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I used to think Uranus was the sort of planet you graduated into. Saturn and its rings first, obviously. Jupiter and its cloud bands soon after that. Venus, if it's shrinking to a crescent (which it soon will be), and, of course, Mars and its ice caps. But Uranus? The seventh planet feels like something reserved for people with huge telescopes, expensive eyepieces and incredibly lucky atmospheric seeing. It may be considered an ice giant planet, but it's almost four times farther from the sun than Jupiter and twice as far as Saturn — and it's a lot smaller than both. Uranus didn't figure in my plans.

And yet on a frosty evening in September, a few years ago, I finally got to see it as a blue-green dot nearly 1.8 billion miles away. It was through a large Dobsonian telescope belonging to one very generous member of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, outside the visitor center at Bryce Canyon National Park, which hosts popular astronomy and night-sky programs . Uranus shone dimly, but I could easily make out its color by averting my eyes (looking slightly to the side of the planet rather than directly at it). That way, the human eye's light-sensitive peripheral cells can catch brightness — it's a technique that's worth learning for all kinds of telescopic astronomy. Even then, Uranus looked like a faint, motionless star rather than a glowing planet. It was no Saturn .

What surprised me wasn't finally seeing Uranus — that was down to a massive telescope. It was how suddenly my perception changed once my eye locked onto it. After seeing it up close (ish), I wanted to know exactly where Uranus was in the night sky. Uranus is technically visible to the naked eye, but it is very challenging to see. It shines at 5.7 magnitude — right at the absolute limit of human visibility, but in Bryce Canyon's dark moonless skies, it was definitely there. Was it a satisfying sight? Not especially — but I could not unsee it. That transition — from looking casually to carefully observing, first with powerful optics and then navigating with the naked eye — is what observational astronomy is all about. Uranus now always figures in my plans, but typically only when I have access to a very large telescope.

Finally seeing Uranus is a milestone. Most people remember their first view of Saturn because its rings impress immediately. But many people remember Uranus because they had to work for it. It's a planet you can discover for yourself — and you can do it this week.

What's happening and when to look

Uranus and Mars in conjunction on July 4, 2026. (Image credit: Starry Night) I tend to forget all about Uranus unless it's involved in a conjunction — and that's exactly what's happening. Conjunctions involving Uranus tend to occur a couple of times each year, typically as one of the fast-moving, closer planets — such as Venus and Mars — appear next to it. Venus was close to Uranus back in April, and on July 4, it's the turn of Mars. A conjunction between Mars and Uranus happens about every two years as the red planet surges past on its far quicker journey around the sun (687 Earth days versus the 84 years it takes Uranus).

This won't be the most convenient conjunction to observe, but they'll get to within about 11 arc minutes of each other — extremely close! From the northern hemisphere, the planets will be low on the eastern horizon in the early morning hours before astronomical dawn. The best time to be up and looking east will be about 3:45 a.m. local time. The observing window is only about 45 minutes before dawn, making it harder to find with every passing minute.

How and when I'm watching it

Uranus and Mars will be visible below the Pleiades on July 4, 2026. (Image credit: Starry Night) Find Mars, find Uranus. That's the entire point of using a close conjunction to see the seventh planet. Mars will serve as a guidepost and be easy to see. It will shine at 1.3 magnitude below the sparkling Pleiades open cluster. You won't be able to miss it in a clear sky. All you have to do is look slightly above Mars for Uranus — first with the naked eye, then with any pair of binoculars (I'll be using 10x50 binoculars). The conjunction will be close enough to fit comfortably in binoculars and to look beautiful in a small telescope, if you have one.

Normally, locating Uranus involves hopping through fairly anonymous star fields while constantly second-guessing whether you are looking at a star or the planet itself. Here, Mars does the navigation for you. Your reward will be the sight of a tiny pale point with a subtle blue-green tint. The satisfaction comes less from appearance and more from seeing something so distant directly with your own eyes.

There's also something fitting about this conjunction falling on July 4 during the 250th anniversary year in the U.S. Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the sun , meaning it has completed almost exactly three orbits since the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. The planet itself was not discovered until 1781, when William Herschel identified it while searching the sky systematically rather than casually. It's a reminder that back in 1776, only six planets were known about. Now we're on a hunt for a ninth planet (sorry, Pluto ).

