Since the rise of commercial chemical manufacturing in the 1940s, the environment has been plagued by a growing concentration of man-made substances like <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10675727/">microplastics</a>, <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6225882/">PCBs</a>, and <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10573430/">bisphenols</a>.
There's even a new one rising to prominence: the chemical compound trifluoroacetic acid, or TFA.
New <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02259-6">reporting by </a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02259-6">Nature</a> detailed the troubling rise of TFA and its inexorable creep into every corner of the natural world. TFA comes mostly from synthetic petrochemicals found in pesticides and landfills, where they break down from PFAS, commonly known as <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/chemicals-product-safety/per-polyfluoroalkyl-substances.html">forever chemicals</a> because they can take hundreds or even thousands of years to degrade on their own.
As a tiny and highly soluble chemical, TFA is incredibly agile, following the water cycle with alarming ease. A <a href="https://www.pan-europe.info/sites/pan-europe.info/files/public/resources/reports/Report_TFA_The%20Forever%20Chemical%20%20in%20the%20Water%20We%20Drink.pdf">recent study</a> of drinking water across 11 European countries detected TFA in 94 percent of tap water samples, and in 12 of 19 bottled waters.
TFA levels have exploded throughout the natural world in recent decades, with dramatic increases recorded across <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00164">tree species in Germany</a>, the deep sea waters of the <a href="https://www.fluorocarbons.org/news/3-uba-report-analysis-of-current-seawater-samples-for-trifluoroacetic-acid/">Atlantic ocean</a>, the Swiss <a href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-2861/egusphere-2025-2861.pdf">mountain saddle of Jungfraujoch</a>, and even <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020GL087535">ice cores in the Arctic</a>.
It's even being found in most of the world's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/16/detroit-tfa-forever-chemical">rainwater</a>, according to Nature. However, terrestrial TFA doesn't evaporate with water — meaning the typical industrial polluters associated with PFAS aren't necessarily to blame for this type of acid rain. Instead, TFA typically joins with gaseous water molecules through <a href="https://www.netregs.org.uk/environmental-topics/air-pollution/fluorinated-gases-f-gases/what-are-fluorinated-gases/">fluorinated gases</a>, a byproduct of refrigerants, air conditioners and fire extinguishers.
Though the full effects of TFA on human health aren't well established, <a href="https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/66717b9a01103d79c57ccb54">animal studies</a> have shown the chemical to have harmful impacts on embryos and blood-filtering organs like the liver.
Nature notes that, though researchers have been concerned with TFA levels since the late 1980s, some petrochemical industry researchers have turned the chemical byproduct into a scientific debate, arguing that TFA shouldn't be <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/youve-probably-never-heard-of-this-forever-chemical-scientists-say-its-everywhere/">classified as a PFAS</a> at all. (The US <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/07/13/tfa-forever-chemical-pfas/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> currently classifies TFA as a non-PFAS.)
Specifically, they say the <a href="https://www.healthandenvironment.org/latest-research/blog/the-global-threat-of-trifluoroacetic-acid-(tfa)">consequences of TFA exposure</a> are overblown, and point to massive amounts of it in the ocean water as evidence that the planet is coping just fine with the human-made chemical. Therefore, the argument goes, it's not worth fretting over the dramatic influx of TFA into ecosystems throughout the globe.
This attitude runs all the way to the top of European governments, with research groups convened by the United Nations Environment Programme arguing that synthetic TFA levels pose a "<a href="https://ozone.unep.org/system/files/documents/EEAP-2022-Assessment-Report-May2023.pdf">minimal risk</a>," allowing governing bodies like the <a href="https://www.ftm.eu/articles/pollution-crisis-threatens-europe-lobbyists-sway-brussels?share=7hwEWat%2BdQV5r1oy9KpxaQzmj7jRDsopKnAPDNTcRcCqAvfK1eAbjlUHyq9bHn4%3D">European Commission</a> to brush aside TFA concerns and delay regulation. That's a huge boon to multinational corporations like <a href="https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/KJBDz7Zwenp1ZDLY3r45N3eG6">Honeywell</a>, which aren't exactly shy about their take on the issue.
However loud — and <a href="https://www.pan-europe.info/blog/bayer-and-basf-business-model-pollutes-our-drinking-water">well-connected</a> — the naysayers are, many in the scientific community disagree. A <a href="https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/1e6d35c1-e51d-4d1a-aa0f-5ad9688a226d/content">2021 study</a> by a team of University chemists in Canada, for example, found no "sufficient evidence that TFA occurs naturally," declaring it a myth that has been accepted without scrutiny.
The researchers don't mince words, asserting that "natural TFA should not be invoked in any discussions about the production and/or regulation of TFA."
TFA's own ancestry shows us the danger of taking the petrochemical industry at its word. Though companies like 3M and DuPont have been churning out PFAS since the 1940s, evidence of its harms didn't make it into the scientific record until the late 1990s — despite <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10237242/">compelling evidence</a> that the petrochemical industry knew PFAS was "highly toxic" since at least 1970.
By then, it was too late. In 2001, a <a href="https://grondrecht.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/PFAS_2001-Giesy-Kannan-report.pdf">widely influential study</a> on the proliferation of PFAS found traces of the forever chemicals had spread throughout North America, Europe, and the Arctic, through the tissue of species like bald eagles, polar bears, mink, and seals.
Thanks to decades of corporate inaction, cancer- and disease-causing PFAS can be found in measurable amounts in virtually every person and animal on the planet. Given their track record on PFAS, the chemical industry's PR work on TFA feels right as rain. 
More on chemicals: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-children-toxic-chemicals">Trump Admin Cancels Programs to Protect Children From Toxic Chemicals</a>

