Today: 8 February 2026
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Breathtaking Skywatching Spectacles on Aug 18–19, 2025: Meteors, Planetary Trio, Auroras & More

Breathtaking Skywatching Spectacles on Aug 18–19, 2025: Meteors, Planetary Trio, Auroras & More

The Perseids meteor shower remains active Aug 18–23, 2025, with peak rates up to 50–100 meteors per hour under dark skies, but a bright Moon 84% full on Aug 12 reduced peak rates to about 10–20 per hour; by Aug 18–19 the Moon wanes to ~23% and ~15% illumination, improving viewing. Auroras could appear around Aug 19 due to the solar maximum and a potential minor G1 geomagnetic storm, offering modest displays at high latitudes if solar wind conditions are favorable. On Aug 19 (and Aug 20), a slim crescent Moon joins Venus and Jupiter in the predawn eastern sky,
18 August 2025
SpaceX’s 100th Launch, China’s Double Liftoff, Astronaut’s Heroic Return & Mercury’s Big Shrink – Aug 17-18 Space Highlights

SpaceX’s 100th Launch, China’s Double Liftoff, Astronaut’s Heroic Return & Mercury’s Big Shrink – Aug 17-18 Space Highlights

On Aug. 17, China launched the Long March-4C from Xichang at 4:55 p.m. local time with the Shiyan-28B 02 satellite for space environment exploration and technology tests. Hours later on Aug. 17, China launched a Long March-6 from Taiyuan at 10:15 p.m., deploying the ninth batch of low-Earth orbit satellites to form a new internet constellation. These dual Aug. 17 launches marked the 589th and 590th missions of China’s Long March rocket family. On Aug. 17, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla returned to New Delhi after piloting Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission, which launched June 25 and splashed down July 15 after
18 August 2025
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Tech Titans Face Off, Rockets Soar, and Biotech Breakthroughs – Tech News Roundup (Aug 17–18, 2025)

Tech Titans Face Off, Rockets Soar, and Biotech Breakthroughs – Tech News Roundup (Aug 17–18, 2025)

Smartphones & Gadgets: Pixel Teasers and iPhone Rumors Cybersecurity: Telecom Ransomware Shock Space & Aerospace: Record Launches and New Missions Biotech & Health Tech: New Cures and Big Deals Tech Policy & Regulation: Trade Tensions and Antitrust Fines Autos & Mobility: Carmaker Alliances and EV Moves Sources: Reuters, Spaceflight Now, TechRadar, PhoneArena, MacRumors, TS2 Technology techradar.com techradar.com reuters.com reuters.com reuters.com cybernewscentre.com cybernewscentre.com ts2.tech ts2.tech, et al.
18 August 2025
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AI Breakthroughs, Billion-Dollar Bids & Backlash – Inside the Explosive 48 Hours of Aug 17–18, 2025

AI Breakthroughs, Billion-Dollar Bids & Backlash – Inside the Explosive 48 Hours of Aug 17–18, 2025

OpenAI released GPT-5 during Aug 17–18, 2025 rollout, billed as a major upgrade with strong coding, math, and science capabilities, while Sam Altman acknowledged it still lacks self-learning. In China, Pan Jianwei’s team used AI to position over 2,000 neutral-atom qubits in 3D in 1/60,000 of a second, a 10× larger array than prior work, in a result published in Physical Review Letters. MIT researchers designed novel antibiotic compounds with generative AI, generating 36 million candidate molecules and identifying compounds potent against MRSA and drug-resistant gonorrhea. Allen Institute for AI unveiled MolmoAct, an open-source robotics model that reasons in 3D,
18 August 2025
Tecno Spark 40 Series Comparison: Ultra-Slim Budget Phones That Put Flagship Specs to Shame

Tecno Spark 40 Series Comparison: Ultra-Slim Budget Phones That Put Flagship Specs to Shame