Stargazer's corner: July 3-9, 2026

See the moon and Saturn in conjunction early on July 7, 2026. (Image credit: Starry Night) July opens with a slowly darkening sky after the long twilight of late June. Earth reaches aphelion on July 6, its farthest point from the sun (the seasons are driven by Earth's tilted axis, not its distance from the sun). So the sun's disk will be at its smallest in the sky, one factor contributing to the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12 . Meanwhile, the very early hours of July 7 and 8 will see a close conjunction of a last quarter moon and Saturn in the east, kicking off relatively moonless conditions for the following 10 nights or so.

Asterism of the week: Summer Triangle

By early July, the Summer Triangle dominates the sky after dark. Formed by Vega, high overhead, Deneb to the northeast and Altair lower in the south, it creates a vast, unmistakable pattern that defines the season. It's actually not a constellation, but an asterism — a popular shape in the sky, like the Big Dipper — and its scale is what makes it so useful. Once you've got it nailed, it becomes a framework for the entire sky, helping you orient yourself instantly all season long. It also traces the path of the Milky Way , which runs straight through it, adding an extra sight if you're somewhere not blighted by light pollution.

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Toyota launches the Corolla Cross Z Adventure edition in Japan.

Rugged compact SUV celebrates the Corolla’s 60th anniversary.

High-spec grades have also received improved safety equipment.

Toyota has rolled out a subtle model year update for the Japanese-spec Corolla Cross, led by a 60th anniversary special edition with rugged styling cues. The SUV follows the lead of the anniversary specials based on the Corolla sedan and estate , as it winds down toward the end of its run.

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Named the Corolla Cross Z Adventure, the new special edition is the odd one out in the Japanese range, and the grille explains why. Toyota borrowed the face of the US-spec non-hybrid mode l, then reworked it with slightly different black molding and a matching emblem, giving this version a look that separates it from everything else on the local roster.

More: Toyota Turned The Corolla Into A Pickup, Here’s What It Looks Like Undisguised

The styling additions continue with aluminum-look skid plates, 60th anniversary logos stamped on the fenders, and a set of matte gray six-spoke 17-inch alloys. Color choices stay tight, with Urban Khaki, Platinum White Pearl Mica, Mud Bath, and Black Mica on the menu, each one paired with a black roof.

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Buyers chasing a tougher stance can add the optional Z Adventure Set, which brings white Toyota lettering across the grille in the manner of the Land Cruiser and a Meteor Coat finish for the plastic cladding on the bumpers, side skirts, and fenders.

More: This New Toyota SUV Looks Familiar But Its Face And Cabin Might Surprise You

Inside, the Z Adventure gets synthetic leather and fabric upholstery in Mineral and black for the seats, finished with contrasting stitching and subtle Smoke Silver Metallic accents on the leather steering wheel, shift knob, and dashboard.

Toyota

Beyond the special edition, the Japanese Corolla Cross range picks up a handful of upgrades. The high-spec HEV Z and HEV GR Sport trims now include a heated steering wheel as standard along with expanded ADAS. The safety kit brings Blind Spot Monitor, Safe Exit Assist, a Panoramic View Monitor with a see-through-floor function, and Toyota’s Advanced Park system, which uses a Parking Support Brake that reads surrounding objects, pedestrians, and cross-traffic

More: Japan’s Toughest 2026 RAV4 Looks Like Trouble For The Subaru Crowd

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Predictably, there are no changes under the skin. In Japan, the Corolla Cross is exclusively available with the familiar self-charging hybrid powertrain. The FWD version combines a 1.8-liter engine producing 97 hp (72 kW / 98 PS) with a single electric motor generating 94 hp (70 kW / 95 PS). The AWD-capable models with the E-Four system add a second rear-mounted e-motor producing 40 hp (30 kW / 41 PS).

The updated Corolla Cross is already available to order in Japan . Pricing opens at 3,613,500 yen ($22,400) for the entry-level FWD model and climbs to 4,077,700 yen ($25,300) for the flagship GR Sport. The 60th Anniversary Z Adventure with the E-Four system runs 3,921,500 yen ($24,300), and the optional Z Adventure Set adds another 297,000 yen ($1,800) to reach 4,218,500 yen ($26,100).

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Epic Games has reached a proposed settlement with a former contractor who it accused in March of being notorious Fortnite leaker AdiraFN. The agreement will see the defendant permanently barred from "possessing, accessing, using, or disclosing any of Epic’s confidential or trade secret information," or helping anyone else do the same.

Epic filed the action in March , alleging that AdiraFN, who had revealed information on numerous Fortnite collaborations before they were announced, was in fact former Fortnite contractor Hayden Cohen. Cohen had signed an NDA as required by the terms of his agreement, but then did exactly the opposite of what he promised to do and, Epic alleged, "repeatedly misappropriated Epic's trade secret information and broadcasted it publicly through his anonymous social media accounts on X (formerly Twitter) and Discord."

