The two towers near Aberdeen weren’t supposed to be monuments. They were supposed to be engines.
Drive west from Olympia and you’ll see the unfinished nuclear plant rising from the evergreen canopy. The project promised clean energy, jobs, and technological prestige. Instead, it became a cautionary tale of cost overruns and evaporating public confidence.
Nuclear engineering remained sound. Public confidence did not.
Industries rarely stall because they hit a technical ceiling. They slow when political and social permission erodes.
Artificial intelligence now sits in a similar moment. Public trust in major institutions is fragile, and trust in large technology companies is even lower. Concerns about job displacement, wealth concentration, and infrastructure strain are no longer fringe anxieties. They are mainstream political energy. Across multiple states, lawmakers have introduced proposals to pause or restrict data center expansion. That momentum did not emerge overnight.
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Tech executives and investors are no longer background actors. Their statements travel faster than their products. As taxes, oversight, and regulation come under debate, tech’s most visible voices often frame them as hostility toward innovation. It may feel like a necessary defense, but it can reinforce the perception that the industry is unwilling to adapt to broader political realities. In Washington state, that energy is visible in the debate around new capital gains and high-income tax proposals. Some startup leaders have framed tax proposals as existential threats to Seattle’s innovation economy and warn that Washington risks becoming “the next Cleveland.”
Incremental taxes on high incomes are unlikely to determine whether Seattle remains a technology hub. But public panic about those taxes can shape how the industry is perceived. To an average voter worried about job displacement or rising costs, highly visible opposition to millionaire tax proposals can feel disconnected from broader economic anxieties. That contrast hardens the sense that tech operates in a separate lane from everyone else. Perception like that carries consequences.
The site of Satsop Nuclear Power Plant in Elma, Wash., where only one of five units were actually built following public pushback. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
When distrust hardens into political momentum, policy seldom arrives as a narrow correction. It tends to be broad and reactive.
What makes legitimacy risk particularly dangerous is that it rarely begins with statute. It begins with friction. Hiring becomes harder in communities that feel antagonistic toward the industry. Government partnerships face louder opposition. Enterprise buyers extend diligence cycles. Distribution slows in subtle ways that don’t show up in quarterly dashboards but compound over time. These costs compound even if they are difficult to measure.
Industries under suspicion move differently. Telecommunications once represented the frontier of American innovation. As power consolidated and public suspicion grew, the response included structural control and heavy supervision. Innovation did not end, but it moved under tighter constraints and at a slower pace. The center of gravity shifted from experimentation to permission.
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As a founder building risk and regulatory infrastructure for financial institutions, I think about these dynamics constantly. I expect guardrails. Thoughtful regulation is not the enemy. In many cases, it creates highly functional markets.
What concerns me is overcorrection. Sweeping licensing regimes, expansive liability standards for model outputs, escalating compliance overhead, infrastructure caps written in frustration rather than precision. Those burdens fall hardest on young companies without large compliance teams.
We are careful about pricing market and technical risk. We are far less disciplined about legitimacy risk, the moment an industry loses its social license to operate.
Over the next decade, legitimacy may be the binding constraint. Durability matters more than short-term velocity, and durability is built on public trust.
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Seattle became a technology hub because it was broadly trusted to build. That trust gave companies room to experiment and scale. It was a form of oxygen. You rarely notice it until it thins. By then, the towers are already standing.
It’s common for multiple auto manufacturers to be owned by the same parent company, such as how Stellantis Group owns Dodge, Fiat, Maserati, and countless others. It’s the same in the commercial vehicle world as well; Volvo Group has several badges under its aegis as well. Obviously, the best-known of these is the company’s namesake Volvo Trucks, which is a car brand that makes semi trucks, along with construction equipment, buses, and autonomous driving solutions.
For the U.S. market, Volvo offers six different variations on the traditional over-the-road style truck with a hood over the engine and the cab behind it. These include the aerodynamic VNL (shown above);’ the profitable, agile, and efficient VNR; the VNR Electric with up to 275 miles per charge; the VNX, stronger and built for heavier loads; the VHD that is ideal for garbage collection, concrete mixing, or firefighting applications; and the VAH, a specialized version designed for transporting automobiles.
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Production on the Volvo Trucks’ VNL started at the company’s Dublin, Virginia factory toward the end of 2024. Since then, around 15,000 of Volvo’s VNL trucks have been put into service on the roads and highways spanning Canada and the United States. One more feather in the VNL’s cap is its winning of the the 2025 Red Dot Design Award for Product Design in the category of commercial vehicles. Yet the automaker owns several other semi truck brands that are arguably just as successful, both in the Americas and around the world. You might just be surprised by these next four.