Singin' in the Rain

And the best part: it's here to stay.

Almost All Rain Drops Contain the Same Weird Chemical

Tesla just got handed one of its biggest legal blows yet — one that could have seismic implications for its future operations.
On Friday, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/business/tesla-autopilot-federal-trial-verdict.html">Miami jury ruled</a> that the Elon Musk-owned automaker's Autopilot driver assistance software was partially at fault for a <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-autopilot-tracking">horrendous collision</a> that killed a 22-year-old woman in 2019 and severely injured her boyfriend.
In total, the jury ordered Tesla to pay $329 million to the surviving family of the victims, Naibel Benavides and Dillon Angulo, including $200 million in punitive damages and $129 million in compensatory damages.
It was not considered to be primarily at fault: the driver of the Tesla Model S involved in the crash, George McGee, was found to bear 66 percent of the blame for the crash. Tesla shoulders the remaining 33 percent.
"Tesla designed Autopilot only for controlled access highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere, alongside Elon Musk telling the world Autopilot drove better than humans," Brett Schreiber, counsel for the plaintiffs, said in statement on Friday, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/01/tesla-must-pay-329-million-in-damages-in-fatal-autopilot-case.html">as quoted by </a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/01/tesla-must-pay-329-million-in-damages-in-fatal-autopilot-case.html">CNBC</a>. "Tesla's lies turned our roads into test tracks for their fundamentally flawed technology, putting everyday Americans like Naibel Benavides and Dillon Angulo in harm's way."
The tragic incident took place while McGee was driving his Tesla while Enhanced Autopilot was enabled. When he bent down to pick up his phone after dropping it, the Model S careened through an intersection at nearly 60 miles per hour and smashed into a parked SUV, which Benavides and Angulo were standing behind. Benavides died at the scene, and Angulo survived with horrific injuries.
While on the witness stand, McGee said he believed Autopilot would protect him and brake on its own to prevent a crash. Schreiber accused Tesla of running a "misinformation campaign" that vastly overstated Autopilot's capabilities, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/business/tesla-autopilot-federal-trial-verdict.html">per the New York Times</a>.
"I feel like we were experimented on," Angulo <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/trial-against-tesla-begins-in-deadly-2019-crash-in-key-largo-involving-autopilot-feature/3657076/">told NBC6 South Florida</a> in 2023, "and this technology was out on the road before it was safe."
The ruling could drastically impact Tesla's autonomous vehicle efforts — which it's been increasingly leaning into as its sales falter — and perhaps reshape the self-driving landscape at large. These are enormous damages, and the prospect of being on the hook anytime the experimental software kills or injures a bystander could dampen investor enthusiasm for the tech. 
It also comes at a critical moment for Tesla, which launched a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June, and expanded its driverless fleet this week to San Francisco. Musk is hoping that a pivot to robotaxis could <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/29/business/elon-musk-tesla-robotaxi.html">rake in the company trillions of dollars</a>. Prior to the launch, he estimated that Tesla could have a million robotaxis on American roads by the end of 2026. In light of the ruling, that's a lot expensive legal liabilities waiting to happen.
"This will open the floodgates," Miguel Custodio, a car crash lawyer not involved in the lawsuit, <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/01/business/elon-musks-tesla-ordered-to-pay-329m-in-autopilot-crash-case/">told the Associated Press</a> after the ruling. "It will embolden a lot of people to come to court."
This may have been a long time coming for Tesla. Its self-driving software — which are actually driver assistance features, regardless of their overconfident brand names — have been involved in multiple <a href="https://futurism.com/footage-tesla-grandma">deadly crashes</a>. The automaker has frequently been criticized for exaggerating how autonomously its cars can operate and has been <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/government-investigating-tesla-autopilot">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/18/teslas-full-self-driving-software-under-investigation-by-federal-safety-regulator/">investigated</a> by federal regulators and sued by state authorities. 
Tesla says it will be appealing the decision.
"Today's verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla's and the entire industry's efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology," the company said in a statement.
More on Tesla: <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-robotaxis-human-drivers-bay-area">Tesla Rolling Out Robotaxis With Human Drivers in the Driver's Seat, Defeating the Purpose of a Robotaxi</a>

