If there’s extraterrestrial life anywhere in the galaxy, chances are, it could be on LHS 1140b.
Astronomers have found that the exoplanet 48 light years away is spewing helium into space, a strong sign that it harbors a robust atmosphere, they reported in a new study published in the journal Science.
And that’s not all: it’s also a rocky world like our own, and orbits within its star’s habitable zone, the region around a star where a planet can maintain liquid — and possibly life-harboring — water on its surface.
If their findings are borne out, then it’s the first ever Earth-like exoplanet we’ve seen with an atmosphere stable enough to support life — and could vindicate the belief that there’s a whole host of similar planets out there, rather than our own being a rare anomaly in the cosmos.
“When there’s one, there’s more in exoplanets,” Sara Seager, an astrophysicist at MIT who was not involved in the study, told the New York Times. “Hopefully this is the start of something new.”
“At this point, we have absolutely no evidence for life on the planet,” lead author Collin Cherubim, a planetary scientist at Harvard University, added to the newspaper. “But we think all of the really important, essential ingredients are there.”
Spotting exoplanets is rare. While we have catalogued millions of stars, we have only confirmed around 6,000 worlds outside our solar system. Finding ones with an atmosphere is even rarer, since their signals are faint compared to the light of the planet’s star. In many cases, the planets with atmospheres are gas giants, which are unlikely to support life.
A key detail is that LHS 1140b orbits a red dwarf. Planets around red dwarfs are easier to spot because the diminutive stars are fainter, meaning it’s more noticeable when a planet passes in front of them. But since they emit less heat, a potentially habitable planet needs to orbit much closer to to them than we do our Sun. That could be a problem because red dwarfs are believed to be highly volatile. A closely orbiting planet would be in danger of being battered by solar flares and other powerful outbursts, which could strip it of its atmosphere and sterilize developing lifeforms.
The astronomers, however, found that LHS 1140b has a helium-rich atmosphere despite being — or because it’s in — the star’s habitable zone, demonstrating that the volatility of red dwarfs may not be as much as a problem as once thought (though this one appears to be less active than its cousins). They used a theoretical computer model of exoplanet atmosphere evolution that tracked how lighter elements like hydrogen and helium would be ejected by the outbursts of its host star, Science explained. When they applied it to LHS 1140b, which was first discovered in 2017, it predicted that its upper atmosphere would be dominated by helium, a promising sign that it’s capable of supporting life.
“Twenty years ago we wondered whether other terrestrial-type planets even existed,” Robin Wordsworth, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Harvard, said in a statement about the work. “Then we learned they’re common, and found some in the habitable zone.”
“The next question was whether any of them had managed to keep an atmosphere,” he added. “Now we know at least one has.”
“The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” will de-age actors using AI, the actor and director Andy Serkis confirmed to Variety.
“There’s a little bit of de-aging for some of the characters and machine learning is part of the process,” Serkis, who is both directing the new film and reprising his famous role as Gollum, told Variety.
AI is an incredibly contentious topic in Hollywood. Some studios, like A24, have leaned into generative AI. Others in the industry, from actors to directors and writers, have lambasted the tech, with many fearing that AI will be used to replace industry jobs or simply result in lower-quality work. As the tension between the pro-AI and anti-AI — or perhaps AI-resigned — factions deepen, the industry and its leaders, Serkis included, are publicly grappling with the technology and what it means for a key creative industry.
In addition to Serkis, returning actors from past films include Elijah Wood as Frodo, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and Lee Pace as Thranduil — all of whom are markedly older than when the original “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the prequel franchise “The Hobbit” were filmed. Beyond de-aging, though, Serkis said that “at present,” there are no other plans to use AI in the making of the new movie.
“We’re not creating AI shots in our movie, every shot is created in a traditional way,” said Serkis. “One of the things actually that I really wanted to do with this film was to bring back all of the great filmmaking skills, from miniatures to prosthetics and marry them up, because that’s my taste.”
Serkis didn’t nix the idea of using AI altogether. He noted that Peter Jackson, who famously directed the previous live-action movies in the celebrated franchise, worked with the software engineer Stephen Regelous to develop the AI-powered special effects software known as MASSIVE back in the early 2000s.
“When you think about it, in the original ‘Lord of the Rings’ films, Peter created MASSIVE, which was a program which allowed thousands of orcs to all have their own individual mindset,” said Serkis. “So that is a brilliant example of an incredible use of AI.”
He added that AI can be a “valuable” creative tool “as long as it’s not exploitative and as long as it’s not harming anybody or defaming anybody or telling mistruths.”
“When it becomes exploitative and people are not remunerated for the work that they’ve done, or it’s used in nefarious, or mean-spirited or pornographic ways, then of course, that’s terrible and we’ve only brought it upon ourselves,” he added. “I’ve said this before and I mean it — we are the parents of AI, and we have to be good parents and teach AI well. And if we teach AI well, then it can help us across many industries.”
As The Tab noted, many Lord of the Rings fans responded positively, drawing a line between machine learning-infused virtual effects software and generative AI tools that churn out text, audio, and imagery.
“AI is perfect for de-aging,” wrote one commenter. “It should get a complete and utter free pass for that. Having an artist sit and de-age someone must be a horrific chore. Let them work on something fun instead.”
“Every single VFX tool these days uses AI for some part of the processing,” added another. “This isn’t generative AI.”
Reuters reports:
Incoming British prime minister Andy Burnham will scrap the government's troubled plans for a digital ID scheme when he enters office on Monday, a spokesperson for the new Labour Party leader said. Resources devoted to the scheme, deemed a "fiasco" by a cross-party committee of lawmakers, will be redirected to Burnham's priorities, the spokesperson said...