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Renault Trucks
Renault Trucks is a semi truck brand that’s been owned by Volvo for more than 25 years. The badge offers many types of commercial vehicles that range from light trucks up to heavy-duty trucks that are designed for long-haul trucking. Renault Trucks sold 25,000 vehicles in 2025 and employs 10,000 people. The automaker in its current form is actually the result of an ongoing series of mergers within the group of French commercial vehicle manufacturers. By 1978, these mergers had consolidated all of the remaining French truckmakers into a single company known as Renault Véhicules Industriels. The new company went on to acquire the Dodge Europe brand in 1983 as well as the well-known American Mack Truck brand in 1990 (more on that in a bit). Then, in 2001, Renault Trucks emerged after Renault Véhicules Industriels, later renamed Renault V.I., became a part of the Volvo Group.
Renault Trucks produces all of its trucks, and most of the parts that go into them, in France. Some locations in the Middle East and Africa use production partners that assemble Renault imported as a collection of parts and then assembled. While Renault Trucks does not have a presence in the U.S. or Canada, it is well-established in Central and South America, as well as Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Renault Trucks has been in the forefront of semi truck electrification. The company announced in February 2024 that XPO Logistics of France had placed an order for 165 of the company’s electric trucks, 105 of which would be semi tractors. These electric-powered trucks are slated to replace diesel trucks on regional and suburban delivery routes.
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Mack Trucks
Mack Trucks became a part of the Volvo Group as a result of Volvo’s acquisition of Renault V.I. in 2001. The semi truck manufacturer’s current offerings for the U.S. market include the Anthem, Keystone, and Pioneer, all newer models. In addition to semi trucks, Mack also has a wide variety of rigid-chassis trucks that can serve as waste collection vehicles or other vocational purposes like fire trucks and concrete mixers. These trucks vehicles include the Granite, LR, LR Electric, MD, MD Electric, and the TerraPro. Mack Truck power sources include not just the company’s proprietary diesel engines but also natural gas engines sourced from Cummins and battery-powered electric drive systems.
The all-new Anthem semi truck, shown above on the left, began production in January 2026 at Mack Trucks’ Macungie, PA plant, where Mack’s Class 8 heavy trucks for both North America and export markets are built. An advantage built into the Mack Anthem is its shorter length of just 113.5 inches as measured from its bumper to the back of its cab, making it better suited to getting through the smaller spaces found in the urban environments where the Anthem will be operating. The Anthem’s hood was also designed for optimal driver visibility, which is important while operating in these tighter confines.
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Standard safety features found on the Mack Anthem include forward collision warning and a front airbag for the driver. Optional equipment consists of blind spot warning on driver and passenger sides, lane keep assist, side curtain airbags, and a digital mirror system.
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Eicher Trucks (joint venture)
In 2008, the Volvo Group and India’s Eicher Motors formed a 50/50 joint venture, which continues to the present day. The joint company is known as VECV, or Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles. The JV consists of five different businesses: Eicher Trucks and Buses, Volvo Trucks India, Eicher Engineering Components, VE Powertrain, and VECV Engines. Interestingly, Eicher also owns and makes the motorcycle brand Royal Enfield in India, in an operation that is completely separate from the Volvo JV.
The Eicher brand began back in 1948 as the Goodearth nameplate, which was created to import and sell tractors in India. The Eicher Tractor Corporation then became India’s first indigenous tractor manufacturer in 1959-60. In 1982, Eicher entered into a joint venture with Mitsubishi Motors of Japan to produce light commercial vehicles. Eicher expanded into medium-duty commercial vehicles in 1994, followed by its entry into heavy-duty commercial vehicles in 2002. Then came the Volvo Group joint venture in 2008.
Today, Eicher makes a full line of heavy-duty semi trucks for the Indian and Asian markets. These include tractor-trailers like the Pro 6040 rated at 39.5 tons, the Pro 6046 rated at 45.5 tons, and three models, the Pro 8055, the Pro 6055XP, and the Pro 6055XP (4×2), all rated at 55 tons. While the entry-level Pro 6040 is equipped with a 5.1-liter engine, the tractor-trailers above it have a 7.7-liter engine with additional horsepower, which varies with the specific truck.
