“We’re just waiting. It’s extremely frustrating. We can’t understand it. We agreed to a deal with Golden Boy. I believe Golden Boy and Oscar want that fight,” Hearn told the media. Hearn said there are limited alternatives for WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. and questioned what other options remain available. “‘Boots’ is signed for the fight. Ortiz, I just can’t understand what’s happening. Who else is there for Ortiz to fight?” Hearn said. Hearn ruled out a fight between Ortiz and former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., noting Spence has not boxed in two years.

When people picture DNA, they often imagine a set of genes that shape our physical traits, influence behavior, and help keep our cells and organs functioning. But genes make up only a small slice of our genetic code. Just around 2% of DNA contains our 20,000-odd genes. The other 98% has long been labelled the non-coding genome, or so-called 'junk' DNA. This larger portion includes many of the control switches that determine when genes turn on and how strongly they act. Astrocytes and hidden DNA switches in the brain Researchers from UNSW Sydney have now pinpointed DNA switches that help regulate astrocytes.

Although our phones are all equipped with cameras, there is still something special about being able to immediately produce a printed photo to pass around or give as a gift. If that’s something that appeals to you, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 instant camera is a great gift idea, and it’s now on sale at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for about $73.99 (down from $93.99), nearly matching its all-time low of $73. We picked it as our overall best instant camera for most people due to its relatively high image quality, handy twist-to-zoom lens, and a larger-than-average viewfinder, which will make it easier to take the perfect photo.

It’s all hands on deck at Meta, as the company develops new AI models under its superintelligence lab led by Scale AI co-founder, Alexandr Wang. The company is now working on an image and video model codenamed “Mango” along with a new text-based model internally known as “Avocado,” The Wall Street Journal reported. The tech giant plans to release the new models in the first half of 2026, the publication said, citing an internal Q&A at Meta on Thursday, where Wang and chief product officer Chris Cox unveiled the new roadmap.

Rapid advances in AI and robotics are set to become both powerful tools for police and potent weapons for criminals, a 48-page report from pan-European police agency Europol argues. Earlier this month, Europol’s Innovation Lab published “The Unmanned Future(s): The impact of robotics and unmanned systems on law enforcement.” The document is framed as more of a “foresight” exercise than a hard prediction. It sketches the near future of 2035, where intelligent machines are everywhere, from homes, hospitals, and factories to police stations, shops, and schools. Researchers from The Hague-based organization, effectively an EU-version of the global police agency Interpol, imagine hypothetical scenarios such as widespread resentment over job losses and automation bubbling over into civil unrest, “bot-bashing,” and populist riots demanding society “put people first.” Another outlines emerging questions like whether people will eventually see hitting a robot as some form of abuse — an argument that’s already broken out…

“Ideally, I’d Devin Haney next for a unified title,” Crocker said in an interview with DAZN. “That’s the biggest fight in the division. There are plenty of options, but if you’re asking me, that’s the fight I’d want next.” Crocker noted that several possible opponents exist at welterweight, but said Haney stands out given his championship status and profile. A fight between the two would involve two of the division’s four titleholders.

About ten years ago, researchers began exploring a bold idea: using bioluminescent light to see what the brain is doing in real time. Instead of shining light onto brain tissue from the outside, they wondered whether neurons could be made to glow on their own. "We started thinking: 'What if we could light up the brain from the inside?'" said Christopher Moore, a professor of brain science at Brown University. "Shining light on the brain is used to measure activity -- usually through a process called fluorescence -- or to drive activity in cells to test what role they play.

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest phones, smartwatches, apps, and other gizmos that swear they’re going to change your life. Optimizer will be taking a break for the holidays and will be back January 9th. Opt in for Optimizer here. You’ve probably heard of Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro. But if your algorithm serves up wellness and fitness content — like mine does — there’s a good chance you’ve been seeing influencers talk about a new weight loss drug: retatrutide, the so-called GLP-3.

