Technologies

Astronomers have 12 new tools to study dark matter mysteries

A dozen stellar streams have entered the chat.

Studying dark matter is complicated. In reality, the best way to think about the phenomenon is as transparent matter. We can’t seem to see it, and it doesn’t interact with light, so essentially, it’s invisible to us.

But scientists haven’t backed down from the challenge. To date, they’ve come up with numerous unique ways to unveil the elusive stuff, as well as theories to explain it — and in a paper published Tuesday in the Astrophysical Journal, a team of experts just added several new tools to the dark matter quest’s arsenal.

They discovered a dozen never-before-seen stellar streams, or sparkly, yet pulverized, remnants of ancient dwarf galaxies and star clusters orbiting the Milky Way. For eons, the Milky Way’s gravitational pull has been disrupting such river-like structures’ paths and eventually forcing them to merge with it.

In other words, our home galaxy has been feasting on its neighboring cosmic cul-de-sacs as though they’re well-placed buffets. «As our galaxy is getting older, it is getting fatter,» Ting Li, a professor at the University of Toronto and lead author of the paper, said in a statement. «This study gives us a snapshot of the Milky Way’s feeding habits, such as what kinds of smaller stellar systems it ‘eats.'»

So, where does dark matter tie in?

Well, stellar streams offer a roundaboutway of deriving information of the universe’s hidden building blocks by providing adjacent clues. For instance, astronomers can measure the streams’ orbital speed, rotation trajectory, chemical composition and shape to see what isn’t present.

«Think of a Christmas tree,» Geraint F. Lewis, a professor at the University of Sydney and author of the paper, said in a statement. «On a dark night, we see the Christmas lights, but not the tree they are wrapped around. But the shape of the lights reveals the shape of the tree. It is the same with stellar streams — their orbits reveal the dark matter.»

The logic is fitting, as the only reason we even know dark matter and dark energy exists is due to a sort of indirect reasoning: According to scientists’ calculations, all the universe’s normal matter can’t explain how most galaxies are held together and all the universe’s normal energy can’t account for it’s continuous expansion. We call the missing piece of the expansion puzzle dark energy, and of the structure puzzle, dark matter.

As per the team, the more stellar streams we can find, the closer we may be to understanding the nature of the universe’s mysterious side. In fact, that’s part of why Li and collaborators initiated a program called the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey to dedicate themselves to locating as many as possible. Along with data from the European Gaia mission — which aims to chart an ambitious 3D map of our galaxy — that’s how the research team found the new, promising stellar streams.

Further down the line, Li said, stellar streams may prove critical in figuring out how the Milky Way came to be in the first place, after the Big Bang. «For me, this is one of the most intriguing questions, a question about our ultimate origins,» Li said.

Technologies

Help Us Crown the Most Loved Headphones and Earbuds of 2026

Got a pair you swear by? Take our People’s Picks survey to help us find a winner.

CNET just launched People’s Picks, a series of surveys where actual humans like you vote for the products and services you use. Starting in April, we want you to weigh in on your favorite headphones and earbuds. We’ll pick a winner based on which ones you love the most.

Why we want to hear from you

Our writers and editors test hundreds of products each year, but your real-world experience with these devices is something we can’t replicate in our labs. You’ve used these headphones at the gym, on your commute to work and on long flights, and that perspective is invaluable. Your voice helps others know about the headphones or earbuds you love, too.

«I review a lot of headphones and earbuds for CNET, and there are plenty of great models from the top brands in this survey that I rate highly. I’m always curious about what models people ultimately choose and why, so I’m excited to get your feedback and learn the results of this survey,» says David Carnoy, CNET’s executive editor and headphones expert.

With our survey, we’ll collect answers from real-world users like you. The headphones and earbuds chosen through our 3-minute survey will be featured in our People’s Picks roundup of the top picks based on your recommendation.

Make your voice heard

Whether you swear by a pair of $25 earbuds or love a pair of high-end headphones, your pick counts. The survey takes just a few minutes to complete, and after we gather enough information, we’ll tally the results and publish the winners.

Not sure what to pick? Check out our Best Headphones to revisit your favorites before voting.

Technologies

Google’s Pixel 10A Is Coming to Japan With an Exclusive Blue Edition and Special Wallpaper

This model comes with creatively designed stickers and a special look for Pixel’s 10th anniversary.

Don’t be blue: Google is releasing an Isai blue edition of the Pixel 10A to celebrate the Android phone line’s 10th anniversary, setting it apart with its own sticker set, specialized wallpaper and custom icons. But it’ll only be available in Japan.

Announced Tuesday on the Google Japan blog, the Isai blue Pixel 10A has a dark blue look and includes bonus decorations designed in collaboration with Japan’s Heralbony art company. These include an exclusive bumper case and stickers for customization.

This edition of the Pixel 10A will arrive in Japan on May 20, following the April 14 release of the Pixel 10A in its original colors of lavender, berry, fog and obsidian. The Isai blue model costs 94,900 yen, which roughly translates to $595, and includes 256GB of storage.

This makes it slightly less expensive than the US model’s 256GB edition, but it comes with a number of fun extras at no additional cost.

Google’s creation of a country-specific model for Japan may also reflect strong sales in that market. In 2023, the IDC analytics firm (via 9to5Google) reported that the Pixel 7 series accounted for 10.7% of the country’s market share, a 527% increase from 2022.

Technologies

Can’t Wait for New Emoji? Here’s How to Create Your Own on iPhone

Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can create custom emoji in a few easy steps.

Apple brought new emoji to all iPhones when the company released iOS 26.4 on March 24. The new emoji include «🫍» orca, «🫪» distorted face and «🫈» hairy creature — or as we might normally call it, Sasquatch. According to Emojipedia, there are 3,953 emoji with more on the way, including a pickle. But there’s no emoji for a dog wearing pajamas, a plate with burgers and fries and many other things. But if you have Genmoji on your iPhone you can create these emoji and many more.

Apple released iOS 18.2 in 2024 and the company introduced its own emoji generator, called Genmoji, to Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones at that time. The Unicode Standard, a universal character encoding standard, is responsible for creating new emoji, and approved emoji are added to all devices once a year. With Genmoji, you don’t have to wait for new emoji to appear on your iPhone each year. You can just create them as you need them.

Read on to learn how to use Genmoji on iPhone to create your own custom emoji. Just note that only iPhones with Apple Intelligence, like the iPhone 17 lineup, can use Genmoji at this time.

Note: The new emoji may not display correctly for Apple users whose devices aren’t on a 26.4 software version.

How to make custom emoji

1. Open Messages and go into a chat.
2. Tap the plus (+) button next to your text box.
3. Tap Genmoji.

You can then type a description of an emoji into the text box near the bottom of your screen and tap the check mark on your keyboard to enter that description into Genmoji. You can also tap different suggestions and themes that are right above the text box. And with iOS 26 or later, you can also combine and use emoji to create others rather than describing a new emoji or using suggestions.

Your iPhone will generate a series of new emoji for you to pick from according to your description, and you can swipe through these new emoji. When you find the one you want, tap Add in the top right corner of your screen and the new emoji will be available to use as an emoji, tapback or a sticker. Now you don’t have to wait for the Unicode Standard to propose, create and bring new emoji to devices.

For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 26.4 and iOS 26.3. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for other tips and tricks.