"All the time and resource that was going to be spent on a national ID scheme will go instead to where it's most needed, such as helping with the cost of living," Burnham's spokesperson said.
In November, the Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog estimated the cost of the digital ID scheme at around £1.8 billion ($2.4 billion) between financial years 2026/27 and 2028/29.
A aplicação foi criada pela startup EdTech, criada por quatro alunos do Técnico e já reconhecida em vários prémios. Está disponível para experimentar gratuitamente.
Apesar do adiamento de Batman: Parte 2, o diretor Matt Reeves decidiu presentear os fãs com uma prévia inédita do novo uniforme do homem-morcego.
O traje de Bruce Wayne, interpretado por Robert Pattinson, teve mudanças que podem ditar o tom da narrativa e mostrar o que ele passou entre a vitória sobre o Charada e o futuro arco.
Como isso ajudará o super-herói contra vilões como o Victor Zsasz, Hera Venenosa e até o Pinguim ainda continua como um mistério, mas é fato que adaptações foram realizadas.
Para fins comparativos, isso também foi visto em outras obras — como a trilogia de Christopher Nolan de “O Cavaleiro das Trevas” e até no DCEU, entre Batman vs. Superman: A Origem da Justiça (2016) e Liga da Justiça (2017).
Veja o teaser e as 5 mudanças feitas no Homem-Morcego em Batman: Parte 2:
5. Protetor de queixo
No novo filme, Bruce Wayne usará uma camada a mais de proteção em seu queixo. O item do seu uniforme parece vir direto da parte da roupa em que seu pescoço é protegido e fecha toda a parte do maxilar do super-herói.
Antes, o Batman não utilizava o item — porém, todo cuidado com ganchos dos bandidos é pouco, não é mesmo? Vale notar que o equipamento é inédito nos cinemas, já que nenhuma outra interpretação do personagem o utilizou além dos extensores do próprio uniforme.
4. Adaptação do clássico símbolo
Com o logo da produção, é possível ver como será o símbolo que o “Battinson” usará nos cinemas agora. Foram adicionadas orelhas no morcego, mas assim como a versão anterior, ele não tem uma “cabeça” posicionada como os tradicionais.
Além disso, é notável que as bordas são mais arredondadas, o que remove parte do visual visceral que o anterior carregava. Não é revelado o porquê da mudança, mas é possível até que vejamos a alternância durante Batman: Parte 2.
3. Colarinho mais largo
Seu colarinho também está mais extenso, com a cobertura de toda a sua nuca agora. Este pode ser um visual mais protetivo, no entanto se assemelha bastante ao estilo que vemos dos vampiros clássicos da literatura — não de Crepúsculo, por mais que haja envolvimento de Robert Pattinson.
Possivelmente sua capa também terá alterações, que podem trazer um estilo mais sombrio e até mesmo “mitológico” para o personagem da DC Comics. Com o fim da ameaça de Charada e a partida da Mulher-Gato, talvez ele tenha precisado recorrer a aspectos “edgy” para adicionar um drama (parei com os trocadilhos) maior.
2. A “Batarmadura”
No longa-metragem de 2022, já vemos o protetor de Gotham com um traje tático. Contudo, a alteração no capacete e colarinho também indicam que ele está mais preocupado com os danos físicos que sofre — o que pode levá-lo a adotar uma verdadeira armadura para suas patrulhas.
Não que ele precise usar algo ao estilo medieval, mas os indicativos apontam que veremos ainda mais mudanças no peitoral, luvas e até em suas botas para aguentar os solavancos que a tenebrosa cidade apresenta.
1. “Antenas” maiores
Por fim, mas não menos importante, Battinson agora usa antenas maiores em seu capacete. Não são tão grandes quanto as da armadura de Michael Keaton, mas com certeza diferentes dos vistos nas produções mais recentes do super-herói.
Elas podem esconder funções, como a versão de Christopher Nolan — quem sabe para esconder um transmissor para se comunicar com Alfred ou ouvir as chamadas policiais? Ou, talvez, sirva para o Batman ser mais reconhecível no momento em que estiver para enfrentar os criminosos.
Mudanças expressivas no Batman
Com um teaser é possível reconhecer poucos elementos, mas novos trailers e imagens poderão esclarecer melhor como o uniforme de Bruce Wayne desempenhará um papel importante em Batman: Parte 2.
Ademais, super-heróis sempre mudam de vestimenta e o homem-morcego não pode ser diferente. Não é à toa que o medo de muita gente era que Robert Pattinson fosse marcado ao longo dos anos pelos trajes mais esquisitos do Batman. Não foi o caso, mesmo com as 5 mudanças na armadura do Battinson:
Assinar um serviço em 2026 pesou no bolso do jogador. Os planos da PlayStation se apresentam de formas distintas, o que pode confundir muitos jogadores e gerar dúvidas sobre qual deles vale mais a pena.
A PS Plus aumentou de preço recentemente e gerou diversas questões para os jogadores, afinal de contas, qual categoria vai oferecer aquilo que você busca pelo valor mais acessível? A decisão se tornou complexa e cheia de nuances.
Contudo, é possível alinhar as ideias e entender qual plano da PS Plus faz mais sentido para você. Na prática, saberá com exatidão para onde correr e o que terá em retorno no seu PlayStation 5.