Krafton, the South Korean gaming company behind hit titles such as PUBG and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), is launching a growth investment fund focused on India, stepping up its push into the world’s largest internet user base. Called the Unicorn Growth Fund, the investment vehicle is a collaboration between Krafton and South Korean internet conglomerate Naver, and investor Mirae Asset. It aims to deploy up to ₹60 billion (around $669.3 million) over four years, Krafton confirmed to TechCrunch. The fund, which will be managed by Mirae Asset Venture India, is expected to be established in January and begin operations with an initial size of more than ₹30 billion (about $334.6 million).

Around 130 million years ago, the ocean’s most dominant hunters held far more power than any marine predator alive today. Recent research from McGill University reveals that during the Cretaceous period, some sea creatures sat at the very top of an extraordinarily complex food chain, surpassing modern standards of ecological dominance. The findings come from a study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, which reconstructs the ancient marine ecosystem preserved in Colombia’s Paja Formation. According to the research, this prehistoric sea was filled with enormous marine reptiles, some growing longer than 10 meters, that occupied a previously unseen seventh level of the food chain.

Things might finally be looking up. In the penultimate episode of Pluribus’ first season, Carol (Rhea Seehorn) actually seems to be happy. That’s a pretty big deal for someone the show describes as the “most miserable person on Earth,” who also happens to be living through an odd sort of apocalyptic scenario that she is desperately fighting to stop. But what does her change in demeanor mean for the show as it moves toward the finale? Welcome to our weekly Verge-subscriber discussion of Pluribus, the new sci-fi series on Apple TV…

Every year, TechCrunch looks back at the cybersecurity horrorshows of the past 12 months — from the biggest data breaches to hacks resulting in weeks of disruption — to see what we can learn. This year, the data breaches were like nothing we’ve seen before.  Here’s our look back at some of the biggest security incidents of 2025, starting with: The U.S. government remained one of the biggest targets in cyberspace. The year started with a brazen cyberattack by Chinese hackers on the U.S. Treasury, followed by the breaching of several federal agencies, including the…

People around the world are living longer than ever, and that shift is changing what many want from aging. The goal is no longer just more years, but more good years. That has put new attention on "healthspan," the stretch of life when someone remains energetic, independent, and generally free of serious age-related problems. A major focus of this effort is the mitochondria, often called the powerhouse of the cell. These structures generate the energy that keeps cells running by producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Because aging and many age-related diseases are closely tied to declining mitochondrial function, scientists see mitochondria as an important target for research aimed at healthier longevity.

OpenAI is in talks to raise up to $100 billion in a funding round that could value the ChatGPT maker at up to $830 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources. The company is aiming to raise the funding by the end of the calendar first quarter next year, and it may ask sovereign wealth funds to invest in the round, the WSJ reported.

A year or two ago, when a phone showed up at my door for review, I could pretty much count on it being black, gray, or maybe (as a treat) white. But in 2025, that hasn’t been the case. Phones I reviewed this year featured everything from real wood grain back panels to deep blue finishes, with color-coordinated crossbody straps and magnetic accessories to match. For an industry that has been content to churn out a lot of black rectangular gadgets, 2025 marked a welcome return to bold colors and fashion-forward accessories from phone manufacturers.

For screenwriter David Farr, The Night Manager’s return is a dream come true. Literally. “Having not thought about the show for five years, a vivid image came to me in bed one night,” he says. “I saw a boy in a Colombian monastery, waiting for a black car to come over the hill. For some bizarre reason, I knew who those characters were.

BMX, which stands for Better Mobile Xperience, is lead by Daniel Chin, the man who founded Sanho, the company behind those Hyper-branded batteries and accessories long adored by Apple users. Targus bought Sanho in 2021, freeing Chin up for new adventures. Both BMX and Kuxiu insist on calling their batteries “solid state,” but they’re not — instead they use a solid-liquid mixed electrolyte. Nevertheless, they still have advantages over traditional batteries and can be mass produced using existing manufacturing processes to help keep costs down. The power banks cost about twice as much to purchase but last over twice as long so you’ll likely come out ahead in the end, and without any burns or property damage.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s countercultural drama-thriller One Battle After Another, inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, is a formal enigma that has perplexed, provoked and entranced, and the year ends with no definitive consensus as to its exact meaning. A rare naysayer is screenwriter and film-maker Paul Schrader, who commented tersely online: “Film-making at level A+, but try as I might I couldn’t muster up an ounce of empathy for Leo DiCaprio or Sean Penn. I kept waiting for them to die.” But that’s why the film is gripping: there is indeed no empathy for its two unlovely leading males, and their mortality and vulnerability has a kind of unwinding, entropic energy.

