Technology, Innovation & Outdoor News

ESPHome Starter Kit review: From blinking lights to building a smart home

September 04, 2026 | Howard Armitage
ESPHome’s first official hardware kit makes a fiddly corner of DIY smart homes remarkably approachable, and it’s built to remain genuinely useful long after the lessons are over.

Floating data center would provide water and electricity to 32,000 homes

September 03, 2026 | Etiido Uko
Some companies build a desalination plant and call it a day; others build a data center, while others, still, build power generation facilities. One project wants to build all three …into one facility …offshore …on a movable ship.

Xiaomi’s new mid-rangers pack batteries up to 10,000-mAh

September 04, 2026 | Monica J. White
Xiaomi’s REDMI Note 17 lineup brings 7,700- to 10,000-mAh batteries to four mid-range phones, led by a Pro Max promising three-day endurance, 100W charging and up to six years of battery health for longer ownership.

Top Stories

With its lack of trailer, this A-frame tiny house isn't a good fit for nomads. The home trades ease of movement for a cozy and comfortable interior that draws inspiration from traditional cabins.
Building on the design language it debuted with the new Elko knife, The James Brand packs multiple functions inside the all-new Helton EDC tool. The Helton, then, is a sleek, lightweight piece of EDC that's as easy to carry as it is to use.
Many of our most popular camper van articles of 2026 have one thing in common: the Kia PV5. Now, Kia is readying the PV7 for debut. The larger e-van will offer more space for camper equipment, but will it prove as popular a camper base as the PV5?
Radica has never been known to follow convention. Its original widened pickup cap camped like nothing out there, and its subsequent launches followed suit. The new Stargate lands as a telescopic pop-topper that becomes the most spacious Radica yet.
All too often, lubricating your bike chain ends up with you inadvertently lubing the ground beneath it, also. The Green Disc+ is designed to change that, by applying its eco-friendly lube only where it's needed. Less waste, and no mess.
Building on its past history, Dethleffs introduces an envelope-pushing green RV concept. The C.core combines biomimicry, solar expansion, multi-use transformable spaces and closed-loop recycling to create a more efficient mobile environment.

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After Volkswagen split its midsize van lineup into two distinct model lines, the future of VW van life took the proverbial fork in the road. Spacecamper is the latest to convert a Caravelle, and its new camper arrives as a fast, versatile adventurer.
BMW's recently unveiled Vision CE has revived a unique two-wheeler space that does away with helmets. Now, it gets some competition in the form of XYTE One, which combines scooter agility and car-like protection. The best part: No helmets needed!
Nobody really enjoys seeing power lines, but maybe they could be turned from an eyesore into a local point of pride. Such is the thinking behind this creative project that transforms power line pylons into huge animal sculptures.
Toyota's Kayoibako van concept won over the 2023 Japan Mobility Show. Toyota is now talking up a Kayoibako family and showing the Daihatsu Kayoibako-K, a kei transporter that's a tiny delivery van, micro-camper, automated adventure shuttle and more.
Does the brain really produce its own psychedelic “Spirit Molecule” to power our dream states and near-death experiences? A new study has sparked fresh debate over endogenous DMT, and its presence – or absence – in mammalian brains.
Despite its critics and moves toward electrification, the internal combustion engine is not yet dead. Though its design for passenger vehicles may have begun to reach its apex with Mazda’s Skyactiv designs.
All I wanted to do was get rid of my glasses, but when my local laser eye surgery clinic recommended some odd-sounding, advanced Presbyond treatment developed by Zeiss, I said sure, if that's what the cool kids are getting. Here's what's happened.
In the South China Sea, the aqua-colored waters of an expansive shallow reef platform suddenly gives way to a near vertical shaft of vast darkness – an ocean sinkhole almost entirely devoid of oxygen and, in turn, marine life as we know it.