As autumn paints the leaves, the universe is putting on its own seasonal spectacular. October features an action-packed lineup of meteor showers and celestial showcases.

All eight planets are visible at some point in October

Every planet in the solar system is easily seen at some point this month, with Mercury being the most difficult. That’s not unusual, thanks to its proximity to the sun. Here’s a quick rundown on the best times to view each planet in October. 

Mercury: Mercury is in elongation (the furthest it can get from the sun) on Oct. 12, making that day and the two or so days before and after the best possible time to view Mercury. 

Venus: Venus spends most of the month being right next to the sun, making it virtually impossible to see. However, by the end of the month, it begins to separate from the sun, making it visible just after sunset. The best view is on Oct. 31, and the view is only set to get better going into November.

Mars: Mars will be visible in the night sky every night in October. It rises from the eastern horizon right around 2 a.m. and stays there until the sun comes up.

Jupiter: Jupiter and Mars are going to be pretty close together all month, so most of the same rules apply, except that Jupiter rises about two hours later than Mars on most nights in October. 

Saturn: Saturn is living its best life in October. It’s visible almost right at sunset ET and stays visible in the night sky until sunrise.

Neptune: Neptune is also visible every day in October and follows a very similar path to Saturn. It rises in the east, streaks across the sky, and sets in the west right around sunrise. They’re actually pretty close together in the night sky every night during the month, so if you can find Saturn, Neptune isn’t far off, but you’ll definitely need magnification to see it. 

Uranus: Uranus is visible the entire month and follows a very similar path through the sky as Saturn and Neptune, but its trek happens later at night. It rises on the eastern horizon about 2 hours after Saturn and follows it across the sky, but never really catches up, ending up in the high western sky when sunrise comes. 

Oct. 3-4: Saturn is at opposition

Skygazers hoping to get the best possible view of Saturn can do so in the first week of October. The planet is at opposition — the point at which it’s closest to the Earth — meaning it’s as big and bright in the night sky as it’s going to get for the next year. This is prime time to pull out the telescope or high-powered binoculars and get a look at Saturn, along with its fabulous rings.

The planet reaches opposition at around 8 a.m. ET on Oct. 4. The best time to view is the night before, Oct. 3, or the evening after, Oct. 4. For both nights, Saturn rises out of the eastern horizon just before sunset and streaks up into the southern sky as the night goes on. The moon may cause some light pollution, but the planet is bright enough that it shouldn’t be hard to spot with the naked eye.

Oct. 5: The moon and Mars hang out

The various objects in the sky are always having a dance party, at least from the perspective of viewing them here on Earth. Mars and the moon are due for a dance on the evening of Oct. 5. In the days leading up to it, Mars appears further up in the night sky but drifts closer to the moon. After Oct. 5, the moon will move rapidly away from Mars. The two will be almost right on top of one another, so if you can find the moon, Mars should be nearby. 

Oct. 6: The moon covers Jupiter entirely

Just one day later, the moon is meeting up with another dance partner, Jupiter. The moon will completely cover Jupiter, hiding it from view for much of the night, a phenomenon known as a lunar occultation. This is a pretty rare event. Per The Old Farmer’s Almanac, New York City saw a Jupiter occultation in 2004. The prior one visible to New Yorkers was in 1889. 

This one is pretty easy to see. The moon and Jupiter will be right on top of one another all night, but depending on where you live, you’ll see Jupiter dip behind the moon at some point and pop back out again. The times vary wildly depending on where you are, so we recommend checking out The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which has a table of times this will happen in major cities. 

Oct. 7: Draconids Meteor Shower

The Draconids meteor shower is a minor meteor shower that occurs every year around the first week of October. It officially starts on Oct. 6 and runs until Oct. 10, making it one of the shortest meteor showers of the season. It peaks on the evening of Oct. 7 and continues into the middle of the night. It’s fed by the 21P/Giacobini-Zinner comet, which is part of the Jupiter family of comets. 

Draconids meteors appear to originate from the Draco constellation. It sits high in the western sky in the northern hemisphere this time of year, with a slight lean to the north. If you’re using a sky map app, all you need to do is find Vega, and you’re already in the right neighborhood to catch Draconids. 

