Platforms like YouTube have used machine learning tech for years to build your social media feeds. Now, in the age of generative AI, YouTube is building on that technological foundation and introducing a new way to use AI to build custom video feeds, the company announced at Made on YouTube on Wednesday.

You will soon be able to build multiple custom feeds of recommended videos by prompting YouTube like you would a chatbot, using plain language. So you can have feeds dedicated to specific subjects, like photography or college football, and YouTube creates dedicated tabs on your homepage for each feed. This will be rolling out across desktop, TV and mobile in the US next month.

YouTube’s experimental Ask YouTube tool lets you search for videos with AI, and it’s expanding its capabilities. Now, if you search for information about a new product, like the new iPhone Duo, the Ask YouTube AI can compile information from videos and outside sources. It uses that information to build comparison tables, among other things. You can click on a video that the tool surfaces and continue asking questions on the video’s watch page.

It is somewhat similar to how a chatbot can search the web for information, compile it and cite its sources. But similar to the decline in traffic that digital publishers have seen with the rise of generative AI, there is a risk that YouTube’s AI-enhanced search may eliminate the need for people to click on video links and consume original content.

“Our goal is to connect viewers with the right video faster. With Ask YouTube, we expect watch time to remain steady or improve,” a YouTube spokesperson told CNET. Other AI features, such as chapters and AI-generated summaries, “showed no negative impact on watch time; instead, they helped retain viewers.” Videos included in the AI search’s answers will “prominently display the video title and channel name,” the spokesperson said.

The AI takeover of YouTube has been an ongoing project for its parent company, Google, in recent years. While creators have been using AI to edit and create videos, leading to an onslaught of AI slop, the platform has been integrating new tools powered by Google’s Gemini models. Now, YouTube is focusing its AI efforts on personalization, both for viewers and creators, to ultimately keep us scrolling and monetize content. It is also adding Gemini as a content creation assistant to Shorts and the YouTube Create app.

YouTube has been under fire this year as a landmark court decision found that Meta and Google designed their sites to be intentionally addictive to children and teens, harming their mental health. YouTube has denied this, saying it’s a streaming platform, not a social media platform. Many child safety researchers and advocates are worried about social media sites adding more AI features. We’ve already seen how AI features can harm kids, such as in the case of Reuters’ 2025 investigation that found Meta’s AI chatbots on Instagram would engage in sexual and romantic roleplay with children.

Creator-specific tools coming to YouTube

YouTube is introducing a dedicated tool for episodic content, called Shorts series. This will let content creators designate videos as part of a dedicated series, with season and episode numbers. As more content creators are investing in serialized content — think Sydney Jo’s The Group Chat series or microdramas — this tool will allow people to separate and highlight these videos from the rest of their posts. Viewers will be able to more easily find and watch these videos. The series will live on a creator’s page as a playlist. Only creators in YouTube’s partner program will have access at launch, available on web, mobile and TV.

YouTube is also offering creators two new ways to personalize content for their viewers. Creators will be able to test multiple thumbnails and preview clips for their videos. YouTube will serve the video to real viewers, and depending on each thumbnail and video cut’s performance, it will match a viewer with the version YouTube thinks they will be most likely to click on. This kind of personalization is a key part of AI’s promise for digital marketers.

Auto dubbing, or real-time audio translation, will be available for livestreams, starting with English and Spanish, with plans to expand to additional languages in the future. YouTube is also expanding how creators can monetize their content with a new affiliate partnership with Amazon.

Katelyn Chedraoui

Reporter 2

Katelyn is a reporter with CNET covering artificial intelligence, including chatbots, image and video generators. Her work explores how new AI technology is infiltrating our lives, shaping the content we consume on social media and affecting the people behind the screens. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in media and journalism. You can reach her at kchedraoui@cnet.com.

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Beats has just unveiled its latest pair of headphones with the Beats 360, but how does it measure up to Apple’s AirPods Max 2?

Beats is part of Apple, and has been since being bought by the company back in 2014, which means choosing between the two for headphones can feel like a difficult task. That’s where we come in.