Compare Our Picks Others We Tested Photograph: Molly Higgins Tineco Go Mini Cordless Hand Vacuum for $130: This lightweight vacuum is fairly straightforward, and charges through the end of the handle that plugs straight into the wall. Before first use, you have to charge it for five to six hours, which gets you 10 to 20 minutes of use time. The main things I wanted to focus on cleaning in my everyday life were cat litter and pet hair. This vacuum spit out roughly 80 percent of the litter I tried sucking up, and the pet hair just sort of rolled around on the carpet rather than being sucked back into the vac.

12. Transit centre, Buganda The image of a Congolese refugee sitting on a swing at a Transit centre near Buganda in May, vibrates with a joy that transcends the material discomforts to which it attests: the relentless rain, the rusting steel frame of the abandoned playground equipment, and the broken seat dangling beside her. With the woman among more than 70,000 people who crossed into Burundi since January, her spirit defies her difficult circumstances. Set the photo beside French Rococo artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard's famous painting The Swing (1767), and it strips away the courtly frivolity of the famous work, reclaiming the swing as a timeless prop of playfulness and inner peace, suspended outside of space and time.

Rachel Reid didn’t intend for anyone to write a dissertation about her horny little gay hockey series. Then again, the Nova Scotia author behind the Game Changers series could never have anticipated the level of fanfare that’s accompanied the television adaptation of her books: Heated Rivalry. The show, commissioned by Canada’s Crave and distributed by HBO Max in the US, debuted in late November and quickly became a massive hit. It’s the number one Crave original series of all time, and it also climbed to number 1 on HBO Max.

Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua — heavyweights (8 rds) – Joshua needs early dominance to stabilise his career narrative after the Dubois knockout. Paul is trying to prove heavyweight durability against a man who has knocked out world-level opposition. Alycia Baumgardner vs Leila Beaudoin — IBF, WBA, WBO, The Ring super featherweight titles – Beaudoin is the underdog with nothing to lose and enough volume to make a round uncomfortable. Anderson Silva vs Tyron Woodley — light heavyweights – Two former UFC champions boxing again. Expect moments of technique but reduced pace.

Americans are becoming more open to the idea that aliens have visited Earth, according to a series of polls that show belief in alien visitation has been steadily on the rise since 2012. Almost half—47 percent—of Americans say they think aliens have definitely or probably visited Earth at some point in time, according to a new poll from YouGov conducted in November 2025 that involved 1,114 adult participants. That percentage is up from roughly a third (36 percent) of Americans polled in 2012 by Kelton Research, with the exact same sample size.

Give yourself a nice gift this holiday season. Download a free Chrome extension that replaces those incessant LinkedIn posts about artificial intelligence with facts about a very different kind of AI: Allen Iverson. Yes, the answer to your generative AI woes is “The Answer,” the crossover king, the four-time NBA scoring champ. One of the defining traits of LinkedIn has always been unhinged posts from power users—the r/LinkedInLunatics subreddit exists for a reason—but the obsessive tenor of LinkedIn posting has become, somehow, more unbearable over the past few years as the generative AI hype cycle has grown.

The Working Families Party said Thursday that it is putting out a specific recruitment call for people who are organizing against data centers in their communities to run for office. The announcement comes amid a period of heightened political turmoil around data centers, as some high-profile Democrats wade into the fight. Earlier this week, three Democrats in the Senate sent letters seeking information from Big Tech companies about how data centers impact electricity bills, while senator Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, became the first national politician to call for a…