Screenshot: SpaceX SpaceX successfully caught its Super Heavy booster for the second time. During Starship’s 7th test flight from Boca Chica, Texas, Super Heavy descended into the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms, allowing it to grab the booster.Despite the successful catch, SpaceX lost communications with the Starship spacecraft mounted atop the booster. “It successfully separated from the Super Heavy booster, but during that ascent phase, a couple of the engines dropped out, and then shortly thereafter, we lost communication with the vehicle,” SpaceX’s Kate Tice said during the stream. “We are assuming that we have lost the ship.”According to SpaceX, “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn,” but said teams are still going over the data to find out why.Several people who said they were on the islands of Turks and Caicos said they saw the Starship’s re-entry debris and posted videos of it on social media.@cnnbrk @CNN @cnni @Pardon_Me_22 appears to be a meteor shower over Turks and Caicos this evening.. Wow!!! Flew right over @ClubMedTurkoise pic.twitter.com/OL7vq8vbkH— Joshua Johnson (@JoshAJohnson10) January 16, 2025This just happened in the sky over #turksandcaicos ☄️ ‍♀️ #Aliens #meteor #firework??? pic.twitter.com/OwodvImSVC— Sally Alington (@sallyethos) January 16, 2025This version of Starship featured “major improvements to reliability and performance” this time around, making the vehicle slightly taller, according to SpaceX. Along with a redesigned propulsion system and an improved flight computer, this flight featured a new heat shield with “Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling” to test alternative materials and a “backup layer to protect from missing or damaged tiles.” Before the flight, SpaceX also said that on the Starship’s upper stage, “a significant number of tiles will be removed to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle,” but it’s unknown if this was a factor in its destruction.The Super Heavy booster in this test was also the first one to reuse a Raptor engine from a previous flight test.Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/aq91TloYzY— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2025At 403 feet tall, Starship is the biggest launch vehicle ever. It’s made up of two parts: the Starship spacecraft, which is designed to carry crew and cargo into orbit, and the Super Heavy Booster, which comes with 33 SpaceX Raptor engines that help propel Starship into space. Both the Starship spacecraft and its Super Heavy booster are reusable.Last year, SpaceX’s launch tower successfully caught its Super Heavy following launch.During its seventh test flight, Starship was supposed to deploy 10 Starlink “simulators” for the first time. These mock satellites are the same size and weight as Starlink’s actual internet satellites, but they weren’t supposed to stay in space. Instead, they would’ve had the “same suborbital trajectory as Starship” and would “demise upon entry.”Update, January 16th: Noted the outcome of the flight and added videos of the debris over Turks and Caicos.

Online multiplayer games are all over the gaming world, but nothing can beat the feeling of immersing yourself in a craftily built offline game. Whether you are dealing with internet issues or simply desire to go for solo gaming, there are many offline games that provide thrilling gaming experiences and endless entertainment.

Flow Launcher has become one of my favorite Windows apps ever since I tried it a couple of months back, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to get things done faster using their keyboard. Flow is already extremely useful out of the box, but what makes it so special is the fact that it can be extended massively through the multitude of available plug-ins.

Illustration: The Verge Google has notified the European Union that it won’t integrate work from fact-checking organizations into Search or YouTube, ahead of the bloc’s plans to expand disinformation laws. Google had previously signed a set of voluntary commitments that the EU introduced in 2022 to reduce the impact of online disinformation, which are in the process of being formalized into law under the Digital Services Act (DSA).The pushback comes as the emboldened leaders of US tech companies, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, have been courting President-elect Donald Trump, with Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg urging him directly to combat EU regulatory enforcement. In a letter written to the European Commission’s content and technology czar Renate Nikolay seen by Axios, Google’s global affairs president Kent Walker affirmed that Google won’t commit to the fact-checking requirement as it “simply isn’t appropriate or effective for our services.” Google will also “pull out of all fact-checking commitments in the Code” before the rules become law in the DSA Code of Conduct, according to Walker.Currently, the EU’s Code of Practice on Disinformation commits signatories to work with fact-checkers in all EU countries, make their work available to users in all EU languages, and cut financial incentives for spreading disinformation on their platforms. The code also compels companies to make it easier for users to recognize, understand, and flag disinformation, alongside labeling political ads and analyzing fake accounts, bots, and malicious deep fakes that spread disinformation.Fact-checking isn’t currently included as part of Google’s content moderation practices. The company objected to some of the code’s requirements in its agreement, saying that “Search and YouTube will endeavour to reach agreements with fact checking organizations in line with this measure, but services will not have complete control over this process.” 40 online platforms have signed the code, including Microsoft, TikTok, Twitch, and Meta — despite the latter scrapping its fact-checking program in the US earlier this month. Twitter (now X) was also a signatory but pulled out after Elon Musk purchased the platform. According to the European Fact-Checking Standards Network, many of the other digital platforms that signed the voluntary disinformation code have been lax about fulfilling their commitments. It’s unclear whether all of the code’s requirements will be formalized into official rules under the DSA — EU lawmakers have been in discussions with signatories regarding which commitments they will agree to follow. The Commission has yet to announce when the code will officially become law, having said in November that it’s expected to come into force by January 2025 “at the earliest.”

