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Bone conduction headphones are ideal for activities where it is vital to your safety to hear your surroundings, such as running or biking outdoors. That’s because they use a technology that sends audio vibrations through to the inner ear while leaving your ear canals open—and Shokz is one of, if not the best, brand making bone conduction headphones right now.

At the high end of Shokz’s offerings is the OpenRun Pro 2, which I tested and reviewed; at the budget end of the spectrum are the Shokz OpenRun, which are $89.95 (originally $129.95) right now, which matches their Prime Day price, according to price-tracking tools.

Shokz OpenRun Bone Conduction Headphones

Open-Ear Bluetooth Bone Conduction Sport Headphones, Sweat Resistant Wireless Earphones for Workouts

$89.95
at Amazon

$129.95
Save $40.00

$89.95
at Amazon

$129.95
Save $40.00

If you’ve never used bone conduction headphones, they’re worth a try, and the Shokz Open are a great introduction since they’re the cheapest option from arguably the best brand. The technology has come a long way since its early days. The major downside of the technology has been that the bass doesn’t sound as good as in-ear earbuds. As the name implies, these are meant to be used on runs outdoors. They have an IP67 rating for dust- and water-proofing, are lightweight and comfortable, and, because of their design, can be worn with bicycle helmets and sunglasses.

You can use these as everyday headphones around the house as well since they can take calls; just be mindful that they don’t block any sound. If you plan to use these in a location with loud music or has a lot of ambient noise, you’ll hear everything, so you might prefer taking regular headphones—but that will defeat the purpose of the “open ear” headphones. These have multipoint connectivity, but there is no companion app or EQ functionality.

alternative_right shares a report from ScienceAlert: The insecticide chlorpyrifos is a powerful tool for controlling various pests, making it one of the most widely used pesticides during the latter half of the 20th century. Like many pesticides, however, chlorpyrifos lacks precision. In addition to harming non-target insects like bees, it has also been linked to health risks for much larger animals — including us. Now, a new US study suggests those risks may begin before birth. Humans exposed to chlorpyrifos prenatally are more likely to exhibit structural brain abnormalities and reduced motor functions in childhood and adolescence.

Progressively higher prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos was associated with incrementally greater deviations in brain structure, function, and metabolism in children and teens, the researchers found, along with poorer measures of motor speed and motor programming. […] This supports previous research linking chlorpyrifos with impaired cognitive function and brain development, but these findings are the first evidence of widespread and long-lasting molecular, cellular, and metabolic effects in the brain. “The disturbances in brain tissue and metabolism that we observed with prenatal exposure to this one pesticide were remarkably widespread throughout the brain,” says first author Bradley Peterson, a developmental neuroscientist at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. Senior author Virginia Rauh added: “It is vitally important that we continue to monitor the levels of exposure in potentially vulnerable populations, especially in pregnant women in agricultural communities, as their infants continue to be at risk.”

The report notes that the EPA banned residential use of chlorpyrifos in 2001 but the pesticide is still used in agriculture around the world.

The findings have been published in the journal JAMA Neurology.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The world’s largest iceberg is now breaking apart rapidly in warmer waters after nearly 40 years adrift. “Earlier this year, the ‘megaberg’ known as A23a weighed a little under a trillion tons and was more than twice the size of Greater London,” reports The Guardian. “It is now less than half its original size, but still a hefty 1,770 sq km (683 sq miles) and 60km (37 miles) at its widest point…” Scientists expect it to completely disintegrate within weeks. From the report: A23a calved from the Antarctic shelf in 1986 but quickly grounded in the Weddell Sea, remaining stuck on the ocean floor for over 30 years. It finally escaped in 2020 and, like other giants before it, was carried along “iceberg alley” into the South Atlantic Ocean by the powerful Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Around March, it ran aground in shallow waters off distant South Georgia island, raising fears it could disrupt large colonies of adult penguins and seals there from feeding their young. But it dislodged in late May, and moved on. […] Iceberg calving is a natural process. But scientists say the rate at which they were being lost from Antarctica is increasing, probably because of human induced climate change.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: On a recent evening, a trio of Ukrainian drones flew under the cover of darkness to a Russian position and decided among themselves exactly when to strike. The assault was an example of how Ukraine is using artificial intelligence to allow groups of drones to coordinate with each other to attack Russian positions, an innovative technology that heralds the future of battle. Military experts say the so-called swarm technology represents the next frontier for drone warfare because of its potential to allow tens or even thousands of drones — or swarms — to be deployed at once to overwhelm the defenses of a target, be that a city or an individual military asset.

