Scientists have just edged closer to a fusion energy system that doesn't lean on magnetic field-based tokamak reactors or twisty stellarators. Sciencereports that a team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has achieved a breakthrough in laser-powered fusion energy by coming much closer to "ignition," or a blast that produces an excess of energy.

The researchers sparked the event with a 20-nanosecond burst from 192 laser beams aimed at a tiny sphere full of the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium, itself housed in a small gold cylinder. The laser shot vaporizes the gold, producing x-rays that implode the capsule and create fusion. The experiment produced 70 percent ignition, or 1.35 megajoules of the 1.9MJ from the laser. That's well short of what you'd need from a fusion energy source, but eight times more powerful than the lab had managed before.

It will take a while for the research unit to further refine the process and achieve full ignition. There's also a large gap between achieving ignition and making a practical fusion power system — you'd need to produce these fusion blasts a rate near 10 per second to collect energy from the resulting neutrons.

The test does show that laser-based fusion is a much more realistic prospect than first thought, however. If there's further progress, the technique could produce effectively 'unlimited' energy that could solve the electrical grid's capacity issues while remaining clean and safe.

Intel is pouring more and more of its energy into its mainstay chip business, and that now means leaving some of its less essential work by the wayside. The company told CRN in a statement that it was "winding down" RealSense and transferring the talent and computer vision tech to efforts that "better support" its core chip businesses. The semiconductor giant will honor existing commitments, but the end is clearly on the horizon.

Questions surfaced about the fate of RealSense after the team's leader, Sagi Ben Moshe, said he was leaving Intel two weeks ago.

RealSense aimed to make computer vision more flexible and accessible. A company or researcher could buy cameras to aid everything from robot navigation through to facial recognition, and there was even a developer-focused phone. It was never a truly mainstream product, though, and ASI VP Kent Tibbils told CRN that there were few customers buying RealSense cameras in any significant quantities. It wasn't really a money-making division, even if the work helped Intel's other teams.

For Intel, there's likely a simpler answer: it wants to cut ballast. CEO Pat Gelsinger wants Intel to reclaim the chipmaking crown, and that means concentrating its resources on design and manufacturing capabilities. No matter how successful RealSense is, it's a potential distraction from Intel's latest strategy.

Like it or not, Google is following Apple and Samsung in ditching included chargers. The company has confirmed to The Verge that the Pixel 6 won't include a charger in the box. Like its peers, Google claims there's just no need — most people already have USB-C chargers, the company says.

The Pixel 5a should be Google's last phone with an in-box power brick. We've asked Google if it can comment on the subject.

While Google didn't touch on this directly, companies have historically justified removing the charger as an eco-friendly move. Apple, Samsung and others can not only produce fewer chargers overall and reduce e-waste, but ship phones in smaller boxes that allow for more devices per shipment (and thus fewer trips).

As critics have observed, though, that advantage is debatable — if you do need to buy a charger, you may create more waste by ordering a charger from another company. Others have speculated that it's a cost-cutting move. Companies can hide (or at least mitigate) rising phone costs by removing a sometimes-redundant accessory.

Either way, your options for included chargers are shrinking. You may have to turn to brands like Xiaomi (which offers a 'free' charger for the Mi 11) if you're determined to get a brick at no extra charge. Otherwise, you'll likely have to resign yourself to buying at least one separate charger to keep your phone topped up.

Don't count on using iOS 15's SharePlay for your virtual movie nights in the near future. Apple has warned that SharePlay won't be available in the launch versions of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15 and macOS Monterey. You'll get that shared viewing experience through software updates arriving this fall, but the new beta 6 releases (public and private) don't include it.

Apple told Engadget it would continue to give developers access to SharePlay in order to incorporate the feature into their apps. To that end, the company has released a SharePlay profile for app makers who don't want to disrupt their work.

It may still be worth installing iOS 15 beta 6, though. Apple has further fixed Safari by introducing a redesigned tab bar — no more having to access common features through an overflow menu. You can also move the address bar back to the top if you're a traditionalist. It's not quite a reversion to the iOS 14 way of doing things, but it is an acknowledgment that many weren't fans of the original iOS 15 approach.

