Working natural gas in storage in the Lower 48 states ended the natural gas refill season (April 1-October 31) with more than 3,900 billion cubic feet (Bcf), according to estimates based on data from our Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report released on November 6. U.S. inventories are starting winter 2025-26 at about the same level as last year, the most since 2016. As of October 31, inventories are 4% above the five-year (2020-24) average after above-average injections into storage throughout much of the injection season.
Researchers uncovered how fatty molecules called ceramides trigger acute kidney injury by damaging the mitochondria that power kidney cells. By altering ceramide metabolism or using a new drug candidate, the team was able to protect mitochondrial function and completely prevent kidney injury in mice.
Hypersonic flight could one day make long-haul travel as quick as a short movie. Researchers are testing how turbulence behaves at extreme speeds, a critical hurdle for designing these aircraft. Their laser-based krypton experiments suggest turbulence at Mach 6 behaves more like slower airflow than expected. The results could simplify hypersonic vehicle design and accelerate progress toward ultra-fast travel.
Genetic, isotopic, and forensic evidence has conclusively identified the remains of Duke Béla of Macsó and uncovered remarkable details about his life, ancestry, and violent death. The study reveals a young nobleman with Scandinavian-Rurik roots who was killed in a coordinated, emotionally charged attack in 1272.
By reactivating a long-lost gene, researchers were able to lower uric acid levels and stop damaging fat accumulation in human liver models. The breakthrough hints at a future where gout and several metabolic diseases could be prevented at the genetic level.
A massive, well-preserved impact crater has been uncovered in Guangdong, revealing the signature of a powerful meteorite strike during the Holocene. Measuring 900 meters across, it dwarfs other known craters from the same era. Shock-damaged quartz confirms the intense forces involved. Its survival in a high-erosion environment makes it a geological rarity.
Scientists have finally confirmed a powerful coronal mass ejection from another star, using LOFAR radio data paired with XMM-Newton’s X-ray insights. The eruption blasted into space at extraordinary speeds, strong enough to strip atmospheres from close-orbiting worlds. This suggests planets around active red dwarfs may be far less hospitable than hoped.
Laser light can physically distort Janus TMD materials, revealing how their asymmetrical structure amplifies light-driven forces. These effects could power breakthroughs in photonic chips, sensors, and tunable light technologies.
Scientists have decoded the atomic-level secrets behind catalysts that turn propane into propylene. Their algorithms reveal unexpected oxide behavior that stabilizes the catalytic reaction by clustering around defective metal sites. The findings could help streamline industrial chemistry and inspire better catalysts for major processes like methanol synthesis.
Researchers in Greenland used a 10-kilometer fiber-optic cable to track how iceberg calving stirs up warm seawater. The resulting surface tsunamis and massive hidden underwater waves intensify melting at the glacier face. This powerful mixing effect accelerates ice loss far more than previously understood. The work highlights how fragile the Greenland ice system has become as temperatures rise.
State Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) questions a witness at Thursday's hearing of the Assembly labor committee about the unemployment insurance bill produced by the Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)
A business lobbyist Thursday sought to salvage a new unemployment insurance bill that has sparked opposition from some Democrats and advocates for people with disabilities.
The bill came from the joint labor-management Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council. The council is historically a source of consensus legislation to update Wisconsin’s laws on jobless pay, but its 2025 proposal includes provisions Democrats have strongly opposed.
The senior Democrat on the Assembly’s labor committee has disavowed the bill because it includes a financial penalty for people who receive federal disability pay if they apply for unemployment insurance when they’re laid off from a job.
The council bill also contains several other changes that Democratic lawmakers have unanimously opposed and Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed in the past.
Scott Manley of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce testifies in favor of the unemployment insurance bill produced by the Wisconsin Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council. Manley heads the management caucus for the joint labor-management council. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)
At a public hearing Thursday on the legislation,AB 652, Scott Manley of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce emphasized that the measure had the unanimous support of both the management and labor members of the advisory council.
Manley chairs the council’s management caucus. Representatives from the council’s labor caucus did not take part in the hearing.
“There’s a reason we have a council,” Manley told the Assembly Committee on Workforce Development, Labor and Integrated Employment. “It’s a process we believe in. We think it’s a process that works. And we would ask everybody in the community to respect that process.”
