A new startup founded by Palmer Luckey plans to genetically enhance dogs for military use, according to reports published on 23 October 2026. The company, Warhound, says the animals will be able to detect explosives and help protect troops. It has reportedly raised $200 million from investors, among them Sequoia, and Colossal Biosciences is said to be helping with the cloning and gene-editing work.
In health news, Moderna and Merck announced that their mRNA cancer vaccine cut deaths by 42%. The vaccine also lowered the risk of recurrence among patients with melanoma. Separately, researchers reported that a powerful new gene-editing tool has reached its first human patient. The technique, known as prime editing, rewrites DNA in liver cells.
On the cybersecurity front, a recently disclosed set of flaws in PHP has so far not produced successful attacks. Experts quoted in coverage say the vulnerabilities are harder to exploit than first feared. Officials had urged website operators to apply patches after the flaws knocked sites offline around the world, though one report noted that publicly disclosed fixes can also give hackers a roadmap. Software developer Ian Landsman wrote on X that volunteer Ondřej Surý's work patching PHP makes him an unsung hero of the internet. "If anything happens to this guy, that's just it. Everyone is screwed," he said.
Elsewhere, Donald Trump said Elon Musk had restored Ukraine's access to Starlink. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, said Starlink speeds remained capped. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had asked Musk to lift the speed limits.
In energy and climate, Google will pay customers to free up power for its data centers through a virtual power plant that rewards people for adjusting their energy use. A separate report said the company illegally felled 250,000 trees in Finland for a data center. On the climate science side, a Wired report suggested that fossil fuels may have averted the next ice age, with modern warming reversing 2,000 years of ice growth. Scientists also reported recreating solar flares in an effort to explain why the Sun's corona is so hot.
A Vanity Fair report claimed Dutch spies hacked Jared Kushner's iPhone, and alleged financial links to foreign officials. A Wall Street Journal road trip in what it described as America's cheapest electric vehicle found that charging has improved considerably, with fast chargers keeping the journey manageable despite sparse coverage.
MIT Technology Review, meanwhile, has published its Impossible issue, which assesses progress on six technologies long described as just around the corner. They include decoding pets' vocalizations, removing forever chemicals from the environment, faster travel to Mars, exercise in a pill and nuclear-powered spaceships. The publication said it asked experts what is holding each one back and how far each has advanced, and will examine them in the coming days.
Reporter Jessica Hamzelou, writing after a screening of the documentary You Can See Everything about former biotech CEO Elizabeth Holmes, reflected on the limits of science journalism. She said the film left her unsettled and reminded her how easily an appealing narrative can persuade, and that reporters can never actually see everything.