This wouldn't be the first time Apple reserved a feature for a post-launch update. The company didn't even release iOS 13 for the iPod touch and HomePod until 13.1 was available. Still, it's worth noting if you play to upgrade to iOS 15 quickly — Apple is more interested in polishing iOS 15 than trying to fulfill all of its promises on day one.

IKEA won't just sell you smart lights — it'll soon sell you the electricity to power those lights, provided you live in the right country. Electreknotes that IKEA has revealed plans to sell clean energy to Swedish homes through a Strömma subscription service. Pay the (as yet unmentioned) fee and you'll get certified solar- or wind-generated electricity with usage you can track through a mobile app.

The home furnishings giant didn't say whether it would expand the clean energy sales to other countries, although it hoped to let people "use and generate" renewable energy in "all our Ingka Group markets" by 2025. The company already sells solar panels.

The retailer is no stranger to eco-friendly efforts. It stopped selling non-LED lights and will soon drop non-rechargeable alkaline batteries. It's even planning to turn a Swedish city into a sustainable community. And there's little doubt this will help burnish IKEA's public image. It can address concerns about the chain's environmental impact by serving as a clean energy source.

It's still a significant move, though, and we wouldn't be surprised if other larger stores followed suit. It's not just a feel-good effort that could reduce emissions — sales of excess clean energy could recoup costs and boost profits.

The Consumer Technology Association is going to great lengths to keep CES 2022 as an in-person event. The organizers have announced that you'll need proof of COVID-19 vaccination to attend the technology expo when it kicks off January 5th. There's also a chance you can get in to CES with proof of a positive antibody test, although the CTA is still "assessing" that possibility.

CTA chief Gary Shapiro explained the decision as a reflection of "today's science" showing that vaccines are the "best hope" for curbing COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 virus' Delta variant is known to be highly transmissible and more likely to produce severe symptoms in younger unvaccinated people.

There was no mention of just which vaccines would be considered acceptable. We've asked the CTA for more details, although it did mention that it would follow "state and local guidelines" as well as CDC recommendations.

Attendance might be a problem if the CTA sticks to US-authorized vaccine regimens. If you've had mixed doses (such as in Canada) or a vaccine that hasn't been approved in the States (such as AstraZeneca or Sinopharm), you might be out of luck even if the shots are highly effective. A virtual CES show is still available for those who won't attend in person, but that may serve as a mere consolation prize if you were otherwise comfortable with going.

As it stands, it's not clear if this will reassure would-be guests and exhibitors. While the CTA is taking a number of precautions at CES 2022 beyond the vaccination requirement, such as mask requirements and extra spacing, this definitely isn't a throwback to CES 2020 and earlier events where crowds were (relatively) safe. And as other event organizers have learned, the pandemic can change quickly — what seems safe now could be risky a few months later.

Don't expect an easy getaway if one of Boston Dynamics' Atlas robots ever chases you down. The Hyundai-owned firm has shared a video (below) of the humanoid bots successfully completing a parkour routine in an obstacle course for the first time. The pair of Atlas machines leapt gaps, vaulted beams and even coordinated a backflip, all without missing a beat — they might be more graceful than you are.

The routine took "months" of development, according to the company, and served as a useful test of the robots' ability to maintain their balance while switching behaviors and coordinating actions. This isn't just canned behavior, either. As with other recent tests, Atlas now uses visuals to adapt its movement to the course.

Don't worry that the robots will chase you down any time soon, though. The vault in particular has about a 50 percent failure rate, and there's still a slight chance of failure at each step. Even a fist pump at the end didn't go smoothly, Boston Dynamics said. The company still has to refine movements that are limited by the very nature of the robots themselves, such as the lack of a spine and the relatively weak arm joints.

As it stands, Atlas isn't a production robot like Spot. It's a research model meant to push the limits of robotics. Boston Dynamics does, however, envision this parkour practice leading to future helper robots that can handle a wide variety of tasks with human-like dexterity. Let's just hope they stay on our good side.