Veja o comparativo entre a PS Plus Extra e Deluxe para entender qual plano vale mais a pena assinar em 2026:
O peso da PS Plus no bolso
Antes de discutirmos recursos, entrega e mais detalhes, primeiro é preciso falar sobre os preços praticados na PlayStation Plus. Veja abaixo o comparativo completo do que é cobrado em cada categoria:
PS Plus Extra
PS Plus Deluxe
Diferença de valor
1 mês
R$ 74,90
R$ 86,90
R$ 12
3 meses
R$ 209,90
R$ 249,90
R$ 40
1 ano
R$ 592,90
R$ 691,90
R$ 99
Como pode notar, a diferença financeira entre eles varia entre R$ 12 a R$ 99 — a depender de quanto tempo pretende se manter como assinante. Além disso, em ambos você tem os benefícios do Essential: o multiplayer online e a oferta de 3 games mensais.
O que a Sony oferece?
Para cada assinatura, o público contará com diferentes tipos de brindes para aprimorar a sua experiência. De forma óbvia, o mais caro vai acumular tudo que os demais oferecem com recursos adicionais, mas será que o custo-benefício é de se jogar fora?
A PS Plus Extra é uma categoria intermediária no PlayStation 5, que garante aos usuários acesso aos jogos mensais, modo multijogadores, coleção PlayStation Plus, Share Play e descontos exclusivos.
Porém, o verdadeiro diferencial é a presença do catálogo de títulos — que permite baixar no seu console e jogar, enquanto ele estiver disponível na plataforma, assim como o XBOX Game Pass. Quem assina o plano também pode usar o Ubisoft+ Classics, com um catálogo seleto da produtora.
Em outras palavras, quem assina a PS Plus Extra pode jogar sucessos como Final Fantasy XVI, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Cyberpunk 2077, God of War Ragnarök, Silent Hill 2 e até franquias como Assassin’s Creed e Far Cry.
No entanto, é importante ter consciência de que, ao contrário do serviço da Microsoft, a Sony não oferece lançamentos “Day One”. Dito isso, não terá Saros,Ghost of Yötei, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced e outros games que chegaram em 2026.
No máximo, haverá experiências independentes ou de outras produtoras com essa proposta — como foi o caso de Blue Prince, Big Walk, Foamstars e até Runescape: Dragonwilds. Se estava de olho em Marvel’s Wolverine ou algo do tipo, é melhor não se empolgar tanto.
Por até R$ 99 de diferença, o que o PS Plus Deluxe traz a mais? Na verdade, além de tudo o que já foi descrito até aqui (que é acumulado), ele tem outras duas propostas aos jogadores: o catálogo de clássicos e a experimentação de jogos.
Assim como o Nintendo Switch Online na concorrência, esta categoria permite revisitar o passado do PlayStation com diversas aventuras de PS1 e PS2 disponíveis para você baixar e relembrar dos “bons e velhos tempos”.
Porém, saiba que não se pode mergulhar nesta ideia de cabeça: ainda que existam exclusivos, não verá todos os God of War, Devil May Cry e outras séries emblemáticas daquela época. É uma plataforma mais “tímida” neste sentido.
Há franquias como Armored Core, Resident Evil e Ape Escape, assim como jogos que vão de Beyond: Two Souls, Dino Crisis a até God of War III Remastered e Gravity Rush Remastered. Está muito longe de ser ruim, mas também não está próxima do ideal.
Enquanto isso, a “experimentação de jogos” é uma gourmetização das demos. Ao invés de disponibilizar demonstrações gratuitamente na loja digital, para todos, eles deixam o recurso restrito para o serviço com os seus principais games.
Lá você pode jogar algumas horas de grandes aventuras, como Saros, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Alan Wake II, Black Myth: Wukong, Stellar Blade e outros sucessos que chegaram ao PS5 nos últimos anos. Na maior parte deles, é possível transferir o progresso para a versão completa, caso decida comprá-la.
Ou seja, por quase R$ 100 adicionais, terá uma verdadeira biblioteca de títulos retrô e acesso a algumas demonstrações. Estas são as principais vantagens que a PS Plus Deluxe tem sobre o plano Extra no Brasil.
Qual plano da PS Plus vale mais a pena?
Em um juízo de valores, apenas o catálogo de clássicos já faz a versão mais cara compensar. Porém, apenas se o jogador for um fã de jogos antigos e queira revisitar as experiências marcantes que fizeram parte de sua própria história.
Se levar em conta que cada um deles custa entre R$ 30 e R$ 60, se você jogar dois ou três por ano, a diferença já “se pagou”. Ainda assim, é importante considerar que você ainda perde recursos oferecidos em outros países no plano Premium, como o streaming de games pela nuvem.
No entanto, se não é o seu caso, a PS Plus Extra é o que mais vale a pena para investir em 2026. Não é um dos valores que mais se encaixam no bolso do público, mas oferece quase todas as opções sem ter de gastar um pouco mais por um ou outro game retrô.
Além disso, se os títulos de PS1 e PS2 fizerem tanta diferença assim, também é possível comprar portáteis que rodam emuladores — encontrados entre R$ 200 e R$ 500, eles permitem ter toda a experiência e de forma personalizada, já que ROM você baixa e instala o que desejar.
Na prática, com um desses você jogará o que quiser e onde preferir, sem estar preso à TV ou monitor. Melhor isso do que ter de checar a PS Plus Deluxe com frequência, pedir todo dia para a Sony ouvir suas preces e esperar a adição do seu jogo antigo favorito.
Financeiramente, sai uma brincadeira um pouco mais cara. Contudo, ao parcelar no cartão de crédito e com apoio de cupons e ações promocionais, isso pode não ser um problema tão sério ao bolso a longo prazo.