Ukraine has conducted swarm attacks on the battlefield for much of the past year, according to a senior Ukrainian officer and the company that makes the software. The previously unreported attacks are the first known routine use of swarm technology in combat, analysts say, underscoring Ukraine’s position at the vanguard of drone warfare. […] The drones deployed in the recent Ukrainian attack used technology developed by local company Swarmer. Its software allows groups of drones to decide which one strikes first and adapt if, for instance, one runs out of battery, said Chief Executive Serhii Kupriienko. “You set the target and the drones do the rest,” Kupriienko said. “They work together, they adapt.”

Swarmer’s technology was first deployed by Ukrainian forces to lay mines around a year ago. It has since been used to target Russian soldiers, equipment and infrastructure, according to the Ukrainian military officer. The officer said his drone unit had used Swarmer’s technology more than a hundred times, and that other units also have UAVs equipped with the software. He typically uses the technology with three drones, but says others have deployed it with as many as eight. Kupriienko said the software has been tested with up to 25 drones. A common operation uses a reconnaissance drone and two other UAVs carrying small bombs to target a Russian trench, the officer said. An operator gives the drones a target zone to look for an enemy position and the command to engage when it is spotted. The reconnaissance drone maps the route for the bombers to follow and the drones themselves then decide when, and which one, will release the bombs over the target.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The SAT is billed as “a great way to find out how prepared students are for college.” If that’s true, recent changes to its format offer an unflattering assessment of the country’s aspiring scholars, Bloomberg’s editorial board wrote Wednesday. From the piece: […] Then the pandemic hit. As in-person exams became impractical, hundreds of schools dropped their testing requirements. The SAT and its main competitor, the ACT, lost millions of dollars in revenue. Although both recently started offering digital options, schools have been slow to reinstate their requirements. Today, more than 80% of schools remain test-optional.

“If students are deciding to take a test,” as one College Board executive put it, “how do we make the SAT the one they want to take?” To anyone familiar with American teenagers, the company’s answer should come as no surprise: Make the test easier. The newly digitized format allows a calculator for the entire math section and drastically cuts reading comprehension. Gone are the 500- to 750-word passages about which students would answer a series of questions. Instead, test takers read 25- to 150-word excerpts — about the length of a social media post — and answer a single question about each.

[…] An effort by the College Board to reemphasize the benefits of deep reading — for critical thinking, for self-reflection, for learning of all kinds — might go a long way toward restoring some balance. It should build on efforts to incorporate college prep into school curricula, work with districts to develop coursework that builds reading stamina for all test takers, and consider reducing the cost of its subject-specific Advanced Placement exams that continue to test these skills (now $99), in line with the SAT ($68). Schools, for their part, should recommit to teaching books in their entirety.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Two new versions of Garmin’s Fenix 8 were announced today. Both have the ability to make emergency calls, and one has the first microLED screen I’ve seen on a smartwatch. This is a new display technology that should allow for incredible brightness, even in sunlight, but with a tradeoff: shorter battery life, and a hefty purchase price. 

The two new watches

Both new watches are versions of the Fenix 8, a top-of-the-line fitness smartwatch that launched last year. There were already variants with AMOLED displays or MIP displays with a solar panel. Today Garmin adds two more watches to that family: 

• Fenix 8 Pro AMOLED ($1,199.99 and up): This is similar to the Fenix 8 AMOLED, but adds LTE and satellite connectivity for emergency texts and calls. It comes in a 47-millimeter and 51-millimeter size (it’s $100 more for the bigger size).

• Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED ($1,999.99): This also has LTE and satellite connectivity, and also comes in a 51-millimeter size. It adds a microLED display, which is a brand-new display type that allows much brighter screens than before.

Both watches will be available to purchase on September 8, 2025.

Why microLED is a big deal for wearables

Most smartwatch screens are OLED or AMOLED displays; this is the kind with glowy pixels that you’re used to seeing on Apple Watches or, for that matter, your smartphone. A few older-style watches use a MIP or LCD display, which reflects the light around you or can be lit up with a backlight. (I have a breakdown of the pros and cons of both display types here.) 

But microLED is a new technology, not seen in a smartwatch until now. LEDs can now be made small enough—hence the “micro”—to be roughly pixel-sized. The microLED version of the Fenix 8 Pro has over 400,000 tiny LEDs in its round 454×454 pixel screen. (Both versions of the watch have the same resolution.) 

