Following three of the warmest years on record, as scientists reckon with climate tipping points and states and cities grapple with the escalating cost of extreme weather and more intense wildfires, the Trump administration this week is expected to formally eliminate the U.S. government’s role in controlling greenhouse gas pollution.

By revoking its 17-year-old scientific finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, the Environmental Protection Agency will demolish the legal underpinning of its authority to act on climate change under the Clean Air Act.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin will be alongside President Donald Trump for an event Wednesday focused on boosting U.S. use of coal, as mercury and air toxics standards are repealed. That is expected to be a prelude to Zeldin finalizing the endangerment finding repeal, an assignment the president handed him in an executive order signed on the first day of his second term in office.

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The dark web is a virtual neighborhood beyond the borders of the normal, everyday internet (which includes the website you’re looking at right now). It’s somewhere Google and Bing don’t index, and you need special tools to get to it.

It’s a place where you’ll find data leaks and illegal trades, but also legitimate, legal online activities users want to carry out without attracting the attention of law enforcement agencies or governments. It’s a part of the internet that’s less regulated and more shadowy, for better and for worse.

Piqued your interest? I’m going to explain how to get on the dark web and what you can find there—though Lifehacker doesn’t endorse doing anything that breaks the law, so I’m not going to tell you how to do something you shouldn’t.

The deep web versus the dark web: What’s the difference?

Much of the web isn’t freely accessible.
Credit: Lifehacker

You’ll often see these terms used in your travels across the internet, and there’s some confusion about what they mean. I’ll start with the deep web: That’s everything online that isn’t indexed by regular search engines, which includes pages locked behind paywalls, private databases, email archives, company intranets, and so on.

Think about all the parts of the web you can’t see without logging in, from academic journals to your Netflix account page: That’s the deep web. It accounts for around 90 percent of websites, by some estimates, so we’re talking about a substantial chunk of everything that’s online.

The dark web, which is what I’m discussing here, is a small subset of the deep web, and refers to websites that are specifically trying to stay out of sight. These pages come with extra protections for user anonymity and data security, and you need special software to access them. You can’t get at them through your normal web browser, like you can with much of the rest of the deep web.

Dark web tools and services

The dark web comes with its own set of tools and services, including web browsers and search engines (which I’ll get on to in a moment). Part of what makes the dark web the dark web is that you can’t access it through your normal web browser, nor can you look something up on it via a Google search.

Having a place on the internet that’s private and anonymous will naturally encourage certain kinds of illicit activities: Hacking tools, drugs, fake passports, porn, firearms, and more are all traded on the dark web. It’s a bit like wandering into the sketchiest part of a city, with all the associated goings-on.

However, there are plenty of legal and legitimate online activities that require privacy and anonymity. The dark web is used by journalists, whistleblowers, and political activists who need the protections that it offers. Anything you need to do that has to be off the books to some extent, for noble or ignoble reasons, can be done on the dark web.

To browse the dark web, you need a dark web browser

Tor is your way into the dark web.
Credit: Lifehacker

To get on the dark web, you need a browser built for the job, and the best in the business is Tor. Tor is a browser engineered for extra security and privacy, and can be used to navigate the normal, surface web as well as the dark web. It blocks trackers, prevents user fingerprinting, encrypts data, and reroutes your browsing so no one can see where in the world you are.

Tor is like the public-facing door to the dark web, and there are also mobile apps for Android and iOS. While there are other browsers you can use to get on the dark web, Tor is usually recommended as the best for most people in terms of the features it offers and the ease with which anyone can make use of it.

Key to the way Tor works is what’s known as onion routing technology. It gets its name from the way it puts several layers of obfuscation between you and the web, like the layers of an onion: Your traffic is bounced between multiple nodes, which means it’s not as quick as regular browsing, but also that it’s very difficult for anyone else to tell who you are or where you are.