Twisted Metal

This is seismic.

"This Will Open the Floodgates": Tesla In Trouble as Jury Orders It to Pay $329 Million After Autopilot Death

President Donald Trump's new European tariffs may spell bad news for Novo Nordisk, maker of Ozempic and Wegovy.
As <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/07/29/drug-prices-tariffs-eu-trump">Axios reports</a>, the 15 percent tariffs he's levying on goods imported into the United States from the European Union are likely to drive up already-expensive drug prices for the <a href="https://qz.com/ozempic-glp-1s-non-diabetic-use-triples-study-1851774076">blockbuster weight loss jabs</a>, which can already <a href="https://www.novocare.com/obesity/products/wegovy/let-us-help/explaining-list-price.html">cost more than $1,300</a> per month's supply without insurance.
Slated to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-effect-05bc12428163b9f28ef80f952cf9dafd">go into effect on August 7</a>, this new agreement doesn't just target pharmaceuticals. Still, in scary letters <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-31/trump-demands-pharma-companies-slash-us-drug-prices-in-letter">sent to drugmakers</a> on both sides of the pond, the American president also threatened to levy higher taxes on "freeloading" pharma companies if they don't proactively cut a deal with the White House to lower their drug prices.
With that 60-day deadline giving Novo time to bend the knee, it will be a few months before we know how much more expensive its popular injectables might become. Still, the Ozempic manufacturer's stock has already suffered from the tariff news — and with its <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/20/novo-nordisk-shares-plunge-22percent-after-cagrisema-obesity-drug-trial-results.html">months-long</a> downward value trajectory, the company can't really afford to lose any more money.
The Danish drugmaker's stock fell below $50 per share in the wake of the EU trade deal announcement earlier in the week. As <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/novo-nordisk-shares-dip-further-wegovy-gains-nearly-erased-2025-08-01/">Reuters notes</a>, Novo is now ever closer to erasing the gains it got from Wegovy, the weight loss-specific version of the drug, that saw share prices soar up to nearly $150 per share last summer.
While the new EU tariffs and the threat of more to come are already hurting Novo's bottom line, the long-running American pharma company Eli Lilly, which makes competitor injectables Mounjaro and Zepbound, is faring much better despite also being <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/31/trump-drug-prices-eli-lilly.html">targeted by Trump</a>.
Though it experienced a small share value dropoff in the wake of the news, reflecting the financial anxiety of the tariff news across industries, Lilly is still beating out Novo in the court of public opinion thanks to headlines about its reportedly <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/lilly-set-strong-quarter-after-novo-profit-warning-2025-07-29/">strong second-quarter earnings</a> and a new study suggesting <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/31/eli-lillys-mounjaro-shows-similar-heart-health-benefits-as-trulicity.html">Mounjaro may have protective heart health benefits</a>.
Though both companies are more than 100 years old and hold diverse medication portfolios outside of their buzzy weight loss jabs, Lilly seems far more likely to weather this latest financial storm on the sheer credential of being American in a protectionist economy. Despite Ozempic having become a Xerox-style catch-all for GLP-1s writ large, Novo nevertheless looks poised to take the brunt of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/03/trumps-idiotic-and-flawed-tariff-calculations-stun-economists">Trump's foolhardy tariffs</a>.
More on Ozempic's finances: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/ozempic-inventor-generic-fee">Something Comically Bad Just Happened to the Inventor of Ozempic</a>

Stock Weight Loss

Things just keep getting worse for Novo Nordisk.