The Tecno Spark 40, Spark 40 Pro, and Spark 40 Pro+ were officially unveiled in July 2025. The Spark 40 is 7.67 mm thick and ~188 g, the Spark 40 Pro is 6.69 mm and ~170 g, and the Spark 40 Pro+ is 6.49 mm and ~160 g, with Pro/Pro+ front glass Gorilla Glass 7 Victus and IP64 splash resistance. The Spark 40 and Spark 40 Pro use a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, while the Spark 40 Pro+ uses an under-display fingerprint reader. The Spark 40 features a 6.67-inch IPS LCD at 720×1600 with 120 Hz, while the Spark 40 Pro
17 August 2025
HMD Fusion X1 vs Fusion 5G – The Ultimate Modular Phone Showdown (Specs, Reviews & Future Reveals)

HMD Fusion X1 vs Fusion 5G – The Ultimate Modular Phone Showdown (Specs, Reviews & Future Reveals)

The Fusion X1 and Fusion 5G are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 octa-core processor (2x Cortex-A78 at 2.2 GHz + 6x A55) with an Adreno 613 GPU. The Fusion X1 ships with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage, while the Fusion 5G offers 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage, with microSD expansion up to 1 TB and virtual RAM boosts of up to 6 GB on the 6 GB variant or up to 8 GB on the 8 GB model. Both phones feature a 6.56-inch IPS LCD display with HD+ 720 × 1612 resolution and
17 August 2025
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The Ultimate Smart Glasses Showdown (2025): Meta’s Ray-Ban Wayfarer 2 vs Xreal Air 2 Ultra vs Rokid Max 2

Smart Glasses Showdown: Ray-Ban Meta vs Oakley HSTN vs Xiaomi AI Glasses – Design, Features, and Battery Life Compared

Ray-Ban Meta 2nd Gen glasses weigh about 48–50 g, resemble classic Wayfarers, have IPX4 water resistance, and ship with a charging case that provides about 32 extra hours of use from 8 full charges (2200+ mAh). Oakley Meta HSTN debuted as a limited-edition white frame with orange accents and Prizm 24K polarized lenses, is IPX4 rated, offers about 8 hours of typical use and 19 hours of standby, and includes a charging case with up to 48 extra hours of juice plus 50% recharge in 20 minutes. Xiaomi AI Glasses weigh around 40 g with a TR90 frame, carry an
17 August 2025
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Ultimate Productivity Mouse Showdown: Logitech MX Master 3S vs Razer Pro Click V2 vs Keychron M6 (2025)

Ultimate Productivity Mouse Showdown: Logitech MX Master 3S vs Razer Pro Click V2 vs Keychron M6 (2025)

Logitech MX Master 3S uses a Darkfield optical sensor up to 8,000 DPI and a 125 Hz polling rate. It weighs 141 g and contains a 500 mAh battery rated for up to 70 days on a full charge, with about 3 hours of use from a 1-minute USB-C fast charge. The MX Master 3S has a dedicated horizontal thumb wheel for horizontal scrolling, adjustable in Logitech Options+. Razer Pro Click V2 uses the Focus Pro 30K Optical Sensor up to 30,000 DPI with 550 inches-per-second tracking and 40G acceleration, and supports 1000 Hz polling. It can connect to up
17 August 2025
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Chicago Drone Laws 2025: The Ultimate Guide to Flying Legally in the Windy City

Chicago Drone Laws 2025: The Ultimate Guide to Flying Legally in the Windy City

<li Drone registration is required for drones over 0.55 pounds (250 grams), with a $5 fee via the FAA DroneZone and a validity of three years. <li Since 2023, FAA Remote ID is required for most drones, with a compliance deadline of March 16, 2024, and flying without Remote ID can result in FAA fines or suspension of your pilot certificate. <li Recreational flyers must pass the Recreational UAS Safety Test and follow FAA model aircraft rules, including visual line of sight, under 400 feet, and yielding to manned aircraft. <li Commercial operators must hold an FAA Remote Pilot Certificate
17 August 2025
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2025 Ultimate Robot Vacuum Showdown: Eufy X10 Pro Omni vs Ecovacs Deebot T30S vs Roborock Q Revo S