Configuring dark web access through Tor.
Credit: Lifehacker

When you open up the browser for the first time on the desktop, you’ll see the option to Configure Connection or just Connect—choose the former, and you get more control over the nodes (or “bridges”) used to get online. For most people, it’s fine to let Tor handle this automatically (and you can set this to be the default in your browser too, if you like).

Once you are online, everything works in a similar way to a regular browser. You can access all of the normal web through Tor, and take advantage of the extra privacy its rerouting provides, as well as diving into the dark web. There are a few neat extra touches though, like the New identity button (the broomstick icon, top right) that clears everything from your current session and restarts Tor.

The mobile apps are straightforward to use as well. Tor for Android is the official app for Google’s mobile platform, and while there’s no exact equivalent on iOS, the open-source Onion Browser is a recommended alternative: The buttons for “onionizing” sites are on the top left (Android) and top right (iOS) corners. In both cases you can choose to install the Orbot VPN service, also part of the Tor project, to further secure your connection to the web.

The Onion Browser on iOS, with rerouting details.
Credit: Lifehacker

Even with Tor and onion routing in place, though, you’re not suddenly completely invisible and free to do whatever you want, without repercussions. Certain details of your traffic can be intercepted at the entry and exit points of the node, by the people running those nodes, if they know what they’re doing and what they’re looking for. You’re also open to threats like end-to-end correlation attacks, so while Tor is a lot more secure and private, it’s by no means completely safe.

Bear in mind, too, that your internet provider will be able to see you connecting to Tor nodes, even if it doesn’t know exactly what you’re doing. Many people install a VPN as well, but then you’re putting your trust in an additional third party to not track your activities or report them to anyone else.

Cybersecurity has to also cover everything physically on your computer too—which law enforcement or government authorities might have the right to seize if they come calling. If you want to be untraceable and undetectable, connecting to the dark web via the Tor browser is a major step towards that, but not the only step you’ll need.

A dark web search engine

Open up Tor, and you won’t suddenly see the dark web staring back at you. Not only do you need a dark web browser, you need a dark web search engine too. This search engine will get you to the sites you need, though you can also go directly to dark web addresses if you know what they are, as with standard URLs.

DuckDuckGo is the default search engine inside the Tor browser, and once you turn on the Onionize toggle switch in the search box, you’re able to use it to find dark web links. These typically come with “.onion” after them, rather than something like “.com” as on the standard web. On the dark web, you have to do become more of a search engine yourself: You’ll often get web links from other users or forums online, and you’ll need to keep these bookmarked to get back to them later.

Other dark web search engines worth investigating are Ahmia, Torch, NotEvil, and the Onion URL Directory—just type out some keywords for what you’re looking for. Some of these sites can be found through regular web browsers, but you’ll then need to switch over to Tor once you’ve got the onion links you want to follow.

Dark web websites

The BBC has a dark web site.
Credit: Lifehacker

Individual sites on the dark web look much like they do on the regular web, though a lot of them are a bit more rough around the edges. (Presentation and polish isn’t quite so important on this part of the internet.) Click on any website link, and it’ll appear on screen, with its address at the top.

Some of the websites to look out for on the dark web include mirrors of both the BBC and the Mediapart journalism platforms, built to help inform people who are living in countries where the internet is heavily censored. If you’re after secure email, look for the Proton Mail service. If you visit a regular website that also has a dark web (.onion) equivalent, you should see see a message to this effect in the top right corner of Tor: Click on the Visit the .onion button to view it.

Given the associations that the dark web has and some of the illegal activities that take place on it, you won’t find a huge number of well-known websites on there—a lot of the dark web is made up of sites, wikis, and forums maintained by volunteers. However, there’s still plenty worth exploring.

What’s for sale on the dark web

I’ve already touched on some of the stuff that you’ll find for sale on the dark web: It’s a long way from eBay, let me put it like that. Anything you can think of that you shouldn’t be downloading or buying, you can usually find it somewhere on the dark web.

For obvious reasons—I don’t want to get you or me into trouble, after all—I’m not going to get too specific when it comes to what you can find for sale on the dark web. A lot of transactions are handled via cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which is relatively (but not completely) private and anonymous. Another private cryptocurrency you’ll find being used is Monero, which prides itself on being untraceable.

