Industry
The Morning After: The Nex Playground channels the spirit of Xbox's Kinect
A very enjoyable family console. You might not have heard of the Nex Playground, but it's a tiny gaming system built entirely around Kinect-like games. With its camera and computer vision processing, the $249 Nex Playground can track up to four players as effectively as Microsoft's old Xbox motion tracker, according to Engadget's Devindra Hardawar. The hardware is cute and well-designed, there are plenty of games, and it works offline. The only issue is the ongoing subscription needed to access most games.
Revealed: The classic office words and phrases that Gen Z no longer understand - so, do you know your 'synergy' from your 'paradigm'?
Baffled Florida parents sue fertilization clinic after delivering someone else's baby Huge pancreatic cancer breakthrough as scientists achieve'permanent disappearance' of disease with new triple-threat approach tested in lab Bombshell new leaked audio that could sink Blake Lively: Listen to actress' four-minute voice note to Justin Baldoni The truth about the Sussexes at that Kardashian party is out - and it's a big, hot jelly of a mess: JAN MOIR Trump chooses'central casting' Kevin Warsh for Fed Chair Real estate tycoon accused of indecent proposal to realtor mom while enjoying an affair. Ryan Seacrest's gaunt face concerns fans as he congratulates Wheel Of Fortune co-host Vanna White on wedding Margot Robbie fans go wild over red carpet'slip-up' about her husband and joke she'must be in an open relationship' following red carpet moment Trump says'agitator Alex Pretti's stock has gone way down' after video of him spitting on and kicking an ICE vehicle emerged, saying he was'crazed and out of control' Boy, 5, in ICE custody after being detained in Minneapolis is'depressed, sad, and not doing great' Brooklyn Beckham is mocked by fans for showing off his'special' spaghetti bolognese recipe - but reveals he's run out of spaghetti - despite wife Nicola Peltz's $1m a month allowance from billionaire father Nelson Woke Democrats on verge of driving party's popularity off cliff again with this new slogan, former Obama advisor warns Nurse banned from working in his home state of Florida after saying he wouldn't anesthetize MAGA supporters Inside Kris Jenner's extremely risky surgery to transform the only remaining part of her body that betrays her true age Melania invited me to watch her new documentary inside the White House. Now I know why you wouldn't want to cross her: LINK LAUREN's movie review Full known list of Alex Pretti's battles with cops revealed before Minneapolis nurse was shot dead by DHS Lauren Sanchez has hit a despicable new low. I can't defend her any longer. Revealed: The classic office words and phrases that Gen Z no longer understand - so, do you know your'synergy' from your'paradigm'?
NAD Supplement 101: Possible Benefits and Precautions Explained (2026)
What NAD+? Here's how it works in your body, why it matters, and if supplementation is worth the hype. It's more than likely that the NAD+ supplement craze has already crossed your path. The Biebers have infused it. Joe Rogan has podcasted about it. Gwyneth Paltrow swears by it and, of course, sells her own Youth-Boost NAD+ Peptide Rich Cream . NAD+ (short for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a coenzyme that your body makes naturally--it contributes to energy production and immune function, among other things. It reflects a broader shift in how people think about healthy aging and extending their healthspan overall .
Viome Full Body Intelligence Test Review: Little Clarity, Pricey Supplements
Virtually every aspect of your health can be traced back to your microbiome. But some tests are better than others. Some of the recipes look tasty. I admit it: I'm a sucker for metrics. Fitness trackers that keep tabs on my steps and sleep? A DEXA scan to give me too much information about my body composition?
Silicon Valley Tech Workers Are Campaigning to Get ICE Out of US Cities
Even as Big Tech CEOs curry favor with President Trump, Silicon Valley employees are calling on their bosses to use their influence to help stop his immigration policies. The first Trump administration, and the tech industry that stood up to it, are both looking quainter by the day. Here's one example: In 2017, when President Trump issued a series of executive orders instituting a travel ban on foreigners from certain countries (predominantly Muslim-majority ones), people from across the United States vigorously protested the policy. They included some of tech's most elite: Google cofounder Sergey Brin, who joined a demonstration at the San Francisco airport; Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who wrote a company-wide email outlining "legal options" that Amazon was considering to fight the ban; and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who took to Instagram to describe his own family's immigrant roots. On Saturday, hours after federal agents shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis, several prominent tech executives attended a private White House screening of, a documentary being released by (of course) Amazon MGM Studios. The timing was not lost on the group of Silicon Valley workers who recently launched ICEout.tech The letter, posted following Renee Nicole Good's killing earlier this month, has now been signed by more than 1,000 tech employees. Those workers, who come from across the spectrum of Big Tech companies and startups, are asking that executives use their clout to demand Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents leave American cities, that they cancel company contracts with the agency, and that they speak publicly about ICE's violent and deadly tactics. Worker-led demands like those were commonplace during Trump 1.0, when tech employees at the world's biggest companies often spoke out--internally and externally--about the cruelty of the US administration and the industry's role in facilitating or tempering its most craven policies. Meanwhile, the executives leading those companies have been busy kissing the ring-- over dinner at the White House or with outlandishly expensive documentaries nobody's watching--at every opportunity. Is the dam finally breaking? This week, Silicon Valley leaders including Anthropic heads Dario and Daniela Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Apple CEO Tim Cook finally spoke out about ICE's outrageous overreach.
Theatre Review: "An Ark" and "Data"
Two plays soaked in technological anxiety. "An Ark" resembles a webinar with a staring contest, one that no human can win. Before you enter "An Ark," a "mixed reality" performance at the Shed, you check your coat and, more oddly, your shoes. Inside, there are three concentric circles of chairs arranged on a red carpet and, overhead, a white globe resembling a hot-air balloon. A docent explained that, through my virtual-reality headset, I would see four more chairs--and, ideally, they shouldn't float.
Microdosing for Depression Appears to Work About as Well as Drinking Coffee
For years, people from CEOs to novelists have taken tiny amounts of psychedelics to support well-being. New research shows that benefits for depression may be attributable to a placebo effect. Typically using psilocybin mushrooms or LSD, the archetypal microdoser sought less melting walls and open-eye kaleidoscopic visuals than boosts in mood and energy, like a gentle spring breeze blowing through the mind. Anecdotal reports pitched microdosing as a kind of psychedelic Swiss Army knife, providing everything from increased focus to a spiked libido and (perhaps most promisingly) lowered reported levels of depression. It was a miracle for many.
Our verdict on Annie Bot: This novel about a sex robot split opinions
Members of the New Scientist Book Club give their take on Sierra Greer's award-winning science-fiction novel Annie Bot, our read for February - and the needle swings wildly from positive to negative Annie Bot by Sierra Greer was the Book Club's January read The New Scientist Book Club moved on from reading a classic piece science fiction in December - Iain M. Banks's - to an award-winning sci-fi novel in January: Sierra Greer's, which won the Arthur C. Clarke prize in 2025. I must admit, I was nervous to announce this one to my fellow readers. is the story of a sex robot, owned by a controlling and abusive man. It gets very dark in places, it has a number of sex scenes, and I wanted to make sure you all knew what you were getting into before getting started. That cupboard scene, some way into the book, was super disturbing, for example. It turns out my wariness was warranted.