Although we haven’t reviewed the Beats 360 yet, we have reviewed the AirPods Max 2 and have noted the key differences between the two headphones below. 

Read on to see what’s different with the Beats 360 and whether it stands a chance at making it into our best headphones guide. Or for more on the recent Beats launch, our Beats 360 vs Beats Studio Pro explains what’s new with Beats’ flagship, while I’ve offered my early thoughts on the headphones too.

Price and Availability

The Beats 360 is available to order now and has an RRP of £299.95. The headphones come in a choice of four colours – Sky, Cloud, Pink and Black – and will include colour-coordinated earcup and headband cushions. 

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You can also purchase different coloured earcups and headband cushions separately with Cushion Kits. At the time of writing, you can buy Cushion Kits for just £9.95 directly from Apple, which is £40 less than they’ll usually be.

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The AirPods Max 2 is considerably more expensive in comparison, with an RRP of an eye-watering £499.

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Beats 360 has interchangeable earcup and headband cushions

One of the biggest design differences between the Beats 360 and AirPods Max 2 is that the 360 has interchangeable earcup and headband cushions. That means alongside the colour-matched cushions that come in the 360’s box, you can buy additional knit cushions in six colours – Black, Cloud, Pink, Sky, Navy and Volt (which is a vibrant yellow), or UltraPlush options in either Black and Cloud. The latter is the same engineered leather that’s found on the Studio Pro.

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In comparison, although the AirPods Max 2 comes in a choice between five colours – Blue, Purple, Starlight, Orange and Midnight – you can’t change the earcups or headband.

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Both can be paired with either an Android or iPhone, but the Beats 360 offer Android features

Contrary to popular belief, you can pair the AirPods Max 2 with an Android phone, however you will lose access to Apple features like Siri, Find My and easier pairing. 

Otherwise, thanks to its custom Beats chip, the Beats 360 promises seamless integration across both Apple and Android ecosystems. For example, if you pair the Beats 360 with an iPhone then you’ll benefit from one-touch pairing, Siri, audio sharing, personalised spatial audio with dynamic head tracking and Find My integration. However, pair the Beats 360 with an Android and you’ll see Google Fast Pair, access to Find Hub and audio switch too.

Essentially, if you’re an Android user and are torn between the Beats 360 and AirPods Max 2, then the decision is easy, as the Beats 360 offer more features specifically for your Android ecosystem.

Both are fitted with ANC and nine microphones

Both Beats and Apple make pretty hefty claims with regards to their respective flagship headphone’s ANC prowess. While Apple stated that the AirPods Max 2 saw 1.5x better ANC than the original AirPods Max, Beats promise the 360 has the brand’s best ever ANC that’s 1.75x more powerful than the Studio Pro.

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As we’re yet to review the Beats 360, we can’t currently verify this claim. Having said that, in my brief time with the headphones, I was instantly impressed with how well the headphones muted a noisy event – even without playing an audio. With that in mind, we have high hopes for the 360. 

During our time with the AirPods Max 2, we found the headphones did a great job at cancelling noise from public transport and general chatter. While some sounds did creep through, mainly traffic and cars, generally we were impressed with its ANC and found it comparable to some of the best noise cancelling headphones on the market. 

Beats 360 has a Power button and no Digital Crown

One of our biggest annoyances with the AirPods Max 2 is the fact it doesn’t have a dedicated Power button. Instead, you either need to simply leave the AirPods Max 2 untouched for an extended period, or place the headphones into the so-called Smart Case to power them down. It’s such a strange decision, and feels like we’re potentially wasting battery.

Fortunately Beats hasn’t made the same mistake as Apple, with the 360 fitted with easy-to-use controls on the back of each earcup. These controls include a volume rocker and a play/pause button on the right, and a listening mode and a power button on the right. What isn’t included on the Beats 360 is a Digital Crown. 

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Found on the AirPods Max 2, the Digital Crown can be used for multiple features, from volume control and playing or pausing media, to answering calls, using the camera remote feature, accessing Siri and more. It’s useful, but still frustrating that you can’t use it to turn the headphones off.

