The James Webb Space Telescope can do much more than produce astonishingimages of the universe. The observatory has, for the first time, found clear evidence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet that's not in our solar system. It detected the gas on WASP-39 b, a gas giant that's orbiting a star some 700 light years away.

The Hubble and Spitzer telescopes previously detected water vapor, sodium and potassium in the planet's atmosphere. But JWST has more powerful and sensitive infrared capabilities and was able to pick up the signature of carbon dioxide as well.

"Understanding the composition of a planet’s atmosphere can help us learn more about its origin and evolution," an official JWST Twitter account notes. "Webb’s success here offers evidence that it could also be able to detect and measure carbon dioxide in the thinner atmospheres of smaller rocky planets in the future."

NASA previously released spectroscopic data JWST captured from WASP-96 b, a gas exoplanet that's approximately 1,150 light years away. The observatory detected "the unambiguous signature of water," along with haze and clouds, which were not previously believed to exist on WASP-96 b.

Also this week, researchers announced the discovery of an exoplanet that's around 100 light years away. It was detected with the help of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and ground-based telescopes rather than JWST, but it might merit a closer look from the latter. Researchers believe that water could make up as much as 30 percent of the mass of TOI-1452 b, which has been deemed a "super-Earth." It's around 70 percent larger than Earth and it may have a "very deep ocean."

The California Air Resources Board has issued a rule (PDF) that formally bans the sale of fully gas-powered vehicles in the state by 2035. The regulations come two years after Governor Gavin Newsom instructed the agency to develop "passenger vehicle and truck regulations requiring increasing volumes of new zero-emission vehicles sold in the state towards the target of 100 percent of in-state sales by 2035."

The board unanimously approved the rule, which will gradually phase out the sale of combustion-engine vehicles. By 2026, 35 percent of new car sales in the state must be electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids or models with hydrogen fuel cells. That benchmark will rise to 68 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035.

California Air Resources Board chair Liane Randolph said the move will lead to a 50 percent drop in pollution from light trucks and cars by 2040. The state also aims to move to 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.

The rule is likely to prompt similar moves by other states, as CNBC notes — New York and Massachusetts have already passed laws to that effect. California has led the way when it comes to setting strict emissions standards, with at least 15 states adopting its rules.  

Many long-standing manufacturers and car brands have already announced plans to fully switch to EVs by 2035. Bentley aims to sell only plug-in hybrids and EVs by 2026. Mercedes and Volvo plan to go fully electric by 2030. GM expects to finalize a similar transition by 2035. Honda has set a target of 2040. Ford, meanwhile, has pledged to fully switch to EVs in Europe by 2030.

This week, Santa Rosa became the largest city in the US to ban the opening of new gas stations, as part of efforts to combat climate change. The city, which is in Sonoma County, has an estimated population of 176,938. The Press Democrat reported that more than half of the county's 486,000 residents now live in a jurisdiction where new gas stations are banned.

Officials in Los Angeles and New York state are considering adopting similar measures. Between that and the ban on gas-powered vehicle sales, maybe one day in the not-too-distant future, the infamous Los Angeles smog will be a thing of the past.

Apple's 10.2-inch iPad is now on sale for the lowest price we've seen to date. While it's been available for $300 on a few occasions, you can now snap up a 64GB version of the 2021 iPad for $280 on Amazon. That's $49 off the regular price. Both the silver and space grey variants have been discounted.

This iPad has a A13 Bionic chip with Neural Engine, rather than Apple's M1 chipset. It features an 8MP wide-lens camera on the rear and a 12MP ultra-wide selfie camera that supports Center Stage. The idea of the machine learning-powered feature is to keep your face close to the center of the frame even as you move around. Elsewhere, this WiFi-only model has stereo speakers, Touch ID and support for Apple Pencil. Apple says you'll get up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge too.

We gave this iPad a score of 86 in our review, lauding it for the already-solid price as well as the improved front-facing camera and upgraded storage capacity. We felt the performance was better than the 2020 iPad and that the battery life was solid. On the downside, the screen is not Apple's best, while the design felt somewhat dated, particularly compared with other iPads.

You'll be able to upgrade this tablet to iPadOS 16.1 when Apple releases the update sometime this fall. Meanwhile, the company is set to hold an event on September 7th. It's a certainty that we'll see new iPhones then, though Apple may have a new iPad or two to show off as well.

Duolingo is holding its annual Duocon event today to show off some of what it's working on. One of the big things the company has in the pipeline is an app called Duolingo Math, which marks its first move outside of language learning.

The app has two main elements. The first is a math course designed for elementary school-level kids. As you'd expect if you've used the main app, Duolingo will offer short, gamified math lessons. The app also has a brain training component geared toward those aged 13 and older. The idea is to help you improve your math and everyday thinking skills. 