That’s not to say you should assume any transactions you make on the dark web won’t ever be linked back to you—law enforcement has gotten pretty good at tracking down people who think they’ve been acting in the shadows. Even if you’re using a private, anonymized crypto wallet, there are other ways your identity can be revealed—even if it’s something as simple as letting a personal detail slip in an instant message.

Taken as a whole, there aren’t many good reasons to move your legitimate shopping activities to the dark web. Because of the way it works, and the kinds of items and goods that are typically on sale, it attracts a lot of scammers and hackers, and there are very few protections for you if you find yourself duped.

Is the dark web illegal?

Many dark web sites come and go.
Credit: Lifehacker

The dark web itself isn’t illegal, and you’re not going to get into any trouble just by visiting it—but it’s a place where a lot of illegal activities are carried out, because it’s much harder for law enforcement agencies to see what’s going on there.

You might often see news stories about criminal activity involving the dark web, and because of what’s happening in some corners of the dark web, it tends to put off law-abiding companies and users alike. Sections of the dark web are often closed down, too, as part of police operations.

With all of that in mind, you need to tread carefully when browsing, in terms of the sites you visit and the other users you interact with. Bear in mind too that laws about freedom of speech and censorship vary from country to country, which is part of the reason the dark web exists in the first place.

Staying on top of the hacker underground

Hackers spend a lot of time on the dark web, and it’s not too difficult to get access to hacking tools and data leaks in this part of the internet. However, it’s much harder to get at the people who are doing the uploading and downloading.

If you make use of a password manager, then it may come with a feature that monitors the dark web for mentions of your email address and password, or any other personal details. If dark web monitoring isn’t offered by the security packages you already have, there are other ways to do it, and there are steps you can take if your information does get leaked.

As I’ve previously said, it’s a good idea to keep your interactions with the dark web to a minimum, unless you can absolutely trust the people you’re dealing with. You’ll often see a sign in stores that says “look, don’t touch,” and it’s not a bad adage to bear in mind as you navigate around the dark web.

Sony will ship its last batch of Blu-ray recorders this month, according to Kyodo News, ending the company’s decades-long run in a product category it helped create. The recorders targeted exclusively the Japanese domestic market, where households used them to record broadcast television. Sony had already stopped manufacturing the devices and recordable discs about a year ago, and the final shipments are clearing out remaining inventory.

Kyodo attributes the segment’s death to the rise of streaming services. Sony will continue selling Blu-ray players “for the time being.” The broader Blu-ray ecosystem remains intact. Asus, LG, and Pioneer still produce PC drives in internal and external USB form factors. Panasonic and Verbatim continue manufacturing Blu-ray media. The format turned 20 last year, having debuted at CES 2006 — one year before Netflix launched its streaming platform.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

If there’s any area of your life that you might be willing to introduce more AI into, it’s likely something as mundane as grocery shopping. That’s what Uber is betting on with its new AI-powered feature in the Uber Eats app.

Cart Assistant lets you “build grocery baskets faster and with less effort” by using AI to automatically fill your basket with items included on your shopping list. To use it, you search for a supported grocery store on the home screen of the app and tap the new Cart Assistant icon that appears at the top of the screen.

From there, you can either manually type out a shopping list or upload a photo of a handwritten one, and Cart Assistant will fetch your requested items and add them to your basket. A screenshot of ingredients needed for a recipe will also suffice.

Uber says its AI assistant will factor in availability before selecting an item and will also display prices and any available promotions. If you don’t want something it recommends, you can delete or swap it for something else. Anything you forgot to add in the original list can be added later, and if you’ve purchased something in the past, these familiar items will be prioritized so you’re less likely to need to make changes. Uber advises users that the new shopping feature is in beta right now, so might not perform perfectly. 