2025 Ultimate Robot Vacuum Showdown: Eufy X10 Pro Omni vs Ecovacs Deebot T30S vs Roborock Q Revo S

The Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo delivers 11,000 Pa suction—the highest among the trio—while the Eufy X10 Pro Omni offers 8,000 Pa and the Roborock Q Revo S runs about 7,000 Pa (upgraded from 5,500 Pa). In mopping, the Eufy X10 Pro Omni uses MopMaster 2.0 with two 180 RPM pads applying roughly 1 kg of downward force, the Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo adds a hot-water mop wash at 70 °C with Adaptive Edge Mopping, and the Roborock Q Revo S employs ~200 RPM dual pads with Dynamic Mop Lift up to 10 mm. The Eufy X10 Pro Omni’s Omni Station
17 August 2025
Comparing the Canon EOS R8, EOS R7, and EOS R50 V (2025 Edition)

Mirrorless Showdown 2025: Canon EOS R8 vs Nikon Z5 II vs Sony A7 IV – Which Full-Frame Camera Wins?

Canon EOS R8 weighs about 461 g with battery, is the lightest of the trio, and uses a single SD card slot with no IBIS. Nikon Z5 II uses a 24.5 MP BSI sensor, 5-axis IBIS up to ~7.5 stops, and dual SD UHS-II slots, priced at $1,699 body. Sony A7 IV features a 33.0 MP Exmor R BSI sensor, 5-axis IBIS rated at 5.5 stops, and dual card slots (CFexpress Type A and SD), priced at $2,499. Canon EOS R8 offers 6K oversampled 4K up to 60 fps with no crop, 10-bit internal recording, and can overheat after about
17 August 2025
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Ultimate Smart Speaker Showdown: Sonos Era 100 vs Apple HomePod 2 vs Audio Pro C20

Ultimate Smart Speaker Showdown: Sonos Era 100 vs Apple HomePod 2 vs Audio Pro C20

The Sonos Era 100 uses a stereo pair of tweeters and a 25% larger woofer than its predecessor, with Trueplay room tuning and Bluetooth 5.0 plus USB-C line-in. The Apple HomePod 2 features a 4-inch woofer and five beamforming tweeters delivering 360-degree sound, supports Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, and auto room adaptation via built-in mics (two in stereo widen the soundstage). The Audio Pro Addon C20 employs dual 1″ tweeters and a 6.5″ woofer driven by three Class D amps (up to 190W total) and includes a built-in phono preamp for vinyl playback. Era 100 and HomePod 2 offer
17 August 2025
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Battle of the Flagship Earbuds 2025: TOZO Golden X2 Pro vs Galaxy Buds 3 Pro vs Sony WF-1000XM5

Battle of the Flagship Earbuds 2025: TOZO Golden X2 Pro vs Galaxy Buds 3 Pro vs Sony WF-1000XM5

TOZO Golden X2 Pro features a dual-driver per ear: a 12 mm dynamic driver and a Knowles balanced armature for high frequencies, with Hi-Res Audio Wireless LDAC support. The case of the TOZO Golden X2 Pro includes a 1.47-inch color touchscreen for battery/status and on-case controls, and the buds weigh about 5–6 g each. TOZO Golden X2 Pro has IPX7 water resistance and Bluetooth 5.4 with multipoint pairing. Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro use a short prism-shaped stem with silicone tips, weigh about 5.4 g per bud, and carry IP57 dust and water resistance. Galaxy Buds 3 Pro pair a
17 August 2025
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Xiaomi’s Foldable Showdown: Mix Fold 4 & Mix Flip vs Mix Fold 3 – Does Xiaomi’s New Foldables Crush Last Year’s Champ?