A Side Effect of Trump's Tariffs: Making Ozempic Way More Expensive

The world of quantum computing has barged into a new frontier: space.
A tiny quantum computer housed in a satellite is now in orbit around Earth, <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/quantum-computer-space-physics">ScienceNews reports</a>, residing some 330 miles above our planet after being launched aboard a SpaceX rocket last month.
It's a trailblazing experiment intended to test how well these delicate devices can survive the extreme conditions of space, where they could allow satellites to quickly and efficiently perform intense calculations on their own.
The experiment is also a ripe opportunity to put some fundamental physics principles to the test, according to project lead Philip Walter, a physicist at the University of Vienna.
"Being the first here also means we have the duty and privilege to investigate if things operate in the way as we'd be used to on the ground," Walther told ScienceNews.
Built in just eleven days, the idea behind the device was to "shrink a whole quantum laboratory down to the size of a satellite payload," Walter said in a <a href="https://rudolphina.univie.ac.at/en/quantum-computer-from-vienna-for-outer-space">statement</a> before the launch. It's safe to say that they delivered on that premise. At a size befitting its quantum ambitions, the finished device is less than a gallon in volume, weighs just 20 pounds and some change, and will on average use only 10 watts of power, and no more than 30.
The potential — and we stress potential — advantage of using a quantum computer in space is that it can perform "edge computing," or process data directly on the satellite. Otherwise, that data needs to be beamed down to Earth, put through calculations on a ground-based computer, and sent back up, which expends extra time and energy. 
Most importantly, they can theoretically perform specific types of calculations faster than classical computers, making them an enticing option in fields such as machine learning. Or at least, that's what they promise to do eventually. This device in particular is a photonic quantum computer, which uses individual photons — the massless particles that make up light — to represent units of information called qubits. A qubit, unlike a classical, electron-based bit, can be a 1 or 0 at the same time using a spooky quantum property known as superposition.  
As an added bonus, quantum computers have shown that they can potentially be more energy efficient. That's great news for satellite missions, which operate with extremely tight energy budgets. The fuel they launch with is essentially what they work with. 
Quantum computing in space may sound like a no-brainer, then — we've been testing <a href="https://futurism.com/china-just-used-a-quantum-satellite-to-send-data-from-space-to-earth">quantum communications</a> up there for years now — but it's important to remember that it still highly experimental tech with a whole lot unrealized potential and few applications outside of a laboratory. Though there have been <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-announces-quantum-supremacy">pretenders to the throne</a> in the past, no one has yet achieved clear "<a href="https://futurism.com/google-quantum-computer-parallel-universes">quantum supremacy</a>," a point where a quantum computer can perform calculations that a classical one can't.
One of the biggest issues in the field is that a quantum computer typically require a meticulously controlled environment to function, because even the slightest disturbance can cause a qubit to lose its quantum state, and thus, its information. In space, where there's no protective atmosphere, the computer's electronics are at the mercy of extreme temperature swings and blasts of cosmic radiation.
The good news is that Walter's team has confirmed that its hardware is now operational, he told ScienceNews. Its long-term resilience will have to be borne out, but it's an encouraging start.
Once its work is finished, the satellite will make a controlled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, where it will meet a fiery — but safe — end. Until then, it'll hopefully keep itself busy by taking images of Earth and crunching the numbers.
More on quantum computing: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/hackers-quantum-computer-military-encryption">Chinese Hackers Use Quantum Computer to Break Military Grade Encryption</a>

One Small Step

It's the first — but will it last?

