CoStar Group is acquiring Zonda, the leading new-home construction data and marketplace platform, for $800 million in cash. The deal fills the last gap in CoStar’s real estate data empire, which already spans commercial, multifamily, residential resale, and spatial data through more than 40 acquisitions totalling $7.3 billion.
CoStar Group has agreed to acquire Zonda, the leading provider of new-home construction data, homebuilder software, and residential real estate marketplaces, for $800 million in cash. The deal, announced on Thursday, is expected to close in the second half of 2026 and will be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in its first full year.
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Zonda serves more than 3,000 customers across the homebuilding ecosystem, including many of the largest residential builders, developers, suppliers, and lenders in North America. Its platform covers the full lifecycle of new-home development, from land acquisition and construction forecasting to community marketing and online marketplaces, tracking more than 500 housing metrics.
Filling the new-construction gap
CoStar has spent the past 15 years assembling what is arguably the most comprehensive real estate information platform in the world. Its CoStar Suite dominates commercial real estate research. Like other data platform operators consolidating their markets, the company has expanded methodically through acquisitions, completing more than 40 deals for approximately $7.3 billion over that period.
Apartments.com now generates $1.1 billion in annual revenue. Homes.com, the company’s residential brokerage marketplace, has grown subscribers by 337% since the first quarter of 2024 and claims to be the second-largest and fastest-growing residential real estate marketplace in the United States. CoStar completed its $1.6 billion acquisition of Matterport, the 3D digital twin and AI company, in February 2025.
The pattern is clear. CoStar covered commercial real estate through its flagship product, multifamily rentals through Apartments.com, residential resale through Homes.com and Matterport, and the physical built environment through Matterport’s spatial data. New-home construction was the remaining gap. Zonda fills it.
What Zonda actually does
Zonda was created through a 2018 merger of Hanley Wood, a B2B information services company serving the US residential construction industry, and Meyers Research, a provider of real-time market data for homebuilders. Private equity firm MidOcean Partners orchestrated the combination and rebranded it as Zonda in 2020. The $800 million sale to CoStar represents the kind of PE exit that has become typical in the SaaS and data platform sector, where specialised vertical data companies are built through roll-ups and sold to larger platforms.
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Zonda’s three core products are subscription-based data and intelligence covering the new-home market, online marketplaces for new homes in the US and Canada, and a suite of software tools for virtual home evaluation including visualisation, customisation, and tours. The data side tracks everything from lot availability and permit activity to pricing trends and absorption rates at the community level.
CoStar’s financial position
CoStar reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $897 million, up 23% year on year, and expects full-year revenue of $3.8 billion, an 18% increase over 2025. Adjusted EBITDA is projected to reach $770 million, an 83% increase from 2025 and a 20% margin. The company has the balance sheet to absorb an $800 million cash deal without significant strain.
The stock, however, has not reflected the operational momentum. CoStar shares have declined roughly 49% over the past six months, a drop driven partly by heavy investment spending on Homes.com and partly by broader market scepticism about the timeline to profitability for the residential business. CEO Andy Florance has been buying shares on the open market, purchasing more than 70,000 shares at prices between $34.67 and $36.00 earlier this year.
The data monopoly question
With Zonda, CoStar will hold dominant or leading data positions across every major segment of the US real estate market. Proptech startups building AI-powered tools for real estate development, valuation, or investment will increasingly find that the underlying data they need flows through CoStar’s pipes.
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That consolidation carries the same dynamics seen in other data-platform markets. A single operator controlling the reference data for an industry can set pricing, shape how participants see their own market, and create switching costs that entrench its position. CoStar’s pitch is that integration creates value: homebuilders using Zonda data will be able to list on Homes.com, track competitor pricing through CoStar analytics, and market to renters through Apartments.com, all within one ecosystem.
Whether that integration delivers value or simply concentrates pricing power will depend on execution. For now, CoStar has spent $800 million to ensure that the next generation of real estate intelligence runs on its platform, not someone else’s.
The neighbourhood’s heritage charm hasn’t saved it from a growing vacancy problem
Walk down East Coast Road on a weekday afternoon, and you might notice something that doesn’t quite fit the postcard image of Katong: shuttered shopfronts, darkened interiors, and “For Rent” signs that have clearly been hanging there a while.
Katong is the area where Joo Chiat Road meets East Coast Road, and it’s known for its hipster vibes—heritage shophouses, popular cafés, and a neighbourhood energy that earned it a spot on Time Out‘s list of the world’s coolest streets in 2025.
But that reputation is increasingly at odds with what people are actually seeing on the ground.
The unexpected side of Katong finally spilt into public view when a Reddit post on r/singapore gained traction. User u/HB_SG asked a simple question: has anyone else noticed the growing number of vacant shop units around Katong?