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Dongfeng Trucks (joint venture)
The Volvo Group also has a joint venture with Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles Co., Ltd, of China, also known as DFCV. Volvo acquired 45% of DFCV in January of 2015, giving it a solid foothold in the Chinese medium-duty and heavy-duty truck markets. The objective of this joint venture, according to then-Volvo CEO Olof Persson, is to provide the company “with the opportunity to become involved in growing DFCV’s international business in a manner that will benefit us and our Chinese partner.”
Dongfeng started out back in 1969 as the Second Automobile Works, located in Shiyan in Hubei province. Its original mission was to produce military vehicles for the People’s Liberation Army while developing China’s local vehicle manufacturing capabilities. Dongfeng later transitioned to commercial vehicles and eventually went into passenger cars with its 1992 production of the Fukang sedan.
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In terms of heavy-duty semi trucks, the Volvo/Dongfeng joint venture currently has four different models available in the Chinese market. These are the GX Tractor, the KX Tractor, the KL Tractor, and the VL Tractor. The GX, shown above, is specialized for logistics and comes with a 13.5-liter, six-cylinder, 520-horsepower Cummins diesel engine. The KX, meanwhile, is available in several different configurations, with power outputs ranging from 480 to 560 horsepower. The KL, designed with reliability and classic aesthetics in mind, comes with engines producing either 420 or 465 horsepower. The VL has a choice of 420-horsepower or 450-horsepower engines.
There’s been a lot of virtual ink spilled in environmental circles about the cooling water requirements of data centers, but less consideration of what happens with all the heat coming out of these buildings. Naturally, it’s going to warm the surrounding environment, but how much? Around 2 C (3.6 F) on average, and potentially much more than that, according to a recent study on the data heat island effect.
It’s common sense, of course: heat removed from the data center doesn’t go away. That heat might go into a body of water if one is available, but otherwise it’s out into the atmosphere to warm up everybody else’s day. In some places — like a Canadian winter — that might not be so bad. In others, where climate change and urban heat islands are cranking up the summertime temperatures, it very much could be. Especially if you’re in the worst-case scenario micro-climate described by the paper, which saw a predicted increase of 9.1 C (16 F).
Now, these results are theoretical and need to be ground-truthed, but anyone who has huddled next to the air-exchange unit of a large building for warmth knows there’s something to them. Unfortunately there don’t seem to be before-and-after measurements available for existing data-centers — AI or otherwise — to show exactly what their heat output is doing in the real world, but the urban heat island effect from all the dark asphalt in our cities is well known. Cooling paint and green roofs can help with that, but they won’t do much for the megawatts being pumped out to keep your cousin’s AI girlfriend online.
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Some would argue that all this heat wouldn’t be a problem if we could launch the data centers outside the environment — just have a care the front doesn’t fall off.
A good set of quality tires can typically withstand everything from rough roads to bad weather, and a lot more. Of course, getting the most out of your tires means doing preventative maintenance as well, and that’s where regular tire rotations come into play. But it’s also a good idea to re-torque your wheels about 30 miles after your rotation. It’s a practice that can potentially save you from some problems later on.
“Re-torque” simply means to re-tighten, as your lug nuts can loosen over time. This can sometimes be caused by heat, but motion can be a big contributor as well. Even the weight of your vehicle can add to the problem. Despite how well the wheel was secured during your rotation, exterior forces can impact your tires. Because of this, you may end up with uneven tread wear, or possibly a loose wheel, which could make for a dangerous situation.
It’s important to note that your lug nuts may not move that much, if at all, when you re-torque them. After all, wheel and tire assemblies can vary, and if you don’t drive that often, you might be just fine. In fact, you may be able to go from one tire rotation to the next without an issue. But it’s better to be safe than sorry. When in doubt, stop by your local garage and have a technician take a look. It might cost you a little time, but it could save you some grief in the long run.
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The proper technique for re-torquing your wheels
Shine Nucha/Shutterstock
You might not rotate your own tires at home, but you can re-torque your own wheels. Before you begin, consult your vehicle’s owner’s manual. You should be able to find some useful information about the correct torque specifications for your make and model. This is important, because every vehicle is different in terms of how much force it takes to properly secure your wheels. Too little torque and your wheels could come loose. Too much, and you’re risking possible damage to the wheel.
If you’re re-tightening the lug nuts while your vehicle is on the ground, the weight of your car should keep the tires stationary. Be sure to park on a flat surface and put on your parking brake. Next, use a torque wrench to tighten each lug nut in a crisscross/star pattern to the proper specification according to your owner’s manual. But beware that if you use a tire iron, you won’t be able to achieve the exact torque as specified in your manual.
