Planet

The math isn’t adding up on forests and CO2 reductions

More evidence surfaced this week that shows that forests are struggling to do humans’ dirty work when it comes to climate change. Although companies and countries are increasingly relying on forests to draw down their planet-heating carbon dioxide emissions, the math isn’t adding up to show big benefits. California might have oversold the success of… Read more

Spotify now lets you subscribe to podcasts

Home News (Image credit: Spotify) Spotify has launched its paid podcast subscription service. This lets podcasters who host their shows on Spotify’s Anchor platform to charge listeners for their podcasts. As rumoured, podcasters can choose to offer subscriber-only extras such as bonus content and no adverts. Spotify has opened a waiting list that podcasters can… Read more

Returnal review: A incredible PS5 blast from almost nowhere

(Pocket-lint) – As the world continues to be gripped by a pandemic not seen in generations, it comes as no shock that gaming has been affected like just about everything else. Games release schedules have been adversely hit in particular, with fewer releases, especially of a triple-A standard. Thank the heavens for Returnal, then. Not… Read more

Returnal is dark, challenging, and the perfect PS5 showcase

We’re nearly six months into the life of the current generation of game consoles, but there are still vanishingly few high-profile exclusives that show off what the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X can do. After getting through the initial wave of launch titles, I’ve spent most of 2021 using my PS5 to play Fortnite…. Read more

Beefing over beef is a distraction the climate movement can’t afford

Lately, it seems like forgoing red meat has become an unfortunate proxy for environmental credentials. Epicurious, for example, just announced that it will no longer publish articles or recipes with beef in a decision it calls, “not anti-beef but rather pro-planet.” And then there are headlines like “Why do some green activists eat meat?” Meat-eating,… Read more

Spotify launches podcast subscriptions, but you can’t subscribe in-app

For the first time, Spotify is letting podcasters on its platform offer subscriptions to their shows. The company announced its paid podcast subscription product for the US today, which will initially allow select partners who host their shows on Anchor to charge for content. Twelve independent shows, including Tiny Leaps, Big Changes and Mindful in… Read more

The tech some countries are betting on to reach new climate goals

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. At last week’s climate summit, there was a lot of talk about climate tech and how it could help countries meet their splashy new climate goals. A couple of the emerging technologies that got the most hype… Read more

California Governor sees an end to oil extraction in the state

California Governor Gavin Newsom today set an aspirational 2045 deadline to stop all oil extraction in the state. He also said that he plans to ban hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” for oil by 2024. “As we move to swiftly decarbonize our transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, I’ve made it clear… Read more

AirTag location trackers are smart, capable, and very Apple

They work super well, and they’re one more thing keeping you on the iPhone I was starting to get really worried that I wouldn’t find my friend. For this first look at AirTags, I sent Vjeran Pavic off into an unfamiliar city with a single Apple AirTag and no phone, no smartwatch, or any other… Read more

HP says it will slash emissions — and make sure its suppliers do, too

HP pledged to slash its still-growing greenhouse gas emissions in half this decade, compared to 2019 levels. It plans to reach “net zero” emissions by 2040, meaning that it won’t release more climate pollution than it can draw down from the atmosphere. Those targets fall in line with what scientists have found is necessary globally… Read more

Watch the first footage of a helicopter on Mars

There’s new video of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, captured by the Perseverance rover’s cameras and posted to Twitter by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The copter had its first flight earlier today, lifting 10 feet off the Martian surface for 39 seconds and marking the first flight of a powered craft on another planet. The… Read more

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter achieves historic powered flight on Mars

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter nailed a successful debut test flight on Mars, engineers confirmed early Monday morning. The tiny spacecraft lifted itself 10 feet off the Martian surface for 39 seconds, marking the first powered flight on another world. The historic demonstration opens up tantalizing possibilities for a new mode of planetary travel that could send… Read more

You ever think about how Asus put out like 40 models of a laptop called the “Eee PC”

There’s an Apple event next week, and it’s looking fairly likely that we’ll see updated models of the iPad Pro and perhaps the iPad Mini. Which is great, because it made me think about the Eee PC, which was either one of the greatest short-lived success stories in tech history or a collective delusion shared… Read more

How to celebrate Earth Day 2021

Let’s face it, it’s been a long and hard year for the denizens of our planet since Earth Day’s 50th anniversary in 2020. However, it’s possible that things are looking up somewhat. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging in many parts of the world, we do have vaccines that may eventually get us past… Read more

Facebook hit a key climate goal

Facebook announced today that it exceeded one of its biggest environmental goals: it managed to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 94 percent in 2020. It had previously pledged to cut planet-heating emissions by 75 percent. The company said that it had also achieved its goal of “net zero emissions” — not putting any more… Read more