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“An endless parade of opening and closing”
Image Credit: u/HB_SG via Reddit
What the discussion made clear is that the vacancies aren’t new.
The mall, located at the junction of East Coast Road and Joo Chiat Road, closed for renovations in 2020 and only reopened in 2022. Yet years later, some retail spaces remain unoccupied, while others have seen a steady churn of tenants come and go with little fanfare.
One commenter described it as an “endless parade of opening and closing.” Among the apparent casualties are Zero Healthcare, which relocated its East Coast Road showroom to Parkway Parade, and fried chicken brand Frosti Fck, whose last social media activity was a Nov 2025 post and whose Google listing now shows as closed.
Vulcan Post has reached out to both businesses for further comment, but has not received a response at the time of publication.
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The Reddit thread kept circling back to one word: rent. One Redditor summed up the prevailing sentiment bluntly: “Rents, rents, rents, rents—no vacancy tax. If rents were halved, everything will be occupied.”
Others pointed to specific examples. One commenter claimed that several shophouses along Koon Seng Road have remained vacant for years despite strong demand in the area, arguing that landlords are holding out for rents that many businesses simply cannot afford.
The issue also appears to extend beyond Katong. In other parts of the East Coast region, including Siglap, rising rents have become a growing concern for business owners. In 2025, it even pushed out several long-running businesses, including Flor Patisserie.
The frustration about retail rents has even reached Parliament. In Apr 2026, Member of Parliament Elysa Chen raised the issue in the House, asking how the government reconciles official data which suggests rent has actually fallen as a share of business costs, with what retailers on the ground are experiencing.
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DPM and MTI Minister Gan Kim Yong acknowledged the gap in his written reply: while aggregate rental costs for F&B dropped from 26% to 17% of total business costs between 2019 and 2024, he noted that “at the local level, rental costs can vary for retailers due to attributes such as proximity to key transport nodes or estates with high population density.”
In other words, national averages may look fine, but they reveal little about what an individual business owner is paying for a shophouse in a highly sought-after neighbourhood.
ERA’s 1H 2025 shophouse market report also noted that more F&B operators were shutting down, and that a weaker rental outlook might push some landlords, particularly those with less holding power, or private equity investors looking to exit, to start accepting lower rents.
But for many, that moment hasn’t come yet.
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Beyond just rent
The roads on Joo Chiat Road are notoriously small. /Image Credit: Vulcan Post via Google Maps
The vacant units around Katong are not the result of a single problem. Beyond rental costs, Redditors highlighted a range of factors that may be contributing to the area’s retail struggles.
Firstly, parking is a nightmare on Katong’s roads. The streets around the area are notoriously narrow—barely two car-widths in places—and roadside parking creates its own bottleneck. On weekends, cars are often caught waiting for a spot to free up, which puts people off before they’ve even stepped out of the vehicle.
Then there’s the heat. Katong’s charm is mostly outdoors, but the dense rows of shophouses create a concrete warming effect that traps heat and humidity. Browsing around on foot in the middle of the day is genuinely unpleasant for most of the year.
The layout of buildings themselves doesn’t help either. Narrow footprints, tight staircases, and without the climate-controlled comfort of a mall, browsing on foot in Singapore’s heat is already a hard sell. Moreover, bus services through the smaller back streets are also sparse, limiting how easily people can get there without a personal vehicle.
Lastly, the gradual gentrification has narrowed the appeal of Katong. Several commenters pointed out that the shop mix has drifted toward expensive, Instagram-friendly concepts—the kind of places influencers visit once for the photo, not twice for the overpriced food. When the locals themselves don’t want to patronise the local shops, the foot traffic problem starts to make a lot more sense.
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On top of all that, these aren’t units you can just slap a fresh coat of paint on and hand to a tenant. Shophouses fall under conservation rules, meaning any renovation requires engaging a qualified person, submitting drawings to URA, getting conservation approval, and then separate BCA permits for structural work.
Shophouses along East Coast Road./ Image Credit: Singapore Realtors Inc.
This is where the broader market context matters.
ERA’s data shows that landed shophouse transactions fell to just 34 in H1 2025, totalling S$234.7 million—the lowest half-year figure since 1998, and a steep fall from the peak of 245 transactions worth S$1.8 billion in 2021. District 15, which covers Katong and Joo Chiat, saw only four transactions in that period.
Many of the landlords sitting on empty units aren’t being stubborn for no reason—they’re caught in a bind.
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For owners who bought at high prices, the rent they collect helps determine the property’s investment returns. Accepting a significantly lower rent may reduce their yield and potentially affect how the property is valued when they refinance or sell.
That creates a difficult trade-off: some landlords may prefer to wait for a tenant willing to pay closer to their asking price rather than lock in a lower rent that changes the financial assumptions behind the investment.