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Beats 360 promises longer battery

During our time with the AirPods Max 2, we found the headphones matched Apple’s claim of 20 hours of battery between charges. It’s decent, but falls far behind many other over-ear headphones – including the Beats 360.

In fact, the Beats 360 promises to deliver up to 32 hours of battery life between charges while a five minute charge results in an additional hour of playback too. Considering we found the Studio Pro actually surpassed Beats’ battery promise, we have high hopes for the Beats 360.

Early Verdict

Judging by its specs alone (as we haven’t reviewed it yet), the Beats 360 looks like a seriously promising set of headphones. With the promise of Beats’ best ever ANC, a customisable design and longer battery life, the Beats 360 will suit both iPhone and Android users – especially as it has a more affordable price tag too.

That doesn’t mean the AirPods Max 2 isn’t a great choice – in fact, we concluded the headphones to be Apple’s best sounding option. It’s just with a £499 price tag, a fairly pointless case and a below-average battery life, unless you’re a diehard Apple fan, the AirPods Max 2 isn’t the most appealing option on the market.

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People across the world are increasingly turning to AI for everyday tasks, from looking up recipes and doing their homework to researching work projects or making presentations.

But using AI every day doesn’t necessarily mean people are feeling comfortable with its implications for the world: About 68% of Americans who use AI daily are worried about it, according to a new survey conducted by opinion research firm Gallup, and concern about the tech skews even higher among people who use it less frequently.

Coming at a time of intense debate around the dangers of AI, quick developments around AI safety, the implications of AI going rogue, and accusations of anti-competitive behavior, these findings complicate the notion that adoption can serve as a straightforward measure of public enthusiasm for AI.

Commissioned by Microsoft, the Gallup study currently has results from 37 countries, where researchers polled about 1,000 people in each country between April and July. The project will eventually span 140 countries. Notably, India, a large population of tech users, is not currently part of the reported results, nor is Australia and Malaysia.

The findings appear to put the U.S. at the anxious end of an international chart even as people in other parts of the world expect the technology to improve their lives. According to Gallup, Western countries are most concerned about AI, with the United States leading in anxiety — 74% Americans reported feelings of worry, and only 36% expect AI to mostly help the country.

Other wealthy Western countries showed a similar mix of relatively frequent use and concern. In Canada, for example, 29% of those surveyed reported using AI daily, and of those, more than half expressed concerns about the impact of the technology. Overall, 64% of Canadians aware of AI said it worried them.

They’re likely not imagining it. There’s certainly been a growing wave of discontent around AI, with tech companies laying off hundreds of thousands of employees in order to invest in AI, shrinking entry-level openings, life-ending cases of AI psychosis, and dire warnings from AI leaders like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who have warned that the tech will wipe out jobs en masse.

The survey paints a different picture in the rest of the world, however. In Singapore, which had the highest portion of daily users in the study (46%), more than 80% of those aware about AI expect the tech to improve their everyday lives, and 77% think it’ll help the country. China, where 35% of people report using AI daily, most people expect it to help the country. The story is similar in Israel.

Still, optimism about AI doesn’t necessarily appear to translate to trust in the tech’s accuracy. According to Gallup, people who use AI daily were generally more trusting of its results, especially in high-adoption countries like Singapore, Israel and China, while less frequent users remain skeptical across the board. In the U.S., only 45% of daily users expressed that level of confidence. Altogether, only 36% (median) of the people surveyed said they trust AI’s results a lot.

Overall, though, Gallup reports that positivity about AI outweighs negative sentiments: In 34 of the 37 countries surveyed, people mostly reported feeling curious about the tech, with a fewer number saying they felt happy or excited. Only about 32% of those surveyed said they felt worried about AI. Positive emotions seem to be most common in China (90%), Singapore (89%) and Kenya (87%).

It’s not clear how much sentiment in some countries, especially China, might have changed since the survey ended in July, as the pace of AI development has lately burgeoned into a matter of international importance. AI safety is one of the major topics on the table for discussion when U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jingping meet on Thursday.

Notably, China’s head of the Ministry of State Security, Chen Yixin, wrote in a recent article that AI will have “a systemic impact on the political and security environment,” and could threaten China’s “political security, institutional security, and ideological security.”

