. While the play on the diamond has been particularly tough to watch, the lone constant that everyone can rely on is the ballpark food, which one furry fan found to be the case when the Mets took on the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.

Waymo announced today that any riders can now be passengers in its Ojai model vehicles in Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. In a social media post, the company highlighted the spaciousness and backseat entertainment features in the driverless vans. The Google-owned brand began offering limited pickups with this purpose-built robotaxi in the same three cities earlier this year. This is the second Waymo expansion announced in the past week. Just days ago, the company said it had been granted permission to bring its driverless cars to the roads in Sacramento and San Diego.

Waymo has announced that it's received permission from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to expand its robotaxi service across more counties in California. The company says the decision will allow it to offer rides in Sacramento and San Diego for the first time, and expand service in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. As spotted by Electrek, the CPUC's approval appears to be in response to a letter Waymo filed in January asking for approval on a safety plan so it can offer rides in the expanded service area it announced in November 2025. Waymo received feedback and even at one point had its request suspended, according to the CPUC's page, but the company's announcement suggests those issues have since been resolved and just haven't been publicly recorded yet. Big news for the Golden State -- we have received the CPUC's approval to expand our autonomous ride-hailing service across the SF Bay Area and LA, and bring our service to Sacramento and San Diego.

Security researchers found that in less than 60 seconds, they could open a hatch on a plane's exterior, plug in a tiny device, and redirect the aircraft's autopilot or sabotage its flight plan. Even as the digital components of so many life-critical systems have proven susceptible to cybersabotage-- cars, medical devices, even water utilities and power grids --the computer systems of airplanes have, thankfully, remained uniquely inaccessible to hackers. But one group of academic researchers has spent years testing a different, devious approach to aviation cybersecurity. Perhaps, they suggest, a plane could be hacked the same way that spies and saboteurs have targeted other high-value, offline computers: by surreptitiously gaining physical access to one and plugging in a device designed to silently run the attackers' malicious code. Tomorrow at the Usenix Cybersecurity Conference, researchers from the University of California at San Diego and Oberlin College will present a hacking technique capable of commandeering the autopilot of a Boeing 737 to redirect its navigation or silently altering key values in the plane's takeoff and fuel calculations while spoofing the results on the pilot's screen--subtle changes the researchers say could potentially cause anything from runway overruns on takeoff to diversions to a different country's airspace to catastrophic crashes.

Mini human brains are being grown in labs all over the world. I'm going to let you in on a secret. Every cell in your body has the potential to get smarter. I don't mean this metaphorically, or in a "body keeps the score" kind of way. I mean that if lab-coated biologists took a sample of your skin and very carefully manipulated the cells inside it, they could actually make a brain. They do it all the time. Not a brain as complex as the one behind your eyes, of course, but a glob of gray matter nonetheless, with a few-million-odd neurons that can send and receive electrical signals. Kept at a womblike 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit for eight months, they'll produce repetitive oscillations-- --nearly indistinguishable from those made by a premature baby. In cell culture labs around the world, human brain organoids live out their short lives as neural guinea pigs, testing the effects of diseases, toxins, and new pharmaceuticals. But they may soon be on to more glamorous pursuits. At the University of San Diego, organoids are guiding spidery robots through mazes and taking hero doses of psychedelics.

Researchers at the University of Leeds and collaborators from the University of California San Diego won the Best Paper Award at RoboSoft, the leading international conference focused on soft robotics research. Soft robotics is gaining attention in medical applications because compliant machines can interact more safely with delicate objects and complex anatomy. The award-winning paper describes a 1.8 mm soft growing robot that can be steered magnetically, sense its own shape in real time, and operate without internal pressure. These advances could help improve patient outcomes following minimally invasive procedures. We spoke with lead author Benjamin Calmé about the team's work.