The problem is that prolonged vacancies carry their own costs. Empty storefronts can weaken a street’s vibrancy, reduce foot traffic, and eventually make it harder for landlords to attract the quality tenants needed to revive the area.
The empty units are hard to ignore
What the Reddit thread captured, more than any single data point, is a lived sense of mismatch: a neighbourhood with genuine heritage value and cultural cachet that isn’t consistently translating into a viable environment for the businesses trying to operate there.
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Whether the fix requires lower rents, a vacancy tax to nudge landlords off the sideline, better infrastructure, or pedestrianising the area altogether, locals are clearly paying attention, and the patience for empty units is wearing thin.
For now, the “For Rent” signs stay up.
Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.
Featured Image Credit:u/HB_SG via Reddit/ Visit Singapore
The UK’s top data and AI regulator has resigned. It is the first time it has ever happened.
John Edwards stepped down as information commissioner on Friday, with immediate effect. His exit followed a months-long workplace investigation. He said his position had become “untenable”.
What he admitted
Edwards was careful in his statement, posted on LinkedIn. He said there had been “occasions where I exercised poor judgement and made attempts at humour that were inappropriate and caused offence”. He also said he disagreed with how the investigation had been run.
Crucially, the details remain hidden. Neither the regulator nor the government has said what the conduct actually was. The probe began in February over unspecified “HR matters”, and concluded this month with a finding that there was “a case to answer”.
The job matters more than the man. The Information Commissioner’s Office oversees data protection, freedom of information and AI in Britain. It can fine companies up to £17.5mn, or 4 per cent of global turnover. It also sets the rules on how companies handle Britons’ personal data, and recently hit Reddit with a £14mn penalty over children’s data.
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His departure is also a historic first. The office has existed since 1984, and no commissioner had ever resigned before, one data-protection lawyer noted. So Britain’s data and AI watchdog is now without a permanent chief, while a deputy keeps things running.
A regulator already under fire
The timing is awkward. Campaigners have been attacking the ICO as toothless, accusing it of brushing aside thousands of public complaints. One group called Edwards’s exit a chance to appoint “a regulator with teeth”.
The post is also about to change shape. Under new UK law, the role is being folded into a wider Information Commission, and Edwards was expected to leave later this year anyway. His abrupt resignation simply brings that reset forward, in far less flattering circumstances.
Why it matters
Edwards used his farewell to look ahead, not back. “As the AI tsunami breaks over us, we must redouble … our collective efforts to ensure safety, accountability, and trust online,” he wrote. He added that “no single organisation or country can address these challenges alone”.
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For the tech industry, the real question is who governs AI and data in Britain next. The answer is suddenly unclear, just as governments everywhere fight over how to rule AI, and even as the EU’s own AI rulebook keeps slipping. A strong successor could sharpen enforcement. A weak one could prove the critics right. Either way, Britain has lost its data chief at an inconvenient moment.
Once the purview of crime labs and TV shows, DNA tests have instead become common gifts for birthdays, holidays and special occasions like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Quick tests like 23andMe and AncestryDNA have made the process of learning more about your family history easier, cheaper and faster than ever.
But in her new book, The Psychology of Genealogy, psychologist Susan Moore warns that you should consider all the risks before undergoing a test.
“Should you give DNA kits as gifts? It can be fun; it can be risky,” Moore said.
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Why you should exercise caution
Beyond the safety concerns of a company having your DNA on file with the potential of data breaches and privacy concerns, emotional fallout can be an unexpected — yet not uncommon — result of these DNA tests. While genetic testing promises answers and connection, those findings can upend long-held beliefs about your identity and family.
With over 30 million users and a multibillion-dollar industry, surprising matches and results are common. Misattributed paternity, donor-conception discoveries, late-found adoptions and unknown family members have all emerged from growing databases. For people unprepared for these outcomes, the psychological effects can be severe, according to Moore.
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Moore calls it “identity disruption” when new genetic information can undermine a person’s sense of self and belonging. She says some integrate the news and move on, while others face betrayal, mistrust and grief.
Why do people test anyway?
There are many practical, real risks when it comes to DNA testing. So why do millions of people still purchase them and send in their swabs?
Moore points to a few basic drives, such as curiosity, a need for rootedness and the intellectual thrill of uncovering family lore as to why people still undergo genetic tests. Genealogy can bring joy when people find long-lost relatives or overcome research barriers. Yet, curiosity often meets hard, unexpected truths.
“DNA gives you some new and interesting clues to your family tree structure, but the hard work of making sense of those clues must still be done,” Moore said.
