Hardware

A new preprint builds two working prototypes of a machine that learns to be a computer. The problem: the same instability that makes it novel is why it cannot be trusted in any application that actually matters.

KAIST built an SSD emulator 303x faster than anything else — because the drives it models do not exist yet

A graphene oxide membrane from Kumamoto University hits 0.7 W/cm², matching commercial PFSA performance. The EU PFAS restriction lands by end of 2026. Whether fluorine-free alternatives can fill the gap before then is the real question.

Six consecutive Cygnus cargo missions, all on SpaceX rockets. Northrop Grumman has not launched its own ISS cargo on its own rocket since August 2023 — and the replacement is still three years away.

Tesla ended production of the Model S and Model X on April 10, 2026, after 14 years. What it is building instead — the Cybercab robotaxi — has no steering wheel, no pedals, and no federal exemption to operate on public roads.

The EU has backed a graphene photonics pilot line with 211 million euros of Italian public money. This is not a research grant — it is a bet that the material science is finally ready to be manufactured.

Artemis II splashes down tonight with the same heat shield that shed material on its first flight. NASA fixed the problem by changing the trajectory. The OIG documented three ways that fix could still kill the crew.

Thirty years of ground-based tests got the wrong answer. New microgravity data shows graphene aerogels driven by laser light produce roughly 50 times more thrust than anyone measured on Earth.

All Eyes on Orions Heat Shield: Artemis 2 Astronauts Will Hit Earths Atmosphere at 23,840 mph on April 10

220 PeV. That number is three orders of magnitude beyond what any Earth-based accelerator can produce. Something in the Mediterranean Sea caught it. Now physicists think they know what it was.

Physical design IP, the metric most directly tied to chip tape-out, contracted in Q4 while planning tools grew. That divergence typically shows up as a supply shortfall 18 to 24 months later.