Com essa visão em mente, a PS Plus Extra é a melhor oferta da Sony para os assinantes em 2026. A Deluxe até vale a pena por dar acesso oficial a algumas das experiências presas ao passado, mas ainda assim tem muito a evoluir e acrescentar antes de realmente representar uma proposta viável.
Agora é oficial: o Google começou a liberar no Brasil a opção de alterar o endereço do Gmail da sua Conta do Google. Veja o passo a passo completo para mudar seu e-mail de forma rápida e descobre o que fazer caso o recurso ainda não tenha aparecido na sua conta.
An academic at the Australian National University has accused it of a “hysterical” response to students using AI to cheat, as tertiary institutions rush to shore up the credibility of assessments.
But a colleague warned Australia is in danger of “shipping our national intellectual capability” to companies in California and China if educational rigour is not restored.
Biological defenses make losing weight and keeping it off unusually difficult. Better treatments, healthier environments, and sustainable habits may support long-term health more effectively than willpower alone. For years, weight loss has been framed as a simple test of discipline: consume fewer calories and exercise more. Modern research, however, shows that body weight is regulated [...]
"Approximately half of Gen Z and millennials who have purchased a CD do not own a CD player," according to midyear sales statistics from entertainment data company Luminate. It's driven in part by "collection building", according to their report [PDF]:
The CD has been recontextualized from a functional audio format into an
affordable collectible. This behavior underscores that for younger generations, the act of buying
physical music is as much about aesthetic ownership and direct financial support for the artist
as it is listening to the music on the product itself
"Among artists who had a direct impact on the resurgence of CDs, K-Pop icons BTS' 10th studio album, ARIRANG, was a big seller," Vice points out in their report on the new data. "However, Luminate also found that, beyond K-Pop's overall influence, CD sales still increased 6.7% year over year, even if the whole genre was removed from the equation, jumping 16% to 16.3 million units."
That's more than the growth of vinyl sales (2.4%) — but physical media in general seems to be making a comeback:
Through the first half of the year, total physical album sales on vinyl, CDs, and cassettes reached 38.2 million units in the United States. This equates to a 7.8% increase.... [I]t seems that younger music fans have been driving a lot of the retro revival. The report shows that in 2026, 60% of Gen Z listeners said they most often listen to music from the 1990s and older. This is a massive increase from the 18 percent marker in 2021.
The new report also revealed that the way music fans are buying physical media has shifted. Indie record stores have been the largest generator of physical album sales for some time, and they continue to be. However, big-box stores like Target and Walmart took significant strides in the first half of 2026. Collectively, their music sales made up about 30% of the market.
Thanks to Slashdot reader fjo3 for sharing the article.
Nothing highlights the highs and lows of vinyl like a proper turn table such as the Fluance RT87. Maybe you’ve been using the same Audio Technica LP-60 or even Crossley or Victrola that proliferates the storefront of every record store you’ve ever been to. No shame, I’ve had each at some point.
But there’s something about a fully manual turntable from assembling and calibrating (and testing one’s patience) to cleaning a record every time you put a new one on. Convenient is not necessarily a word that I would use for this process. But it is a bit meditative. More importantly, the audio quality you get a step above with that analog warmth that the best turntables are known for, while not adding unnecessary distortion that may make your vinyl also sound a bit unintentionally lo-fi.
Of course, spending the $799.99 / £666.33 / AU$1,231.70 is not enough for that immersive listening experience. You should probably get a pair of the best stereo speakers you can afford. And if those speakers don’t have a built-in phono preamp, you’ll have to get one of those too. This turntable does not come with one.
Fluance RT87 Turntable review: price and release date
The Fluance RT87 is playing Kacey Musgraves. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)
How much does it cost? $799.99 (around £666 / AU$1,230)
When is it available? Available now (launched in June 2026)
Where can you get it? Available now in the US; UK and Australia coming soon
Newest among Fluance’s offerings with a mid-June 2026 release, the Fluance RT87 is available in the US and will (at the time of writing) be available in the UK,and Australia very soon. And whether you get it in Natural Walnut, Piano Black, or Piano White, the price goes for an only-cheap-to-audiophile price of $799.99 (around £666 / AU$1,230). And that price stays the same regardless of cartridge, of which you can choose from the Ortofon 2M Blue or Audio Technica AT-VM95ML.
Just be aware that the Fluance RT87 does not have a built-in phono preamp, so you’ll need to invest in one. Fluance does sell the PA10 Phono Preamp for $99.99 / £82.99 / AU$154 and can be bundled (though without a discount) on its site.
Fluance RT87 Turntable review: features
The Fluance RT87 has a speed selector, so no need to change the belt. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)
Very light on features and extra perks — the connoisseurs' choice
No phono preamp or 45 RPM adapter
Does come with a bubble level
If the Fluance RT87 is more for the audio purist and I think that’s who the brand is targeting, then it makes sense that this turntable is pretty light on convenience-focused features. There is no built-in phono preamp — something you can find on much cheaper decks like the Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT. And, of course, you won’t find Bluetooth connectivity or any other unique types of connectivity.
I don’t say this as a bad thing, either. After all, the Fluance RT87 is meant for someone ready to enter more serious vinyl listening and all those extra accoutrements take away from what’s important and that’s its performance and everything involved in making sure that it performs properly.
While I’ll cover most of those choices for performance in the next couple sections, it’s worth noting that the Fluance RT87 comes with the option of either the Ortofon 2M Blue or Audio Technica AT-VM95ML cartridge, either of which cost over $150 as just as part ($166.99 and $179.00, respectively). The configuration reviewed here is the Ortofon 2M Blue.