Scientists Just Launched the First Quantum Computer Into Space

<h2>Snapped in Half</h2>
Terrifying video footage going viral on social media shows an amusement park ride splitting in half and collapsing in western Saudi Arabia.
The video shows the "360 Big Pendulum" ride failing dramatically, sending passengers crashing to the ground.
As <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/amusement-park-ride-saudi-arabia-collapses-injures-20-124278074">ABC News reports</a>, the incident occurred in the city of Taif, roughly a 2.5-hour drive east of Jeddah. More than 20 people were injured, forcing the entire amusement park, Green Mountain Resort, to close temporarily.
Local officials have since started an investigation. It's unclear how many of the victims had to be hospitalized. According <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/08/01/amusement-park-ride-snaps-saudi-arabia/85459257007/">to USA Today</a>, three people were critically injured.
The horrific incident may be hard to watch — but fortunately, according to experts, the chances of being involved in something similar remain extremely low.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A ride in an amusement park in Saudi Arabia snapped mid-air leaving 23 people injured, three in critical condition.
The amusement park in the south-western town of Taif has been closed, and an investigation into the cause of the accident is underway. <a href="https://t.co/IvaTqqBbmy">pic.twitter.com/IvaTqqBbmy</a>
&mdash; Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) <a href="https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1950966029393261010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<h2>Safety First</h2>
It's exceedingly rare for amusement park rides to fail and cause injuries, at least in the US.
According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the "chance of being seriously injured on a fixed-site ride at a US amusement park is 1 in 15.5 million rides taken."
Deaths are even more rare, but not unprecedented. A <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sweden-amusement-park-roller-coaster-accident-229bdc163b968482b21f58bc5bbb85c6">rollercoaster derailment</a> at Sweden's oldest amusement park caused one woman in her 30s to plunge to her death, while two others received serious injuries.
There have also been sporadic <a href="https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/14-crazy-amusement-park-accidents-that-resulted-in-death.htm#pt13">reports</a> of <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/water-park-explodes-sweden">explosions</a>, <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/10/01/us-news/5-year-old-boy-on-disney-world-ride-goes-into-cardiac-arrest/">heart attacks</a>, <a href="https://www.ladbible.com/news/us-news/action-park-water-slides-new-jersey-dangerous-230459-20240607">electrocutions</a>, and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/india-amusement-park-fire-1.7215056">fires</a> on amusement park rides.
So while the graphic footage may have you thinking twice about going back to an amusement park, the chances of something bad happening are still astronomically low.
"Incidences that are extremely severe are very rare in our industry," Jim Seay, president of attractions manufacturer Premier Rides, told <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/america/theme-parks/2023/03/15/how-safe-theme-park-rides/11364244002/">USA Today in 2023</a>, explaining that they draw attention "because it is so rare."
More on theme park disasters: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/water-park-explodes-sweden">Water Park Explodes</a>

Mr. Bones' Wild Ride

Thankfully, nobody died.

Horrifying Video Shows Amusement Park Ride Breaking Apart Mid-Ride

It appears that Tesla's new Los Angeles diner is about as <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/tesla-diner-elon-musk-review-1235394091/">sturdily built as a Cybertruck</a> — which is to say, not at all.
As <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2025/07/28/woman-injured-by-falling-umbrella-tesla-diner-hollywood/">TMZ reports</a>, a pair of young parents are mighty perturbed after a large, pole-bound outdoor patio covering on the Hollywood diner's roof came loose and struck the mother in the head, missing their baby's head by inches.
In an interview with the website, George, the husband and father, said that the massive contraption briefly knocked out his 21-year-old wife Valentina and left her confused after it "brutally" struck her cranium.
After the couple alerted the diner's staff, video footage of the incident was reviewed and they confirmed it to be real, which is apparently how they handle customer service and safety at the "<a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-burger-prices">epic bacon</a>"-peddling restaurant. The Los Angeles Fire Department was also called, and although the woman had slight swelling on her head, she wasn't bleeding and declined to take an ambulance to the hospital.
The couple said they plan to file a lawsuit against Tesla, which did not respond to comment when TMZ reached out.
CEO Elon Musk also doesn't seem to have responded about his restaurant's snafu either, though considering the <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91377388/tesla-diner-goes-viral-for-long-waits-and-mixed-reviews">bad press</a> it's gotten since opening a week ago, that's not all that surprising.
Along with having an infuriatingly expensive and basic food menu and weird customer service, the Tesla Diner has apparently been a nuisance to live near since 2023.
In <a href="https://www.404media.co/living-next-to-tesla-diner-is-absolute-hell-neighbors-say/">interviews with 404 Media</a>, people who lived near the retrofuturist restaurant on Route 66 said they have for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/dining/elon-musk-restaurant-diner.html">nearly two years</a> dealt with everything from massively bright floodlights and illegal middle-of-the-night construction to destructive guests and protesters alike.
Kristin Rose, a former resident of an apartment building next door, told her building's management company back in February 2024 that living next to the Tesla Diner construction felt "like we're at the world's worst rave" due to the bright strobing lights going off at the site all night. She told 404 it was "absolute hell" to be near, which is why she no longer lives in her previously well-located building right by LA's famous Santa Monica Boulevard. (Tesla, <a href="https://electrek.co/2021/04/28/elon-musk-no-new-tesla-pr-department-manipulating-public-opinion/">naturally</a>, didn't respond to 404's request for comment.)
In the end, the Tesla Diner serves as a metaphor not just for the way the company builds, but also for the way it handles issues: by building an eyesore, operating outside legal boundaries, and without any consideration for the people who have to deal with it.
More on Tesla: <a href="https://futurism.com/cybertruck-aging-poorly">The Cybertruck Is Aging Like Fast Fashion on Temu</a>