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and even TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew are among the powerful tech leaders lined up to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, but Nvidia’s CEO won’t be joining them. Reuters reports that when asked about his attendance, Jensen Huang said he would instead be celebrating the Lunar New Year “on the road” with employees and their families.While Huang won’t be present at the President-elect’s ceremony, he said he will “look forward to congratulating the Trump administration when they take office.” Huang also told reporters outside Nvidia’s New Year party in Taipei that he discussed increasing the production of Nvidia’s advanced Blackwell artificial intelligence chips with Chung Ching Wei, the chairman of Nvidia’s main supplier, TSMC.Nvidia is estimated to control 90 percent of the market share of AI chips. The company criticized a new AI framework announced by the Biden administration last week that would limit how many AI chips companies can send to different countries. In its blog post, Nvidia praised the more lax regulatory environment put in place by the first Trump administration and said it looks forward to “a return to policies that strengthen American leadership.”Nvidia is notably not among the list of companies and tech execs to have donated to Trump’s inauguration, with Meta, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Apple’s Tim Cook having each pledged $1 million to fund the ceremony. Huang also hasn’t appeared at Mar-a-Lago to schmooze Trump directly, unlike top execs from other companies like Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

If you're looking to get involved in the world of Counter-Strike, it's a fairly steep learning curve. There's a lot to learn, there are people that have been playing for literally decades, and it can be difficult to figure out where to even start. I've been playing the game for over ten years, competing in tournaments in Europe and LAN tournaments in Ireland. If you're a beginner, here are all the steps you should follow to get started and steadily improve.

God of War Just a couple of years ago, Sony had a dozen new live service games in development, but that number keeps dropping. It was already down to six by the end of 2023, before the well-received launch of Helldivers II and the disaster that was Concord in 2024. Now, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has confirmed with Sony that two unannounced live service projects have been canceled.One was from Syphon Filter and Days Gone developer Bend Games, while Schreier reports the other shuttered title was a live-service God of War game that Bluepoint Games “has been working on for the last couple of years.”Bluepoint Games is one of several developers Sony acquired in recent years as it was building up a queue of live service projects, with many ports and remasters under its belt, including Demon’s Souls, the first three Uncharted games, Shadow of the Colossus, and others. Now, Schreier says the studios won’t close, but there’s no word yet on what their next projects will be. The live service approach to gaming once seemed wide open following the success of Fortnite and other titles, but games like Concord, Anthem, and Redfall have shown how difficult it can be. At Sony alone, the list of canceled service titles Bloomberg has already reported on included the Spider-Man game revealed by the Insomniac ransomware breach, Twisted Metal, and a Destiny-linked game from Bungie called Payback. However, we’re still expecting to hear more about Bungie’s revived Marathon extraction shooter and Fairgames, a PvP heist title from Haven Studios.PlayStation did not say whether the cancellations will lead to layoffs but did say the studios will not close. A spokesperson for PlayStation tells Bloomberg the company is working with Bend and Bluepoint to determine their next projects— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) 2025-01-16T23:13:09.439Z

There are some excellent Linux distros available, but not all of them are designed with gaming in mind. Pop!_OS may have a strange name, but this distro from System76 promises some of the best gaming performance, thanks to tweaks, a focus on PC games, and support for game launchers out of the box. This also happens to be one of the better choices if you're a beginner to the Linux ecosystem. I'll show you some reasons why you should consider it for your next gaming rig OS.

RPGs on portable consoles are always a treat; you can grind levels or farm for materials while you're traveling, waiting for something, or just a quick session during bedtime. So, when I heard that my favorite modern RPG had gotten Steam Deck verification before its PC debut, you know I had to report on it. If you, too, share my desire to play Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on the Steam Deck during a cold winter's day, then I have some news for you.

If you're looking for a great new laptop, there are tons of options, from Apple to Lenovo. However, HP is an especially interesting brand in the laptop world, particularly in 2025. However, should you go for an EliteBook Ultra G1q or the brand-new EliteBook Ultra G1i?

Gaming laptops can be expensive, especially if they're packing great hardware. But if you're willing to compromise in some areas, you can always find some great products at a fantastic price. That's where this Asus TUG gaming laptop comes in, featuring an older, yet still powerful Intel Core i7 processor that's paired with Nvidia's RTX 4070 graphics card.

That Care Plus with Theft and Loss plan ain’t cheap, though. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Samsung is sweetening the benefits for some subscribers of its extended warranty plans with a new deal: unlimited same-day glass repairs at no extra cost. Previously, a busted screen would cost subscribers $29 — and those on Samsung’s less-expensive Care Plus plan will continue to pay that price. But if you’re prone to breaking screens and you’re on the Care Plus Theft and Loss plan, you won’t pay anything extra.The new policy includes cracked glass on your phone’s outer screen, back panel, and even the inner screens on folding phones, according to Samsung spokesperson Dale Hogan. That’s a big deal, considering that repairing a cracked inner screen can cost hundreds of dollars without an extended warranty. Just one inner screen repair would probably make the Care Plus plan worth it, though the value is a little fuzzier for slab-style phones. Image: Samsung Samsung groups its phones into tiers and sets pricing for repairs based on those groups. You can also pay monthly for a three-year term or once upfront, but your policy will only cover two years. The monthly cost for a Tier 4 device, which includes the likes of the Galaxy S24 Ultra or any of Samsung’s folding phones, is $18. The Galaxy S24 Plus costs a little less, at $15 per month, and the regular S24 is $10. That’s not exactly cheap, and you’d have to crack your screen a lot to justify the price difference between Care Plus and Care Plus Theft and Loss. A two-year Care Plus plan for the Galaxy S24 Ultra costs $259 if you pay upfront; that’s $90 less than the Care Plus Theft and Loss plan. You’d have to get three screen repairs to break even between the two plans. Theft and Loss includes a lot of other benefits, of course, like replacing your device for a flat fee if it goes missing. And if you’re worried about your folding phone’s inner screen, the pricier Care plan could certainly give you some more peace of mind. In any case, benefits like these getting better are the kind of inflation we like to see.