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Just for the tech of it: Bionic Olympics, eternal data storage, and ASMR

This week on Just For The Tech Of It, our bearded host dives headlong into ASMR: a strange but fascinating topic that makes some people’s skin crawl … in a good way. For those of you who don’t know, ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It’s a euphoric experience that’s characterized by this pleasurable, static-like tingling feeling that you can get from listening to certain sounds.

It’s hard to understand if you’ve never experienced it yourself, but if you’ve ever gotten chills from a piece of music, ASMR is basically like that, but stronger. And you can’t just listen to music. You need to listen to certain things in order to get these so-called “triggers” that set off the static tingly feeling. These triggers are typically sounds that don’t really have a predictable pattern that your brain can perceive — like somebody sloppily eating a plate full of chicken wings, for example.

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Next up, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology announced a new competition called the Cybathlon earlier this week. It’s basically an Olympics-style event designed specifically for assistive technologies like powered wheelchairs, bionic limbs, and robotic exoskeletons. They’re planning to hold the event later this year, and teams from all over the world have already signed up to participate. The idea is that by putting these assistive devices to the test in a head-to-head competition, we’ll begin to drive these technologies forward — sort of like how NASCAR and Formula 1 races have led to advances in automotive tech.

And finally, researchers from the University of Southampton have announced that they’ve perfected a new data storage technique that can retain information for billions of years. This kind of data archiving ability means records keeping organizations can store all of the information that humanity has ever made, and keep it safe until the universe collapses in on itself. That might sound like a good thing at first, but there might also be a few downsides.

Drew Prindle
Former Senior Editor, Features
Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…
Sebastian Stan lays out Bucky’s future after Thunderbolts
Sebastian Stan in Thunderbolts.

There are some spoilers ahead for the ending of Marvel's Thunderbolts. Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled.

Earlier this year, Captain America: Brave New World briefly introduced a new direction for James "Bucky" Barnes, a character Sebastian Stan has been playing since 2011 in Captain America: The First Avenger. In Brave New World, the former Winter Soldier apparently retired from being a reformed hero and went into politics by running for Congress. Thunderbolts reveals that Bucky won his election to the House of Representatives. But his stay in Congress was short.

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Jeep just pulled the wraps off the all-new Compass EV, and while it’s an exciting leap into the electric future, there's a catch—it might not make it to the U.S. anytime soon.
This is a brand new electric version of the Jeep Compass, and being built on Stellantis' STLA platform—the same architecture underpinning models like the Peugeot E-3008 and E-5008—it looks much slicker and packs a lot more inside than previous versions of the Compass.
Let’s start with what’s cool: the new Compass EV is packing up to 404 miles of range on a single charge, a 74 kWh battery, and fast-charging that gets you from 20% to 80% in about 30 minutes. Not bad for a compact SUV with Jeep's badge on the nose.
There are two versions: a front-wheel-drive model with 213 horsepower and a beefier all-wheel-drive version with 375 horsepower. That AWD setup isn’t just for looks—it can handle 20% inclines even without front traction, and comes with extra ground clearance and better off-road angles. In short, it’s still a Jeep.
The design's been refreshed too, and inside you’ll find the kind of tech and comfort you’d expect in a modern EV—sleek, smart, and ready for both city streets and dirt trails.
But here’s the thing: even though production starts soon in Italy, Jeep hasn’t said whether the Compass EV is coming to America. And the signs aren’t promising.
Plans to build it in Canada were recently put on hold, with production now delayed until at least early 2026. Some of that might have to do with possible U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican vehicles—adding a layer of uncertainty to the whole rollout.
According to Kelley Blue Book, a Stellantis spokesperson confirmed that the company has “temporarily paused work on the next-generation Jeep Compass, including activities at” the Canadian plant that was originally meant to build the model. They added that Stellantis is “reassessing its product strategy in North America” to better match customer needs and demand for different powertrain options.
So while Europe and other markets are gearing up to get the Compass EV soon, American drivers might be left waiting—or miss out entirely.
That’s a shame, because on paper, this electric Jeep hits a lot of sweet spots. Let’s just hope it finds a way over here.

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Charlie Cox singles out his least favorite Daredevil: Born Again episode
Charlie Cox in Daredevil: Born Again.

Daredevil: Born Again season 1 was largely reconceived after the 2023 actor and writer strikes. Dario Scardapane -- a veteran of The Punisher series on Netflix -- was brought in to be the new showrunner and he made a lot of changes to the series that were well-received. However, there's one episode that Scardapane didn't really change at all, and it happens to be the least favorite episode of Daredevil: Born Again's leading man, Charlie Cox.

During an appearance on The Playlist, Cox noted that he wasn't very fond of the season's fifth episode, "With Interest," which was a largely standalone episode that featured his character, Matt Murdock, in a bank during a hostage crisis.

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