“One of the clearest findings is that attitudes toward AI are multidimensional. People can be curious about AI, expect it to be beneficial and use it frequently while still being worried about it. Similarly, they can see considerable potential in AI while remaining skeptical about whether the information it provides is accurate,” Pablo Diego-Rosell, senior scientist at Gallup, told TechCrunch.

While the report paints a picture of optimism colored by some concern, it’s nevertheless true that AI worries are increasingly becoming part of public discourse. People who rely on AI for day-to-day tasks may end up supporting tougher rules or resisting its use in hiring, healthcare, education or government. And there’s certainly an argument to be made that training and serving AI models can harm the climate, and their unregulated use can disrupt cybersecurity, diminish content ownership, upset the creative arts fields, or harm data privacy.

At the end of the day, the report suggests that greater exposure alone will not resolve the unease around the technology. Still, given the amount of money that’s being invested, AI will likely continue proliferating even as disputes rage around where it belongs and what limits should be placed around it.

Geely has revealed a fifth-generation charging system peaking at 2,250 kW, which it says takes new Lynk & Co and Zeekr models from 10 to 70% in four minutes and 30 seconds. Under AFIR a charging pool on Europe’s core network must provide 600 kW in total by 2027.

Geely has revealed a fifth-generation Smart Charging System that peaks at 2,250 kW, InsideEVs reported. New versions of the Lynk & Co 10 and Zeekr 001 charge from 10 to 70% in four minutes and 30 seconds, and from 10 to 97% in eight minutes and 40, the company says.

Nothing sold here is close.

The quickest cars on Western markets peak at 400 kW, and the Mercedes-AMG GT four-door will take 600 kW when it arrives. Geely did not say what peak rate its own cars actually reach.

The rules make the better comparison.

A charging pool on Europe’s core network must provide 400 kW in total by the end of this year under AFIR, rising to 600 kW with two 150 kW points by 2027. One Geely connector is nearly four times that whole site.

The battery claim is the part worth reading.

Geely says an AI system called Xingrui PowerMind predicts cell temperatures and adjusts speed to hold an average of 55 degrees Celsius, with a ceiling of 65. It also claims a lithium-ion pulse restoration technique, using micro pulses to reactivate lithium that plates onto the anode during repeated fast charging.

Europe starts testing that in November.

Euro 7 takes effect on 29 November and requires a battery to retain 80% of capacity after five years or 100,000 km, and 72% after eight years or 160,000 km. BYD put 350 fast charges into one car in nine days and reported 98.7% retention, which measures cycles rather than calendar years.

Deployment is the other gap.

BYD passed 10,000 Flash chargers in August, wants 20,000 by December and plans 3,000 in Europe, beginning with 300 in the United Kingdom. Each of its connectors delivers up to 1,500 kW. Geely has not said how many chargers it intends to build, or where.

It owns two European brands.

Geely’s chairman said in April that the group would stop building factories anywhere in the world and use Volvo’s instead. Volvo and Polestar sit in the same group as Zeekr and Lynk & Co. Neither has been offered this charger.

Two thousand feet of half-inch PEX already slept six to eight feet under Craftsman Chris’s yard when his first homemade cooling plan came up short. Four parallel five-hundred-foot slinky loops and a Taco 009 pump pushed water through a heat exchanger in the furnace plenum, yet the dirt had baked in the sun after excavation and the loop stayed warmer than he needed. Direct ground water barely cooled the house. He needed a machine that could pull heat out of indoor air and dump it into that soil instead of into hot summer wind.

Chris ended up with a 14,000 BTU LG Dual Inverter window unit that he fished from a dumpster. After cleaning the coils with Simple Green and a fin brush, and then washing them with soapy water, he was able to free up the condenser fan without touching any of the copper piping. He then moved the outdoor coil roughly 90 degrees without damaging a single copper line, ensuring that the refrigerant remained sealed. A little of scrap sheet metal and a MIG welder came in helpful for creating a water jacket around the coil, and to make it all work, he rigged up the ground-loop water to feed in at the top, surround the condenser, and exit at the bottom into the underground PEX tubing.