Cart Assistant is the latest development in the gradual AI-ification of Uber Eats. Last summer, Uber added a suite of new features to the app, including AI-enhanced food images, AI menu descriptions and AI summaries or restaurant reviews.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/uber-eats-new-cart-assistant-feature-is-an-ai-hack-for-your-grocery-shopping-145733478.html?src=rss

T-Mobile is opening registration today for a beta test of Live Translation, an AI-powered feature that will translate live phone calls into more than 50 languages when it launches this spring.

The feature operates at the network level, so it doesn’t require any specific app or device — beta participants simply dial 87 to activate it on a call. T-Mobile President of Technology and CTO John Saw told The Verge that Live Translation works over VoLTE, VoNR and VoWiFi, meaning it isn’t limited to 5G. The only requirement is that a T-Mobile customer must initiate the translation. The beta will be free, though T-Mobile has not said whether the feature will eventually be paywalled.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

The 64GB refurbished Amazon Kindle Scribe is down to $278.99 right now, which is its lowest price to date, according to price trackers. A brand-new model costs $449.99, so the savings are significant. In this case, “like-new” means Amazon has cleaned, inspected, and cleared the device to function like a new unit, just without the shrink wrap. That price gap makes this Scribe more approachable, especially if you were curious about combining an e-reader with a digital notebook but did not want to pay flagship-tablet money.

Like-New Amazon Kindle Scribe (64 GB) – Your notes, documents and books, all in one place. With built-in AI notebook summarization. Includes Premium Pen – Metallic Jade

$278.99
at Amazon

$404.99
Save $126.00

$278.99
at Amazon

$404.99
Save $126.00

This is the Scribe with the Premium Pen bundled in, and paired with its 10.2-inch E Ink screen, it offers a nice balance of size and sharpness, with 300 ppi, and an adjustable cool to warm-toned front light, which helps during long reading sessions. But even with that crisp display, it’s still grayscale, and the lack of color does feel limiting when compared to competitors (if you’re curious about your options, PCMag has a comprehensive roundup of the best e-readers for 2026). The software has gotten better, though—note-taking now includes direct annotation on books via something called Active Canvas. Just don’t expect the fluidity of an iPad or Supernote. Also, according to this PCMag review, things like drawing arrows or circling aren’t supported, and even Amazon’s AI features (like cleaning up your notes or summarizing) feel a little half-baked, considering the Scribe’s price point.

That said, for pure reading, the Scribe still holds up. It’s light, looks good with its aluminum frame, has ample storage, and offers a battery that can last over two months with basic use. If you’re writing or sketching regularly, that drops to around three weeks—but even then, it’s more than respectable. You do need your own USB-C charging brick, though. And unless you like slippery backs, a case is basically required. At $278.99, this version makes more sense than it ever did at launch. Just know going in that while the writing feel is great, thanks to the paper-like texture of the screen, the software may not be as smooth or intuitive as you’d expect from a premium device trying to be both a digital notebook and Kindle.

Pokémon Pokopia can be described as a pocket monster-themed take on Animal Crossing with a hint of Stardew Valley thrown in for good measure. And if you’re like me, that alone is probably enough to sell you on the game. However, after getting a chance to play a preview of it for around half an hour, it became immediately clear that the game’s coziness levels are off the charts, but it also offers some fun twists on the genre.

Co-developed by The Pokémon Company, GAME FREAK and KOEI TECMO, instead of playing as a generic trainer, you take control of a lonely Ditto who wakes up in a cave only to be greeted by Professor Tangrowth, the last surviving inhabitant of what used to be a bustling town. While the professor might look like an extra-large version of the original pokémon with glasses, its role is to guide you as you rebuild and hopefully repopulate the surrounding area.

Nintendo

As a Ditto, you naturally have the ability to transform into other Pokémon, though the process is sort of incomplete, meaning you can only learn one skill from the monsters you befriend instead of their entire moveset like in the mainline games. This is where the first twist on the traditional life sim comes in. Instead of crafting them or earning money to buy tools, you can transform into other Pokémon (like Lapras or Dragonite) to use their abilities to traverse obstacles or shape the world around you. For example, turning into a Squirtle lets you shoot a water gun that will revitalize dry patches or thirsty plants, while transforming into a Scyther lets you slice through objects similar to the HM Cut. 

