iPhone Folds, NFL Down Under, & Best Sleep Position

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Adam Rogers
September 10, 2026

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Apple unveiled its first foldable iPhone Wednesday, introducing the $1,999 iPhone Duo during John Ternus' first major product event since becoming CEO. The phone opens to a 7.6-inch display that's 80% larger than the iPhone 18 Pro, while adding Apple Pencil support and the ability to run two apps side by side.
Apple arrives years after Samsung, Google and Motorola entered the foldable market, following its familiar strategy of waiting for new technology to mature before jumping in. Foldables still represent a small share of global smartphone sales, making the Duo a test of whether Apple can turn the category into a mainstream product.
Apple also introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, starting at $1,199 and $1,299, alongside upgraded AI capabilities, cameras and battery life. The new generation costs about $100 more than its predecessor, partly due to a global memory-chip shortage. The Duo goes on sale Oct. 23.

The NFL will play its first game in Australia tonight as the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams meet before more than 100,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The NFC West rivals traveled farther than any teams in NFL history for a regular-season game, crossing roughly 8,000 miles and 17 time zones from California.
San Francisco arrived more than a week early, giving players time to adjust their sleep schedules and body clocks before kickoff. Los Angeles took the opposite approach: the Rams were scheduled to arrive just 28 hours before the game and remain largely on California time, betting that avoiding a full adjustment will leave players sharper for kickoff.
The approaches create a natural experiment for future international games as the NFL expands overseas. Both coaches cautioned that Thursday's result won't settle which strategy works better, but the league will get its first real-world look at how teams handle the physical demands of playing halfway around the world.

Scientists identified the first confirmed Denisovan arm bone among fossils recovered from Bianfu Cave in southwestern China. Denisovans were an ancient human group closely related to Neanderthals that lived alongside and interbred with early modern humans, leaving traces of their DNA in some people today. Yet few of their physical remains have ever been found.
Protein analysis identified at least seven Denisovan fossils among more than 60,000 bone fragments at the cave, including the forearm bone, skull fragments and teeth dating back roughly 134,000 to 167,000 years. The discovery provides rare physical evidence that Denisovans lived deep in southern China, far south of most confirmed remains found in Siberia and northern China.
More than 1,300 stone artifacts found at the cave suggest its inhabitants made sophisticated tools for hunting and processing animals. Together, the fossils and artifacts make Bianfu Cave the richest known Denisovan fossil site outside Denisova Cave in Siberia, where the ancient human group was first identified in 2010.

The Census Bureau proposed changing the 2030 census to exclude undocumented immigrants and some legal immigrants from population totals used to divide the 435 House seats among states. (More)

TSA is considering allowing PreCheck passengers to bring full water bottles through security at select airports equipped with newer screening technology. (More)

A sprawling heat wave has put more than 90 million Americans under alerts, with triple-digit heat indexes stretching from Southern California through Texas and into Kentucky. (More)

Global student performance continued to decline in the latest PISA assessment, with reading and math scores across advanced economies falling 28 and 22 points, respectively, since 2015. (More)

The U.N. nuclear watchdog referred Iran to the Security Council for the first time in 20 years over Tehran’s failure to cooperate with an investigation into uranium found at undeclared sites. (More)

Australia proposed requiring social media platforms to let users opt out of algorithmically recommended feeds, giving people the choice to instead see content only from accounts they follow. (More)

US stock markets closed lower on Wednesday (S&P -0.48%, Nasdaq -0.64%, Dow -0.77%) as rising Treasury yields and oil prices continued to spook investors. (More)

The Treasury Department will buy back up to $6 billion in longer-term government debt, tripling its typical operation in an effort to improve market liquidity as Treasury yields remain elevated. (More)

Google announced its largest investment in Europe, committing at least $15.1 billion to new AI data centers and energy infrastructure in Finland over the next two years. (More)

Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe will meet in an all-American U.S. Open semifinal, guaranteeing an American man will reach the final as the country seeks its first men’s major title since 2003. (More)

LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, reporting up to $1 billion in liabilities and millions in unpaid claims to stars including Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. (More)

The Seahawks opened the NFL season with a 13-10 comeback win over the Patriots, scoring 10 fourth-quarter points despite losing quarterback Sam Darnold to an early injury. (More)

Ultraviolet light combined with sulfite can break apart PFAS “forever chemicals” by stripping away fluorine and fragmenting their carbon chains, offering a clearer path toward more effective water treatment. (More)

A massive floating island covered with nearly 100 trees has appeared twice on Canada’s Williston Lake, drifting roughly 20 miles between sightings before seemingly disappearing again. (More)

Archaeologists discovered a 4,300-year-old tomb at Saqqara containing two burial chapels for an ancient Egyptian judge and his father. (More)

Watch how the world’s largest underwater tunnel was built.

Science explains the best position to sleep in.

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