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Keeping the sealed circuit intact was important since he never cut any tubing or vented the refrigerant, thus the compressor and valves continued to function properly. Of course, new problems arose anyhow. For one reason, oil might accumulate at the new low point of the spun coil, starving the compressor. Then there was the issue of uninsulated aluminum on the water jacket absorbing extra heat, as well as air bubbles requiring a long time to purge. I suppose the final nail in the coffin was that the safety plug on the original power cord wouldn’t reset, so he had to temporarily replace the power cord end. Nonetheless, none of these concerns prevented him from running the test.

The control system for the device remained fairly rough, almost as beat up as the tank. He set together an old programmable logic controller and a linear actuator to hit the stock power button whenever the thermostat signaled for cooling. Not exactly a beautiful interface, but rather a production remnant that looks like it belongs on a plant floor and is being used to click a single button on a thermostat. The water flow rate through the jacket was around 3.3 gallons per minute, utilizing the same Taco pump that already serves the loops.

The first true run produced somewhat better results than the previous plenum-only setup. The air leaving the unit was between 49 and 54 degrees. He detected a temperature split of 26.5 degrees, which is fairly good. Water entering and leaving the underground loops varied by barely 3 to 5 degrees, but the jacket itself typically reached the upper 70s or low 80s. As an extra benefit, the cool air was actually making its way upstairs into the main living area. The next topic on the agenda is whether a single window unit and 2,000 feet of piping in the backyard can keep the entire house cool all summer.
[Source]

from the embarrassing-capitulation dept

Earlier this week we noted how California Democrats fecklessly folded to Paramount’s demands and settled the 12-state antitrust lawsuit against Paramount’s $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. We also noted how the conditions affixed to the deal are largely pathetic, and generally consist of a lot of performative fluff Paramount itself recommended and California AG Rob Bonta had previously laughed off.

But Bonta is thinking politically about not just Paramount’s lobbying influence, but any future relationships with potential presidential candidate Gavin Newsom or potential future California governor Xavier Becerra (both of whom rushed to pushing for settlement).

None of the conditions meaningfully protect consumers, labor, and markets from what’s coming, but they clearly spent a lot of time designing conditions that let them pretend otherwise.

That includes a purported “independent CBS and CNN oversight board” that’s supposed to prevent Larry Ellison from degrading CNN and CBS’ editorial mission even further. That’s something Paramount itself first floated last August, largely because it knows it will be able to safely ignore it (just as Rupert Murdoch did when he struck a similar deal after the acquisition of the Wall Street Journal).

And sure enough; as details leak out it’s clear the board is largely decorative. Insiders have already noted how the “independent” board will consist of journalists that have at least ten years experience in journalism, but they’ll be hand picked by Paramount:

“According to the terms of the settlement, the board must be established within 180 days of the closing of the deal. It will be composed of five current or former journalists with at least 10 years of experience each and will be appointed by the board of the company for three-year terms.”

That’s just profoundly embarrassing. There’s absolutely zero chance that Paramount is going to appoint the kind of folks capable of pointing out that Ellison, and underlings like Bari Weiss, are actively working to convert CNN and CBS into corporation and oligarch-friendly agitprop. And there’s really nothing preventing Paramount from tap-dancing around the requirements.

I’m sure, like a stopped clock, this board will occasionally and initially make a useful decision to give the impression it’s a real entity. But historically this stuff is designed to prevent real oversight, particularly by government. Former and current insiders at the network simply aren’t impressed:

“There is no way that is going to work,” former CNN anchor Jim Acosta said. “They will start to fire anchors and certain folks to send a message, and the rest will either have to fall in line or leave. This was a colossal mistake.”

CNN and CBS were already pockmarked with a lot of weak-kneed corporation-friendly journalism. Now that Ellison’s involved, both will indisputably begin to look more and more like other right wing propaganda outlets like the New York Post and Fox News.

These kinds of conditions are designed to make it look like responsible people are doing something about media consolidation — without actually doing anything about media consolidation. You protect consumers, labor, and markets by actively enforcing antitrust law; not by endlessly designing half-cooked half-measures that state regulators then fail to consistently enforce.