While there are plenty of opinions out there on both cartridges and how they affect the sound and I won’t parse out that whole conversation — people’s opinions of cartridges are as varied as they are on any other piece of audio equipment — other than to say that either cartridge marks an entry point into serious audio quality from more budget cartridges… just like the Fluance RT87 itself.
It’s also worth mentioning that this turntable can play 78, 45, and 33 RPM, via a selector on the lower left corner of the turntable so no need to adjust the belt like some turntables. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a 45 RPM adapter. Additionally, it has an Auto-Stop toggle on the back.
Features score: 3 / 5
Fluance RT87 Turntable review: sound quality
The Fluance RT87 being used in a somewhat treated room. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)
Has a sweet, slightly warm sound
Soundstage is immersive
No discernable inner groove distortion
I learned a lot about my records using the Fluance RT87 as my conduit. I learned that I didn’t like the way Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is mixed. I learned that there’s way too much happening in Kamasi Washington’s Truth. Just to name a few.
You hear something that was there this whole time, but you noticed it on this last listen. And that’s not something that typically happens with entry-level gear. In short, I really enjoyed listening to the Fluance RT87. And while the turn table is a step or two up from entry-level gear (maybe beginner audiophile gear or first serious turntable level), the rest of the chain was more on the budget side — Fluance’s affordable PA10 phono amp and the company’s Ai41 speakers. Solid gear, but not transcendent.
One of the good things about using the Ai41 speakers is its Bluetooth connectivity. I could compare a record to a digital stream of the same music via HiFi through Deezer, which I did in a few cases. Rumours, for instance, got a play through vinyl as well as Kacey Musgrave’s Golden Hour. And the vinyl sounded just a little bit better. Maybe it’s the even-order harmonics. Maybe it’s using physical media over digital zeros and ones. To me, everything through the Fluance RT87 had this little bit of bloom to it. It just sounded a little bit sweeter.
Since I had done my best to properly set up my bookshelf speakers when I did my serious listening, I found the soundstage to be expansive and enveloping during listening sessions. I mentioned Kamasi Washington’s Truth, from his album Harmony of Difference before. When playing that song (really the whole record), not only could I hear his band to the outer reaches of where the speakers were projecting, but I could hear precise placement of various horn parts placed across the sound stage. In the same vein, Radiohead’s Pyramid Song sounded phenomenal on this setup.
As far as frequency response goes, I was pretty pleased. With the obvious caveat that the speakers are going to be the biggest bottleneck in a sound system (a bit of an oversimplification), I found the mid-range to be rich and full. Kacey Musgrave’s voice and guitar on Slow Burn, the opening track from Golden Hour, has weight to it. And the high-end has plenty of detail, while retaining some of the warmth of analog as it’s a tiny bit rolled off in a pleasing kind of way.
Now, the bass response is a bit tighter as opposed to big or woolly. It was still very present. Sure, it has a defined space on an older record like Rumours or Talking Heads’ Remain In The Light, but it’s easily placeable and doesn’t overpower the mix in something like FKA Twigs’ EP1.
Lastly, every record I played had a good amount of headroom so that the music came through clearly and without any real distortion (outside of those even order harmonics). And there wasn’t any discernable inner groove distortion either as the stylus would wind its way to the end of each side.
Sound quality: 5 / 5
Fluance RT87 Turntable review: design
Fluance RT87's acrylic platter is hefty, weighing about four pounds. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)
Heavy-duty plinth and platter
Belt-driven
Removable cartridge
If you’re just getting into turntables, you might be wondering what puts the Fluance RT87 in a more expensive price bracket compared to a lot of the popular, feature-filled turntables out there, one of which you might be upgrading from.
Obviously the sound quality is a huge part of that, which we’ve already covered, but that sound quality is affected by the build of the Fluance RT87. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that it’s a classy-looking deck with a high-gloss finish, available in Natural Walnut (reviewed here), Piano White, and Piano Black. It is made from MDF, but that’s actually a positive, as it doesn’t create any resonance.
Getting back to that build, the plinth, aka the body or chassis of the turntable, is heavy — the whole thing weighs 21 lb (9.5 kg) — giving the turntable a durable feel. Also, the acrylic platter is hefty in and of itself at 4.1 lb (1.85 kg). Incidental bumping or closing of the dust cover, which is surprisingly easy to scratch, doesn’t skip or affect the sound. And unless your record is warped, it will rotate without any up or down motion.
This is a belt-driven turntable with an adjustable and rigid carbon fiber tonearm (you even get a little hex wrench to adjust it), complete with removable counterweight and tiny anti-skate weight, and replaceable cartridge. I’ve mentioned earlier the two types of cartridges to select from and the fact that the reviewed model here came with the Ortofon 2M Blue. It’s worth noting that this is a moving magnet cartridge with a nude elliptical stylus.
The feet, of which there are three, are adjustable to help level the Fluance RT87. They are basically large, mostly silicon silicon screws.
Control-wise, there’s just the speed selector on the front, left corner of the plinth and the auto-stop toggle on the back. The ports are about as Spartan — just stereo RCA inputs and a ground outlet.
As far as extras go, the turntable comes with a RCA cable, ground cable, hex wrench for adjusting the tone arm, and bubble level, so you can adjust the turntable’s angle accordingly before you end up butchering any records. Brushes and any extras will require an individual purchase.