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If you’re still interested in pursuing genetic testing anyway, Moore offers some simple advice: Test only if you want to explore ancestry and are ready to learn how to interpret results and contact matches ethically. Do not gift a kit without asking first, and make sure recipients are emotionally prepared and aware of privacy risks.
TL;DR: ASML’s most advanced chipmaking tools have become the focus of a renewed dispute in Washington over how far the US should go to keep cutting-edge semiconductor technology out of China. In recent months, the Trump administration has pressed ASML over whether one of its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines may have slipped past export controls and ended up in China. According to people familiar with the talks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick raised the issue directly with ASML’s senior leadership, asking whether a machine that has never been approved for export to China could have nonetheless reached the country.
EUV is the technology that underpins today’s most advanced processors. The machines are used by companies such as TSMC to manufacture high-performance chips for Nvidia and Apple. They are roughly the size of a school bus, are produced in limited quantities, and require constant maintenance from ASML engineers.
US export rules have long barred ASML from selling EUV tools to China, and the company says it complies with those restrictions. In its discussions with Lutnick, ASML pushed back on the suggestion that an EUV system could be operating in China, according to people familiar with the talks.
A company spokesperson, responding to questions about those meetings, said ASML has never shipped an EUV machine to China and stressed that it regularly engages with governments worldwide while adhering to export regulations.
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The conversation has taken on a sharper edge in Washington. Multiple senior Trump administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believe ASML is not acting in good faith, citing exports to China of equipment they say is specifically related to EUV tools.
They declined to provide documentation, citing the sensitivity of the information, and did not say they had proof of an actual EUV machine operating in China. ASML, for its part, denied to Bloomberg that it has shipped any EUV-specific equipment to China.
Behind the scenes, the pressure has triggered an internal scramble at ASML. After Lutnick’s April meeting, the company prepared a document titled “No Indication of Any ASML EUV System in China” and circulated it among officials in Washington, according to people familiar with the situation.
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The document, reviewed by Bloomberg, says there are 314 EUV machines in use worldwide and 26 that have been decommissioned, with none located in China. It also states that ASML can automatically detect “any interruption, abnormal behavior, or loss of connectivity” across its EUV fleet, and that customers “cannot remove, transport, or relocate EUV systems without ASML involvement due to specialized handling procedures.”
Those technical constraints are central to ASML’s argument. EUV tools are so complex that they effectively remain under the company’s oversight throughout their operational life. ASML says customers cannot remove, transport, or relocate EUV systems without its involvement because of specialized handling requirements.
Yet skepticism within the Trump administration persists. Senior officials say they have evidence that ASML shipped specialized transport equipment and other components for use with EUV systems to Chinese customers, though they have declined to provide supporting records.
The technology at the heart of the dispute is critical to China’s AI ambitions. Huawei Technologies, which has been cut off from EUV tools, has made progress in producing advanced chips without ASML’s most sophisticated equipment, narrowing the gap with TSMC. That absence of EUV capability is widely seen as one of the most significant constraints on Huawei’s ability to mass-produce cutting-edge AI chips.
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If investigators were ever to confirm that a full EUV system had reached China, it would amount to one of the most serious known breaches of the US-led export control regime designed to limit Beijing’s access to high-end AI hardware. For now, officials have declined to explain why, if they suspect such a violation, they have not brought public enforcement actions or further tightened restrictions.
ASML’s broader China business is already constrained. The Netherlands has blocked EUV sales to Chinese chipmakers and, under US pressure, has also restricted certain types of immersion deep ultraviolet tools. Washington has been frustrated that ASML accelerated shipments of some DUV systems before the newer rules took effect.
Senior Trump administration officials say those episodes, along with alleged EUV-related exports, point to a company that is too willing to prioritize short-term revenue over national security.
The dispute over EUV is unfolding as Washington debates how far to extend its export control regime. The US has effectively severed Huawei from most foreign technology and has used extraterritorial measures to draw companies such as ASML into that effort.
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At the same time, gaps remain in how allied controls are applied and how far they extend to maintenance, servicing, and support for restricted Chinese firms such as SwaySure Technology, which US officials say has received technological support from ASML. The administration has tools to halt those relationships outright but has not done so, and negotiations with the Netherlands and Japan over tighter rules have yet to produce a decisive outcome.
In Congress, lawmakers are pushing a bill that would bring foreign suppliers, including ASML and Tokyo Electron, under restrictions more closely aligned with those on US firms, and would effectively ban ASML’s shipments of immersion DUV tools to China.
That shift would hit a business ASML expects to generate about one-fifth of its 2026 revenue. The Trump administration has not taken a formal position on the legislation, and US diplomats have suggested that a broader US-EU trade deal could reduce momentum behind the bill, which several European governments oppose.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) disclosed a data breach at its license system vendor that exposed personal information for more than three million individuals.
