Software & Apps

Inside WIRED’s Brain Week uncovers how octopuses challenge our notions of non‑human intelligence, how living human cells are being harnessed as bio‑processors, and how a novel therapy could reshape addiction treatment. These stories illustrate the rapid convergence of neuroscience, bio‑engineering, and cognitive science, suggesting that tomorrow’s computers and cures may be part biology, part technology.

Google has made Jetpack Compose 1.12 stable, with BOM 2026.08.00, new graphics APIs, richer text editing, named Grid areas, testing tools, and an AGP requirement developers need to check first.

AI‑driven diagnostics are rapidly advancing, offering the chance to flag excess liver fat long before symptoms appear. By automating image analysis and integrating routine health data, these tools could enable early lifestyle or medical interventions for the more than a billion people at risk, potentially curbing the global fatty‑liver epidemic.

WIRED reports that researchers who bought domains such as noreply.net and deleteduser.com received sensitive automated emails, exposing a basic but persistent address-handling risk.

Google says official Android Skills are deliberately narrow, eval-driven instructions for AI coding agents, designed to retire as models catch up.

Sunbird is back on Android after its 2023 shutdown, promising blue-bubble messaging without an Apple device while asking users to trust a rebuilt security model.

Even though no camera caught the moment, scientists have detected unmistakable impact‑related signals confirming that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 actually struck the Moon’s surface. The data suggest the rocket hit with enough speed to pierce the lunar exosphere, leaving a measurable imprint that orbiters will soon try to photograph.

Flock license plate readers promise faster vehicle searches, but their growing network raises hard questions about retention, verification, and everyday location privacy.

In the past year ICE amassed DNA from almost a million individuals, a surge that the agency describes as “skyrocketing” under the second Trump administration. The collection surprisingly includes samples taken from young children and hundreds of thousands of people who have never been convicted, permanently adding their genetic profiles to the FBI’s criminal DNA database.

Recent attacks on U.S. water-system technology highlight a familiar risk: internet-exposed PLCs and remote-access paths that can force utilities into manual operations.

Google says AGP 9.2.0 and R8 9.2.0 optimize common atomic updater paths, improving coroutine launch and cancellation in Compose-heavy Android apps.

A single misplaced underscore in a gamer’s online handle landed Brandon Klayme in a penitentiary for a year and a half, illustrating how a tiny digital typo can become a life‑ruining legal mistake. The case underscores the danger of relying on exact string matches for identification, reminding investigators that even the smallest character can turn an innocent player into a convicted criminal.