Chrome is getting new scam protections that use Gemini to detect deceptive websites and warn users when they copy suspicious commands from ClickFix attacks. [...]
Astronauts should return to the Apollo 15 landing site on the moon and haul home some of its half-century-old poop and hardware, a panel told NASA on Wednesday.
A crew would land just north of the site at Mons Hadley — far enough away to avoid damaging it. From there, the astronauts would walk over to inspect the rover, lander base, instruments, and power systems the prior crew left behind in 1971.
That equipment has endured decades of space radiation and repeated heating and cooling as lunar days give way to nights. Scientists on Earth could study how the lunar environment impacts the hardware over time. A close look at the urine and feces in a lab could reveal how biological material changes and whether it affects the area around it.
That "would be foundational information [for] how we need to engineer the systems for lunar bases," said Dan Dumbacher, co-chairperson of the committee, "for anything humans take to the surface of the moon."
The mission proposal came from a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee, whom NASA asked to recommend future moon-landing sites away from the lunar south pole, where the agency already intends to build a long-term moon base. In a new report, members of the committee selected four non-polar sites — Bhabha Crater, Mons Hadley, Orientale Basin, and Aristarchus Plateau — where they believe Artemis astronauts should collect samples, make observations, and conduct experiments. They prioritized locations they believed would benefit from human explorers over uncrewed robots.
These so-called "sorties," the term NASA used when tasking the committee, would be short, one-time visits. Because the poles lack the volcanic terrain found elsewhere on the moon, as well as radioactive metals like uranium and thorium, the brief trips would complement the base, not replace it, according to the report.
Each mission would send a pair of astronauts to make one to four moonwalks within 2 kilometers — or 1.2 miles — of their lander. That distance is a previously established "walkback" limit NASA decided long ago that the committee thinks the agency should try to extend. The panel also chose landing sites that offered the most opportunities for geology, biology, human health, and physics research.
The top pick, Bhabha Crater, sits inside what may be the solar system's largest and oldest crater, and its rocks could pin down when that massive impact happened. Situated on the far side of the moon, the crew would have to land farther from home than any humans before, letting NASA test how astronauts cope with isolation.
The site is also prime for a telescope, said James Day, the other chairperson of the committee.
"It's an almost unmatched location for doing radio astronomy, and the reason for this is because it's in the quiet zone on the far side of the moon. It is shielded from the noise that we produce here on Earth," Day said. "This will give us information on the very early universe before the first stars or galaxies had formed."
Bhabha crater is the National Academies committee's top pick among four recommended moon landing sites. Credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State University
At Orientale, the moon's youngest large basin at roughly 3.8 billion years old, astronauts would collect boulders from deep in the crust that could show whether the moon was once entirely molten. They would also set up a detector for gravitational waves — ripples in spacetime. The instrument could alert astronomers months before distant neutron stars collide, the committee leaders said.
Finally, the Aristarchus Plateau, an Apollo destination that NASA never reached, holds volcanic deposits that may yield water. It spans about 60 miles, so crews there would gain the most from the simple open rover the committee thinks NASA should build.
Among its recommendations, the panel said NASA should keep mapping the moon in detail from orbit, build instruments that can run through the lunar night, and set up a communications system that keeps crews in constant contact with Earth, even on the far side.
NASA will decide when and in what order to fly the missions.
"All four of these sites will give us profound knowledge," Day said, "not just of our moon, but of our solar system, and frankly of ourselves."
Warner Bros. Clockwork's uncensored, 4K restoration of the elusive, controversial 1971 cult horror film is the most awe-inspiring cinematic experience I've had all year.
Holding out for a camera drone that doesn't require a pilot's license, an FAA registration form marathon, or a giant suitcase full of gear is officially over. The ultra-portable DJI Neo is down to just $169, knocking 15% off its regular price tag and bringing top-tier aerial footage well under the $200 mark.