Xiaomi’s Foldable Showdown: Mix Fold 4 & Mix Flip vs Mix Fold 3 – Does Xiaomi’s New Foldables Crush Last Year’s Champ?

The Mix Fold 4 weighs 226 g, is 9.47 mm thick when closed (4.6 mm open) and uses an all-carbon hinge with IPX8 water resistance. The Mix Mix Flip measures 4.01-inch outer and 6.86-inch inner displays, is about 7.6 mm thick when open and 15.99 mm when closed, supports 500,000 folds, and carries IP54 dust/water resistance with no wireless charging. The Mix Fold 4 inner display is a 7.98-inch LTPO AMOLED panel at 2488×2224 (~418 ppi) with 120 Hz and up to 3000 nits, brighter than the Fold 3’s 8.03-inch 2160×1916 (~360 ppi) panel. The Mix Fold 4 retains a
17 August 2025
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Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K vs Roku Streaming Stick 4K vs Chromecast with Google TV: The Ultimate 2025 4K Streaming Showdown

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K vs Roku Streaming Stick 4K vs Chromecast with Google TV: The Ultimate 2025 4K Streaming Showdown

All three devices can stream 4K Ultra HD at 60fps and support HDR formats including Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HLG, with Dolby Atmos passthrough on compatible content. Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen) uses a 2.0 GHz quad-core CPU, 2 GB RAM, and 16 GB storage, delivering faster performance than the regular model. Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen, 2023) has a 1.7 GHz quad-core CPU and Wi‑Fi 6. Chromecast with Google TV (2020) runs with 2 GB RAM and 8 GB storage (about 5.3 GB usable). Google released the Google TV Streamer (4K) in 2024 at $99, with
17 August 2025
Roborock Saros 10R vs Dreame X50 Ultra vs Ecovacs X9 Pro Omni: 2025’s Ultimate Robot Vacuum Showdown

Roborock Saros 10R vs Dreame X50 Ultra vs Ecovacs X9 Pro Omni: 2025’s Ultimate Robot Vacuum Showdown

Roborock Saros 10R is a 3.14-inch-tall robot that uses StarSight 2.0 solid-state LiDAR with dual emitters plus front RGB/IR cameras for navigation. Roborock Saros 10R delivers 22,000 Pa HyperForce suction and is powered by a 6,400 mAh battery rated for about 180 minutes of runtime. Roborock Saros 10R employs a DuoDivide split main brush to prevent hair tangles and includes an auto-extending side brush plus twin rotating mop pads. Roborock Saros 10R ships with the RockDock Ultra 2.0 dock that automatically empties a 270 ml dustbin, refills water, dispenses cleaning solution, washes mop pads at up to 80°C, and dries
17 August 2025
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Samsung’s Midrange Showdown: Galaxy A55 vs A35 vs M55 – Which Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck?

Samsung’s Midrange Showdown: Galaxy A55 vs A35 vs M55 – Which Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck?

In March 2024 Samsung launched the Galaxy A55 5G (global ex-US), Galaxy A35 5G (US and global), and Galaxy M55 5G (select markets). The Galaxy A55 5G uses the Exynos 1480 (5 nm) with four cores up to 2.75 GHz and an AMD Xclipse 530 GPU, faster in CPU and GPU than the A35’s Exynos 1380. All three models carry a 5,000 mAh battery, while the M55 charges at 45 W and the A35 and A55 charge at 25 W. The A55 and A35 have a 6.6-inch Full HD+ 120 Hz Super AMOLED display, while the M55 has a 6.7-inch
17 August 2025
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Sony A1 II vs A7R V vs A7 IV: Flagship Face-Off