The Texas Cyber Command discovered the intrusion and launched an investigation to determine the extent and impact of the unauthorized access. The state authority found that Social Security Numbers (SSNs), dates of birth, or any financial information, such as credit cards, have not been impacted.
However, the threat actor may have obtained personally identifiable information that includes the following data types associated with 3,087,721 Texas hunting and fishing license customers:
Driver’s license information
Passport numbers
Email addresses
Phone numbers
Residential addresses
The exposed data set is sufficient for hackers to target impacted individuals in phishing and social engineering attacks that lead to web pages distributing malware or seeking more sensitive information.
“There is no evidence that customers under the age of 18 were involved or that any specific group was targeted,” TPWD says in the data breach notification.
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TPWD is the Texas state agency responsible for managing wildlife and fisheries, state parks, conservation programs, hunting and fishing regulations, boating registration, and enforcement by Texas Game Wardens.
The Texas state agency also issues hunting and fishing licenses and permits, which are sold through an external vendor.
BleepingComputer contacted TPWD for more information about the incident and the name of the third-party service provider, but we have not yet received a statement.
The agency says that it is “working closely with the license system vendor to implement new safeguards and enhanced monitoring services.”
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TPWD advises customers to monitor their credit reports and financial statements. Impacted individuals are eligible for one year of free credit monitoring and should consider placing a credit freeze or fraud alert with major credit bureaus as an added protection against identity thieves.
It is also strongly recommended to remain vigilant for phishing and impersonation scams, as threat actors may try to send communication posing as a company or an official.
Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.
The Picus whitepaper shows how breach and attack simulation tests your SIEM and EDR rules so threats stop slipping by detection.
Jon Prosser, the leaker Apple is currently suing for allegedly leaking iOS 26 trade secrets, has published yet another video on his YouTube channel called Front Page Tech, showing what he says could be the final design of the purported iPhone Ultra.
Along with slightly different renders from last time, Prosser also points to iOS 27 developer code to back up his claims, particularly regarding the existence of the iPhone Ultra and a new feature that iOS users have been requesting for years.
Front Page Tech / YouTube
So what does the latest iPhone Ultra leak actually show?
The renders show a book-style foldable that Prosser describes as a “chunky iPhone” when closed and an “iPad” when opened, something we’ve already known for a while. When unfolded, the phone could measure just 4.5 mm, making it slimmer than the iPhone Air at 5.6 mm.
The titanium body pairs with what the host calls an “over-engineered hinge” designed to produce a near-creaseless display. Apple has reportedly been developing the technology for quite some time and has also faced a couple of setbacks.
Image used with permission by copyright holder
As seen in the video, the purported iPhone Ultra could come in two colors: white and black (or a dark gray finish). Most of these details aren’t entirely new and have been echoed by several different sources.
What stood out to me, however, were a few smaller details that didn’t get much attention in the video.
Front Page Tech also uploaded a similar video in December 2025, calling the foldable the “iPhone Fold” instead of iPhone Ultra. After watching both videos side by side, here are some changes that I’ve noticed.
While the previous video had the power button (with integrated Touch ID) at the top of the smartphone, right above the camera bar (with the display facing you), the new renders show volume buttons in that position instead. There’s also a speaker grille on the top frame.
iPhone Ultra with volume buttons on the top edge (new render)Front Page Tech / YouTubeiPhone Ultra’s right panel with an Action Button and volume rockers (old render)Front Page Tech
The power button is now located on the right frame, where it normally sits on an iPhone, but on the bottom half of the foldable. This isn’t the typical iPad button layout everyone is used to, and it may take some adjustment.
The elephant in the room is the new, more compact camera visor. Instead of covering the entire width of the rear panel, it extends only around the dual rear-facing camera module, elevating the sensors above an otherwise flat panel and creating a more seamless look.
iPhone Ultra’s compact camera island (new render)Front Page Tech / YouTubeiPhone Ultra with an elongated camera island (old render)Front Page Tech
What about the new iOS feature?
Prosser claims the iPhone Ultra will bring split-screen multitasking to iOS, though it would reportedly be exclusive to the foldable. That means your current iPhone likely won’t get it, even though it supports iOS 27.
Apple appears to be laying the groundwork in iOS 27 code, with strings like “fold state” and “angle degrees” surfacing in the developer beta.
Following WWDC 2026, Apple also instructed developers to prepare for a dynamic range of screen sizes and aspect ratios. If Prosser is right, the iPhone Ultra would be the first iPhone to properly run two apps side by side.
A clip of a helicopter landing has gone viral following an incredibly precise landing. In the video, first posted by the YouTube channel Rescue -Helispotter Pipo St.Gallen Switzerland, a red Rega rescue helicopter lands on the roof of the St. Gallen Cantonal Hospital in Switzerland, but it’s not just any helicopter landing. The speed and angle the pilot takes are what make the video impressive, with the pilot neatly drifting into the landing rather than the usual slow turn pilots make from further out.