WMC and other business groups have repeatedly backed Republican legislators’ bills to change the state’s unemployment laws when they bypassed the joint advisory council. Evers has regularly vetoed such bills.
Manley said that it would be unprecedented for an advisory council bill to split the Legislature on party lines, however.
“My fear is that if the Legislature decides to turn this into a partisan issue, despite the fact that it was unanimously supported by labor and management, that Gov. Evers would consider vetoing the bill,” Manley said.
If that happens, he said, the bill’s $25 bump in the state’s maximum weekly jobless pay — the first increase in more than a decade — would likely be put off until 2027.
Victor Forberger, a lawyer who specializes in unemployment law, said even that increase, bringing the maximum benefit to $395 a week, was inadequate compared with surrounding states.
Minnesota tops out at $914 a week, Forberger testified. Iowa’s maximum is $602 and Michigan’s is $446, with an increase to $530 in 2026.
“We’re not keeping pace with the states around us,” Forberger told the committee. “We’re not even coming close to that
The disability-jobless pay conflict
The advisory council bill’s highest-profile point of contention applies to people who receive Social Security Disability Income.
Since 2013, Wisconsin law has automatically disqualified SSDI recipients from collecting jobless pay, even if they get laid off from a job and otherwise meet the requirements for unemployment compensation.
A federal judge ruled in 2024 that the SSDI jobless pay ban violated federal law. After an additional court order this summer, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development is now reviewing the cases of people denied unemployment compensation in the last 10 years due to the SSDI ban, and is issuing payments to those who qualify.
The joint advisory council unemployment bill repeals the ban on unemployment insurance for SSDI recipients. But it would also cut their jobless pay by 50% of their SSDI pay.
That provision led Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee), the ranking Democrat on the labor committee, to keep her name off the list of sponsors for the advisory council bill.
“I simply cannot support taking benefits from those who are disabled,” Sinicki said when she, along with the committee’s other two Democrats, voted against the bill’s formal introduction Thursday. “They receive very little money to begin with. And now to reduce their benefits to me is unconscionable.”
Manley defended the 2013 law that excluded SSDI recipients from the unemployment insurance program.
“SSDI is intended to compensate somebody for their loss of earning capacity based on a disability,” he said. “And unemployment is supposed to compensate somebody through the loss of their earnings because they were laid off or their job was eliminated or some other reason that’s no fault of their own. So, that’s why the policy decision was made in the first place that we wouldn’t allow people to have both benefits.”
While the court ruled against a blanket exclusion from unemployment compensation for people getting SSDI, Manley argued that offsetting their jobless pay by a portion of their disability income is comparable to existing provisions that offset unemployment benefits based on other wage income.
Unemployment insurance lawyer Victor Forberger testifies against the bill from the joint labor-management unemployment insurance council. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)
But SSDI is not like a wage, said Forberger, whose lawsuit overturned Wisconsin’s SSDI jobless pay ban.
“SSDI is essentially getting your Social Security benefits early,” Forberger testified. While Social Security payments are based on lifetime earnings at retirement age, he said, unemployment is based on a recent job loss, and unemployment benefits are based on earnings in the last year and a half.
The average SSDI benefit in Wisconsin as of December 2023 was about $1,400 per month, he said. SSDI recipients take part-time jobs because their disability income “is not enough to support themselves,” Forberger said. “They need additional money to make ends meet.”
The federal Social Security Administration, which administers the disability program, encourages recipients to work so they might make a transition back to the workforce and no longer need benefits. “Essentially, what Wisconsin is saying to disabled folks here is . . . ‘We don’t want you working anymore,’” Forberger said.
Other provisions
Several other items in the advisory council bill previously were part of Republican bills that Evers vetoed in the past when they reached his desk.
One would require DWD to establish a website where employers could report unemployment compensation recipients who “ghosted” job interviews or didn’t show up for the first day on the job after an offer.
Another would require audits of 50% of all work searches by people collecting jobless pay. In 41% of work search audits that DWD conducted, “claimants failed to fulfill weekly work search requirements,” said Brian Dake of Wisconsin Independent Businesses. “We believe this data justifies the need for more audits.”
A third provision stipulates specific checks that DWD should make to ensure that a person who makes an unemployment claim isn’t stealing another person’s identity or engaged in some other fraudulent activity.