Tipping the scales at a featherlight 135 grams, this mini drone is lighter than most smartphones. Because it comes in way below the federal weight limit, casual flyers can bypass FAA registration and Remote ID entirely. You simply unbox it, charge the battery, and take off — no paperwork, no test taking, and no bureaucracy standing between you and incredible 4K video clips.
What makes the Neo an absolute blast for beginners and solo creators is its dead-simple controls. You don't even need to use a remote or hook up your phone if you don't want to. Just place it in the palm of your hand, press a quick button, and watch it lift off automatically. Built-in smart tracking features lock onto you to keep you centered in the frame while you walk, run, or hike, making it feel like traveling with your own personal robotic camera crew.
Despite its tiny footprint, it shoots crisp, stabilized 4K footage and comes built with full-coverage propeller guards so you won't chew up the blades if you bump into a tree branch or bedroom doorframe. Whether you fly it completely hands-free using palm gestures, use voice controls, or pair it with your phone, this deal is easily the best entry point into drone photography right now.
When someone needs access to your important documents one day, you don’t want them to dig through your emails and scramble through scraps of paper to find everything. The LegacyLocked Digital Estate Planning Vault gives you a single encrypted space to organize all the information your family might need.
You don’t realize how many important documents you have floating around until you try to consolidate them and find yourself digging through drawers, folders, and inboxes. LegacyLocked Digital Estate Planning Vault lets you sort them in one convenient place — with folders for financial accounts, insurance, legal records, crypto, and key contacts so you don’t have to scramble to find them all.
With LegacyLocked, your vault lives right on your device, not a cloud account. Every item is encrypted on your device before it’s saved in the vault.
Besides ensuring their security, keeping your files on the device rather than in the cloud also means they’re always accessible, even offline. You’ll also have a global search feature that lets you find items easily, as well as local action history to keep tabs on any changes.
With LegacyLocked, your usual lists and account info give a boost of security with encryption. There are folders for everything you need to store, and dedicated item types that save each kind of record in a format tailored to that type of information.
This lifetime subscription gives you permanent access without recurring fees. Windows and Mac desktop apps are available, and you’ll receive access to all future software updates. Since your vault is local to your device, you also get to choose how your trusted individuals can access it when they need to.
Nothing says "relaxing vacation" like a list of chores to finish before checkout. It’s a common issue for travelers staying in Airbnbs to find themselves forced to strip beds, wash dishes, and take out the trash before catching a flight — all while still paying a cleaning fee.
But now, Airbnb is putting limits on that routine. For reservations booked on or after Nov. 20, hosts generally won’t be allowed to ask guests to do the housework any longer.
The update, announced by Airbnb on Oct. 20, draws a distinction between light tidying and cleaning the rental for its next occupants.
Here's how the company breaks it down:
Dishes: Hosts can ask you to leave used dishes in the sink, but shouldn't ask you to wash and put them away.
Laundry: Gathering used towels is allowed. Stripping beds or starting a load of laundry generally isn't.
Trash: Hosts can ask you to separate garbage and recycling into designated indoor bins, but shouldn't ask you to haul it off-site.
Air conditioning: Hosts shouldn't tell you to avoid an amenity advertised in the listing, though they can ask you to turn it off when you leave.
Airbnb may make exceptions based on the property, the stay, and local conditions. Some examples include putting trash in an animal-proof container in bear country and limiting shower time during local drought restrictions.
There is an interesting financial wrinkle: Airbnb takes a cut of cleaning fees. Its single service fee, which is 15.5 percent for most hosts, applies to the nightly price and additional host charges, including cleaning. At that rate, $15.50 of a $100 cleaning fee goes to Airbnb. That means, if hosts raise those charges to cover more work, Airbnb could collect more, too.
No surprise rules after you book
The changes also address another familiar frustration: finding out about the rules only after the reservation is already paid for. Under the new policy, all house rules and requests must appear in the designated listing section when you book. That means no additional requirements slipped into a message, posted on the fridge, or delivered in person after arrival.
And hosts generally can’t attach their own fines or penalties, either. Hosts who persistently violate the policy could face a warning on their listing, reduced visibility in search, or other action from Airbnb.