Epic confirmed the proposed settlement in a statement provided to PC Gamer. "We took legal action against the former contractor who repeatedly leaked confidential partner IP and trade secrets that they received while working with Epic," Epic Games director of corporate communications Natalie Munoz said. "We’ve asked the court to approve the stipulated injunction to ensure they cannot publish or share Epic's confidential information again."

As noted by Game File , the proposed settlement notes only the injunction against Cohen, and makes no mention of any monetary penalty, even though Epic's initial complaint sought "compensatory damages, including actual loss and unjust enrichment," plus legal fees and other expenses. Epic has previously pursued and won financial awards against Fortnite cheaters, but Munoz said the company had nothing further to share. The proposed settlement must now be approved by a judge.

2026 games : All the upcoming games

Best PC games : Our all-time favorites

Free PC games : Freebie fest

Best FPS games : Finest gunplay

Best RPGs : Grand adventures

Best co-op games : Better together

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Hayao Miyazaki has been at the helm of Studio Ghibli , the legendary Japanese animation studio, in one way or another for 40 years – now serving as honorary chairman and continuing to direct feature films. Over the last few decades, he's seen a dramatic change in culture and technology while sticking to his traditionalist guns.

The death of creativity

Miyazaki is known for aggressively high standards and a dedication to the craft of animation.

Quote of the day

This article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here .

For years, he has overseen teams of artists hand-painting beautiful visuals from films such as My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away frame by frame. His reaction to learning that artists on his team were experimenting with AI was pretty much as you'd expect.

Filmed speaking to his team during the filming of the 2016 documentary Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki , the animator was unequivocal in his condemnation of the use of AI for an experiment during the production of the short film Boro the Caterpillar .

Rage against the machine

Miyazaki shared his thoughts in this documentary a year before Google released the seminal paper on the transformer architecture that now underpins today's dominant AI models – and six years before OpenAI first launched ChatGPT .

Despite airing his views so bluntly, nearly a decade on, OpenAI's image generator became embroiled in controversy when thousands of people took part in a viral craze that involved generating Ghibli-esque graphics within seconds.

The trend raised serious concerns about the role that AI plays in the modern creative landscape. While it was used primarily for fun in this instance, it's easy to see how executives may see the time-saving potential of automation tools and the allure of removing the blood, sweat, and toil that humans put into their creative endeavors.

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Ahead of Carcass Clad's reveal at last month's PC Gaming Show, I had the chance to speak to Wrong Organ devs Jeffrey Tomec and Dave van Egdom about the studio's follow-up to its breakout hit, Mouthwashing. Carcass Clad is a very different sort of game , but with familiar themes and atmosphere . The bulk of our conversation, though, was about why the studio pivoted to co-op multiplayer, and how it feels to play.

It's a pretty warmed-over bias these days to assume any studio swapping from single to multiplayer is "selling out" in some way, but Tomec and van Egdom told me they hadn't even set out to make a co-op game initially⁠—Wrong Organ was just following the path of least resistance to the tank game it wanted to make.

"There was quite a bit of hesitation, but it also wasn't even the original premise for the game," Tomec said of the switch to co-op. "We had a cool idea for a tank game, and it was going to be a tank game where you control three people at once. Then we were like, 'That seems like it could just be a co-op game.' And now it's a co-op game."

"[The switch to co-op] happened very early in development," said van Egdom. "I think we first started talking about 'Tank Game,' as we refer to it, [around] July 2024. We did the first ideation stuff, and then it was only like three months later that Jeff pitched making it a co-op thing instead."

Tomec explained that, if the goal of Mouthwashing was to support its excellent script as much as possible through gameplay and visuals, the driving vision of Carcass Clad is to recreate the frantic, claustrophobic scenes from tank movies as emergent gameplay. Wrong Organ wants players to keep stumbling into scenes like the scripted one in Carcass Clad's reveal trailer .

"Our players have probably made a bit of a mistake in the trailer by getting jumped by an enemy tank around a corner, but we expect players in reality tend to make those kinds of mistakes pretty often," said Tomec. "It can be very stressful and very hard to see with how cramped the vehicle is, so things tend to find a way to sneak up on you."

Specialization

Each player has a specific, narrow role in how they contribute to the tank's success, with a team consisting of a driver, a gunner, and a commander. The first two are fairly self-explanatory, but both of those more hands-on play styles will be hampered by a lack of visibility and information, with the cramped, dark tank interior only providing narrow viewports to see outside.