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If you do have access to a lift and want to tighten your lug nuts that way, the biggest difference is that your vehicle will be off the ground. This is where an actual torque wrench will come in handy, as the wheel would be less likely to move as much during the tightening process. Just follow the same crisscross pattern, tighten the bolts to the proper specifications via your owner’s manual, and you’re all set.
Defense startup Hermeus has raised $350 million to keep developing what it calls the “fastest unmanned aircraft,” in a funding round that has pushed its valuation to $1 billion.
The Los Angeles-based startup said Tuesday that it has raised $200 million in equity financing, led by Khosla Ventures. Existing investors Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel, and RTX Ventures also participated. New outside money is coming from the venture fund of media conglomerate Cox Enterprises, the publicly-traded closed-end management investment company Destiny Tech100, and others.
The remaining $150 million comes in the form of debt, which Hermeus co-founder and CEO AJ Piplica told TechCrunch will help the startup and its growing cap table maintain some control.
“We build a lot of hardware, we’re expanding our manufacturing capabilities, and if we can finance a large portion of our spend non-dilutively, it’s absolutely the way to do it,” he said in an interview.
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Hermeus’s raise comes at a time when venture and corporate investors are flooding money into defense startups. VC investment in defense tech crossed $9 billion over 265 rounds globally last year, according to PitchBook, with corporate investors contributing $2 billion across 28 rounds.
But for Hermeus, it’s not just about good timing.
Piplica attributes at least some of the fundraising success to a change Hermeus made on the technical side a few years ago. The startup had spent time and money developing its own engine, partially out of necessity, he said. After Hermeus courted RTX Ventures — the venture arm of RTX Corporation, the defense contractor formerly known as Raytheon — a new opportunity arose.
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Piplica and his team decided instead to work with RTX subsidiary Pratt & Whitney to modify the aerospace company’s F100 engine in order to power Hermeus’ hypersonic aircraft.
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This put Hermeus on a faster track with a proven and functional engine, making it easier to test and iterate while lining up new contracts with the U.S. government along the way. Instead of aiming at one big goal of building a Mach 5 aircraft, Hermeus was now able to diversify, according to president Zach Shore.
“This accelerates us to Mach 5, and also reinforces the economics of the business while satisfying near term demand from the from the Department of Defense,” he said. “I think in that way, you have a number of concentric circles overlapping simultaneously that reinforce the business, that reinforce the customer, and that, you know, reinforce the technology maturation.”
Last month, Hermeus flew a demonstrator version of its technology that was the size of an F-16 fighter aircraft. The startup has said it’s aiming to make the next iteration of that aircraft go supersonic. A third aircraft is in the works as well, Piplica said.
This rapid prototyping approach is hard to come by in aviation, Piplica said. He points to SpaceX as the industry standard for being willing to build, test, fail, learn, and repeat until it gets a vehicle right. That’s why the hardest challenge Hermeus faces is cultivating or developing talent, Piplica said.
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“There’s nowhere in the world where companies are building new full-scale aircraft on an annual basis, clean sheet or otherwise,” he said. “People used to do that, but they’re all dead, which means you have to go make those people in one way or another.”
The new funding round will also help Hermeus continue to build out its staff, which is already approaching 300 employees.
Hermeus has now had two successful test flights (it flew a demonstrator last year that was three times smaller). But Piplica stressed the need for Hermeus to be ready for some kind of failure — which, again, he sees as part of the rapid prototyping proccess.
“The challenge is, how do you pick the right kind of chunks of risk to take on and apply your capital to over time,” he said. “Like, yeah, we could crash an airplane, and I expect it’ll happen at some point in our development program. We’re set up to do that very safely. But this is also why, like, building more aircraft is super important. If you don’t build a lot, it takes you a lot longer, because you’re gonna go baby things. You know, we wonder why it takes us 20, 25, years to develop a new aircraft?”
Amazon is USPS’s biggest customer, worth around $6 billion annually
Amazon has continued to expand its own delivery network, opening it up to others
Amazon has struck a deal with the US Postal Service (USPS) which will see the latter lose a chunk of its business – but still come off better than previously anticipated.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal WSJ, the deal will mean USPS could still end up delivering around one billion Amazon packages a year – marking a roughly 20% decrease compared with the previously floated two-thirds reduction.
The renewed delivery agreement, pending regulatory approval, is welcome news for USPS, as Amazon is its largest customer, worth around $6 billion annually.