Drive-By Diner

Tesla is not beating the "sloppiness" allegations.

Tesla Diner Patio Covering Collapses, Smashes Mother on Head and Barely Misses Baby

<h2>Dirty Laundry</h2>
Humanoid robots remain far-fetched — but certain demos are starting to suggest a plausible future in which they could actually become common fixtures in regular households.
In an impressive new demo, humanoid robot company Figure founder Brett Adcock showed off the company's F.02 robot effortlessly loading dirty laundry from a basket into a washing machine.
Adcock can be seen adding items of clothing to the basket as the robot is loading the machine, demonstrating it wasn't part of a pre-scripted demo.
"This is not teleoperated," he <a href="https://x.com/adcock_brett/status/1950685629265879313">explained</a> on X-formerly-Twitter. "We’re running Helix, our in-house neural network."
"First time seeing a humanoid robot actually doing a task in a home," another user <a href="https://x.com/T0M248/status/1950941410540024218">commented</a>. "Makes me realise how close we are to this becoming a reality."
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Here&#39;s a F.02 in my home, using Helix to do my laundry <a href="https://t.co/MXFf1o81EG">pic.twitter.com/MXFf1o81EG</a>
&mdash; Brett Adcock (@adcock_brett) <a href="https://twitter.com/adcock_brett/status/1950685253447913798?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<h2>Laundry Robot Uprising</h2>
Adcock was talking about Figure's "<a href="https://www.figure.ai/news/helix">generalist Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model</a>," called Helix, which allows its humanoid robots to make decisions on the fly based on perception and language inputs.
We've already seen the F.02 robot <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/figure-robot-sort-packages-video">expertly sorting packages</a> at a logistics warehouse, dealing with packages of various sizes, shapes, and hardnesses and manipulating their orientation with impressive deftness.
Last year, the company <a href="https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/news/general/2024/humanoid-robots.html">tested its robots at a BMW car factory</a> in South Carolina, supporting "plant employees performing ergonomically awkward and exhausting tasks to take the strain off them."
Figure is only one player in the <a href="https://futurism.com/humanoid-robots-warehouse-jobs">growing humanoid robot industry</a>. Companies including Tesla, Boston Dynamics, and Agility Robotics are racing to gain a first-mover advantage with a truly practical model.
When their offerings will gain the necessary skills to make them financially feasible remains to be seen. However, Chinese companies, most notably Unitree, are starting to offer humanoid robots for <a href="https://futurism.com/robot-learned-kung-fu">extremely competitive prices</a>, suggesting we could be seeing far more of them at the workplace and even loading our washing machines sooner than you'd think.
More on Figure: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/figure-robot-sort-packages-video">Watching This Humanoid Robot Sort Packages Is Quite Something</a>

Fabric Softener

"First time seeing a humanoid robot actually doing a task in a home."