Meanwhile, Duolingo is set to add another language course. This time it's for Zulu, which is the most widely spoken first language in South Africa. Duolingo said the introduction of the Zulu course is part of its efforts to increase cultural awareness of lesser-studied and endangered languages.

In addition, the company will offer a look at a redesign for Duolingo ABC, a literacy app for kids. Duocon will also include details on some upcoming social features. One of those is called Friends Quest. Duolingo says it hopes to help folks have more fun while they work toward their language learning goals.

Back in February, Netflix announced it was working with 2K and Take-Two Interactive for a live-action movie based on the BioShock series. The project has taken an important step forward, as it now has a writer and director on board. Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049 and American Gods) is on script duties, while Francis Lawrence will be keeping the director's chair warm.

Along with I Am Legend, Lawrence has directed four of the five Hunger Games movies as well as some episodes of the Apple TV+ series See. He's currently shooting The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, so don't expect a trailer for the BioShock movie anytime soon.

It appears as though the film will in fact be an adaptation of the first game. Netflix's Tudum site explains a few basics of the original BioShock and notes that Lawrence will presumably "strap into a Big Daddy suit and get ready to brave the flooded corridors of Rapture soon enough." For the sake of clarity, there's only one question truly worth asking: Netflix, would you kindly reveal more details about the movie?

Seven long months after FromSoftware shut off the Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3 PC servers due to a security issue, it's finally starting to bring them back online. "Online features for the PC version of Dark Souls 3 have been reactivated," a tweet on the official Dark Souls Twitter account reads. "We are working to restore these features for all other #DarkSouls titles and will inform you when they are back in service."

Back in January, it was reported that attackers found an exploit in Dark Souls 3 that enabled them to remotely execute code and hijack a player's PC. From and publisher Bandai Namco shut down the player vs. player servers for the PC versions of the Dark Souls games while they worked on a fix.

They hoped to have the servers online again in time for the release of Elden Ring in February. That obviously didn't happen. In May, From said it was "currently in the process of restoring the online servers for the Dark Souls series on PC," starting with Dark Souls 3. It's not clear why that process took another three months. Hopefully, From and Bandai Namco will get the Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 servers up and running again soon. In the meantime, you can once again invade another player's Dark Souls 3 game on PC.

The White House has updated its policy on federally funded research. Going forward, the results of studies funded by the government must be made public right away. Until now, researchers who receive federal funding have been allowed to publish their findings in academic journals exclusively for one year, effectively adding a paywall to their work. Agencies will need to update their policies accordingly by December 31st, 2025.

The Biden administration hopes that the move will afford more equitable access to research. "All members of the American public should be able to take part in every part of the scientific enterprise—leading, participating in, accessing and benefitting from taxpayer-funded scientific research. That is, all communities should be able to take part in America’s scientific possibilities," senior policy advisor Dr. Ryan Donohue and assistant director for open science and data policy Dr. Christopher Steven Marcum wrote in the White House's announcement.

They note that several discriminatory factors have prevented many Americans from accessing research, not least because of the paywall. The lack of adequate funding at "minority-serving colleges and institutions" and people's socio-economic statuses "have historically and systemically excluded some Americans from accessing the full benefits of scientific research," the announcement reads.

Under the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) latest guidance, the administration is eliminating the option to put federally funded peer-reviewed research articles exclusively behind a paywall for 12 months. The refreshed policy builds on a 2013 memo on bolstering access to federally funded research results with a requirement to make "data published in peer-reviewed research articles immediately available upon publication." Other research data will be made available "within a reasonable timeframe."

Publicly publishing such data as soon as possible could accelerate the pace of scientific research. It may be easier for others to replicate and build on the results of studies. Still, the policy clarifies that it's important for researchers and agencies to share data responsibly to ensure privacy and security standards are upheld.

Among other things, the guidance affords researchers the ability to include the costs of publishing and sharing data in their research budget proposals. OSTP is also working with several agencies to combat funding inequities. Several agencies have programs through which they provide grants to researchers in the early stages of their careers, and bolster the "racial and gender diversity of award applicants and the scientific workforce."

More than 20 agencies were subject to the 2013 memo, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Transportation and NASA. All of the agencies have established policies to release scientific data swiftly, which they may now need to update.

It was revealed back in June that helicopters and gliders are coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator, but they'll arrive earlier than expected. Developer Asobo Studio previously said it would add them on November 22nd, but it will introduce both types of aircraft on November 11th instead.

