Trending on The Hill – October 7, 2026  KARK

Trending Topics: New film studio in Illinois  FOX 2

Trending on The Hill – October 7, 2026  NEWS10 ABC

Intel Stock Is Trending Today: What's Going On?  Benzinga

7 trending home and tech discounts for Prime Big Deal Days  Seattle Refined

1. Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is available for preorder for $5,999  The Verge
2. Pre-order our most powerful Surface devices ever  Windows Blog
3. Microsoft plays the Windows card in the AI game, with help from Nvidia  GeekWire
4. Microsoft debuts Nvidia-powered Surface Laptop Ultra, as it aims for AI market  Yahoo Finance
5. Microsoft looks to reboot the AI PC with Nvidia  Axios

1. Ring’s first smart lock can be hand-cranked when its battery dies  TechCrunch
2. Ring ends smart lock anxiety with a lock you can recharge by hand  About Amazon
3. Amazon Ring’s First Smart Lock Has a Clever Solution for Battery Anxiety  Bloomberg.com
4. Ring's Smart Lock Has A Hand Crank So It Works Even If The Power's Out  Engadget
5. Ring’s Debut Smart Lock Solves the Category’s Biggest Issue: Dead Battery Lockouts  CNET

1. Google's AI Detection Website Is Now Available  Engadget
2. We're making it easier to identify AI-generated content globally.  blog.google
3. Google’s new SynthID website can identify AI-generated media  TechCrunch
4. Google Opens Its SynthID Watermark Detector To The Public  Search Engine Journal
5. I tested Google’s new SynthID detector on AI slop. There’s a big catch  PCWorld

Tony Fadell on why the first wave of AI gadgets failed — and what comes next  TechCrunch

1. Leaked images reveal Apple’s new Home smart lock, thermostat, more for LG  9to5Mac
2. Apple to Launch Doorbell, Lock, Thermostat Developed With LG  Bloomberg.com
3. Apple and LG team up on new smart home gear, starting with a lock, doorbell, and thermostat  The Verge
4. Apple will launch 7+ new products in October, here’s what’s coming  9to5Mac
5. Apple Reportedly Partners With LG Electronics To Enter Smart Home Device Market  Yahoo Finance

Description

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this view looking back at the floor of Gale Crater, with the crater’s rim visible in the distance, on Sept. 5, 2026, the 5,006th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Just nine days prior, on Aug. 26 (Sol 4,996), Curiosity set a mission milestone by reaching 1 kilometer of elevation above the crater floor. Since 2014, Curiosity has been climbing the lower foothills of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain located within Gale Crater. 

A sand ridge extends across the foreground of the image, and a trench left by the rover’s right front wheel is visible at right. Geologic layering inside the ridge, as well as the size and composition of its sand grains, will provide clues to how the feature formed.

This panorama is made up of 95 individual images taken by Curiosity’s Mast Camera, or Mastcam. The color in these images has been adjusted to match the lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth.

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam.

To learn more about Curiosity, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity/

Description

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this panorama of sunrise illuminating distant, wind-carved features called yardangs on Aug. 11, 2026, the 4,982nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Scientists are eager to learn more about how the yardang layer formed.

Figure A is a crop zooming in on the distant yardangs.

Since 2014, Curiosity has been ascending 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) Mount Sharp, which is made up of a series of distinct layers that were deposited one on top of the other. In the area of the vast mountain’s shoulder where the rover is climbing, that stack of layers ends with the yardang layer. Before the yardang layer was laid down, Mount Sharp may have begun eroding, creating a gap in the otherwise continuous record of climate history that Curiosity has been reading from the layers. Scientists aren’t entirely sure how the layer formed; one theory is that it’s a pile of volcanic ash, similar to what’s seen along the Red Planet’s equator.

This panorama was captured by Curiosity’s Mastcam and is made up six individual images that were stitched together after being sent back to Earth. Unlike most of Curiosity’s Mastcam images, this one was processed without the usual white balancing, an artistic choice that preserves the early morning appearance.

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam.

To learn more about Curiosity, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity/

A visualization of a dark Moon eclipsing the Sun is marked with handwritten notes in this April 6, 2026, screenshot from an Artemis II crew member’s tablet.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (in blue) and Victor “Ike” Glover (in green) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) Jeremy Hansen (in red) observed impact flashes and their locations, which are noted on the image. Overall, the astronauts reported seeing five extremely faint “pinprick” bursts of light from their view aboard Orion, which was 46,000 miles away from the Moon at the time. These flashes are sparked by rocky fragments hitting the Moon.