To make those expectations harder to miss, Airbnb is displaying rules more prominently on listings, in guests' Trips tabs, and in reservation reminders. Listings with unresolved cleaning requests may also carry an alert reading "includes cleaning requests" — useful information before committing to a weekend away.
If this all sounds familiar, Airbnb has been working on the checkout chore problem for years. Back in Nov. 2022, the company said guests shouldn’t have to strip beds, do laundry, or vacuum before leaving. Its 2023 summer update made checkout instructions visible before booking and let guests flag excessive requests in reviews. Airbnb also said it would remove listings that repeatedly received low ratings over unreasonable chores.
Airbnb guests have entered the chat
The announcement has prompted plenty of travelers to celebrate and share their own horror stories.
One user recalled a stay that required stripping beds, washing every dish, cleaning the kitchen, and hauling trash to the road — despite a $100 cleaning fee.
Another said a host in Florida had tried to charge an additional $250 after their stay because they hadn’t washed and replaced the bedsheets and towels, taken out the trash, or swept the floor. According to the post, Airbnb customer service intervened and told the host they couldn’t charge extra for those tasks.
On Reddit, where a discussion in r/technology has drawn roughly 18,000 upvotes and 1,400 comments in 4 hours, users commiserate over similar experiences.
"We once had a host call us screaming because we piled the dirty towels in the bathtub instead of washing and drying them," one commenter wrote. Another described being asked to take garbage to an off-site dump that charged for disposal and closed on Sundays. The host told them, "You have to take it out on Saturday then bring your Sunday trash home."
"If you have to put your existing paying guests to work preparing your property for your future paying guests, while also charging everyone a cleaning fee, maybe hosting just isn't for you?" said one X user.
But the conversation also includes other frustrations with Airbnb. One X user argued that the combination of prices rivaling luxury hotels and an "extensive chore chart" had eroded the service's appeal. "There’s almost zero reason not to stay in a hotel at this point," he wrote. "Too late. So many of us have moved on back to hotels. Less hassle and cheaper," a Reddit user wrote in response to Airbnb's latest update.
Not all guests could agree on where basic courtesy ends and an unreasonable chore list begins, though. "I never minded dishes, but laundry was asking a bit much," one Reddit user wrote. Another said washing dishes and taking out trash seemed reasonable, particularly when food waste could start to smell.
Still, the online frustration hasn’t translated into an overall decline in Airbnb's business quite yet. In its second-quarter 2026 results, the company reported revenue of $3.6 billion, up 17 percent from a year earlier. Its combined "Nights and Seats Booked" metric, covering stays and experiences, rose 10 percent. So though some travelers may have sworn off the platform, bookings are still growing.
Nevertheless, Airbnb has drawn its line in a longstanding debate over what it means to be a good guest. Whether hosts and travelers can agree on it is another matter.
Hackers compromised the infrastructure of Onamae Desktop Cloud, a popular provider of VPS services in Japan, and installed malware on up to 26,739 customers' servers. [...]
In a letter to staff on Wednesday, EA announced the closure of BioWare's Edmonton studio, its last, as part of broader cost-cutting layoffs. The storied RPG developer had begun early development on the next Mass Effect, informally known as Mass Effect 5, which has now been canceled.
Meta says it's issuing a new class of shares to fund its AI initiatives. As part of its third-quarter earnings report released on Wednesday, the company says the non-voting stock will also go toward potential acquisitions and employee compensation, with trading beginning in 2027.
"The scale of investment required to compete, sustain growth, expand infrastructure, and pursue new strategic initiatives amidst the AI transformation taking place in the industry is significant," Meta says in the press release. Susan Li, Meta's chief financial officer, added during an earnings call that the new class of shares will "expand our funding tools and gi …
Just a few weeks after the massive "Relapse" exploit incident, someone has apparently already broken Sony's latest PlayStation 5 firmware update. A developer based in South Korea claims to have defeated the security protections in PS5 firmware version 14.10, which Sony recently released to close the Relapse exploit.
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