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USPS will retain more Amazon parcels than previously thought
Amazon was considering shifting toward more of its own network for deliveries, however ultimately both its performance for high volumes of parcels and USPS’s expertise in rural and last-mile delivery are equally highly valuable.
“We’re pleased to have reached a new agreement with USPS that furthers our longstanding partnership and will let us continue supporting our customers and communities together,” a company spokesperson said.
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As for USPS, the company has faced intense pressure in recent years, facing multibillion-dollar annual losses and placing a bit bet on Amazon as a customer. Amazon has continued to expand its own networks in that time.
For example, in April 2025, the company declared it would invest over $4 billion to expand its delivery network across rural America, effectively tripling the size of its rural delivery infrastructure by the end of 2026 and creating more than 100,000 jobs in the process.
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Besides being a delivery network for its own ecommerce business, Amazon also boasted in September 2025 that more than five billion products move through its network of global logistics, domestic freight and bulk warehousing annually – all of which from independent sellers.
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USPS introduced a last-mile delivery bidding process in December to help it determine the true value of the service, likely in a bid to address profitability, and it’s this process that prompted Amazon to reassess its partnership with the postal agency.
Bike Friday All-Day for $5,600: Bike Friday bills the irresistibly tiny All-Day (7/10, WIRED Review) as the world’s lightest Bosch-powered ebike, and it’s true. You can customize all the colors and components of this folding electric bike, and it has a surprisingly powerful motor for its size. The Brompton above is more widely available and easier to use, but I love this little bike a lot.
Radio Flyer Via Pro for $2,900: Editor Julian Chokkattu could not have had a better experience than this easy-to-use and easy-to-assemble class 2 electric cargo bike. For more info, check out our guide to the Best Electric Cargo Bikes.
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GoTrax Mustang for $1,799: We liked the Mustang, which is a surprisingly punchy little bike for just the right price. However, it only comes in one size, so you should try it if you can before you buy it.
Aventon Level 3 for $1,899: The Aventon Level 3 is an easy-to-ride ebike that features a clean, step-through design and every feature you could want in a standard-size ebike for riding around town. There are built-in fenders and lights, and a big color display shows you how much of the up to 70 miles of advertised range you have remaining. I have ridden it up to about 25 miles at a time with my heavy 6’2″ frame, easily ending my rides with 20 percent of battery left. The frame feels comfortable and sturdy, thanks to a double-walled construction and improved Shimano gears and brakes. The front suspension fork and semi-hidden suspension seat post add to comfort relative to other bikes I’ve tested in this price range, and I like that the Aventon app lets you set up things like remote locking and geofencing, so you can keep an eye on your expensive bike from afar. The built-in turn signals, which use the bike’s rear lights, are another bonus when riding in cities at night. —Parker Hall
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Tenways CGO800S for $1,799: This is a budget step-through city ebike. It boasts up to 50 miles of battery life, and I got more than 30. The torque sensor is smooth and responsive to pedaling at various speeds. However, there’s no throttle, and because this bike is meant to fit riders of a huge range of sizes (they say 5’1” to 6’3”), the frame was not as comfortable to pedal for me (5’11”) as some large-size bikes. —Martin Cizmar
Aventon Ramblas for $2,899: Aventon made a mountain bike! It’s a lot of bike for an affordable price, but just a little too heavy to take out for its intended use case. It makes a nice, rugged commuter, however.
Linus eDutchi for $1,799: Need a comfy cruiser? The Linus eDutchi is a comfy class 1 ebike with beautiful colors and loads of proprietary accessories.
Xtracycle Estoker for $4,499: This is probably the bike that I see most often in my Portland, Oregon, neighborhood. It has a durable, sturdy Chromoly steel frame and larger 24-inch wheels, along with a Shimano mid-drive motor that makes it perfect for more grueling conditions. Unfortunately, you do have to be over 5’6″ (which I am not) to ride it.
Gazelle Eclipse for $6,399: If you want to know just how great the Bosch system can be, the Eclipse (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the more expensive version of the Radster Road above. It has a nicer shifter, a smarter motor—even the paint job is nicer. It’s just much more expensive.
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The Gocycle G4I+ for $5,999: Gocycle’s high-end, fast-folding luxury bikes are designed by a former McLaren engineer. This quieter, lighter iteration has better torque, a new carbon-fiber front fork, and an even more painful price.