Design score: 4.5 / 5
Fluance RT87 Turntable review: ease of use and setup
Putting it together takes ten minutes
Not plug-and-play
Fine tuning takes even longer
There's a bit of assembly required with the Fluance RT87. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)
This should not be your first turntable. There’s ritual to setting up the Fluance RT87, as there is for a lot of turntables once you graduate beyond the three-to-four hundred dollar range. Because of that, it was equal parts frustrating and engaging. So, yes, there is some assembly required.
When first unboxing, I had to remove everything from its plastic wrapping and then spend probably five minutes just getting everything all together. I had to put the platter on the plinth, put the belt around the platter and then on the motor, put the Ortofon cartridge on one end of the tonearm followed by the counterweight on the other end, then on goes the anti-skate weight, and, lastly, I had to add the hinges to the dust cover and then attach it to the plinth.
But wait, we’re not ready to start playing any records. I had to turn the platter a few times with the belt on so that it’s evenly distributed. Since the platter doesn’t have a ridge or indentation for the belt, it has a habit of slipping off (and still does if I’m a bit clumsy removing a record after play) — something you don’t have to deal with on cheaper decks.
I also had to adjust the feet so that the turntable is completely level, making sure records lie flat during play. This takes a bit of time because you have to reach under and turn each foot clockwise to extend (counter-clockwise to shorten) until the bubble level shows its bubble directly in the center. This took me about ten minutes of adjusting initially, though to be fair, I was using a table that wasn’t very level. After moving the Fluance RT87 from the table I first had it set up on to a different, somewhat treated room where I had to put it on the floor, it required much less adjusting.
Adjusting the tonearm’s counterweight took quite a while as I had to be precise in getting it to balance flat instead of flying up and away from the turntable or digging into my records. While it’s par for the course, this probably also took me about ten minutes of adjusting, though that’s partially because I set it up according to the manual and found the tonearm to still not have enough weight from the counterweight.
Similarly, the anti-skate weight here is a bit finicky as well. It’s just a tiny ball on a thread thin enough to thread a needle with a loop on the other end to attach to the tonearm. The tonearm attachment is basically a lever with four notches on it to account for different anti-skate weight needs (for instance, the anti-skate should loop over a different rung when using the Ortofon cartridge versus the Audio-Technica one). Not only did it take some experimentation to find the right setting, but the loop kept slipping off its rung.
If you’re upgrading to your first big-boy or big-girl turntable and considering this one, just be ready to put in some time getting it right before actually using it. Also be aware that some of the required attention to detail during setup is not unique to this turntable, though anti-skate weights aren’t always a tiny ball on a tiny string.
Usability and setup score: 3.5 / 5
Fluance RT87 Turntable review: value
(Image credit: Future / James Holland)
Less features and automation than cheaper turntables
Better sound quality than those cheaper turntables
Some entry-to-premium decks may sound as good, but aren’t as sturdy
It’s interesting that the cheaper decks are the more convenient. It’s almost as if the more money you spend, the less features. Exhibit A, for instance, might be the FiiO TT13. This turntable costs a little over a quarter of the price of the Fluance RT87 ($249 / £239 / AU$249 if you need specifics), while adding in Bluetooth connectivity, a built-in phono amp, a fully automatic tonearm, and, frankly, due to its plug-n-play design requires none of the setup or fine tuning of the record player reviewed here. But I would hazard that the Fluance RT87 sounds quite a bit better since it has a bit more heft to its sound.
If you’ve been looking at upping your vinyl game, you might have already looked at the popular Rega Planar PL1, which at $595 / £299 / AU$645, is probably a more direct comparison. But, while the Rega also has a pretty spacious sound, it’s a bit more workmanlike in construction. It’s more utilitarian in looks and is much more light weight in construction. The Fluance RT87’s acrylic platter alone weighs about half of the Rega Planar PL1, making the Fluance more likely to absorb shocks and bumps without fuss.
Value score: 4 / 5
Should I buy the Fluance RT87 Turntable?
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Features
While it’s to be expected on more serious turntables, this one is very light on features, though at least one can change from 33 to 45 rpm without having to adjust the belt.
3/5
Sound quality
The Fluance RT87 sounds really good, able to reproduce that analog warmth with body and spaciousness.
5/5
Design
From the removable but capable Ortofon Blue 2M (or AT-VM95ML) cartridge to the heavy acrylic platter and more, this turn table was built for durability and for quality.
4.5/5
ease of use and setup
There’s a lot of fine tuning required to set the RT87 up properly. And it’s probably going to take a little while. This part may exercise your patience.
3.5/5
Value
The Fluance RT87 is not a cheap turntable, but as a turntable for those ready to get serious about their listening experience, it’s appropriately priced.
4/5
Average Rating
Excellent sound, heavy duty build — there’s a lot to love. Too bad it doesn’t have a built-in phono preamp.
4.5/5
Buy it if...
You want immersive, impressive audio With a good pair of speakers in tow, the Fluance RT87 will make your record collection come alive with audio that has heft as well as breadth. It just sounds good.
You’re ready for a serious turntable Yeah, you have to do a bunch of set up and it doesn’t have Bluetooth, but if you want a solid turntable for serious listening, the Fluance RT87 should be in consideration.
You’re worried about vibrations There’s the rubberized, adjustable feet, a substantial plinth, and a hefty platter. This turntable won’t skip or scratch from a bump (if you have it set up correctly).
Don't buy it if...
You prioritize value While I think the Fluance RT87 is worth its price tag, I’ll also admit that it’s pretty high. Most people wanting to get into vinyl or step up from their very first record player will probably not want to spend $800 on one.
