Chemist Omar Yaghi invented materials called MOFs, a few grams of which have the surface area of a football field. In school, we learn about the Stone Age, the Bronze Age - and we are currently in a silicon age characterised by computers and phones. What might define the next age? Omar Yaghi at the University of California, Berkeley, thinks a family of materials he helped pioneer in the 1990s has a good shot. They are metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and working out how to make them earned him a share of the 2025 Nobel prize in chemistry .

Apple could unveil Gemini-powered Siri in Feb. The company will also have to hand some search engine data to rivals. The European Commission has started proceedings to ensure Google complies with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in certain ways. Specifically, the European Union's executive arm has told Google to grant third-party AI services the same level of access to Android that Gemini has. The aim is to ensure that third-party providers have an equal opportunity to innovate and compete in the rapidly evolving AI landscape on smart mobile devices, the Commission said in a statement .

While many tech workers protested President Donald Trump's policies during his first term, Silicon Valley's rank and file has been quieter over the past year as their bosses genuflect to his administration. But that may be changing following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Last week, following the killing of Good, more than 200 Silicon Valley staffers published a letter urging tech leaders to use their platforms to call for ICE's removal from U.S. cities. As of Tuesday, following the killing of Pretti, the letter has more than 450 signatories, including employees from Google, Amazon and TikTok. The letter argues that tech leaders have a unique ability to influence Trump.

'They don't follow the classic ideas of how we would have imagined the species evolved.' Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. A tiny tropical flower is challenging a longstanding model for plant evolution. According to researchers at the Field Museum in Chicago, an oddball member of the lipstick vine family evolved to attract more pollinators spreading to other parts of the world, and not the other way around. "It was really exciting to get these results, because they don't follow the classic ideas of how we would have imagined the species evolved," explained Jing-Yi Lu, a botanist and coauthor of a study published today in the journal . Most lipstick vines look like their name implies: lengthy plants featuring vibrantly red, tubular flowers.

High-altitude platforms could help connect over 2 billion people around the world who are still offline. Today, an estimated 2.2 billion people But that number could drop this year, thanks to tests of stratospheric airships, uncrewed aircraft, and other high-altitude platforms for internet delivery. Even with nearly 10,000 active Starlink satellites in orbit and the OneWeb constellation of 650 satellites, solid internet coverage is not a given across vast swathes of the planet. One of the most prominent efforts to plug the connectivity gap was Google X's Loon project . Launched in 2011, it aimed to deliver access using high-altitude balloons stationed above predetermined spots on Earth. But the project faced literal headwinds--the Loons kept drifting away and new ones had to be released constantly, making the venture economically unfeasible.

US military'war room' jet spotted leaving Washington DC as unrest grips the nation A simple trick cured my tinnitus after a long-haul flight left me in misery for months. Here's the miracle method I wish everyone knew Insidious secret life of promiscuous neurosurgeon found dead in his $2.5m mansion Impeachment whistleblower launches Senate campaign in Trump's home state: 'Our country is in chaos' Gavin Newsom's ballyhooed'care first' $236 million mental health push helps ONLY 22 people in four years Lawyer, 44, who died on flight to London after falling asleep on her mother's shoulder had undiagnosed cardiac condition, inquest hears Heart stopping video shows toddler fly out of mother's Mercedes SUV at busy LA intersection Food Network star Valerie Bertinelli's heartbreaking struggles laid bare after confession about shock firing My perfect life at $2m Manchester-by-the-Sea mansion took nasty turn when neighbors tried to ban me from getting a gun because of my HUSBAND - now I've had the last laugh ICE agents WILL be present at Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, officials confirm... despite furious response from locals Winter Storm Fern death toll climbs to 34 after brutal freeze batters the US... and meteorologists warn even colder weather is on the way Coco Gauff's behind-the-scenes meltdown at the Australian Open: World No 3 smashes racket in a rage after losing in just 59 minutes - and it was all caught on camera Is Angelina Jolie quitting America? Private struggles emerge... as actress weighs major lifestyle that threatens to rupture her family Brandi Glanville debuts dramatic new look after facial disfigurement caused by'parasite'... see RHOBH alum now Martha Stewart breaks political silence after being urged by teenage granddaughter: 'Things must change' US military'war room' jet spotted leaving Washington DC as unrest grips the nation The US Air Force's Boeing C-40B Clipper is currently flying west after departing Washington DC Tuesday morning on an undisclosed mission. The aircraft, often described as an airborne'war room' or'flying office,' is used to transport high-priority personnel, including Cabinet members, combatant commanders and senior military leaders. It also provides secure, global communications capabilities for VIP transport and special missions.

Psychologists explain how your brain can lie. Fruit of the Loom's logo never had a cornucopia and you didn't have pizza for dinner last Friday. False memories are more than just misremembering someone's name. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. T-shirt tycoons Fruit of the Loom are both makers of functional, printable T-shirts and unintentional originators of a long-standing piece of memory misinformation.

A border patrol agent scans the face of a driver in Minneapolis on 13 January 2026. A border patrol agent scans the face of a driver in Minneapolis on 13 January 2026. Immigration enforcement agents across the US are increasingly relying on a new smartphone app with facial recognition technology. The app is named Mobile Fortify. Simply pointing a phone's camera at their intended target and scanning the person's face allows Mobile Fortify to pull data on an individual from multiple federal and state databases, some of which federal courts have deemed too inaccurate for arrest warrants.

The government is consulting on a social media ban for under-16s, which would have a big impact on Meta's Instagram platform. The government is consulting on a social media ban for under-16s, which would have a big impact on Meta's Instagram platform. Campaigners decry ties with'Trump-supporting' tech firms after funding is accepted to develop state AI systems Ministers have accepted $1m (£728,000) from Meta, the US tech and social media company, to build AI systems for defence, national security and transport, sparking warnings about the UK government's "alarmingly close relationship with Trump-supporting US tech giants". The money from Mark Zuckerberg's company will be used to pay experts to "develop cutting-edge AI solutions to support national security and defence teams", the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) announced on Tuesday. The money will pay for four British AI experts, coordinated by the government-funded Alan Turing Institute, to "play a pivotal role in rewiring our healthcare, police, transport systems and more", said Ian Murray, the minister for data and digital government.

In the three years since ChatGPT's explosive debut, OpenAI's technology has upended a remarkable range of everyday activities at home, at work, and in schools. Now OpenAI is making an explicit play for scientists. In October, the firm announced that it had launched a whole new team, called OpenAI for Science, dedicated to exploring how its large language models could help scientists and tweaking its tools to support them. How does a push into science fit with OpenAI's wider mission? And what exactly is the firm hoping to achieve? I put these questions to Kevin Weil, a vice president at OpenAI who leads the new OpenAI for Science team, in an exclusive interview.