Tomec told me that all three roles will be able to open a hatch and see outside the vehicle, but you don't want to do that during a fight. Hell, it might be a bad idea to do that when you're not actively fighting, lest somebody get the drop on you. " Up with miniskirts " indeed.

From our conversation and Carcass Clad's screenshots, drivers will be almost blind when piloting the vehicle⁠—they can't get a better view and move at the same time⁠—while it sounds like gunners will be limited to a super zoomed-in, scoped view unless they're poking their heads out. I'm picturing something like an FPS sniper who can't leave their aim-down-sights mode. That's where the third role comes in.

(Image credit: Wrong Organ) The commander gets the most complete set of information, but no direct control of the tank's function⁠—Tomec called it "the man in the chair fantasy"—and the core challenge of Carcass Clad seems to be the commander providing clear instruction and context to the other two, and them acting on it as effectively as possible.

"Being in a tank really just means you can't see shit around you," said van Egdom. "[Commanders] have access to a periscope, they can range find, they can do all of those things, make callouts, send drawings of the map and which route to take to their fellow crewmates, etc."

Tomec said Wrong Organ's goal is to "have everyone feel empowered in their own way, and really disempowered in their own way, where you feel like you're relying on each other, but also don't feel like it's just your commander yelling at you to do stuff."

Friendsweat

Tomec said that Wrong Organ took equal inspiration from military simulation games and the burgeoning "friendslop" genre of co-op multiplayer, but the final result diverges from both. Even though the co-op climbing game Peak, for instance, can have its moments of challenge and heartbreak, Carcass Clad sounds like it's in a completely different ballpark.

"We almost call ourselves a friendsweat game, if we had had to put a genre label on it," Tomec said. "We're definitely not quite at Peak, but we're not trying to make Arma either." He wants Carcass Clad to have a lot of what milsim players appreciate about the genre⁠—attention to detail, tactility, plus a high level of challenge and consequence⁠—but in a more fantastical setting divorced from high playercount PvP.

(Image credit: Wrong Organ) "My analogous example would be Helldivers," said Tomec. "The way that Helldivers explores a ton of military simulator mechanics in a framework that's very far from a milsim, and we'd like to be almost a tank equivalent of that."

I was very curious about those titular carcass clad tanks, and Tomec told me that this was largely something only enemy vehicles would be taking advantage of, mostly as a sort of improvised armor we'll have to chew through before damaging the tank itself. Having only enemy tanks be carcass clad was partially a practical concern with the game's perspective⁠—we won't be seeing the outside of the tank very much⁠—but we'll still have some ways of getting weird with it.

"You might find yourself with some weird shit inside the tank, and some of that weird, carcassy horror entering your vehicle," said Tomec. "But from a gameplay layer, armoring yourself is not much of a focus, it's most of the enemies doing it."

Mouthwashing was a game that left me so stressed and depressed , I had to go lie down for awhile afterward⁠—I had a similar experience reading the transcript of a recent PlayStation investor meeting . It sounds like Carcass Clad will evoke similar feelings in an actionized, co-op, run-based format. But there will be some quiet time too. Maybe.

"You will have some breaks. A run isn't just sitting there for two hours, constantly moving," said van Egdom. "There's a kind of Left 4 Dead run structure, where you'll have safe rooms in between, and in safe rooms you're very likely to be able to leave the tank.

"I say 'likely', because this is just where we're at in development. We could change fucking everything, man. We're going to do what we have to to make the tank cool. That's the baseline."

2026 games : All the upcoming games

Best PC games : Our all-time favorites

Free PC games : Freebie fest

Best FPS games : Finest gunplay

Best RPGs : Grand adventures

Best co-op games : Better together

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TL;DR

Google brought Collections to the Play Store a couple years back.

So far, the Play Store widgets all feature multiple Collections that are shown at once.

Google is now working on single-Collection widgets, to highlight just your favorites.

Two years ago, the Google Play Store introduced Collections , a method for making it easier to access thematically similar apps by grouping them according to topics like Shop, Listen, Food, and more. It didn’t take long after that for Google to introduce some new Collections widgets , giving us quick access to these categories straight from the home screen. Now we’ve spotted Google working on the next evolution of the Play Store’s widgets, splitting Collections out into multiple, separate widgets.

You’re reading an Authority Insights story. Authority Insights brings you all the latest exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage from the Android Authority team that you won’t find anywhere else.