A 25-year-old German experimental photographer has won the 2026 Nikon Small World photomicrography competition with a striking image of droplets of ink being deposited on paper by an inkjet printer. Ole Bielfeldt beat out 1,802 other entries hailing from 69 different countries.
Bielfeldt became interested in photomicrography during the COVID-19 lockdown after discovering an old microscope in his parents' attic. He figured out how to build an adaptor out of a tube and some wood to connect the microscope to his father's camera and taught himself the art through trial and error, building custom tools as needed. He documents how he captures transformative images of everyday objects with behind-the-scenes videos posted to macrofying, his photography and videography brand.
It was Bielfeldt's curiosity about the inner workings of inkjet printers that inspired his winning entry, but capturing the action of ink drops being deposited on paper was a challenge, given that the process happens so quickly. The droplets, for instance, moved faster than the camera's shutter speed. Bielfeldt's solution was to deconstruct the printer so that the paper moved under a stationary (rather than moving) printhead, and then take the image in a dark room, using a flash to serve as the shutter, thereby freezing the ink drops mid-air. There was no need for pricey equipment. Bielfeldt does not use AI in his images, preferring to rely on traditional techniques.
The judge found the department's field operations to identify noncitizens who voted likely violated the Voting Rights Act, which bars voter intimidation.
Two years ago, University of Houston student Vasant Bhatt was doing everything he could to help Republicans regain power. He knocked doors for Sen. Ted Cruz's reelection campaign and helped organize his community for Donald Trump, two victories he, like many other Republicans, celebrated in 2024. But this week, Bhatt did something unexpected: He voted for Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, and he publicly urged others to do the same.
Bhatt, whose father is a small-business owner, tells The Verge he was initially drawn to the Republican Party due to its economic principles. "The strong belief in individual liberty and limited …
As the US gets closer to permanently adopting daylight saving time following the House advancing the Sunshine Protection Act in July, there could be some unforeseen consequences to getting an extra hour of sun in the evening all year long. Following the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba permanently switching to daylight saving this year, Google has shared some suggested fixes if Android devices are showing the incorrect time when clocks aren't turned back an hour there on November 1st.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele threatens a harsher military response if Haitian gangs don’t return four Salvadoran members of a U.N.-backed force alive.
Calley Means—a top ally to anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a co-author of the so-called "MAHA bible"—resigned from his role in the Trump administration Thursday, reportedly in frustration over delays to food policy changes sought by the Make America Healthy Again movement.
"I am resigning from the White House with tremendous respect for President Trump and Bobby Kennedy," Means wrote in a social media post this afternoon. "It was an honor to advocate for MAHA moms in the administration and steer policies like Dietary Guidelines reform, psychedelic reform, removing soda from SNAP, removing food dyes, GRAS reform, and overhauling government food procurement."
His post did not provide a reason for his departure. Means served as a senior advisor to Kennedy.
When we first drove BMW’s first Neue Klasse model, the iX3, it quickly revealed that BMW knows how to make a good electric vehicle. A clean-sheet design, it featured the automaker’s sixth-generation electric powertrain, a completely reimagined dashboard, and powerful computers to run the whole show. Now, much of that technology is being ported over to the larger X5 line.
But BMW knows not all its customers are ready to go electric, especially in the US, so it’s sticking with its powertrain-agnostic CLAR platform, as used in cars as diverse as the large 7 Series and the new gasoline 3 Series. Which means in addition to the all-electric iX5, there are also mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid X5s available, and in time, even a hydrogen-powered option. For now, as I’ll explain, I think the EV is the pick of the bunch.
Get used to it, because this is what BMW SUV kidney grilles look like from now on.
Credit:
BMW
If you looked very carefully you'd see this was an iX5 because there's no exhausts. Of course, reading the badge is probably easier.
Credit:
BMW
Pick your power
The most conventional option is the X5 40 xDrive, powered by a 3.0 L turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine that generates 394 hp (294 kW) and 428 lb-ft (580 Nm). The 48 V mild hybrid system can contribute a decent slug of torque (148 lb-ft/200 Nm) if necessary, and the engine operates under the Miller cycle for better efficiency, as well as featuring the usual BMW engine technology, like variable valve timing. Expect around 26 mpg (9 L/100 km) from this powertrain and a full-to-empty range of 569 miles (915 km).
Discord's latest update released today has a big improvement for Markdown previews: they should now render correctly instead of with "a bunch of symbols," according to the company. LLMs and AI agents often rely on Markdown files for instructions and context, so these improved previews could be helpful for people sharing information about AI projects on the platform.