That's the release date for the game's 40th Anniversary Edition, which will be available as a free update for anyone who has bought Microsoft Flight Simulator. Xbox Game Pass members will get access at no extra cost. On the same date, Asobo Studio will add another aircraft that has been widely requested by the community — a true-to-life airliner. Nearly every button in the Airbus A-310 will work as expected, as Microsoft Flight Simulator head Jorg Neumann noted on the Xbox blog.

Some famous historical aircraft will also join the game, including the 1947 Hughes H-4 Hercules (aka the Spruce Goose), which is the largest seaplane and wooden plane ever built. In addition, the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane Charles Lindbergh flew in the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in May 1927, will be available.

In all, Asobo will add 12 aircraft, four classic commercial airports (including Meigs Field in Chicago), 10 glider airports, 14 heliports and 20 missions from previous games on November 11th. Meanwhile, the studio has just released Microsoft Flight Simulator's first city update, with photogrammetry improvements for the German locales of Hanover, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Bonn and Cologne. The update coincides with Gamescom, which is taking place in Cologne this week.

Anker's Soundcore brand has built a reputation for delivering audio devices with a solid blend of sound quality and features for a reasonable price. Its latest active noise canceling (ANC) headphones and earbuds may fit that ethos, though we haven't yet tried them to determine how good they sound.

The Space Q45 headphones cost $150 and include a four-microphone hybrid ANC system. Soundcore claims this can reduce noise by up to 98 percent. It says the headphones have an adaptive noise canceling feature that adjusts the ANC level based on ambient sound. There's a passthrough mode too.

Soundcore

The brand says the headphones have a battery life of a whopping 50 hours with ANC on and 65 hours with the feature turned off. Thanks to fast charging, you'll get up to four hours of playtime after just five minutes of charging. You'll also be able to connect the Q45 to two devices simultaneously. In addition, Soundcore says the headphones support high-resolution audio even in wireless mode. The Q45 is available in black today, while white and navy blue variants will arrive later this year.

Meanwhile, the Space A40 earbuds are also said to reduce noise by up to 98 percent. They have a one-touch transparency mode, adaptive noise cancellation and wireless high-res audio, according to Soundcore. A feature called Hear ID Sound is designed to analyze how you hear music to create a sound profile tuned for your ears.

The A40 is 25 percent smaller than Soundcore's previous-gen earbuds, though the brand still packed in 10mm drivers that deliver "pumping bass" along with "rich middle and crisp trebles." You'll get up to 10 hours of playtime on a single charge, Soundcore claims, with the charging case providing another 40 hours of playback. Charging for 10 minutes could get you up to four hours of playtime. Other features include the option to connect to two devices at once, IPX4 waterproofing and wireless charging. The Space A40 costs $100 and is available in black, white and navy blue starting today.

Soundcore

Sony revealed a few months back that a Netflix show based on Horizon Zero Dawnwas in development and now we have a few more details. Steve Blackman, the creator and showrunner of The Umbrella Academy, has re-upped his deal with Netflix and is working on the adaptation.

Blackman said the game's protagonist, Aloy, will be a main character in the show. This is also the first confirmation from Netflix that the series will be based on Horizon Zero Dawn, instead of a show that's set in the same universe. Rumors previously indicated it would be set in 2047, before the fall of humanity and nearly a thousand years before Aloy was born. Still, the show may still depict some of the events that led to animal-like robot organisms reigning over Earth.  

"Horizon Zero Dawn is an exceptionally well-crafted game with wonderful characters not often seen in the rank-and-file of the gaming world. Guerrilla Games has created an incredibly lush and vivid world of man and machine who find themselves on a collision course to oblivion," Blackman told Netflix's Tudum site. "Their salvation comes in the form of a young female warrior named Aloy, who has no idea she's the key to saving the world. My writing partner on this, Michelle Lovretta, and I are thrilled to be able to expand this remarkable IP into a series for all types of viewers."

The latest update on the Horizon Zero Dawn project came as Netflix renewed The Umbrella Academy for its fourth and final season. The other show Blackman is currently developing is an intriguing-sounding thriller called Orbital, which is set on the International Space Station.

"From a character- and world-building perspective, there's a clear throughline: I gravitate to characters who are grounded and relatable but exist on the fringe," Blackman said about his projects. "Outliers who struggle to find their place in a world of conformity and structure. All my stories strive to subvert expectation and find a new way of looking into the worlds we think we know." Aloy fits that description perfectly.

Netflix is working on the Horizon Zero Dawn series with PlayStation Productions, which has a ton of other shows and movies based on Sony's games in the pipeline. Among them are HBO's The Last of Us, a Gran Turismo film, a God of War series for Amazon Prime Video and the Peacock show Twisted Metal. Recent reports suggested that movies based on Days Gone and Gravity Rush are in development too.