Science & Technology — October 29, 2026

Apple unveils first touchscreen MacBook Pro. The laptop features an OLED ‘PROLED XDR’ display, a three-pound chassis, and starts at $2,899 — up to $14,549 fully specced.

Ars Technica characterizes the announcement as breaking a long-standing taboo, noting the company had previously declined to bring touch input to its laptop line. The outlet frames the shift as a departure from the firm’s established position on how its computers should be operated, making the device notable beyond its new display branding and pricing tier.

Ars Technica · Read more ↗

Possible new dwarf planet spotted beyond Neptune. The Vera Rubin Observatory detected 2026 ED138, an object up to 1,500 kilometers across that, if confirmed, would become the solar system’s sixth known dwarf planet.

Space.com · Read more ↗

‘Doomsday Glacier’ may melt twice as fast. New research finds warm ocean water penetrating miles beneath Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, suggesting it could raise sea levels twice as much as predicted — even without additional warming.

Science Daily · Read more ↗

RFK Jr. bypasses FDA on peptides. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unilaterally allowed certain pharmacies to dispense compounded versions of six unproven peptides over FDA staff objections.

Scientific American reports the six compounds have gained a following within the Make America Healthy Again movement associated with Kennedy. According to the outlet, agency scientists raised concerns about the substances, which lack established evidence of safety and effectiveness, before the secretary acted on his own authority to expand pharmacy access.

Scientific American · Read more ↗