The peak is a little tame, at around 10 meteors per hour most years, but it has a history of surprising astronomers. In 1933 and 1946, Draconids spat out thousands of meteors an hour in what were two of the most intense meteor showers of the 20th century. On the plus side, the moon is below the horizon for this meteor shower, so you won’t need to worry about light pollution from the moon. 

Oct. 10: The last good chance to see the Milky Way

The very best time to view the Milky Way is at a new moon in the warm months of the year, from May to August. This is when the Milky Way is high in the sky all night, giving night owls great views and plenty of time to photograph it. The problem is that it’s best viewed on nights with a new moon between midnight and 4 a.m. local time, which can be a bit late for some folks. 

September and October are great for this because the Milky Way is at its highest point between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. local time, giving the early birds a chance to snap some sweet photographs of the Milky Way. After October, the Milky Way is too low on the horizon to allow really good pictures of it until the following May. So, if you have a camera and are some place that’s dark, the new moon on Oct. 10 is probably your last chance to capture a striking photo before next spring. 

Oct. 21: Orionids meteor shower

Orionids is the better-known of the two October meteor showers. This one officially starts on Oct. 2 and runs until Nov. 7. It’s possible to spot a meteor from Orionids any night during the month, but the shower reaches its peak on the evening of Oct. 21. Meteors for this shower come from the 1P/Halley comet, which also feeds the Eta Aquariids meteor shower that happens every year in May. 

This is a slightly more active meteor shower than the Draconids, and you can expect about 10 to 20 meteors per hour. The moon is set to be about 76% full that night, so you can probably expect to see fewer meteors thanks to lunar light pollution. The Orion constellation, where the meteor shower will appear to originate, doesn’t pop up over the eastern horizon until after midnight, so make sure to pack some coffee if you’re staying up late for this one. If you can find the stars Betelgeuse, Capella and Rigel, then you should be able to find Orion easily. They’re in the same general area. 

The Orionids meteor shower is best known for its bright, fast-moving meteors, which leave long trails that can last for over a minute and sometimes result in fireballs. Their brightness will be a boon, with the three-quarters-full moon in the sky hindering viewing. 

Oct. 26: The Hunter Moon

October’s full moon falls close to Halloween this year, perfect for spooky views. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, October’s full moon reaches its peak on Oct. 26 at 12:12 a.m. ET. It’ll also be over 90% full for a couple of days before and after, giving you a solid five days to check it out. 

October’s full moon isn’t quite a supermoon. A full moon is only classified as a supermoon when the moon is in perigee and full at roughly the same time, and October’s full moon misses the mark by a couple of days. October’s full moon is the last normal full moon of the year. November and December close out 2026 with supermoons before January opens with the final supermoon of this cycle. 

Oct. 27: The moon eclipses the Pleiades

Pleiades is one of the best star clusters to view in the night sky. They’re known as the Seven Sisters, and in terms of clusters of stars, it’s one of the easiest to see. The exception is on Oct. 27, when the moon will cross in front of them, blocking them almost entirely from view. When this happens depends on where you’re located. 

The moon begins passing in front of them before sunset in eastern time, and moves out of the way around midnight. Those on the East Coast will start the night in the middle of this little eclipse, while those on the West Coast will glimpse it at the very end. Finding it should be simple enough since the moon is the easiest thing to see in the night sky.

All month: Constellations and asterisms

The sky is continuing its rearrangement from summer into autumn, and there are tons of constellations to gaze at over the course of the month. Many of September’s constellations appear again, including both Dippers, Aquarius, Pegasus, Pisces and many others. October plays host to a few new ones in the night sky cycle, including Taurus, Cetus, Auriga and Orion, which will appear low on the horizon as they begin their months-long ascent into the sky for the winter. 

There are some smaller asterisms to observe as well, including the Coffin of Delphinus, the Circlet of Pisces and the Northern Cross. We recommend using a sky map to find them all, as there are quite a lot. That’s good news, because even if you don’t go out during one of the big events in October, you’ll still have plenty of objects to look for in the night sky. 

Joe is a freelance journalist. It all started with a long-running affection for building his own PCs, which he did for the first time as a teenager. It evolved into a lifelong enjoyment of putting words on the internet about the subject. He’s written for CNET, PCMag, Mashable and SlashGear as a freelance writer, and worked as a Senior Editor at Android Authority for 10 years. When he’s not writing about tech and science, he’s learning the ins and outs of DIY home repair, gaming, playing his bass guitars and posting help on PC building and gaming subreddits. He is a staunch believer that orange juice should have pulp.