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Rega helicopters are on standby at 14 locations in Switzerland, including its towns and mountains. The rescue helicopter in the viral clip is an AgustaWestland Da Vinci, used on all of Rega’s mountain bases due to its aerodynamics and power. What allows the Da Vinci helicopter to land so precisely, like in the video, even on mountains? It has landing gear rather than skids. It can land just about anywhere, perfect for mountain rescues or racing to hospital landing pads.
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What makes the Da Vinci so maneuverable?
The Da Vinci helicopter has four main rotor blades and two tail rotor blades. These tail rotor blades counteract the rotational torque of the main blades, keeping the helicopter stable and providing the pilot with more pitch control. The Da Vinci’s dual duplex four-axis digital Automatic Flight Control System offers incredible stability by adjusting all its rotor blades simultaneously. A four-axis system also handles the vertical motion during climbs and descents, allowing control during hovering and any significant altitude changes.
The autopilot system has altitude hold, which reduces the vibration. The autopilot also has various modes for approach, making the descent a lot smoother. Approach to hover allows the pilot to predict the final hover point and adjust the descent slope as needed. All of this is very important since the Da Vinci is designed specifically for critical tasks such as emergency medical services and search and rescue. Rega’s other helicopter, the Airbus H145, is additionally used by law enforcement and for military rescue missions.
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Helicopters are important to Swiss Alps rescue missions
It’s unclear what prompted this particular viral landing, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the pilot was rushing a person from the Swiss Alps to the hospital’s ER. That’s not an uncommon occurrence: According to Swiss Alpine Club data (via Swissinfo), nearly 4,000 people had to be rescued from the Alps in 2025, primarily due to falls and getting lost.
These mountain rescues are performed by helicopters like the Da Vinci, as they are well-suited to the requirements of high-altitude flights. Think about it: The helicopter crew must search for the rescue location, with mountainous terrain possibly requiring the pilot to land on cramped or uneven surfaces. If the pilot can’t land the helicopter, they must have a chopper that will hover steadily as the rescue specialist descends, so they can hitch the injured hiker and lift them back up. None of this would be possible with airplanes, of course — and maybe not with a more conventional helicopter, either.
Demand for artificial intelligence compute continues to rise, necessitating the search for new sources of reliable power and effective cooling. Facilities built on land frequently face opposition from communities concerned about electricity bills, noise, and water consumption. Panthalassa, a Pacific Northwest-based company, has spent the last decade developing floating platforms that generate power straight from ocean waves while staying cool in the surrounding waters. Data is transmitted to and from the platforms via satellite links rather than undersea cables. The strategy isolates operations far from shore and takes advantage of wave energy that is available around the clock in strategically chosen places.
Current prototypes for continuous wave power resemble large steel barges that sit primarily at the ocean’s bottom, with only a small portion visible above the water. Since 2025, the Ocean-2 test unit has been located off the coast of Washington state. It is around 70 metres long and produces a full megawatt of power when the waves are perfect. Waves shaking the floating part of the item push all of the water down a conduit into a reservoir underwater, where gravity simply allows it to drop into a unique water-tight turbine that generates energy. They’ve engineered it such that strong ocean conditions can’t get in and cause damage, and there are no exposed bits to break.
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Photos of the Ocean-2 in the ocean reveal a plain steel construction with scale markings, antennae protruding out, and a few other components visible above the waves. Engineers made the prototypes out of thick steel coated with zinc or aluminum to prevent rusting, and they expect them to last at least 15 years. The compute bits that will be added when they go commercial will be in sealed containers with cold saltwater circulating inside, as they picked this design because the seawater will absorb the heat for them without the need for mechanical cooling or large fans to blast the moisture away.
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The larger commercial ones they’re planning on are about 85 meters long and will have some AI components in those seawater-cooled containers, allowing numerous ones to work together as a larger data center. The results will be sent back to the control center via SpaceX Starlink satellites, eliminating the need to connect to the grid or run cables all the way back to the shore. They believe this technology is best suited for large, time-consuming operations that do not require immediate results.
Setting it all up begins on the beach or in a secluded body of water. Then they pull the object out to deeper water and let it sit up, as it will go from there on its own or with a little aid from a crew to its eventual destination. Targets are stretches of the Southern Ocean away from all maritime lines. The first commercial one with all of the AI gear is scheduled for 2027 and will be constructed at a new plant in the United States. [Source]
Owners of affected iPhones can stop checking for patches now: the fix for this SecureROM bug comes in a new handset
A newly disclosed BootROM exploit affecting Apple’s A12 and A13 chips gives researchers a way to break the secure boot chain on millions of iPhones and other Apple devices.
