Steel in a scrapyard to be recycled into new steel.  | Photo by Roger Ball/Worldsteel via Getty Images The Biden administration announced $160 million in grants to projects meant to measure the climate impact of new-fangled construction materials. The grants cover a spectrum of potential alternatives from hemp-based products to bamboo, recycled steel, and more. Scientists and startups have proposed all sorts of new ways to cut down carbon dioxide emissions from building materials that have become a big climate problem. But it’s hard to suss out how effective proposed solutions are without metrics in place to compare products. There’s also potential for greenwashing, when companies make sustainability claims that they can’t back up with evidence.The grants cover a spectrum of potential alternatives from hemp-based products to bamboo,... Continue reading…

Even some of Windows 11's biggest critics would agree that the latest version of Windows comes with better visuals along with advanced features Windows 10 lacks. Despite that, there are multiple reasons why many people still consider sticking to Windows 10. Surprisingly, Microsoft backported some Windows 11 features to Windows 10 PCs in the last few months, but we haven't seen the company doing much about making Windows 10 look more like Windows 11. While there are valid reasons for Microsoft not to go that path, someone just discovered a simple trick to bring some Windows 11 design elements to Windows 10.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Amazon Prime Day marches onward, continuing its abundance of deals spanning all price points and categories. And while many of the steepest discounts in the world of tech are reserved for premium noise-canceling headphones and TVs, there are still plenty of budget-friendly gadgets and gizmos on sale for those looking to pick up cheap(er) basics, fitness bands, or one of several AAA games for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X / S, or PlayStation 5.The bulk of the sub-$50 highlights below are currently exclusive to Amazon Prime subscribers, though, in some instances, retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart are matching Amazon’s pricing. That means, regardless of where you choose to shop, there are still ways to save on an assortment of V... Continue reading…

Juggling a million tabs, windows, tasks, files, and folders can be a challenging task on your Mac. Thankfully, macOS comes with handy tricks to streamline your workflow. Whether you are a seasoned macOS user or a recent switcher, master these tips to revolutionize the way you work.

Thanks to a handy graph view, infinite canvas, community plugins, and a robust markdown-based editor, Obsidian goes beyond being a mere note-taking tool and can become an ultimate digital sanctuary. You can use Obsidian to take notes, create a PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) system, outline ideas on a giant whiteboard, and collect information for research purposes. Among its many possibilities, I use Obsidian as a digital journal. Continue reading if you may want to replicate the same in your vault.

It's the final hours of Amazon's Prime Day sales event, which means, if you're going to buy something, now's going to be the time. And if you're looking for fantastic deals on smartwatches, you've come to the right place. Not only are some of our favorites on sale, but we're also seeing a fantastic discount on one of our favorite smartwatches of 2024. This Garmin smartwatch delivers with an excellent set of features that's paired with monstrous battery life.

I don't like using Google Calendar, but it's the only thing I've found that makes it possible for me to keep on top of things throughout the day. However, I find Google Calendar a little bit clunky, especially if I'm using my computer to do it. There are other tools like Notion, Todoist, and more to help you organize your life, but Google Calendar is what works for me. I decided to take matters into my own hands and used Python to make my calendar a smart calendar instead.

Image: NASA/Daniel Rutter NASA isn’t moving forward with its VIPER program — short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — which aimed to put a rover on the far side of the Moon to search for water. On Wednesday, NASA cited cost increases and several delays as its reasons for canceling the project.VIPER was originally expected to launch at the end of 2023. However, NASA pushed the date to September 2025 due to supply chain and scheduling delays. Astrobotic, the same company behind the ill-fated Peregrine Moon lander, was supposed to launch the VIPER aboard its Griffin spacecraft. Despite VIPER’s cancellation, Astrobotic will continue its contract with NASA to land the Griffin lander on the Moon without the rover “no earlier than” fall 2025.A... Continue reading…

If you've ever thought about building your own PC and decided the headache of picking out parts and actually building the thing wasn't worth it, then this Prime Day deal is for you. This prebuilt gaming PC from iBuyPower is budget-friendly, while also packing some respectable parts inside. This prebuilt desktop PC comes with everything you need except for a display, as it also bundles in a keyboard and mouse. They won't be the greatest PC accessories, but they are plenty enough to get you going on your PC gaming journey.

Image: Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz and Starbucks are teaming up to install fast electric vehicle chargers at 100 coffee-slinging locations on Interstate 5, which runs along the West Coast from Canada to Mexico.The new stations will be part of the German automaker’s $1 billion plan to build 2,000 new EV charging hubs across the globe. Its first station, complete with a swanky waiting area and 400kW charging speeds courtesy of ChargePoint, opened in Atlanta last year. Now it looks like Mercedes is ready to embark on the next phase of its installations, with a primary focus on Starbucks locations along I-5. The two companies said in the announcement that they “share an ambition to identify additional opportunities in key markets, including core urban areas,... Continue reading…

Image: Nintendo There are few things I know better than Super Mario Bros. 3. Over the last few decades, I’ve replayed the game across basically every Nintendo platform, exploring its levels over and over, searching out each and every secret. But there’s one thing I never paid attention to: the timer. I’ve always taken a slow, methodical approach to the game, ignoring the tiny countdown clock. That changed with Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, a collection of NES classics that have been chopped into pieces in the interest of pure speed. It showed me a new side to games I thought I knew intimately.Named after Nintendo’s occasional in-person esports competition, the collection takes 13 of the company’s most iconic titles and divides them into... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Microsoft is integrating Nvidia’s GeForce Now service into its store pages for Xbox games. The integration will allow you to pick between either Xbox Cloud Gaming or Nvidia’s GeForce Now service when you view a game listing on the web.Currently, Microsoft only lists its own Xbox Cloud Gaming service under “play with cloud gaming” on game listings, so it’s surprising to see the company add Nvidia’s GeForce Now service. At the time of publication, the new “play with cloud” button isn’t available just yet, so it’s not clear whether this is simply a link to the main homepage of GeForce Now or whether this deep links and launches the game directly on Nvidia’s cloud gaming service. Play your games the way you want, where you want! Starting... Continue reading…