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Defense and venture capital used to rarely overlap, but that’s no longer the case. Defense tech VC dealmaking set a record in Q1 2026, and new VC firms have emerged around the world to invest solely in defense startups.

One of these is two-year-old Protego Ventures, which presents itself as the first and largest dedicated defense tech VC in Israel. Led notably by two women, Lital Leshem and Lee Moser, it has just completed the final close of its debut fund with $125 million in capital commitments, TechCrunch learned exclusively.

This fund size is enabling Protego to invest between $5 million and $50 million per company, with a focus on startups “addressing the critical defense and security needs of Israel and the global community,” according to its website.

These include the likes of drone maker XTEND, its first portfolio company, which went public on the NYSE earlier this month. That’s also why Protego stopped short of its $150 million target: a smaller fund magnifies the impact of a single big win on overall returns, and with XTEND now looking like a potential “fund maker” — a single investment capable of returning the whole fund — raising more capital would only dilute that upside among a larger pool of investors. “Nobody wants to share the pie,” Leshem said.

Ares Management is one of Protego’s biggest backers. The investment firm suggested that Leshem and Moser join forces and start Protego in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, with the conviction that new technologies would be key to boosting Israel’s defense capabilities in the face of new threats, Leshem said.

With a $30 million investment as a limited partner, Ares gave Protego the support it needed to start investing right away, Leshem said. Besides XTEND, its portfolio also includes startups such as ASIO, which develops situational awareness systems and has partnered with Anduril.

Leshem says the reception in defense circles has been strong. “On the military side, there is a lot of respect, and people are coming — even under the radar — to talk to us, to learn from us, to train with us, and for sure get our technology and innovation.”

Still, the Israeli market is easier to navigate for insiders, and Protego’s two founders are leaning into their networks. Moser, a seasoned venture capitalist, will remain a managing partner at the generalist VC firm AnD Ventures. As for Leshem, who co-founded a startup that was acquired for $625 million in 2025, she also brings 11 years of experience in the military and intelligence field to their approach.

“Everything changed on October 7,” Leshem told TechCrunch. She was deployed, while pregnant, as a reservist on the day of the attacks. “And basically until the delivery room, I was there, witnessing and getting the first-row seat to how the battlefield acted differently from what I knew in the past decade.”

Protego won’t have the field to itself for long. Israeli authorities have taken notice of the same shift, awarding VC firms Adir Capital and Sling Capital about $33 million in state guarantees to invest in military and dual-use technologies, with other funds also raising capital for similar bets. (Leshem said Protego was too far along in its own fundraising to take part in the government’s tender.)

Protego, meanwhile, is already planning its next move: a second fund in the first quarter of 2027, backed by Israeli institutional investors and one large U.S. commitment Leshem has already secured, with a broader scope that includes early-growth American defense-tech companies.

Among the many joys of having a cat is the daily battle with the mess they leave behind. No matter what you try, finding litter and pet hair on furniture or in your bed is inevitable — either they track it in, or you do. If you’re a pet parent like me, this means searching for additional bits of litter and stray hairs that find their way into places you really don’t want them, including the bed. Short of pulling the sheets off entirely, few fixes exist.

I took a chance and tested the SandBar Roller, a $30 dual-roll lint roller, to see if it can make it easier to keep stray hair and litter at bay. I also put it through the paces for other lint-roller tasks like dusting and cleaning floors. Here’s how it fared.

How SandBar Roller differs from other lint rollers

The SandBar Roller’s appeal lies in its two large lint rollers instead of one. While the idea doesn’t seem like much of a departure from a typical large lint roller, I couldn’t find any other dual-roller designs intended for use between bedsheets like SandBar. By arranging the rollers in this way, SandBar can clean the top and bottom sheets simultaneously without getting stuck.

The Best Handheld Vacuums, Tested by CNET

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While SandBar markets its proprietary lint rolls as stronger than normal rolls, they’re not much different from what you’ll find on the extra-large pet hair version of the Scotch-Brite lint roller. Both are 8 inches wide, with an inner diameter of 1.5 inches. Much to SandBar’s credit, its six-pack of refill rolls is just $20, which is very competitive with other lint roll refills I found on Amazon, with the optional subscription price dropping to just $16 for each one-, two- or three-month delivery.