What’s extra embarrassing is that Democrats like Bonta, Karen Bass, and Newsom had an opportunity here to demonstrate that Democrats had backbone and actually care about subjects like media reform, media consolidation, and the rise of right wing propaganda and disinformation.

Instead they immediately buckled to Ellison’s threat that he’d move Paramount out of California, and are now patting themselves on the back for “saving jobs” — when the end outcome of these deals is always thousands of layoffs as the bigger company offloads merger debt to labor and consumers.

One nice thing about antitrust: if U.S. politicians were to actually enforce the law, we’d have markets more heavily peppered with the kind of small and mid-sized companies that lack the scale and political influence to threaten government when it tries to enforce the law.

Throughout this whole process Paramount (and by proxy a consolidated press) have made it sound like the 12 states were engaged in “radical leftism” simply by enforcing existing antitrust law. It’s important to remember how little Newsom, Bonta, Bass, and Becerra cared about standing up to corporate power the next time you’re in the voting booth.

Filed Under: consolidation, corruption, david ellison, gavin newsom, hollywood, larry ellison, mergers, movies, oversight board, rob bonta, tv

Companies: cbs, cnn, paramount, warner bros.

Disney+ and Hulu subscribers are about to pay more for their streaming services as Disney rolls out another round of price hikes.

The increases affect both ad-supported and ad-free subscriptions, although customers who subscribe to the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu bundle will see no change. The largest increases are coming to the standalone ad-free plans, which will each cost an additional $2.50 per month, a roughly 13% increase.

Subscribers could begin receiving notifications about the price increases as early as Wednesday. The new prices are as follows:

• Disney+ without ads: $21.49, up $2.50
• Hulu without ads: $21.49, Up $2.50
• Disney+ and Hulu without ads: $21.99, up $2
• Disney+ with ads: $12.49, up $0.50
• Hulu with ads: $12.49, up $0.50
• Disney+ and Hulu with ads: $12.99, unchanged

The ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu bundle is the only plan exempt from this next batch of price increases. At $12.99 per month, it costs just 50 cents more than subscribing to either service individually with ads.

AppleInsider has some deals for new Disney+ bundle subscribers. Deals include Disney+ and Hulu for $11.99 for the first six months, or a Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max plan starting at $19.99 per month.

NYU Tandon assistant professor Nana Obayashi and Ph.D. student Daniil Filimonov built WorMa so one undulating machine could inspect a coastline, a flooded street, or a wetland without extra limbs or a second gait. WorMa blends “worm” and “mass,” and that mash-up is the entire plan. Five 3D-printed segments form a body about 50 centimeters long and a little over one kilogram. Four servos at the joints send a traveling wave down the length. Silicone pads under the belly give directional grip on dirt or pavement. Foam disks along the sides keep the robot from sinking once it enters water. An ESP32 runs the servos and the pump.

Nearly 350 grams of water, or 28% of the robot’s total weight, are suspended in two latex balloon reservoirs located inside the robot’s head and tail. They are linked by a piece of silicone tubing, allowing the water to be transferred back and forth. In the robot’s center, a 12-volt peristaltic pump stirs the water, slowly transporting it from one end to another. It takes little under 110 seconds for the pump to completely drain one reservoir and refill another. By shifting the water around, the robot can change where its weight is, on the ground or in the water, while still maintaining its wavelike movement. The water in the head reservoir adds weight to the robot’s front end, strengthening its grip on the ground. The water at the tail end lessens the weight at the front, causing the robot to move differently on the surface.

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When you take the robot up a 19.5-degree incline, the only setup that can gain enough grip at the front to haul the entire thing up is the head-heavy one. That front weight also reduced transportation costs by more than a third as compared to other weight placements, but other layouts simply couldn’t obtain enough bite at the nose to climb over the slope’s lip. Jumping a 15cm step is simple and only requires a quick pumping sequence. When WorMa approaches a step with water at the front, the front end grabs it and pulls it up; the water then flows to the back, allowing the lightened front to rise up and grab the edge. Water returns to the head so the robot can haul the rest of its body over. A fixed mass distribution failed even a four-centimeter step.