"When you upload a Markdown (.md) file, you'll now see the file rendered all nice and neat and pretty instead of with a bunch of symbols," Discord says. "This includes tables, formatting, all that good stuff. Totally great for when you're doing a casual Sunday-night sharing READ …
Android-powered foldable phones have been available for years, but most people never paid attention to them. As predicted, that could be changing now that Apple has entered the folding phone market with the iPhone Duo. Analysts have speculated that Samsung's Z8 foldables were seeing a boost from the iPhone announcement, and now Samsung has seemingly confirmed that.
In a new blog post, Samsung UK crows that the company's 2026 foldable lineup is moving much faster than last year's models. Compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, combined European sales for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra are up 45 percent. Samsung isn't talking about Z Flip 8 sales, but it previously noted that its larger foldables made up about 80 percent of foldable purchases. We can assume any increase there is not impressive enough to mention.
The reason for flat Z Flip sales may simply be that Apple didn't release a flip phone. Unsurprisingly, Samsung doesn't mention Apple or the iPhone Duo in its press release. However, it does say that search volume for the Z8 series across Europe spiked 460 percent the week of September 6 to 12. And guess what was announced on September 9? Yep, the iPhone Duo. Z Fold 8 search volume across the entire month of September (when the phones launched) was up 260 percent.
Despite being announced just a few weeks ago, both Amazon and Best Buy are now offering the latest Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K for 50 percent off, bringing the price down to an all-time low of $29.99. The most notable new feature is that the Fire TV Stick 4K no longer requires a separate power connection, meaning it can draw all the juice it needs from the USB port on your TV. It supports 4K at up to 60fps, with HDR10 Plus for higher contrast, although it’s worth noting that it doesn’t allow for side-loading apps like some older models.
Amazon updated the Fire TV OS earlier this year with a redesigned UI, closer Alexa Plus integration, and various improvements to the mobile app, all of which are supported on the new hardware. You’ll also get a revamped remote, which features a new asymmetrical design with a rounded bottom and buttons with a more tactile feel. For connectivity, the Fire TV Stick 4K has Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6.
Will Murray of Australia’s public broadcaster spotted a man in a sinking truck, then jumped in the water with a bystander. (Just don’t call him Clark Kent.)
A lot of people are snagging a PlayStation 5 ahead of Grand Theft Auto VI’s November 19th launch. You could pay full price at one of many retailers, but why do that when you can save $100 on a Sony-refurbished console that has the same one-year warranty? It’s a great time to consider one because company has a new limited-time bundle.
Through this page, you can select either a refurbished digital or disc-based console for $499 or $549, respectively, and add a refurbished DualSense to your order that’s $40 off its usual price. For instance, a white DualSense tacks just $18 to your total, while one of the fancier colors, like sterling silver, adds $23. It’s an affordable way to stock up to cover a two-player household. The refurbished controller also includes a one-year warranty.
One thing to note about the refurbished consoles is that they include a 1TB SSD. Sony’s digital edition console at stores is currently equipped with 825GB of built-in storage (the disc edition still has 1TB), so it’s nice that this version includes a little extra space for games. Like all PlayStation 5 consoles, these support PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSDs equipped with heatsinks for extra storage, though like RAM, those are pretty pricey at the moment.
Silver futures settled down 4.6% in New York at $54.764 a troy ounce, its lowest close since November 2025 and 52% below the record high of $115.08 reached in January.
The Duo has a Nintendo DS-like shape anyway, so Delta 2.0 is running with it. | Image: Riley Testut
The Delta gaming emulator has been upgraded with a plethora of new goodies and support updates, which includes optimizing it for Apple's iPhone Duo. Delta 2.0 also introduces Sega Genesis games, animated controller skins, custom Pokémon DLC experiences, and a new UI that was built around supporting Liquid Glass.
Adding support for the iPhone Duo is an obvious standout here - if you looked at Apple's flagship foldable and wondered how well it could emulate Nintendo DS games, this update was made with you in mind. Delta app creator Riley Testut told The Verge that Delta 2.0 optimizes controller skins for "every pose in both portrait and lands …
Four years ago, a senior official in Russia's foreign ministry painted a bullseye on commercial satellite networks that assist Ukraine in its fight against invading Russian military forces.
On Wednesday, several days after a Russian military spacecraft moved within striking distance of one of those commercial satellites, the same Russian diplomat assured the world there's no reason to worry.
There's a sharp incongruity in those statements from Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy head of Russia's delegation to the United Nations. Vorontsov's comments Wednesday in the UN General Assembly's First Committee came moments after a US official called attention to recent maneuvers by Kosmos 2612, a Russian military craft that approached a US-registered commercial satellite some 340 miles (550 kilometers) above Earth.
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