Wild Video Shows Humanoid Robot Loading a Washing Machine Pretty Well

Researchers are alarmed after noticing a significant drop in the number of vocalizations from blue whales.
As <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/ocean-heat-wave-blob-whale-songs">National Geographic reports</a>, scientists used specialized underwater hydrophones, meaning the aquatic version of microphones, to record and trace the sounds of marine life, allowing them to analyze the impact human activity is having on various species.
However, as detailed in a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0318624#references">study</a> published in the journal PLOS One, devastating heat waves have triggered worrying changes over the past decade, allowing toxic algae to bloom and undermine food sources for whales.
"It caused the most widespread poisoning of marine mammals ever documented," coauthor and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute biological oceanographer John Ryan told NatGeo. "These were hard times for whales."
As a result, blue whale vocalizations dropped by almost 40 percent, according to the study, with populations of krill and anchovy collapsing.
"When you really break it down, it’s like trying to sing while you're starving," Ryan explained. "They were spending all their time just trying to find food."
Scientists are still racing to understand the causes of devastating marine heatwaves. An ominous pool of warm water in the ocean, nicknamed "The Blob" following its discovery in early 2013, confounded scientists.
By 2016, it had grown to a region spanning over 2,000 miles in the Pacific Ocean, NatGeo reports.
The rising temperatures caused important sources of sustenance for blue whales to all but vanish.
Scientists are still racing to understand the effects of rising ocean temperatures. And as climate change continues to rear its ugly head, scientists are worried about future extreme weather events, including marine heatwaves.
Scientists have <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413505122">found</a> that the duration of these heatwaves has tripled since the 1940s.
"There are whole ecosystem consequences of these marine heat waves," coauthor and Monterey Bay Aquarium marine biologist Kelly Benoit-Bird told NatGeo. "If they can't find food, and they can traverse the entire West Coast of North America, that is a really large-scale consequence."
Worse yet, "fewer feeding opportunities" mean that blue whales "put less effort into reproduction," as Oregon State University ecologist Dawn Barlow added.
"Where they are, and what they’re doing can tell you a lot about the health of the ecosystem," Barlow explained. "The Blob really highlighted how long-term these consequences can be."
Benoit-Bird voiced concerns of reaching a "tipping point," which could have devastating consequences on our climate, changing how the "ocean absorbs carbon."
"Science shows that climate change is impacting the oceans," Barlow told NatGeo. "Listening and learning from these places is essential to our future. Now more than ever, it’s important to listen."
More on marine life: <a href="https://futurism.com/ocean-suck-carbon-kill-marine-life">Using the Ocean to Suck Up CO2 Could Come With the Small, Unintended Side Effect of Wiping Out Marine Life</a>

Silence of the Whales

"When you really break it down, it’s like trying to sing while you're starving."

Scientists Alarmed as Whales Suddenly Going Silent

When Tesla first unveiled the stainless steel Cybertruck, it was pitched as an indestructible futurist icon. Only a few short years later, many proud Cybertruck owners have discovered that their ultra-expensive rolling tanks are aging like room-temperature milk.
One of the most consistent complaints involves <a href="https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/threads/seat-stretch-marks.21731/">seat wrinkles</a> and indentations. On the <a href="https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/threads/cybertruck-seats-wrinkled.30808/">Cybertruck Owners Club forum</a>, a relatively new driver lamented that "my driver seats are wrinkled after 3,300 miles. I’m not a fat person. Weigh 173 lbs." Another user shared photos of deep-seat stretch marks and griped that it was "like the material is already fatigued."
The same complaint appeared on Reddit, with a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CyberStuck/comments/1mabd8y/rugged_cybertruck_seats_warping_and_wrinkling/">user grumbling</a> that their Cybertruck seats were "warping and wrinkling only after 8k miles."
"ALL Teslas, especially the Cybercuck, lack the refinements of other vehicles in their price categories," someone concurred in the comments. "I have yet to sit in a Tesla that even remotely feels premium."
Rust — or similar discoloration, depending who you ask — is another recurring theme, which has been plaguing Tesla fanboys almost since the bulky EVs rolled out of the factory. Despite being made of stainless steel, some Cybertruck owners have reported <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-rusting-complaints-from-owners/">orange corrosion marks</a> appearing after light rain exposure.
On Facebook, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14JY2He2hAw/">one owner said</a> his "Cyberbeast Foundation series is beginning to form rust spots on the door. I keep it clean and dry." Back in early 2024, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/this-is-why-teslas-stainless-steel-cybertrucks-may-be-rusting/">Wired reported</a> that Tesla offers a $5,000 wrap to help prevent this — something that's come standard on virtually every new car on the market <a href="https://www.capitolshine.com/blog/the-problem-with-factory-clear-coats-on-cars">since the 1980s</a>.
As if that weren't annoying enough, panel warping has also surfaced as a concern. Last year, <a href="https://www.jalopnik.com/tesla-cybertruck-tailgates-are-warping-because-of-shift-1851620982/">Jalopnik reported</a> extensive warping on the tailgate of Cybertrucks whose owners made the foolish mistake of hauling cargo — treating the EVs like a truck, in other words.
Reddit users echoed similar warnings. "Make sure not to use your Cybertruck for truck things," <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTesla/comments/1ett5zp/cybertruck_tailgates_are_deforming_after_doing/">quipped one poster</a>.
Even Tesla’s official recall fix for the infamous <a href="https://electrek.co/2025/04/03/tesla-cybertruck-recall-fix-joke-leaves-mark-gap/">cantrail trim</a> got flak from owners. "The service center replaced it, but now I’ve got a visible burn mark and the panel gap is worse," a poster wrote.
The bulky EVs are starting to fall apart as Tesla crumbles under the mounting pressure of abysmal global sales. Its <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-robotaxis-human-drivers-bay-area">robotaxi rollout</a> in Austin has been plagued with errors, its <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-optimus-robots-severe-trouble">robotics ambitions</a> are falling way behind the competition, and its last-ditch effort to bring in revenue is a <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-burger-prices">burger restaurant</a> with $12 "epic bacon" on the menu.
This as Musk braces for a "<a href="https://futurism.com/elon-admits-tesla-hurt">few rough quarters</a>" ahead, as if the previous handful — which saw Tesla sales fall by record numbers — weren't bad enough.
More on Tesla: <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-tesla-board-fire-crazy">Elon Musk Warns That Tesla Board Could Fire Him "If I Go Crazy"</a>