Niu Electric Bike BQi-C3 Pro for $999: Commerce director Martin Cizmar tested this bike and had a litany of complaints. The riding position is too aggressive, and the bike frame doesn’t fit common components like a water bottle and his pannier. The disc brakes weren’t suited to stopping it from 28 mph.
FAQs
How Does WIRED Procure Ebikes?
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Bike companies reach out to me, and I request testers in my size. Once I have finished testing, I either return the bikes to the manufacturer, the shop that assembled them, or donate them to nonprofit organizations.
How Do You Secure an Ebike?
Many ebikes have removable batteries, displays, or built-in wheel locks that make securing your bike much easier. Other bikes, like the Specialized Turbo Vado SL 2, are also compatible with Apple Find My. Check out our Best Ebike Locks guide for more options.
Should I Build My Own Bike?
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Many affordable bikes now come direct-to-consumer—meaning that they are pre-tuned or partially assembled in a box. As Peter Flax recently noted in Bicycling magazine, these bikes do not get nearly the testing or vetting that bikes from a bigger manufacturer get. Unless you’re not riding much or for many miles, or are experienced with modifying your own bike, I recommend working with an established manufacturer that has a dealer network.
What Terrain Do You Live On?
If you live in a flat area, you’re probably fine with a 250-watt motor, which is the European speed standard. However, if you live near hills or haul a lot of stuff, you might want to consider a 500-watt or 750-watt motor and a few extras, like hydraulic disc brakes, which will help prevent you from skidding into traffic.
How Do I Prevent Bike Fires?
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The idea of your garage suddenly setting alight is terrifying, but don’t worry—the batteries that manufacturers use today are much safer than those of yore. We only write about bikes that have been certified safe by a third-party organization. Also, exercise a bit of common sense. Do not leave your bike battery charging overnight in a boiling hot garage. Don’t use aftermarket accessories to charge your bike. And don’t plug in a battery that has deformed or smells weird, or try to turn on a bike with a cracked display or computer.
Follow Some Basic Safety Tips
Not sure where to start? The biking advocacy group PeopleForBikes has a safety education program, E-Bike Smart, which it created in collaboration with the League of American Bicyclists and Bicycle Colorado. Do not let your children ride your bike unsupervised. An 80-pound child should not be piloting a 65-pound bike, even if the motor makes it possible for them to do so. And always wear a helmet, but you already know that. Right?
Over the past few years, WIRED’s Reviews team has tried almost every kind of electric bike, from the best heavy-duty cargo bikes to high-end mountain bikes. We review upward of 50 new ebikes a year by riding them on a variety of terrain for at least 40 miles over the course of at least two weeks. We test cargo bikes by hauling kids and groceries, we ride mountain and gravel bikes on trails, and we test commuter bikes while running errands on regular city streets (including up and down steep hills). In addition to our real-life testing, we also evaluate specs like weight, tire size, battery life, motor power, and the sourcing of key components.
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Whenever I talk to anyone about a possible ebike purchase, the biggest deterrent is usually the price. If this is you, check out our guide to the Best Cheap Ebikes. But I do want to say here that these are vehicles, not toys. When I’m carrying my kids to school or flying down a hill at 25 mph, I want the safest possible ride, and I think you should too.
Reasonable auto financing options are the only reason a $2,000 electric bike can feel prohibitively expensive while a $6,000 beater gas-powered car has easy monthly payments. Many states now feature incentive programs that offer rebates or tax credits for ebike purchases. Some bike manufacturers and retailers offer financing through companies like Affirm or PayPal. Your bank might cover ebikes under its vehicle loan program, and I also recommend looking at eBay locally, Craigslist, or local Facebook groups. You probably have more options than you think.
Ebike Classifications and Rules
Before you buy your electric bike, make sure you can actually use it! Many cities and states have laws regulating when and where you can ride an ebike. Check out our guide on the three classes of ebikes. At least 22 states now use this three-class system, and they may restrict when and where different classes of ebikes are used, depending on whether they have a throttle or can assist above 20 mph. Cities may also have laws about whether mountain ebikes are allowed on single-track trails. If your state classifies ebikes under the same laws governing motorcycles and mopeds, you may need a license to ride one.
TSNC is being positioned as a practical path for developers who already ship BC-compressed assets and want to squeeze more data into the same storage, bandwidth, or VRAM budgets without rethinking their pipelines. Read Entire Article Source link
The AI design platform is paying creators based on engagement performance rather than audience size, marking its transition from a tool into a platform where creators can earn directly. The launch follows an AI agent marketplace the company introduced in March.