The bill also would mandate electronic filing of payroll information for business owners with fewer than 25 employees.
Forberger, in his testimony, rejected all those provisions as ineffectual or unnecessary.
“Ghosting interviews is already illegal in this state,” he said, with stiffer penalties than outlined in the bill. Employers, he added, are unlikely to go to the trouble of filing a report and take the time for the hearings that would follow.
Forberger observed that the department already consults a wide range of databases in checking out claims. And he said small employers have sought his help after making mistakes and getting in trouble with the department in filing required payroll documentation.
“To mandate online-only filing is just going to make it that much harder for these employers,” Forberger said.
(According to DWD communications director Haley McCoy, in 2024 about 97% of taxable employers with fewer than 25 employees submitted their wage reports electronically. “Fewer and fewer employers file on paper every quarter with current figures showing less than 3% filing by paper,” McCoy told the Wisconsin Examiner.)
Forberger said the bill’s work search audit requirement was redundant, because DWD already conducts work search audits of every person who is approved for benefits. He said he’s heard from many people who don’t understand what constitutes a work search and how to report it.
“When they’re getting audited, they’re getting disqualified,” Forberger said. “If you really want to improve the system, DWD needs to start doing some training and helping people how to navigate the system.”
This report has been updated to clarify that work search audits are conducted for people who are approved for unemployment benefits.
VW and Rivian’s joint venture employs 1,500 engineers on new software.
VW’s first car with Rivian tech will be the all-electric ID.Every1 model.
Several upcoming Rivian models will share the new software system.
It’s been a year since Rivian and Volkswagen joined forces on a new zonal electronic architecture for their future electric models. Initially, the partnership only called for future EVs to use the American brand’s software, and while this will still happen, VW has said it may also use the software for its upcoming ICE models as well.
The software stack itself is being developed by the joint venture known as RV Tech, which has set up shop in Berlin and already counts 1,500 employees.
The team is preparing for its first major milestone: winter testing in early 2026, using vehicles from VW, Audi, and Scout to ensure the new system performs reliably in freezing conditions.
One of the first vehicles to benefit from the new system will be the all-electric VW ID.Every1 that’s scheduled to hit the market in 2027.
VW will also use the same RV Tech technology stack for other EVs based on its new SSP platform, which can support up to 30 million vehicles. Further down the line, ICE models could follow, using the same software.
“For sure, it is an extremely capable architecture and we could allow for future use to also use it for ICE, but as we already outlined our clear focus is on BEV implementation and whatever comes after that is to be decided at a later stage,” co-chief executive of the RV Tech joint venture, Carsten Helbing, told Autonews.
“The architecture is highly capable of also driving additional drivetrain configurations. So we do not see a huge issue there, but of course, it’s additional work on the component side and on the platform side.”
Rivian Models Also Getting The New Tech
Of course, it’s not just VW models that will use the new system. Rivian will also use the technologies being developed by RV Tech for its R2, R3, and R3X models and will update its current fleet with the latest software.
“We remain incredibly excited by the work coming out of our joint venture with Volkswagen Group,” Rivian boss RJ Scaringe noted.
“RV Tech has gone from strength to strength over the last 12 months and is raising the bar in automotive technology. We’re incredibly excited about the launch of R2 in the first half of next year, which will showcase the advancements the joint venture has made,” he added.
Around 1.9 million plug-in vehicles were sold globally in October.
Of those, 1.3 million were fully electric vehicles delivered last month.
European EV sales climbed 36 percent to 372,786 units in October.
While the loss of the federal EV tax credit in the United States threw a wrench into sale figures in October, the global picture told a more upbeat story. New data shows worldwide sales of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles climbed 23 percent, powered by a surge in demand across Europe and China.
According to data from Rho Motion, an estimated 1.9 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles were sold globally last month, a 23 percent rise over October 2024.
The figure, however, was slightly lower than the 2.1 million plug-in passenger cars and light-duty vehicles sold in September.
Unsurprisingly, Rho Motion’s data reveals that China continues to lead the way with a total of 1.3 million EVs and PHEVs sold last month, marking a 6 percent increase over the same month last year.
