Hardware

A developer successfully ported Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah to the Nintendo Wii. By writing a custom bootloader, patching the Mach-O kernel, and developing IOKit drivers for the Wii's Hollywood SoC, the project achieved a functional desktop environment. This effort involved solving complex challenges like endianness, framebuffer rendering, and USB hardware communication.

NASA's Artemis II crew, consisting of four astronauts, successfully returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego. The mission set a record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth. The crew underwent medical evaluations following their historic 10-day lunar journey, with the Orion capsule retrieved for inspection and data recovery.

A developer successfully used the Logitech MX Vertical mouse as a tiny, persistent storage device by hacking its HID++ protocol. By writing arbitrary two-byte data into the DPI register, they demonstrated that the mouse maintains state across devices. The project highlights reverse engineering, firmware communication, and understanding OS-level hardware management through experimental technical exploration.

The author successfully built a desktop environment to boot a Tesla Model 3 Media Control Unit and touchscreen. By sourcing salvage parts, navigating internal wiring schematics, and replacing a damaged power controller chip, they created a setup to explore the vehicle's network interfaces, REST API, and firmware, all in preparation for the Tesla bug bounty program.

Following recent US policy discussions regarding router imports, this guide demonstrates how to repurpose existing hardware into a functional Linux-based router. Using Debian, tools like hostapd, dnsmasq, and nftables allow users to turn standard PCs or SBCs into reliable network appliances, proving that any computer can serve the same role as dedicated commercial hardware.

In March 2026, Steam on Linux market share reached a record 5.33%, more than double that of macOS. This significant growth, despite potential data corrections from Steam China, highlights the increasing popularity of Linux gaming, largely supported by Steam Deck and high usage of AMD hardware.

Apple has officially discontinued the Mac Pro, ending its long-standing presence in the product lineup. The company intends to focus on the Mac Studio as its flagship professional desktop computer, offering high-end M3 Ultra performance. This transition marks the end of an era while simplifying Apple's Mac offerings to provide more efficient, high-performance solutions for professional users.

Rising DRAM costs are severely impacting the Single Board Computer (SBC) market, with significant price hikes affecting Raspberry Pi and other vendors. As memory prices consume a larger portion of manufacturing costs, high-RAM boards are becoming unaffordable for hobbyists, forcing many to revert to microcontrollers or older hardware. The long-term viability of the hobbyist SBC ecosystem remains uncertain.

The author uses a simple, analog tracking system in their electronics lab to organize components. By placing a color-coded dot sticker on clear storage bins each day a part is used, they can visualize usage patterns over years. This data helps identify essential equipment, declutter stagnant inventory, and manage limited space without needing complex software.

A user describes their process of filing down the sharp metal edges of their MacBook for improved comfort. By documenting the use of files and sandpaper to smooth the aluminum unibody, the author emphasizes the importance of customizing personal tools and encourages others to feel empowered to modify their own hardware despite potential risks.

Nvidia GreenBoost is a sustainability-focused initiative aimed at optimizing GPU power consumption and increasing energy efficiency in data centers. By leveraging advanced software algorithms and hardware-level adjustments, it reduces the environmental footprint of large-scale AI and high-performance computing workloads without compromising processing speed or performance.

Arm has announced the Arm AGI CPU, the company's first production-ready silicon designed for agentic AI infrastructure. Built on the Neoverse platform, these CPUs provide high-performance, parallel computing for data centers, enabling efficient orchestration of AI models and workloads. Major industry partners, including Meta and OpenAI, are adopting this technology to improve rack-scale efficiency and scalability.

CERN engineers have developed high-speed levitating karts to replace bicycles for transport within the Large Hadron Collider tunnel during the Long Shutdown 3 maintenance period. Powered by superconducting engines utilizing the Meissner effect, these vehicles may also have future aerospace applications. The project was inspired by designs from local nursery school children.

FFmpeg is a cross-platform multimedia framework for recording, converting, and streaming audio and video. Recent updates including versions 8.1, 8.0, and 7.1 introduce Vulkan-based hardware acceleration, native VVC/H.266 and xHE-AAC decoders, and improved multi-threaded processing. The project continues to modernize its infrastructure, enhance API stability, and benefit from Sovereign Tech Fund support.

The project documents the creation of a physical 17x17 interactive grid based on Conway’s Game of Life. Utilizing NKK JB15LPF-JF switches, an AVR128DA64 microcontroller, and a custom PCB, the device enables users to toggle cells manually. It features an analog speed control, pulse-width modulation for LED display, and robust firmware safeguards to prevent hardware damage.

NASA is upgrading astronaut hygiene for the Artemis II mission with the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS). Developed by Collins Aerospace, this 3D-printed titanium toilet addresses the failures of Apollo-era systems by offering a ergonomic, unisex design with simultaneous waste processing and improved privacy, setting a new standard for future moon and Mars exploration missions.

As AI workloads push power requirements to 1 MW per rack, traditional AC data center distribution systems are becoming inefficient. Companies like Vertiv, Eaton, and Delta are moving toward 800 V DC architectures to reduce conversion losses, minimize copper usage, and improve energy efficiency. Wide-scale adoption requires new standards, supply chain adjustments, and safety frameworks.

LG Display has introduced 'Oxide 1Hz' technology, allowing laptop OLED panels to dynamically adjust refresh rates from 1Hz to 120Hz. This innovation can reduce power consumption by up to 48%, with Dell already incorporating it into its XPS laptops. Mass production of these energy-efficient panels is scheduled for 2027, marking a significant advancement in laptop battery life.

This list provides hardware compatibility scores for various laptop models, evaluating components such as graphics, network adapters, audio, and USB controllers. The data reflects performance or driver support status, with most devices achieving high scoring consistency across integrated peripherals, highlighting the variability in Linux or general driver hardware support.

CERN is tackling the massive data output of the Large Hadron Collider by using ultra-compact AI, specifically hardware-implemented models on FPGAs and ASICs. Using tools like HLS4ML, CERN achieves nanosecond-latency event filtering, proving that highly specialized, hardware-embedded 'tiny AI' is a superior alternative for extreme, real-time data environments compared to traditional GPU-based general-purpose architectures.