The exploit, dubbed “usbliter8” by security researchers at Paradigm Shift, targets a flaw in the SecureROM code found on the iPhone XS, XR, 11, and 11 Pro models, plus other devices powered by Apple’s A12 and A13 processors. Because the vulnerability resides in immutable BootROM code burned into silicon during manufacturing, it cannot be patched.
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The researchers traced the issue to the Synopsys DesignWare USB controller used by Apple. A flaw in how the hardware handles certain USB setup packets allows attackers to corrupt memory during Device Firmware Update (DFU) mode, and ultimately gain control of SecureROM itself.
That might sound like an unremarkable minor moment in boot process, but SecureROM sits at the very bottom of Apple’s chain of trust. If an attacker can compromise it, they can interfere with everything that comes afterward.
For ordinary iPhone owners, there is little reason to panic. Exploitation requires physical access to a device and the ability to place it into DFU mode, which means this isn’t the sort of bug criminals are likely to weaponize in phishing campaigns or drive-by attacks.
For security researchers, however, BootROM vulnerabilities are the gift that keeps on giving. Unlike software flaws that disappear after the next patch Tuesday, these bugs remain exploitable for the lifetime of the hardware.
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Paradigm’s proof-of-concept demonstrates the ability to run unsigned code during the boot process, load custom iBoot images without signature checks, and modify DFU behavior. The exploit also marks compromised devices with the traditional “PWND” – a string familiar to anyone who spent time around the jailbreaking community over the last decade.
Not every generation of iPhone has the flaw. According to the researchers, Apple’s A11 chips dodge the issue thanks to a different USB implementation, while A14 and later hardware appears to have fixed the conditions that make the exploit possible in the first place.
“While newer generations have addressed the underlying issue, affected A12 and A13 devices will carry it for the remainder of their lifetime,” said Paradigm researchers. “For those who have followed the history of iPhone exploitation and jailbreaking, this research is a reminder that the BootROM still occasionally has a surprise left to give.
The team said it disclosed the findings to Apple before publication and coordinated the release of the research with the company. Apple did not respond to The Register’s request for comment.
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The exploit doesn’t directly compromise Apple’s Secure Enclave Processor, which remains responsible for protecting passcodes, encryption keys, and other sensitive data. Still, gaining control of SecureROM is about as close as researchers can get to the keys to the kingdom without crossing that final boundary.
There’s no fix, but a remedy is simple, if somewhat expensive: buy a new iPhone. ®
There might be a general sense out there that modern cars are longer-lasting and less trouble-prone than older ones, and for many models, and by many standards, that may be true. This doesn’t, however, mean that new cars are without issues — and those issues can be big or small. With the increased use of software, sensors, and other tech-heavy features in modern vehicles, even minor glitches and hiccups can easily cause problems — with things like backup camera issues regularly leading to extensive vehicle recalls in the modern era.
The good news is that while annoying, a lot of those issues can be fixed quickly and easily, sometimes at home via over-the-air updates or with a trip to the dealer for a software refresh or a quick component replacement. Some modern vehicle problems, though, are much more troublesome.
Nobody wants to deal with engine problems, and at the moment several major auto brands are facing notable engine issues on some of their most popular models. Some of these problems have necessitated complete engine replacements and have caused not just major vehicle recalls but class action lawsuits as well. Below, we’ve rounded up some of the bigger ongoing engine issues that automakers are dealing with in 2026.
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1. Honda 1.5 turbo
Honda generally enjoys a strong reputation for reliability, but there are still some Honda engines buyers might want to steer clear of. One of those engines is the company’s 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The Honda 1.5-liter turbo has been around for a while now and powers some of Honda’s best-selling models, including the Civic, Accord, and CR-V.
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Unfortunately, this engine’s issues have also been known for a while — namely, oil dilution and head gasket failures. A blown head gasket is not a cheap or quick repair, and while Honda hasn’t issued a factory recall for these problems, ongoing 1.5-liter turbo issues have continued to plague the company, including class action lawsuits.
The good news for new car buyers, at least, is that in 2026, the 1.5 turbo has become an increasingly small and outdated part of Honda’s engine lineup, as the Civic, Accord, and CR-V are all available with Honda’s newer 2.0-liter hybrid four-cylinder. Opting for the hybrid versions of these cars will cost a little more up front, but it’s probably the wiser choice. Not only will the hybrid models avoid the potential issues of the 1.5 turbo, but they also deliver significantly improved fuel economy and performance compared to the non-hybrid engine.