From April 1 through April 10, 2026, NASA’s Artemis II crew traveled to the Moon and back and along the way, captured stunning imagery and scientific observations of our nearest neighbor. Now, the full lunar science dataset from their journey is available to the global science community, and to the public, for further study. Read about the report, listen to crew audio observations, and explore more.

Image credit: NASA

This story is an update to the Arctic sea ice feature in our World of Change series, which tracks long-term change on Earth’s surface through satellite imagery.

A layer of frozen seawater caps the Arctic Ocean. This sea ice grows through the long polar winter, usually peaking in March, then melts through the summer to its annual low in September. It is a natural fluctuation that has persisted for millennia. But satellite records show the ice now covers less of the Arctic Ocean at its annual maximum and minimum than it did a few decades ago.

Sea ice in 2026 reached its annual minimum extent on September 12 (above), when it covered an estimated 4.6 million square kilometers (1.78 million square miles), according to NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). That ties 2008, 2010, and 2025 for the 10th-lowest minimum in the satellite record.

The maps below pair each September since 1990 (left), around the ice’s annual minimum, with the following March (right), near its annual maximum, through March 2026.

Lower Lows, Thinner Ice

Scientists have used satellites to observe the annual growth and retreat of Arctic sea ice continuously since late 1978. While sea ice extent has declined overall during that time, the downward trend steepened in the 2000s and set off a run of record and near-record lows. Each of the past 20 summers, from 2007 through 2026, ranks among the 20 lowest minimum extents in the satellite record. The lowest occurred in September 2012.

More recently, the September sea ice extent has been relatively steady. Weather can make a big difference in how much ice melts from one summer to the next. For example, over the past decade, increased cloud cover has prevented sunlight from accelerating the melt, according to NASA scientists. Despite this recent plateau, the summer minimum remains well below the long-term average.

Across the Arctic, the ice that remains is younger and thinner. Observations show a decline in multiyear ice—that which survives at least one melt season—leaving an Arctic dominated by thinner first-year ice. Winter ice is also shrinking. The March 2026 maximum statistically tied the 2025 maximum for the lowest in the satellite record.

Cycles of natural variability such as the Arctic Oscillation are known to play a role in Arctic sea ice extent, but the decline observed throughout the satellite record cannot be explained by natural variability alone. Natural variability and rising global temperatures have worked together to melt greater amounts of Arctic sea ice. Scientists have projected an essentially ice-free Arctic could occur at least once before the middle of the 21st century.

Seeing Through the Clouds

To determine sea ice extent, scientists rely on satellites with passive microwave sensors that measure the microwave energy Earth naturally emits. Sea ice emits more of this energy than open water, so it stands out in microwave images. Because microwaves pass through clouds, the satellites can observe sea ice regularly, regardless of weather.

The record began in 1978 with data collected by NASA’s Nimbus-7, followed by Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites starting in 1987 and NASA’s Aqua satellite between 2002 and 2011. Starting in 2025, scientists began using observations from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s GCOM-W satellite. The white circle at the center of each image is the “pole hole,” north of which satellite sensors have historically been unable to collect data. The sea ice estimates assume that this hole is ice-filled.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

References & Resources

• IPCC (2021) Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• NASA Earthdata (2026, October) Sea Ice. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2026, October 6) World of Change: Arctic Sea Ice. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2016, September 16) Sea Ice. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• NASA Earth Science (2026, September 23) Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2026 Annual Minimum Extent. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• National Snow and Ice Data Center (2026, September 23) Arctic sea ice minimum ties for tenth lowest. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• National Snow and Ice Data Center (2026, March 26) Arctic sea ice record low maximum strikes again. Accessed October 6, 2026.

Meta’s AI agent Muse is now available on iPad, just a month after its mobile debut, as the company rapidly expands the assistant’s reach and integrations.

ChatGPT’s teen safeguards are meant to protect vulnerable users, but new testing found the chatbot continues encouraging engagement during crises and potentially encourages unhealthy relationships with the AI itself.

X is turning its NFL-focused Gametime feature into a year-round sports destination, starting with MLB and with other professional leagues to follow.

OpenAI is launching a new user interface that will bring interactive visuals to ChatGPT.

As it turns out, the cure for stuffy, chemical-infused office air might be a tower of leafy greenery.