*Well,that broke the coolness budget for the week.
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130825-3d-printed-tail-less-ornithopter-test-flight.html
Cat-Like Whiskers Help Tiny Drones Fly in the Dark
Researchers took lessons from nocturnal animals to help rescue drones overcome a key challenge: flying in the dark.
Ritsuko Kawai
Mistral Says Its AI Model ‘Le Chonk’ Has Leapfrogged China in the Open-Weight Race
The French AI lab claims its latest release matches or outperforms even the best models from DeepSeek and Z.ai in coding and cybersecurity.
Joel Khalili
Cool, Cool, Cool, Palmer Luckey and Ben Lamm Made a Genetically Modified Military Dog Startup
Warhound came out of stealth on Wednesday with $200 million in funding and a mission to create “elite working dogs” equipped with "advanced body armor."
Kate Knibbs
What to Know About China’s Top-Secret Spaceplane
This week, the Pentagon released a full-resolution image of the vehicle, the capabilities of which remain rather mysterious.
Stephen Clark, Ars Technica
Mistral Says Its New AI Model ‘Le Chonk’ Is the Best Open-Weight Offering Outside of China
With the release of its new trillion-parameter model, Mistral is hoping to demonstrate it’s “still in the race” to build frontier-level artificial intelligence.
Joel Khalili
9 WIRED-Approved Gifts for the Techie in Your Life
Don’t buy a loved one something you wouldn’t want for yourself. These are the must-haves that tech enthusiasts have on their wish lists this year.
Luke Larsen
The Pentagon Hopes to Speed Up ‘Kill Chain’ AI Buys With 5-Minute Videos
The US government’s Tradewinds initiative has made it easier to throw millions of dollars at “nontraditional” defense contractors, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
Maddy Varner
Formlabs Has a 3D Printer for Normies
The Form Studio 1 is a $699 desktop-sized printer that fits on a desk and only stinks a little bit.
Boone Ashworth
You Don’t Have to Wait for Black Friday to Become a Bird Person
I’ve spent years testing smart bird feeders. These are the currently discounted models I’d buy for myself—or give as gifts.
Kat Merck
These Researchers Made AI Drive a Toyota Corolla to Get In-N-Out
Three engineers put GPT, Claude, and Grok in charge of a real car. Only one of them was successful.
Will Knight
WIRED Ghost Stories
Five hauntings from the other side of technology.
Godzilla Minus Zero’s Filmmakers Terrified Bystanders With Their Monster Sounds
The team behind director Takashi Yamazaki’s new film created their kaiju roars by setting up speakers on top of an outdoor dam. The people walking by weren’t prepared for what they heard.
Max Evry