EV SALES 2005 YTD (JAN-OCT) VS 2024 YTD
Global: 16.5 million, +23%
China: 10.3 million, +22%
Europe: 3.4 million, +32%
North America: 1.6 million, +4%
Rest of World: 1.3 million, +48%
Over in Europe, October deliveries jumped 36 percent from last year to 372,786 units, including 32 percent growth in BEVs and an even steeper 47 percent climb in PHEVs. Although the total was down from the 427,000 vehicles registered in September, year-to-date EV growth across Europe remains at 32 percent.
Germany’s EV sales have risen 45 percent year-to-date, while the UK is up 31 percent. France, however, remains slightly in the red at minus 2 percent. Spain has more than doubled its tally, and Italy has matched Germany’s pace with a 45 percent year-to-date increase.
After the Trump administration axed the EV tax credit worth up to $7,500 for newly-purchased and leased vehicles, sales in North America collapsed by 41 percent to 100,370, This follows record highs in August and September, when buyers rushed to secure incentives before the cutoff on September 30, 2025.
Month-on-month comparisons show how steep the drop was. Ford’s BEV sales fell 60 percent (Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, E-Transit), Hyundai’s plunged 77 percent (Ioniq models), Kia’s dropped 77 percent (EV6, EV9), Honda’s fell 83 percent (Prologue), and Subaru’s nearly vanished, down 97 percent (Solterra). Each brand also saw year-over-year declines.
In Canada, Rho Motion says EV sales have stayed sluggish through 2025, weighed down by reduced purchase incentives and the government’s decision in September to pause the 2026 EV mandate.
Market Outlook
Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester expects the European and Chinese markets to remain strong through the rest of the year: “In Europe, the overall year-to-date growth figure remains relatively high and we’re expecting strong sales towards the end of the year,” he told Reuters.
He added that the Chinese market should stay robust through November and December, aided by a “pull forward” effect as the country transitions from a full purchase tax exemption on new energy vehicles to a 50 percent exemption.
Mitsubishi’s N.A. boss promised dealers a major “strategic shift” is coming.
A rebadged Nissan Leaf-based EV is scheduled to arrive next summer.
A rugged Outlander and larger crossover are expected to follow by 2028.
Mitsubishi sales soared 25.8 percent in the United States last year, but their fortunes quickly reversed as year-to-date sales have fallen more than 11 percent through the third quarter. On top of that, the company killed off the popular Mirage, while its aging lineup continues to grow older.
Needless to say, things are looking bleak and that’s before mentioning tariffs and economic uncertainty. However, the automaker is planning a “strategic shift” that promises to “significantly strengthen” their position in the United States.
That’s according to a new letter sent to dealers by Mitsubishi Motors North America CEO Mark Chaffin. Autonews says the executive was coy on specifics, but teased this represents a “game-changing moment.” He also reassured dealers that “North America is a priority” for the company.
The lack of substance isn’t very reassuring, but Mitsubishi recently announced a couple of new models for North America. The first is an electric vehicle based on the redesigned Nissan Leaf.
It arrives in the summer of 2026 and will presumably share powertrains with the Leaf. This means we can expect a 75 kWh battery pack as well as a front-mounted motor producing 214 hp (160 kW / 218 PS) and 261 lb-ft (353 Nm) of torque.
The model could also offer an entry-level variant with a smaller 52 kWh battery as well as a 174 hp (130 kW / 177 PS) motor.
It will be joined in late 2026 by a rugged version of the Outlander. The company has previously said the crossover will have unique styling inside and out as well as performance upgrades and off-road focused drive modes.
Additional models are in the works and one is said to be a mid-sized crossover that would slot above the Outlander. It could arrive in 2028, offer three-rows of seats, and be built in the United States by Nissan.
Dealers are also hoping for a mid-size sedan and a truck, potentially based on the Nissan Frontier. “We could use an entry-level sedan as many OEMs are leaving the segment,” said Mitsubishi dealer board Chairman R. C. Hill, speaking to Automotive News. “Every Mitsubishi dealer would like a truck.”
While it remains to be seen if they’ll get what they want, Chaffin told them the company will be “expanding our focus beyond BEVs to include ICE, HEV, and PHEV models.”
Tesla could add Apple CarPlay integration to its vehicles soon.