Who's Ready to Crrruuummmble?

"Make sure not to use your CyberTruck for truck things."

The Cybertruck Is Aging Like Fast Fashion on Temu

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Mississippi delivered a ruling that was riddled with factual errors, from naming plaintiffs that didn't exist to making up quotes from a state law to citing cases that don't appear to exist.
As <a href="https://mississippitoday.org/2025/07/28/attorneys-baffled-by-federal-court-order-with-factual-errors/">Mississippi Today reports</a>, US district judge Henry Wingate's baffling temporary restraining order immediately raised concerns that it had been generated by a AI.
We've already come across <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/lawyer-trouble-ai-in-court">plenty of instances</a> of <a href="https://futurism.com/law-firms-fine-ai-slop-court">lawyers getting caught</a> red-handed using tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT to generate AI slop that gets called out in the factually focused world of the courts.
However, seeing an appointed district judge be accused of essentially the same thing should raise some serious red flags. Judges have previously doled out <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/lawyer-chatgpt-slap-wrist">fines</a> and sanctions to lawyers who got caught using AI — but nobody seems to know with any degree of certainty what will happen when that dynamic flips on its head.
Worse yet, Wingate eventually replaced the errors-riddled order with a corrected version — which still cites a 1974 that doesn't appear to exist, according to Mississippi Today.
"Yikes!" lawyer Eric Wessan <a href="https://x.com/EWess92/status/1950564393558913090">tweeted</a>. "The rush to issue orders like this undermines the judiciary."
Lawyers had initially asked Wingate to clarify the restraining order, which pauses enforcement of a state law that prohibits diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public education, leading to Wingate issuing a correction.
The original version listed the Mississippi Library Association and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. as plaintiffs, which have never been involved in litigation and don't even have any cases pending whatsoever.
"Our attorneys have never seen anything like this," a Mississippi Attorney General’s Office official told Mississippi Today.
Wingate has yet to publicly comment on his ruling or whether he used AI.
However, the evidence is damning. Case in point, the order misquoted the initial lawsuit and made up cases that don't appear to exist, both hallmark signs of AI "hallucinations."
"I actually don’t know how to explain the backstory here," University of Miami law school professor Christina Frohock told Mississippi Today. "I feel like I’m Alice in Wonderland."
Frustratingly, there's a chance that we will never find out if Wingate, a 78-year-old judge who was nominated by former president Ronald Reagan in 1985, used AI.
"If an attorney does this, a judge can demand explanations, but it’s not true in the other direction," she added. "We will probably never know what happened, unless an appellate court demands it."
More on lawyers and AI: <a href="https://futurism.com/chatgpt-legal-questions-court">If You've Asked ChatGPT a Legal Question, You May Have Accidentally Doomed Yourself in Court</a>