Testing the SandBar Roller

Ostensibly, this design targets coastal homes, where sand gets everywhere — hence the SandBar name. While I don’t live on the coast, I’ve experienced sand in my bed while traveling, or after day trips to the desert, and cat litter is a near-daily occurrence. With that in mind, I conducted a series of informal tests to see how the SandBar Roller holds up.

Upon putting SandBar between the sheets, I noticed it moved fairly smoothly, at least until it snagged on some sheets that were too loose. It didn’t jam, but that means it works better for beds with the sheet firmly tucked at the foot — something I don’t do for various sleep-friendly reasons. Still, it worked well after tightening the sheets a bit, even snagging a few cat hairs and litter fragments. It’s a nice alternative to washing the sheets as frequently as I have to now.

The SandBar removed cat fur from hard-to-reach places

Next, I wanted to see how it handled cleaning smart window shades and curtains, which often collect fur as my cat patrols windows a few times a day. It was a little more awkward, but taking the handle off proved effective, and the sticky roller collected a substantial amount of fur. I had to peel off multiple sheets because of the amount of fur, but it took only a few passes to clean the curtain. The SandBar Roller was very useful on furniture and pet beds, but I noticed that being too aggressive can occasionally dislodge a roll.

The SandBar Roller left a fairly clean surface when I dusted off a TV cabinet and soundbar. Still, I wouldn’t trade it out for the duster and handheld vacuum I usually use. Likewise, it did well on the linoleum floor and carpet near my cat’s litter box, but still I prefer the cleaner result I get from vacuuming.

Should you buy the SandBar Roller?

At $30, the SandBar Roller is unlikely to break anyone’s budget, especially when you can find similarly large bed lint rollers for the same price. In that context alone, including the cost of refill rolls, it’s probably as good as any other option. Still, the dual-roll design’s ability to get between sheets is a compelling reason to consider the SandBar Roller over the competition. The design suits households that typically deal with a lot of sand and litter in the beds. I could even see myself taking it camping for quick dirt cleanup in a sleeping bag.

However, I wouldn’t recommend it for short-term beach house rentals because it cuts corners — new guests expect clean sheets when they arrive. That said, making a SandBar Roller available during a guest’s visit could be worthwhile to improve their experience, as long as you leave instructions explaining what it’s for and how it works.

If you don’t need the second roll — and mainly deal with pet hair on furniture — the ChomChom Roller doesn’t need refill rolls, making it a much better option for $25. Likewise, a handheld vacuum can do the same job with a bit more flexibility around the house — though it’s not quiet enough to use when others are sleeping. While it’s nice to have so many options, it’s always worth going with what works best for your needs and situation.

John Carlsen has more than a decade of experience testing and reviewing home tech products, with a major focus on smart home security. He earned his BS in journalism from Utah Valley University. In addition to his CNET contributions, John has written for Android Police, TWICE, Home Theater Review, SafeWise, ASecureLife and Top Ten Reviews.

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If you haven’t heard of Metal Gear, you probably haven’t played video games these last few decades. The original Metal Gear dates back to 1987 and launched on the MSX, but the real rise to fame probably started with Metal Gear Solid on the original PlayStation in 1998. What needed a hefty console in 1998 can comfortably fit on a microcontroller in 2026, though, as [David Montero Crespo] demonstrates with his port of MGS to the ESP32-S3.

[David] is — as we always are — standing on the shoulders of giants with this hack. Most specifically, the project relies entirely on the [FoxdieTeam] MGS Reversing decompliation project. Of course what one team decompiles, another can recompile, and in this case [David] chose to recompile the game for Expressif’s exceptional ESP32. It wasn’t quite as easy as just forking the repo and compiling with the ESP32 as a target though, as the blog post explains.

We won’t spoil it, but [David] did have to make some changes to account for the different quirks the MIPS processor in the PlayStation has compared to the Xtensa cores on the microcontroller. Then to make it playable, he put the ESP32-S3 module onto some perfboard with an analog stick from a drone controller, an ILI9341 LCD panel, and a resistor ladder to run the buttons for a barebones handheld.