Picsart has launched a creator monetisation programme open to all of its more than 130 million users, with no minimum follower count and no invite list.
The programme, called Earn with Picsart, pays creators based on how their content performs rather than how large their audience is, positioning it as a direct challenge to the follower-scale model that governs most platform monetisation.
The mechanic is campaign-based. Creators browse a dashboard of current prompts and creative challenges, produce original content using Picsart’s tools, post it to their own Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or X accounts, and submit the URL along with a brief description of how they made it within Picsart.
Earnings are calculated from views, comments, shares, and reach. Funds can be withdrawn through Stripe. Picsart says that generating and posting AI images without genuine creative effort will not drive meaningful engagement or earnings.
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One example campaign asks creators to produce animated characters using Picsart Aura, the platform’s AI conversational assistant, which generates and animates images and videos through text or voice prompts. The breadth of eligible content types is wide: tutorials, aesthetic edits, and short-form videos are all cited as qualifying formats.
Hovhannes Avoyan, Picsart’s founder and CEO, described the launch as a structural correction in an industry that has historically undercompensated everyday creators.
“The creator economy has a structural problem: platforms have never truly committed to compensating everyday creators,” he said. “It’s open, structured, and straightforward: show up, make things, and if your content performs, you get paid.”
Picsart was founded in 2011 and reached unicorn status in 2021 after a $130 million Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from Sequoia, G Squared, Tribe Capital, and DCM Ventures, among others.
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The creator monetisation launch follows an AI agent marketplace the company introduced in March 2026, through which creators can hire AI assistants for tasks including resizing and remixing social content and editing product photos on Shopify. The two moves together signal Picsart’s push from a standalone editing application towards a creator economy platform.
Spring has sprung, which means allergy season has begun. According to the Allergy and Asthma Network, May is the worst month for allergy sufferers in most regions of the US due to elevated pollen counts.
“Allergies to airborne allergens such as pollen can cause symptoms including sneezing, a runny nose, nasal congestion, an itchiness in the nose and throat and red, watery eyes,” explains Dr. Stephanie Kayode, a consultant allergist at Allergy Care London, describing signs of hay fever or allergic rhinitis. “These symptoms occur because pollen allergens provoke inflammation and swelling within the nose, eyes and throat when inhaled.”
When pollen enters our homes, it can cause allergy symptoms even when you’re inside and away from the plants that release pollen, such as trees and grasses. I reached out to allergists to learn how we can allergy-proof our homes and ward off allergies before pollen levels peak.
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1. Bring out your air purifier
If your air purifier has been sitting in the back of your closet collecting dust (yikes, another allergen), now is the perfect time to wipe it down and bring it out.
“Indoor air purifiers, particularly those with high-efficiency particulate air filters, are effective at removing pollens and air pollutants from the air we breathe in our homes, thus improving allergy symptoms,” says Kayode. Air purifiers with higher airflow rates tend to be more effective for this purpose because they filter more air.
HEPA filters are designed to capture airborne particles, such as pollen, dust, mold and even bacteria and some viruses, as we discovered when the CNET Labs team tested 12 air purifier models to find the best model for preventing illness.
Capturing air pollutants other than pollen can help reduce allergies, as Kayode explains, because these pollutants can damage our airways and even alter pollen to make it more allergenic. This means that similar or lower pollen levels can cause more severe allergic reactions.
“Using a filter that’s an appropriate size for your space is important, and some people place them by entryways for maximum effectiveness,” adds Meagan W. Shepherd, founder of The Allergy Aesthetic and owner of Shepherd Allergy.
Placing an air purifier in a high-traffic area, such as a bedroom or living room, can be especially beneficial. However, you’ll want to ensure you replace your filters when needed, as dirty or clogged filters can actually become sources of pollutants and allergens.
Now is the time to put your air purifier in a high-traffic area of your home.
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2. Schedule an HVAC tune-up
HEPA filters aren’t just recommended for air purifiers. Your HVAC systems should use them, too, and they should be changed every three months or as needed. You can check your manufacturer’s instructions for this info.
“Make sure to schedule a tune-up before spring starts, and clear debris from around the outer unit,” Shepherd states. “Make sure the condensate drain lines [which remove excess moisture] aren’t clogged.”
If applicable, set indoor humidity to 40%-50%. You can also do this if you have a humidifier.
3. Monitor pollen forecasts
You can keep track of pollen forecasts with apps including Allergy Plus, My Pollen Forecast and Zyrtec AllergyCast. Kayode recommends doing this and limiting outdoor activities when the pollen count is high. This typically happens in the summer and early morning, when warm air makes pollen rise.