Do you churn through wireless earbuds quickly enough that you're eager for an upgrade every couple of years? Nura might have a solution. The Nuratrue maker has introduced Nurabuds that aren't quite as sophisticated as the earlier model (more on that in a moment), but are only available through a "Nuranow" subscription. Pay $5 per month (plus a $19 one-time fee) and you'll get a fresh set of earbuds every 24 months, much like your carrier's phone installment plan.

You'll also get "discounts, benefits and giveaways" as part of your monthly outlay, according to Nura.

The Nurabuds themselves are similar on the surface to the Nuratrue buds from before, complete with active noise cancellation and a world-amplifying social mode (ambient or transparency mode on rival devices). They're IPX4 water-resistant, too. Battery life is limited to four hours for the buds and 10 hours with the charging case, though. More importantly, you can't perform the Nuratrue's signature hearing test — you'll have to either import an existing profile or trust that Nura's "in-house" sound meets your needs.

This might be a viable option if you use your earbuds often enough to wear down the battery in two years, or if you just want to stay current. However, the subscription model might not make sense if you aren't a stickler for Nura's (admittedly quite good) audio quality. Amazon's second-gen Echo Buds, for example, offer ANC, water resistance and other helpful features for as little as $100 in a one-time payment that lets you upgrade on your own terms. Nura is clearly betting that its reputation and people's habits will work in its favor — possibly a wise bet, but a bet nonetheless.

The Nintendo Switch isn't struggling to compete against the PlayStation 5 on its home turf in Japan... far from it. Game Data Library, Axios and IGN report that every game on Famitsu's August 8th weekly Top 30 chart was a Switch title, ranging from Super Mario Maker 2 in 30th place to Minecraft at the top. It's reportedly the first time a platform has swept that chart since November 1988, when Nintendo's own Famicom (the basis for the NES) dominated the list.

Nintendo has controlled the Japanese games chart with multiple platforms before. In the early 1990s, the Famicom, Super Famicom (aka Super NES) and Game Boy cemented its position. It's much harder for a single system to rule the rankings, though.

There's also a sharp contrast with the US. While the Switch has outsold rival consoles in the country and frequently thrives in game sales (Skyward Sword HD was July's best-selling game), it typically faces stiffer competition from the PlayStation and Xbox ecosystems.

There wasn't a direct explanation for the sweep, although the titles reflect both Nintendo's influence and local tastes. Most of the games are either Nintendo's (including Skyward Sword and Mario Kart 8) or come from franchises that have long been popular in Japan, such as Monster Hunter, Taiko no Tatsujin and Dragon Quest. It also helps that Japan is in the grips of its largest-ever COVID-19 pandemic wave — people may be buying Switch games to keep them and their kids entertained at home.

Whatever the reason, the feat suggests why Nintendo isn't in a rush to upgrade the Switch beyond modest revisions. Its hybrid console is still one of the hottest game systems four years after launch, even in the face of technically superior alternatives.

More evidence has surfaced that the Google Pixel 5a might be right around the corner. Android Police has obtained what it says are repair shop photos (pictured below) of Pixel 5a parts that appear to confirm rumors swirling around the budget phone, including its release date. The device really would be a spruced-up Pixel 4a 5G (above), according to the leak. You'd get a similar dual rear camera setup and size, just with a much larger 4,680mAh battery (up from 3,800mAh) and a grippier plastic shell.

The scoop also supports talk of a headphone jack. The mainboard and other components are missing, although Google is expected to rely on a Snapdragon (possibly the 765G from the Pixel 4a 5G) rather than a variant of the custom Tensor chip coming to the Pixel 6.

The source claims Google will unveil the Pixel 5a on August 17th. Past rumors have suggested the 5a might reach stores on August 26th at a $450 price, $50 lower than the Pixel 4a 5G but well above the $350 of the base 4a. If accurate, you won't have to wait long to learn full details for this mid-range phone — even if you'll have to wait a short while to get one in your hands.

Android Police