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2. Nissan 1.5-liter VC turbo
Things overall have not been great for Nissan recently, as the Japanese automaker works to dig its way out of financial turmoil at the corporate level; down on the ground, things aren’t much better. The company’s innovative yet often troublesome variable compression engines have been a major culprit behind recalls and owner complaints, plagued by issues for a few years now.
In 2026, the Nissan 1.5-liter three-cylinder turbo VC motor has proven especially problematic, with the company recalling over 600,000 Rogue SUVs for potentially catastrophic engine problems. If fortunate, some of the affected engines will only need a throttle body replacement. More serious is the ongoing problem of VC engine bearing failures, which, if found during inspection, require a complete engine replacement. Along with the popular Rogue, these VC turbo engine issues have also affected models like the Nissan Altima, as well as some of Infiniti’s small SUVs.
With more car companies using turbochargers and other tricks to squeeze added power and fuel efficiency from small-displacement engines, it seems almost inevitable that problems like this will happen more — particularly when compared to the larger and simpler, if less efficient, naturally aspirated engines that used to be the norm.
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3. General Motors 6.2L V8
Given their increased heat and complexity, it’s not surprising that most engines experiencing major issues are the smaller, turbocharged variety. It turns out, though, that the simpler, naturally aspirated American V8 is not without its own problems. Specifically, we’re talking about problems with the General Motors 6.2-liter V8, which powers popular models like the best-selling Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, as well as the Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Cadillac Escalade SUVs.
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Problems caused by defective internal components in the L87 6.2 V8 have thus far led to the recall of over 700,000 trucks and SUVs, not to mention ongoing class-action lawsuits from owners. GM says a possible solution is to change the recommended oil viscosity. However, questions remain about its effectiveness, and it hasn’t provided L87 owners with any real peace of mind. Even if the solution helps protect the engines, concerns have been raised about a possible decrease in fuel economy from the switch.
In early 2026, an NHTSA investigation was launched into the 6.2 engine failures and the band-aid fixes GM has recommended. There’s no doubt that both General Motors and potential truck and SUV buyers are hoping that the 6.2’s issues will be left in the past with the move to new, larger V8 engines on next-generation truck models.
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4. Jeep 2.0L turbo hybrid (4xe)
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Want to know how fast things can change in the auto industry? Back in 2021, the new Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee 4xe models, which use a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine combined with plug-in hybrid electric power, were portrayed as the future of the Jeep brand — and would be sold as part of a growing lineup of hybrid and fully electric Jeep SUVs.
Just five years later, Jeep has discontinued its 4xe models completely. This was partly done in response to a shifting market and regulatory environment, which has seen automakers draw back from electrification across the board, but that likely wasn’t the only reason for the 4xe’s demise. The 4xe powertrain has also been plagued by mechanical and electrical issues, which surely haven’t helped its case for sticking around. Among other things, 4xes had already been recalled for potential battery fire issues– and then there was another recall for possible casting sand that may have been left inside the 4xe’s 2.0 turbo engine, with over 100,000 vehicles affected.
If sand is inside the engine, it could lead not just to total engine failure but also to a fire risk — something that has become all too familiar for 4xe owners. One can only imagine the costs Jeep and Stellantis incurred during the 4xe experiment, so it’s not surprising that the company is ready to move on from this era — even as mechanical problems linger.
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5. Toyota 3.4L twin-turbo V6
Traditionally, when one bought a new Toyota pickup truck, a reputation for reliability was one of the big selling points. Even if the truck lagged behind competitors in other categories, the hope was that a bulletproof, trouble-free engine would pay dividends over the long run. So far, though, that hasn’t been the case with the company’s latest full-size pickups and SUVs.
The 3.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine that powers the Toyota Tundra pickup and Toyota Sequoia SUV has suffered significant problems since its debut for the 2022 model year — and they continue to put a dent in Toyota’s generally excellent reputation. As of 2026, ongoing, potentially catastrophic engine-bearing problems have prompted Toyota to recall over 250,000 trucks, and even with the company’s efforts to remedy the issue, Tundra owners remain unhappy with the situation.
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Even worse, though Toyota has updated the design, the new engines being built today still aren’t completely immune to the defect. While there’s no doubt about the on-paper performance and fuel economy improvements of the new twin-turbo engine over its predecessors, the issues the new Tundra has had will probably keep some owners sticking with their older V8 models for a while longer.
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How we listed these engines
Andrey Grigoriev/Getty Images
The engines on this list were chosen because of ongoing recalls, owner complaints, class-action lawsuits, and government investigations over the last 12 months. To narrow it down to these specific choices, we chose popular vehicles from major brands that have been subject to large and ongoing recalls over the last year — including ones with issues not yet fully resolved. While manufacturer recalls are very common on modern vehicles, these engine issues require more than a quick fix and, if left unaddressed, have been shown to cause complete engine failures, often in newer vehicles with low mileage.
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