This website uses cookies

Read our Privacy policy and Terms of use for more information.

Headliner
CFMoto's liter-class adventure bike lands in the USA for $12,499

CFMoto's liter-class adventure bike lands in the USA for $12,499

by Utkarsh Sood

Liter-class bikes aren't exactly accessible. Not just state-of-the-art superbikes that look like Greek goddesses, but even something as rugged as the Honda Africa Twin comes for upwards of $15,000. CFMoto's latest offering takes a shot at that status quo.

Today’s newsletter sponsor

Beat the Heat and Sleep Restfully: Meet the All-New CoolNest Ultra Mattress

Hot sleepers, meet a mattress designed to tackle heat from the surface down. SweetNight's CoolNest Ultra combines cooling fabrics, phase-change materials and ventilated memory foam with seven-zone ergonomic support.

Highlights
MaterialsEngineering

Plastic-free vegan leather sees production-scale breakthrough

by Maryna Holovnova

Scientists have been searching for alternatives to animal leather, and mushrooms might be one of the most promising options. Finnish researchers have taken another step toward bringing mushroom-based leather bags and shoes to store shelves.

AutomotiveTransport

Review: 2026 Audi SQ5 delivers sensible misbehavior

by Aaron Turpen

The 2026 Audi SQ5 is a family crossover with five seats, a useful cargo area, and all-wheel drive. It’s also capable of launching itself to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds. Because apparently groceries need to be accelerated urgently.

Special promotion for New Atlas readers

Get Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more with this $55 Office license

Give your PC a productivity boost without breaking the bank. This Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus for Windows lifetime license gives your computer six essential tools to work with, and right now it’s only $54.99.

ArchitectureEngineering

Boldly twisted tower lures you into its Escher-like space to spy on birds

by Bronwyn Thompson

A new 19.9-meter (65-ft) tower rises like a brutalist-inspired, twisted monolith above its rural surroundings, providing a space for watching migratory birds that populate Wuhan's Chenhu Wetland, China.

Consumer TechTechnology

HoverAir's latest flyer eradicates divide between pocket cam and drone

by Monica J. White

After a quick reveal earlier this month, HoverAir has revealed full specs for the Versa, a pocket gimbal camera that snaps onto prop-packing wings to fly like an autonomous camera-drone. The novel hybrid has also launched on Indiegogo.

Space SystemsEngineering

NASA abandons orbit-boost attempt to rescue Swift space telescope

by David Szondy

The mission to rescue NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory space telescope may be in need of some rescuing itself. Due to multiple malfunctions in the LINK spacecraft's attitude control system, space engineers have decided to abandon the boost attempt.

Knives and MultitoolsGearOutdoors

Tiny titanium keyring puts a versatile toolkit in your pocket

by Abhimanyu Ghoshal

This new piece of EDC gear we've spotted looks like a handy little screwdriver with bit storage. However, it serves two additional functions beyond fastening that make it practical for more than just DIY projects and repairs.

Engineering

'Light pumping' bends beams in femtoseconds toward faster computing

by Malcolm Azania

By calibrating a “light pump” to match the optical composition of a medium, researchers can shoot a “probe” beam at a new deflection angle. Surpassing previous electronic means, Caltech’s light-bending opens the door to hyperspeed computation.

Special promotion for New Atlas readers

The Future Today: Get the AI & tech news that actually matters. With one email, and only five minutes, you can stay ahead of 99% of the world. The Future Today is read by teams at Anthropic, Microsoft, OpenAI, NVIDIA, and Salesforce. Join Free Today →

AutomotiveTransport

Ferrari just sold a single super-divisive Luce at 62x its asking price

by Abhimanyu Ghoshal

Ferrari's first EV drew immense praise for the inventive interiors with a focus on physical controls – but was panned for its exterior design. Despite the polarization, a one-off Luce has sold for a whopping $40 million at auction.

RoboticsEngineering

New controller makes operating an excavator almost instinctive

by Omar Kardoudi

MIT engineers replaced excavator joysticks with a miniature-arm controller that mimics human arm motion, letting complete novices match veteran operators' skill level from their very first session, no years of practice required.

Elsewhere

Do androids dream of Olympic gold? The World Humanoid Robot Games in China is showcasing some seriously impressive humanoid boxing, soccer, and sprinting skills – in some cases beating human world record holders.

Get your next issue ad-free – and support our work: join New Atlas Plus!