You need a phono preamp The Fluance RT87 does not have a phono preamp. If you’re not prepared to pay for this additional piece, then you might want to look elsewhere.View Deal
Fluance RT87 Turntable review:: Also consider
Fluance RT81 If you’re reading this review and liking what you see except for the price tag, Fluance does have the RT81, which costs less than half the price. It still sounds good, though not as good (less detail, inconsistent speed), and is much more convenient to use. Read our full Fluance RT81 reviewView Deal
Rega Planar PL1 The Rega Planar PL1 is not nearly as heavy duty as the Fluance RT87. And it’s a bit more utilitarian looking. But it also sounds very good and is a couple hundred bucks cheaper. Read our full Rega Planar PL1 reviewView Deal
How I tested the Fluance RT87 Turntable
Used regularly for a few weeks
Played through Fluance P10 Phono Preamp and Fluance Ai41
Played at various speeds and different size records
I used the Fluance RT87 for a few weeks, listening to as wide a variety of music from Rock to Jazz to Americana that I could. In so doing, I used the different speeds as well as seeing how it did with different size records. I also used the record player in a couple different rooms and with a couple different speakers, the Fluance Ai41 mentioned above and the Klipsch The Nines II.
I’ve tested a lot of tech gear over the years from laptops to keyboards and speakers, and so have been able to use my expertise towards giving an honest and fair opinion, not to mention a critical eye, to any product I test.
"One of the most interesting BSD variants of the 2010s, NextBSD, has come back to life under new management," reports The Register:
Aside from the homepage, there's a GitHub repository — but beware, this is separate from the old one, whose repo is still there although the most recent changes were seven years ago. The new project also has a project history giving credit where it's due. The main man behind the revival is Joe Maloney, known on GitHub as pkgdemon. In case his name rings a bell, we've mentioned him before: he put together the Gershwin desktop in GhostBSD. Soon after we covered Gershwin on GhostBSD, he asked the maintainers if he could take over the NextBSD project. He did have a relatively minor role in the original — you can see his list of commits.
The original NextBSD project was started by FreeBSD co-founder Jordan Hubbard in 2015 — its Wikipedia article has some of the history. The plan was to port some of the components of Apple's Darwin OS to FreeBSD... [T]he NextBSD plan is to take the FreeBSD kernel, the most capable of the FOSS BSD kernels, but replace FreeBSD's traditional and server-focused userland with the relevant parts of the publicly available Apple code. The rebooted NextBSD-redux is not based on a fork of the decade-old code. FreeBSD has moved on substantially in that time, and so have macOS and Darwin. This is a new project by a new developer, but it picks up the same overall plan, aims to assemble the same puzzle pieces, and shares the same intended goal.
In places, it does draw on a little of the same code, though. The NextBSD-redux README describes what's working so far, with a lot more detail in the porting notes. Although there's no graphical desktop yet, that's underway as well.... For us, perhaps the key aspect of NextBSD — both the original version and NextBSD-redux — is that it isn't an effort to build something completely new from scratch. It's an effort to cherry-pick and combine elements of existing separate FOSS projects, and assemble them into a useful whole.
The Team section of the homepage lists two core developers: Maloney and Anthropic's Claude Code. "From my perspective, AI is a force multiplier here," Maloney told The Register. "It is my team of developers, but I am steering the entire thing."
Los tapices son unas de las piezas artísticas más bonitas (y antiguas) de la historia. Si bien los expertos creen que los primeros tapices fueron simplemente paños gruesos colgados de las paredes o extendidos en el suelo que tenían como objetivo mejorar la sensación térmica en las estancias durante las épocas de mayor frío, como el invierno, evolucionaron hasta convertirse en obras decorativas de alto nivel que utilizaban materiales caros como el oro, la plata y la seda.
Numerosos tapices han sobrevivido el paso de los siglos hasta llegar a nuestra época. Algunos de ellos son verdaderamente impresionantes, hasta el punto de tener un valor incalculable. Uno de ellos es el tapiz del Apocalipsis, tejido en París entre 1377 y 1382. Encargado por Luis I (duque de Anjou), describe la historia del Apocalipsis de San Juan. Con 140 metros de largo y 6 metros de alto, alberga unas 90 escenas tejidas con hilos de colores repartidos en seis paneles. A pesar de que el Apocalipsis es un tema sombrío, el tapiz muestra un mensaje positivo.
Otro tapiz importante es el tapiz de Bayeux, aunque su nombre es un poco “tramposo”, ya que esta pieza textil no fue tejida como los tapices tradicionales, sino bordada. Aunque los historiadores no están seguros, creen que se confeccionó entre 1067 y 1079 por bordadores que trabajaban en Canterbury (Inglaterra) para Odo, arzobispo de Bayeux. El tapiz muestra los eventos que condujeron a la conquista normanda de Inglaterra liderada por Guillermo el Conquistador y a la derrota del rey Haroldo Godwinson en la batalla de Hastings. También al cometa Halley.
Los primeros registros del cometa Halley se remontan a la antigua Grecia
El tapiz de Bayeux ha tenido mucha suerte. Además de sobrevivir a la Revolución Francesa (en sus inicios, se desató una ola de “vandalismo” donde se destruyeron símbolos de la monarquía y la Iglesia, como esculturas y tumbas reales), sobrevivió también a la ocupación nazi de Francia (se estima que robaron/confiscaron cerca de 600 mil obras de arte en toda Europa, llegando a destruirlas, venderlas en el extranjero, subastarlas para financiar la guerra o apropiárselas para museos del Tercer Reich), y actualmente se encuentra en la colección del Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux, en Normandía.