The main difference for users is that these screens are bright. MicroLEDs don’t have an organic component (the “O” in OLED or AMOLED) and this lets manufacturers put a lot more power into them without fear of burn-in. 

Garmin says their microLED screen can deliver 4,500 nits of brightness. For comparison, the Apple Watch series 10 has a 2,000-nit display, while the Apple Watch Ultra 2 bumps to 3,000 nits. Garmin doesn’t usually give nit ratings for their AMOLED watches, so it’s hard to compare, but safe to say 4,500 is a lot more brightness than you can expect from any other model.

You definitely pay for that in battery life, though. The microLED version of the Fenix 8 Pro burns through battery far faster than its more traditional AMOLED sibling, based on these comparisons for different use scenarios: 

• Smartwatch mode: 10 days for microLED, 27 days for AMOLED

• Smartwatch mode, always-on display: 4 days for microLED, 15 days for AMOLED

• All satellite systems (during an activity): 37 hours for microLED, 60 hours for AMOLED

• All satellite systems, but with the display always on: 16 hours for microLED, 47 hours for AMOLED

• All satellite systems, multi-band, and LTE livetrack: 17 hours for microLED, 21 hours for AMOLED

• As above, with LTE livetrack, but with the display always on: 10 hours for microLED, 19 hours for AMOLED

The Fenix 8 Pro has cell and satellite connectivity, but it’s not as useful as you might hope

Both Fenix 8 Pro models (the microLED and the regular AMOLED) have two types of connectivity for emergency communications. Unfortunately this is not the kind of connectivity that can give you casual notifications from various apps, the way you might expect from something like an Apple Watch.

The Fenix 8 Pro gets its connectivity two ways. One is LTE connectivity. This uses LTE-M signals, a low-power type of cell signal that is available in most places that have cell coverage. The other is a type of satellite communication, similar to what’s available from the InReach line of emergency satellite communicators. (Garmin brands the new connectivity as “InReach on your wrist.”)

These technologies allow voice calls and texting, so long as the person you’re calling or texting has the Garmin Messenger app on their phone (or is also wearing a Fenix 8 Pro). So you’ll be able to receive texts from your partner who knows you’re out in the woods, but you aren’t going to get casual messages from coworkers or friends who haven’t installed the app. 

You’ll need an InReach subscription to make use of these features, including the SOS Response that can contact a Garmin call center and potentially get a search-and-rescue team out to you in a serious emergency.  According to this Garmin page, InReach subscriptions run either $7.99/month or $14.99/month, depending on which plan you choose. Fenix 8 Pro users are able to waive the $39.99 activation fee. That page also notes that the Fenix 8 Pro cannot use satellite connectivity for live location tracking. 

Perplexity, the NVIDIA- and Bezos-backed AI company, is partnering with PayPal to get its Comet browser in front of millions of the financial tech giant’s users. The deal will see PayPal and Venmo customers in the US and select international markets gain access to the AI-powered browser, as well as a free 12-month subscription to Perplexity Pro, which normally costs $200. There are, of course, some conditions.

The promotion is part of PayPal’s new subscription hub, where users can manage all their recurring PayPal payments. The company is also offering users a $50 credit when they link and pay for three subscriptions using the hub. PayPal users in the US can claim their free 12-month Perplexity Pro subscription from the PayPal app today. Likewise, Venmo users can access the offer from within the Venmo app. The deal is on offer through the end of this year, and the Perplexity Pro subscription will auto-renew after the free 12 months is up at the then current rate unless cancelled.

The Comet browser was in beta testing earlier this summer before launching in July as part of Perplexity’s $200-per-month Max subscription. Perplexity’s AI is integrated into Comet and serves as the browser’s default search engine. This incorporation allows users to pull up the AI in a sidebar to ask questions about what they see on screen, summarize text and even take actions on behalf of the user, like sending an email or looking up directions on Google Maps.

The browser is built on Chromium, the same open-source codebase beneath Chrome, Edge and Opera. Perplexity actually offered to buy Chrome in August for $34.5 billion when it appeared that the courts might force a divestment, but a judge ruled this week that Google can keep its browser.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/paypal-and-venmo-users-get-a-free-year-of-perplexity-pro-and-early-access-to-its-ai-browser-155844658.html?src=rss