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Andy Boxall / Digital Trends Mobile World Congress (MWC) is the year’s premiere showcase for everything smart. While there are sure to be some big headline grabbers, some of the most exciting announcements from this massive show aren’t the phones and other devices, but the more subtle reveals. That’s exactly what’s going on with these concept materials from Tecno Mobile. Tecno Mobile is one of the largest phone manufacturers in emerging markets like India, Africa, and the Middle East, and while Western audiences…

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.If An AI Reworks Copyrighted Images, Is It Art? | Future TechAs environmental challenges go, microfiber pollution has come from practically out of nowhere. It was only a decade or so ago that scientists first suspected our clothing, increasingly made of synthetic materials like polyester and nylon, might be major contributors to the global plastic problem.Today a growing body of science suggests the tiny strands that slough off…

A year ago, I bought a new Jeep Wrangler. A plug-in hybrid model! And I wasn’t shy about my reasoning for buying the PHEV version of the Wrangler: I chose this powertrain over the gas-only versions purely because it qualified for the federal government’s $7,500 EV tax credit. Turns out, that was a pretty big motivator for a lot of Americans. The Jeep Wrangler 4xe was the best-selling plug-in hybrid (PHEV) in the U.S. in 2022, beating out a wide range of more affordable and practical cars. The 4xe accounted for nearly…

Can’t figure out the answer to today’s Wordle? We have the solution to Wordle (#641) on March 22, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself right here. We’ve placed the answer right at the bottom of the page, so we don’t ruin the surprise before you’ve had a chance to work through the clues. So let’s dive in, starting with a recap of yesterday’s answer. Yesterday’s Wordle answer Let’s start by first reminding ourselves of yesterday’s Wordle answer for those new to the game or who don’t…

A 2022 glass sand demonstration in the Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge.Image: Photo: Glass Half Full/ Franziska Trautmann Graphics: Vicky LetaLouisiana’s shoreline is rapidly eroding due to sea level rise and extreme weather fueled by climate change. But a scrappy New Orleans glass recycling initiative, Glass Half Full, is rounding up as many of the city’s glass bottles as possible to create sand for coastal restoration.The team, a winner of the 2023 Gizmodo Science Fair, got started in 2020, right before…

Image: Images: Glass Half Full NOLA Graphics: Vicky LetaGlass Half Full and Tulane University researchers are winners of the 2023 Gizmodo Science Fair for recycling glass bottles and using them to restore shoreline in Louisiana.The QuestionCan a glass recycling project divert New Orleans’ glass bottles from landfills and turn them into sand for emergency response and shoreline restoration?The Results When their project began in early 2020, the Glass Half Full team had just a small machine that could crush one glass…

Laguna Beach, CaliforniaPhoto: Apu Gomes (Getty Images)This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.Celebrations in a beachside California city will soon have to take place without an iconic, single-use party favor: balloons.The city council of Laguna Beach, about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles, voted Tuesday to ban the sale and use of all types of balloons, citing their contribution to ocean litter as well as health and safety risks from potential fires when they hit…

Photo: Broadcast Media (Shutterstock)It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a helium-fueled nightmare here to steal all our national security secrets!Yes, the Chinese balloon scandal has eaten up a lot of bandwidth over the last few weeks. Other, arguably more important stories (like the Norfolk Southern mushroom cloud) haven’t gotten nearly as much media attention as the floating white blob that the government decided to shoot down earlier this month. News of the balloon’s intrusion into U.S. airspace sidelined what promised…

Photo: Drew Angerer (Getty Images)President Joe Biden responded to senators’ calls for more information about the three unidentified flying objects that were shot down in the last week. He spoke to the American people in an address meant to alleviate fears but may have raised more questions about the unknown objects.His press conference comes after senators left a classified briefing on Tuesday with confused reactions, saying they hadn’t received any clarification about what the three flying objects were. Republicans and…

Goodbye, big floating spy in the sky.Photo: Larry Mayer / The Billings Gazette (AP)As of Saturday, the giant white balloon that U.S. authorities claimed was sent over by China to spy on the country is no more. Amid growing calls to shoot down the alleged spy balloon, the U.S. military did just that and used Air Force fighter jets to dispose of it while it traveled 60,000 feet (18,288 meters) off the Carolina coastline, the Associated Press reported. Videos of the take down posted on social media show two fighter jets…