Fans of MSG and its many sequels may appreciate this replica of the codex communicator. Fans of the ESP32 may remember the Wipeout clone we featured earlier, which already proved the popular microcontroller could handle PlayStation-level graphics. If you were hoping for actual solid metal gears, you can cut your own at home.

OpenAI was gearing up to release GPT-6.1 Astra, its next AI model, with an October launch in its sights. That’s no longer happening. The company pulled the plug after its own researchers spotted worrying behavior while testing it internally.

What went wrong with GPT-6.1 Astra?

On paper, Astra-6.1 was an upgrade over the current GPT-6 Astra. It wrote better, handled complex jobs all on its own, and showed less “model laziness” than before.

However, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Saachi Jain, OpenAI’s head of safety systems, said the model slipped in two important areas. First, it sometimes misled users about what it had actually done. Second, it would occasionally carry on with a task without checking with the user first, and even tap into outside tools and services when doing so could be risky.

“For anything regarding safety and alignment, there’s a trade-off,” Jain said. The goal is a model that respects its boundaries but still keeps working when a task gets hard. Astra fell short of OpenAI’s bar, so the public launch was called off.

Why is OpenAI hitting the brakes now?

AI agents have had a messy few months. Earlier this summer, hundreds of OpenAI’s internal agents ended up breaking into Hugging Face while running a cybersecurity test. The Australian government and the United Nations later found OpenAI’s agents had used similar, though less extensive, methods on their websites. 

Last week, OpenAI also halted training on its most powerful models after one agent found a loophole in its internet restrictions and queried a public chatbot. OpenAI says Astra is a separate case. Lawmakers are watching, too. According to WSJ, a Senate subcommittee is holding a hearing on rogue AI agents this week, and Florida’s Attorney General has been suing OpenAI since June.

What does this mean for you?

You won’t be getting GPT-6.1 Astra anytime soon. OpenAI hopes to reuse its base model to build future GPT-6 models and is digging into what caused the problems. Personally, I’d rather wait for an AI that’s honest about its work than use one that goes off and does its own thing.

In context: Android smartphone maker Nothing has launched the Headphone (1) Pro, its new flagship audio product, which it claims combines an elevated listening experience for consumers with studio-grade production and mixing features for professionals. It succeeds last year’s Nothing Headphone (1), which TIME named one of its Best Inventions of 2025.

The biggest change in the new model is a three-driver audio system. It includes a bass dynamic driver designed to add more punch and sensitivity to low frequencies, a precision dynamic driver that adds more texture to vocals and instruments, and a new treble xMEMS driver that Nothing says delivers crisper highs.

Nothing also worked with London’s Metropolis Studios to tune the Headphone (1) Pro, with the collaboration focused on professional audio tools and soundstage characteristics.

The company also highlights an improved adaptive active noise cancellation system that uses a 10-microphone array to more accurately filter ambient noise than the first-gen model. With claimed noise reduction of up to 46 dB, Nothing is positioning the Headphone (1) Pro against premium rivals from Bose and Sony.

Nothing says the improvement in noise reduction should be particularly noticeable in strong winds or noisy traffic. The headphones also feature redesigned ear cushions with an 8mm silicone baffle wall inside, creating a stronger sound barrier and improving the seal around the ears.

The Headphone (1) Pro supports Hi-Res wireless audio and wired playback over USB-C at up to 24-bit/192 kHz. It also offers five modes of Dynamic Spatial Audio with head tracking, along with five new custom EQ profiles. A separate Flat EQ switch is designed to give producers and creators a more neutral sound profile.

The Headphones 1 Pro is built out of aluminum and titanium to provide a durable shell while creating a premium look and feel. It also retains Nothing’s transparent design language, using shatter- and scratch-resistant 9H Panda Glass on both ear cups to reveal parts of the triple-driver architecture.

Despite the increased use of metal, Nothing has reduced the headphones’ weight to 327 grams through a redesigned internal architecture, including replacing steel arms with titanium. Other changes intended to improve comfort over longer listening sessions include a wider headband with thicker padding and softer ear cushions.

The Headphone (1) Pro is positioned to compete with premium models such as the Sony WH-1000XM6, Bose QuietComfort Ultra, and Apple AirPods Max. It is priced at $399 and will be available beginning September 29 through Nothing’s official store at nothing.tech, Amazon, and Best Buy stores across across the US and Canada.