From there, you can use these skills to do things like create clusters of shrubs that will serve as homes for other Pokémon, allowing you to entice fellow creatures to return to the once desolate landscape. Another twist I really appreciate is that after appearing, new monsters will give you quests or just hang out. They will even talk and respond, and I don’t mean like the 8-bit cries from other Pokémon games. They speak in full sentences, which is a wonderful departure from previous titles that really gives you the feeling that you’re making friends and rebuilding a community instead of just being on a crusade to catch them all. 

The Stardew Valley part of the equation comes into play after you leave the first tutorial area and you come upon an abandoned Pokémon Center that’s in dire need of a renovation. You can do things like collect materials and do more quests to clean up the area to eventually turn the building in the heart of the town. Unfortunately, that’s where my preview ended, aside from quickly hopping into a multiplayer session where I was able to see a much more developed village, complete with multiple buildings, roads and benches. You know, all the sorts of things you used to furnish and decorate your island with in Animal Crossing. 

This gave me a nice glimpse at just how many things you can build in Pokopia and how easy it is to visit other people’s towns. However, it didn’t answer some of my bigger questions about the game, like what’s the deal with Peakychu and Mosslax, whom we’ve seen before in previous trailers. Are they just one-off versions of existing ‘mons with unusual typings (i.e. ghost and grass) only for this game, or are they going to be a bigger part of the Pokémon world going forward? Perhaps more importantly, it was hard to tell if there will be any sort of PVE content like The Mines or Skull Cavern in Stardew Valley. I’m really hoping there is because it seems like Ditto’s abilities could translate quite seamlessly to spelunking or battling your way through dungeons in search of rare items or building materials. 

Nintendo

That said, just being able to build a community of friendly monsters while injecting life back into a forgotten town has good vibes radiating from every corner. So if you need a super cozy game to keep you busy this winter/spring, Pokémon Pokopia is shaping up to be the digital version of a fluffy blanket and a cup of hot chocolate filled to the brim with all of your favorite ‘mons. 

Pokémon Pokopia is available for pre-order now, with official sales slated for March 5.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/pokemon-pokopia-is-so-damn-cozy-140000954.html?src=rss

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

At $239, down from its usual $299, the Nothing Headphone (1) is currently at its lowest price ever, according to price trackers—and that might just be the nudge you needed if you’ve had your eye on them.

Nothing Headphone (1)

$239.00
at Amazon

$299.00
Save $60.00

$239.00
at Amazon

$299.00
Save $60.00

In line with Nothing’s design language, these over-ear headphones feature transparent elements and bold, geometric detailing that make them stand out from typical matte-black pairs. But it’s not just about aesthetics. These IP52-rated headphones come packed with 40mm drivers, hybrid ANC, and both USB-C and 3.5mm connectivity. They support high-res audio via LDAC, and Nothing’s companion app gives you both a basic and advanced EQ for fine-tuning sound. Battery life is impressive, too: 35 hours with ANC on, up to 80 without.

But the hardware alone doesn’t define the experience—Nothing’s control scheme is what makes these wireless headphones stand out. Instead of touch panels or clunky buttons, you get a satisfying volume scroll wheel (they call it the Roller), a multi-function Paddle for track navigation, and a customizable Button that can switch EQ profiles or noise modes. The tactile design takes a minute to learn, but once you do, it’s intuitive and genuinely useful. You also get spatial audio and multipoint Bluetooth support, which work well across Android and iOS. That said, comfort may vary. The earcups aren’t the softest for long sessions, and while they’re padded, the shape might not suit everyone. Performance-wise, the ANC handles low-end noise well (think airplane engines and AC hum) but struggles with sharper, unexpected sounds like clanging dishes or chatter nearby. The sound profile is punchy, especially with a bit of EQ tweaking in the app, but you’ll need to put in some effort if you want the best results, notes this PCMag review.