Sources mention a basic CarPlay setup, not Apple’s CarPlay Ultra.
About one-third of buyers call missing CarPlay a deal-breaker.
Not long after Tesla began renting out its cars from two California locations, the EV maker is reportedly exploring another shift in strategy, one aimed at sparking fresh demand: bringing Apple CarPlay to its vehicles.
If that turns out to be true, it would mark a surprisingly pragmatic turn for Elon Musk, who’s spent years brushing off the idea of letting Apple CarPlay or Android Auto anywhere near Tesla’s carefully walled software garden. Maybe the wall’s starting to crack.
While Tesla hasn’t commented on the report from Bloomberg, unnamed insiders say the automaker has started internal testing of the system and could be ready to roll it out in the coming months.
Bloomberg’s report suggests Tesla plans to offer the standard version of Apple CarPlay rather than the new CarPlay Ultra, which can take over the entire infotainment system and extend across multiple displays, including the digital gauge cluster.
Instead, Tesla appears to be preparing to include CarPlay as an optional feature within its own software, much like most mainstream carmakers do.
The addition would give Tesla drivers access to well-known Apple services such as iMessage, Apple Music, and Apple Maps. According to the report, Tesla aims to implement the wireless version of CarPlay, allowing users to connect without plugging in their phones.
The Importance of CarPlay
Elon Musk has spent years criticizing Apple and rejecting the notion of CarPlay integration. Rivian holds a similar stance, and GM recently decided to phase out both CarPlay and Android Auto from its upcoming models. Still, surveys consistently show that for many buyers, these features are far from trivial extras.
A study from McKinsey & Co. last year revealed that 30 percent of those in the market for an EV and 35 percent of prospective buyers of a new combustion car said that not having Apple CarPlay or Android Auto is a deal-breaker. This means that Tesla could be losing thousands of sales every month.
Smart’s first sedan was spotted testing with a range-extender setup.
This new model marks the brand’s entry into the sedan segment.
It debut soon, sharing components with the Zeekr 007 platform.
Smart might be eager to reconnect with its roots when the next-generation Fortwo arrives in late 2026, but the brand has a surprising second act in the works, one that ventures far from its comfort zone.
The company that’s a joint venture between China’s Geely and Mercedes-Benz is developing its first-ever sedan, a move that pushes into new territory. The four-door model is expected to join Smart’s lineup in the coming months, marking an important shift for the company best known for its pint-sized city cars.
Rumors of the Smart #6 first surfaced in early 2025, hinting that it might go head-to-head with the Tesla Model 3. Those reports now carry weight, as fresh photos of camouflaged prototypes have appeared on Chinese social media, offering an early glimpse of the newcomer.
One prototype was spotted by a Weibo user during road testing in Cixi, Ningbo. Its aerodynamic shape fits the modern electric sedan template, complete with a smoothly tapering roofline that blends into the rear deck.
Compared to other Smart models, the upcoming sedan sports aggressive headlights that will likely be connected by a full-width LED bar.
Weibo
We can also see the slim DRLs flanking the large bumper intake and the roof-mounted Lidar section. The rear looks more like a baby Mercedes, with an active rear spoiler reminiscent of the McLaren SLR.
The other prototype appears to be less advanced as it is covered in heavier camouflage. However, a photo under the rear reveals dual exhaust pipes, confirming the presence of a combustion engine under the hood. The sedan will most likely feature a range-extender powertrain, just like the one offered in the Smart #5 SUV.
The powertrain in that model pairs a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine producing 161 hp (120 kW / 163 PS) with a single electric motor rated at 268 hp (200 kW / 272 PS). Battery options include 20 kWh and 41 kWh packs.
In the boxy Smart #5, the larger battery offers an electric-only range of 252 km (157 miles) and a combined CLTC range of 1,615 km (1,004 miles). The sleeker, more aerodynamic profile of the #6 should deliver even better numbers, benefiting from its streamlined shape and lower drag.
The sedan is expected to share its underpinnings with the Zeekr 007, using Geely’s PMA2+ architecture. The platform supports both single-motor rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive configurations, giving Smart flexibility in how it positions the car.
Judging by the current state of the prototypes, the Smart #6 seems to be nearing production readiness. What remains uncertain is whether it will stay exclusive to China or make its way into global markets.
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