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A startup called Orion is ready to take on America’s sleep loss epidemic with a new, AI-enabled mattress cover that can adjust its temperature throughout the night to maximize comfort and rest. Cofounder and CEO Harry Gestetner previously cofounded the startup Fanfix, which helped Gen Z content creators build paid subscription programs. After the company sold to SuperOrdinary for a reported $65 million, Gestetner says he became interested in sleep and its well-documented links to health and longevity. “Every longevity expert tells you that sleep is the cornerstone of longevity,” he says. Gestetner found that most sleep and fitness trackers could detect bad …

If you slip a tiny wearable device on your fingertip and slide it over a smooth surface like a touchscreen, you can feel digital textures like denim or mesh. The device, designed by researchers at Northwestern University, is the first of its kind to achieve “human resolution,” meaning that it can more accurately match the complex way a human fingertip senses the world. In previous attempts at haptic devices like this, “once you compare them to real textures, you realize there’s something still missing,” says Sylvia Tan, a PhD student at Northwestern and one of the authors of a new study in Science Advances about the research. “It’s close, but not quite there. Our …

U.S. officials rejected a push to establish a global AI governance framework at this week’s United Nations General Assembly, despite the plan enjoying broad support from many world nations, including China. At a Security Council debate on Wednesday, Michael Kratsios, the director of the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, said that Washington “totally” rejected all efforts by international organizations to “assert centralized control and global governance of AI.” The meeting marked the first time that all 193 UN member states have been able to weigh in on AI governance. It comes after an August 2025 UN resolution—which members unanimously endorsed—urgin…

Apple TV+ is dead. Long live Apple TV. On October 13, in a press release about F1: The Movie, Apple TV+ nonchalantly slipped in a line that from here on out it will be known simply as “Apple TV, with a vibrant new identity.” The streaming service’s new name is the same as Apple’s connected smart TV device product and app—effectively merging all of the brand’s TV-centric products under one moniker. Anyone who enjoys a bit of time winding down in front of the television knows about the plus sign. It’s come to represent nearly every streaming service out there: Disney+, ESPN+, BET+, Discovery+, even NASA+. Many streamers that don’t have the “Plus” now once did (we’r…

Financial technology is now entering its third act, marked by a significant shift in how platforms and businesses interact with financial services. The first wave brought democratization, with businesses gaining access to online credit and lending tools aimed at leveling the playing field. The second wave moved these products inside platforms, embedding payments and finance into everyday software workflows. Despite their impact, these steps left business owners managing multiple fragmented systems. Today, platforms are in a race to embed financial services; as of 2021, 73% planned to integrate lending features into their software within two years. The opportunity is h…

A quiet crisis is brewing in today’s workforce, and it’s not about automation or AI replacing jobs. It’s about the erosion of human skills that make teams work: communication, empathy, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. These so-called “soft skills” are proving to be among the hardest to teach and the most critical to get right. In fact, the lack of them is costing U.S. companies an estimated $160 billion a year in lost productivity, poor communication, and employee turnover. In 40-plus years of building a global technology company, the biggest performance gaps I’ve seen haven’t come from a lack of technical skill, but from a lack of training in how people …

The amount of electricity data centers use in the U.S. in the coming years is expected to be significant. But regular reports of proposals for new ones and cancellations of planned ones mean that it’s difficult to know exactly how many data centers will actually be built and how much electricity might be required to run them. As a researcher of energy policy who has studied the cost challenges associated with new utility infrastructure, I know that uncertainty comes with a cost. In the electricity sector, it is the challenge of state utility regulators to decide who pays what shares of the costs associated with generating and serving these types of operations, sometim…

Apollo, the humanoid robot, stands nearly 6 feet tall. It can lift up to 55 pounds and operate 22 hours a day, seven days a week. Apptronik’s design is meant to fit into preexisting workspaces, which means Apollo can help with everything from warehouse labor to household chores. Mercedes-Benz and electronics manufacturer Jabil have already deployed it alongside their human employees—and your workplace may be next. The Apollo is a winner of Fast Company’s 2025 Innovation by Design Awards. View the full article

Lots of work situations require some creativity. A client needs a nonstandard solution to a problem. A colleague is stuck in a dispute with their supervisor. You’re writing an article and you need to find a third good example of the concept you’re describing (see what I did there?). You may have the occasional brilliant insight, but then look on in dismay at all of the mediocre ideas you come up with in times of need. Is there something you can do to come up with better ideas? The answer is, “sort of.” Quantity over quality First off, don’t fret if you feel like most of the ideas you generate when trying to solve a new problem are bad. Research on creativit…