Sony A1 II vs A7R V vs A7 IV: Flagship Face-Off

The Sony Alpha 1 II was announced in November 2024 as Sony’s flagship, featuring a 50.1 MP stacked BSI CMOS sensor with 759 phase-detect AF points and a dedicated AI chip. It can shoot up to 30 fps with the electronic shutter (20 fps in lossless RAW) and 10 fps with the mechanical shutter. Video specs include 8K at 30p and 4K at 120p internal recording, plus a 9.44M-dot EVF and a 3.2-inch tilting LCD. It adds a Noise Reduction multi-shot composite mode that blends 4–32 RAW frames to dramatically reduce noise in low-light images. The A1 II delivers up
17 August 2025
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From Satellite Struggles to Starlink: Inside Solomon Islands’ Internet Access Revolution

From Satellite Struggles to Starlink: Inside Solomon Islands’ Internet Access Revolution

The Coral Sea Cable System is a 4,700 km submarine fiber‑optic link completed in late 2019 and brought online in 2020, connecting Solomon Islands to Papua New Guinea and Australia with an initial 200 Gbps capacity and up to 20 Tbps total. Since going live, the Coral Sea cable has allowed ten times more data at the same price for users in Honiara and provincial capitals. Our Telekom launched 4G/LTE in Honiara in 2017, Bmobile-Vodafone followed around 2018, and by 2025 4G is present in parts of Guadalcanal, Malaita, Western, and Choiseul, with 50 remote villages lit in 2024–2025 via
17 August 2025
Battle of Nikon’s Full-Frame Mirrorless: Z7 II vs Z6 III vs Z5 II (2025 Showdown)

Battle of Nikon’s Full-Frame Mirrorless: Z7 II vs Z6 III vs Z5 II (2025 Showdown)

The Nikon Z7 II uses a 45.7MP backside-illuminated full-frame sensor with a base ISO of 64 and native ISO up to 25,600, delivering exceptional resolution and dynamic range for landscapes and studio work. The Z6 III adopts a 24.5MP partially stacked BSI CMOS sensor with native ISO 100–64,000 (expandable to 50–204,800) and adds a Pixel-Shift High-Res mode for ultra-detailed tripod shots. The Z5 II uses a 24.3MP BSI sensor inherited from the Z6 II and Zf, offering improved low-light performance with native ISO 100–64,000 and strong overall image quality for the price. Autofocus improves across the lineup, with the Z7
17 August 2025
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Stock Market Today

Tower Semiconductor stock jumps again on Nvidia optics tie-up as earnings near

Tower Semiconductor stock jumps again on Nvidia optics tie-up as earnings near

8 February 2026
Tower Semiconductor shares rose 7.7% to $139.04 Friday after announcing a collaboration with Nvidia on AI data-center networking. The stock touched $141 intraday and gained another 1% after hours. Investors await Tower’s Feb. 11 earnings for details on its silicon photonics work. No financial terms or shipment timeline were disclosed.
Longsys Electronics stock heads into Monday after new guarantees; what 301308 investors watch next

Longsys Electronics stock heads into Monday after new guarantees; what 301308 investors watch next

8 February 2026
Longsys disclosed new guarantees for a 100 million yuan Hong Kong loan and a $9 million Brazil credit line, bringing its total approved guarantee quota to 11 billion yuan and outstanding guarantees to 5.81 billion yuan. The company said all guarantees are for consolidated subsidiaries and within approved limits. Shares closed at 288 yuan Friday, down 1.6%. China inflation and credit data are due this week.
MACOM stock price steadies near highs into Monday after earnings pop and fresh filings

MACOM stock price steadies near highs into Monday after earnings pop and fresh filings

8 February 2026
MACOM shares rose 3.5% to $235.87 Friday after the company reported fiscal Q1 revenue of $271.6 million and raised its full-year data center growth outlook to 35–40%. Fidelity’s FMR LLC disclosed a 10.7% stake, while shareholder Susan Ocampo filed to potentially sell up to 100,000 shares. Stifel raised its price target to $255. MACOM expects to repay $161 million in convertible notes in March.
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