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On cooler, rainy days, pollen counts are usually lower because rain washes pollen out of the air.
What IQAir’s pollen forecast looks like for Los Angeles.
IQAir/Screenshot by CNET
4. Prevent the outside from getting inside
While it’s impossible to avoid pollen completely, there are certain steps you can take to lessen your indoor exposure. For one, Shepherd advises keeping windows and doors closed. If you keep track of the pollen forecast, ensure you do so on high-pollen days.
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“Change clothes after coming indoors, and keep your hair tied back or wear a hat when outdoors,” Shepherd says. Kayode adds that you can also wear sunglasses to reduce pollen exposure to your eyes.
If you hang laundry outside to dry, you should shake it out before bringing it inside.
Depending on how bad your allergies are, you may even want to arrange for someone else to mow your lawn or opt for a robot lawn mower to avoid pollen exposure.
Even when you get into your car, you can exercise precautions. “When getting into a hot car, turn on the recirculation system with the AC so cabin air is reused without drawing more pollen into the car,” says Shepherd. You can also keep your car’s windows closed to ward off pollen, Kayode adds.
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5. Be extra cautious after thunderstorms
While rain washes pollen out of the air, a particularly powerful thunderstorm combined with a high temperature can have unwanted aftereffects, worsening hay fever.
“Thunderstorms can stir up pollen from the ground and cause bursts of pollen fragments in the air, which are highly allergenic,” explains Kayode. “During hot days, pollen builds up and is released into the air during storms, increasing the risk of severe hay fever and asthma symptoms.”
Keep your windows and doors shut on high-pollen days and during thunderstorms.
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6. Keep your medicine cabinet stocked
If you notice allergy symptoms or want to prevent them, you can use a saline nasal rinse to clear inhaled pollen from your nasal passages. My doctor recommended I use the Arm and Hammer Simply Saline Nasal Care Daily Mist for this reason.
If that’s not enough and your symptoms are interfering with your daily life, Kayode advises you to consult your doctor to discuss starting allergy medications, such as antihistamine tablets and steroid nasal sprays. Your doctor may suggest taking a daytime antihistamine proactively, especially on days with a projected high pollen count.
The bottom line
While you can’t completely avoid pollen, there are steps you can take to limit your exposure and minimize allergies when inside your home. Using a HEPA filter in both your air purifier and HVAC system can help — just make sure to change the filter and perform timely maintenance.
If nothing helps and your allergies are running (and ruining) your life, it’s time to schedule an appointment with your doctor.
Apple has run into “more issues than expected” with its foldable iPhone, which may delay its release, according to the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei. Multiple sources report issues that apparently occurred during early test production phases and may delay first shipments by months.
Component suppliers have supposedly been notified that the foldable iPhone’s production schedule will be delayedand Apple is working to address the problems. Apple was reportedly prioritizing the foldable iPhone and other premium models for its September event this year, due to constrained supplies — that whole thing. One fewer iPhone model might reduce the company’s demand for pricey components.
We’re still waiting: A foldable iPhone has been rumored since 201andd rival Samsung released its first one back in 2019. The Galaxy phone maker has faced its own struggles: The very cool Galaxy Z TriFold was , seemingly being sold at a loss after its launch late last year.
— Mat Smith
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The other big stories (and deals) this morning
The federal government wants sole authority over prediction markets.
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is suing Illinois, Arizona and Connecticut for attempting to outlaw or regulate prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. These markets allow people to bet on the outcomes of events (for example, who will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2028). There’s been some particularly on recent global military campaigns.
The CFTC believes it has sole jurisdiction to regulate these platforms and that states attempting to classify them as illegal gambling are overstepping their authority. “The CFTC will continue to safeguard its exclusive regulatory authority over these markets and defend market participants against overzealous state regulators,” CFTC chair Michael S. Selig said in a statement.
Mel Brooks, Rick Moranis and other original cast members are back.
Amazon MGM Studios announced the upcoming Spaceballs movie will hit theaters on April 23, 2027, right around the 40th anniversary of the first film. The movie is being directed by Josh Greenbaum and written by Josh Gad, Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, according to Deadline.
On their way around the Moon, the Artemis II crew managed to grab a few photos.NASA has begun sharing the images, including the one above: Earth through the Orion capsule’s window. It kinda looks like the old iPhone wallpaper. Sorry, I just ruined it.
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