Sin embargo, por primera vez en más de 900 años, el tapiz de Bayeux (que mide 68,3 metros de largo) acaba de regresar a Inglaterra para ser exhibido en el Museo Británico. El tapiz, aparte de representar la batalla de Hastings de 1066 y la conquista normanda de Inglaterra, también representa el regreso del cometa Halley, aunque no en el lugar correcto.
En el pasado, los cometas se interpretaron a menudo como un mal presagio. Una señal de que algo estaba a punto de suceder en la Tierra. Ese es el significado simbólico que adquiere el cometa Halley en el tapiz de Bayeux, pues aparece poco después de que Harold se convirtiera en rey en enero de 1066. El fallo que tiene la obra es que el cometa aún no era visible en enero, sino que solo se pudo ver a finales de abril.
El cometa Halley es muy especial porque es el único cometa de período corto visible a simple vista. Regresa cada 76 años, lo que permite que algunas personas puedan llegar a verlo hasta dos veces en su vida. Además, fue el primer cometa cuya órbita se logró predecir. Los expertos afirman que hay referencia a él desde la antigua Grecia, concretamente entre los años 468 y 466 a. C., aunque la primera aparición registrada fue en el 240 a. C., pues aparece en un texto histórico chino llamado Registros del Gran Historiador.
Hecho de hielo y escombros, cada vez que el cometa Halley se acerca al Sol, dicho hielo se derrite para crear una atmósfera que se extiende unos 100 mil kilómetros de diámetro, y el soplo del viento solar hace que esta atmósfera se transforme en la larga cola del cometa. Además, Halley está asociado con dos importantes lluvias de meteoritos: las Oriónidas (que tiene lugar a finales de octubre) y Eta Aquariids (a principios de mayo). Si te preguntas si vivirás para verlo, está previsto que regrese en el verano de 2061, y se espera que se vea mejor que en 1986 al estar en el mismo lado del Sol que la Tierra.
Durante décadas, los astrónomos han intentado comprender qué mecanismo impulsa el crecimiento de los agujeros negros supermasivos. Ahora, el telescopio espacial James Webb ha captado un fenómeno que nos acerca a la respuesta.
In a sign of our times, CNBC's Jim Cramer "said Wednesday that it's time for companies to prove artificial intelligence is paying off," reports CNBC:
"I need cold hard return facts," the "Mad Money" host said. "Or, I, too, will grow more skeptical than I am now...." While Cramer said he remains optimistic about the long-term opportunity, he argued the market needs more evidence that those investments are translating into measurable financial returns for customers. Cramer said one of his biggest concerns this earnings season is that companies adopting AI have largely failed to point to meaningful revenue gains or cost savings from the technology. "We're still early in the earnings season but already we are not hearing anything material about the use of AI," he said...
While AI infrastructure companies continue to benefit from the spending boom, Cramer said the same cannot yet be said for many of the businesses buying the technology... Cramer said only a handful of companies, most notably fintech firm Block and web-security provider Cloudflare, have clearly attributed recent layoffs to AI adoption. Block did so in February, while Cloudflare's job cuts were disclosed in May. Plus, critics argue some companies may also cite AI as a buzzy excuse for cuts, leading to the creation of the term "AI washing." Ultimately, Cramer said that if more businesses do not begin reporting tangible returns, the AI skeptics will grow louder, with ramifications for the tech industry's big spenders.
Defense Production Act funding was awarded to Martin Materials Solutions, a small business that makes radiation-resistant cover glass used on spacecraft solar arrays and thermal-control systems
Launched in 2006, NASA's New Horizons probe flew by the planet Pluto in 2015. But this week it "awakened from its longest sleep ever," reports CNN.
It's now 5.9 billion miles (9.5 billion kilometers) from Earth...
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft went into a planned hibernation mode on August 7, 2025, and woke up on June 23 using commands stored on its main computer. The mission's flight controllers at the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, confirmed that New Horizons is in great shape and ready to transmit a stream of science data gathered during hibernation from its location in the region of icy objects known as the Kuiper Belt.
Pluto is the largest of thousands of frozen, rocky bodies called trans-Neptunian objects, or TNOs, that exist in the Kuiper Belt at the edge of our solar system — remnants from its formation 4.5 billion years ago... The spacecraft is capturing data about the rotation rates, orientations and shapes... The measurements provide insights into how planets are born from dust and pebbles, said Pontus Brandt, New Horizons project scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
"There seems to be more paired, snowman-shaped bodies, like Arrokoth, out there than anyone expected," Brandt wrote in an email. "Are such binaries the most common planetesimal and is this how larger planets have been built in our own and other stellar systems? These are very deep questions that New Horizons can help answer."
The spacecraft also measures the distribution of gas in the outer heliosphere, the expansive, protective bubble formed by a steady stream of particles that release from the sun called the solar wind. Meanwhile, an instrument called the Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation is measuring galactic cosmic rays, extremely fast particles created when stars explode. The particles pose one of the more severe threats for human activities in space, Brandt said, but the boundary of the heliosphere acts as a shield to protect our solar system from 70% of them. New Horizons' data could help scientists learn more about how this puzzling shielding works, he said.
Another instrument, the Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter, has collected data that has thrown New Horizon's team a curveball, Brandt said. The team expected dust abundance to be high within the Kuiper Belt due to the significant presence of small objects. But New Horizons has traveled beyond the known boundary of the Kuiper Belt — and it's still in a dusty environment.
Cylinder seals were far more than ancient signatures. They fused art, power, and belief into objects that revealed exactly who their owners were. The earliest form of the signature came from ancient Iraq in the form of cylinder seals. Mesopotamians, the ancient inhabitants of the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, are credited for [...]
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