Things flip on their head in the pool. WorMa swims 26% faster and 52% more efficiently with water in its tail. It is moving at 9.6 cms per second at one point, yet returning to dry land requires the exact opposite movement. The water must shift back to the front, allowing the leading pads to grab and lift the robot out of the water. If you do this with a hefty tail or an even weight split, it will remain stuck at the waterline.

Tying all of this together, the robot can move on flat ground, navigate a step, climb a slope, and swim in water, all while moving 300 grams of water at each stage. An operator can still determine when to move the water. If this type of robot is ever going to roam a real shoreline on its own, upgrading to quicker pumps and an inbuilt system that allows it to rebalance in real time seems like a logical next step.
[Source]

If you want to learn how to code, but in your own time and without it costing an arm and a leg, here are some useful resources.

In 2026, despite the rising popularity of vibe coding, there are a multitude of STEM-based careers that require employees to have strong, traditional coding skills. You may want to improve yours or even begin from scratch, but if you find that standard courses are costly or too time consuming, it can be a deterrent.

But fret not, because there are plenty of opportunities to develop coding, skills be it with personal or professional goals in mind – and they don’t have to drain your time or your finances. 

So, if you want to build on your programming skills, but aren’t sure where to go, the following six resources could be exactly what you are looking for. 

Codewars

Codewars is a site for the students and professionals who want to broaden their skills, but who also want to have a little fun along the way.

The platform aims to help learners “achieve mastery through challenge” via training with peers on code kata – small coding exercises – that continuously challenges. Users can sharpen their skills, go up in the ranks though the challenge board, engage with a broad community of fellow learners and receive instant feedback to determine if progress is being made.

You can even create your own challenges and questions and put them to the wider community. The creators aptly refer to the site as a coding dojo and whether you are a student or sensei, there is definitely something to be gleaned from Codewars. 

Exercism

UK-based Exercism describes itself as a platform focused on “building a place where anyone can learn and master programming for free, without ever feeling lost or stupid”. Students of all abilities can learn how to code in 83 different languages via articles, videos and project work, with the goal being to have fun and progress, without stress or competition.

The platform also offers a wide community of peers with which to collaborate and build friendships, as well as a wide network of mentors to guide the learning process. 

FreeCodeCamp

FreeCodeCamp is exactly what it sounds like. This free platform is a resource through which students can learn how to code via a collection of podcasts, videos, articles and interactive lessons.

The available curriculum is expansive, can be engaged with via a number of different spoken languages and comes with a free certificate of completion. There are available learning options for beginners all the way through to advanced students and engagement is solely at the discretion of the user.

LeetCode

If you are a professional or a recent graduate preparing for a job interview that will likely demand robust coding skills, LeetCode is the ideal resource to test yourself in advance. The free-to-use platform supports 14 popular coding languages and enables users to debug and write their own online projects.

Students can test their coding knowledge by answering some of the more than 4,300 questions available. Users can also engage with a wide community of peers, participate in contests, challenge themselves and earn rewards.

If you have some skills but are looking to hone them, with future career opportunities in mind, this is definitely the place for you. For those who want a broader experience, there is also a premium paid feature. 

The Odin Project

The Odin Project, which is a free open-source learning platform, is an ideal site for a student or professional looking to advance their coding skills. The goal is to empower students to embark upon a career that requires coding, particularly those looking to become developers, though it is open to anyone who wishes to use it. 

The platform offers a hands-on introduction to all of the essential tools you’ll need to build real, working websites and also offers information on what web developers actually do and the foundations they might need for advancing their education. “This project is designed to fill in the gap for people who are trying to hack it on their own but still want a high-quality education,” according to the site.

Programiz

Programiz’s mission is to create a space in which learners can learn how to program easily and at their own pace. The platform offers tutorials in a variety of languages, the browser is free to use and no installation is required.

Programiz claims to teach the skill of coding step by step, via the use of online compilers available in more than 20 languages and interactive lessons that offer a guided path to learning programming with practical code that runs in your browser. 

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