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Science news — August 27, 2026

Science publications published on August 27, 2026 (UTC). This is a fixed calendar-day archive.

7 publications

  1. ScienceMath

    GTA 6's New Relationship System: A Deep Dive

    Rockstar Games has revealed that Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) will feature a relationship system, allowing players to nurture or neglect the bond between co-protagonists Jason and Lucia. This system will impact story missions and daily life, with players able to spend time together, go on dates, or ignore each other. The relationship's success will depend on how much time they spend together and how they communicate. Rockstar aims to create an emotionally resonant experience, but players can opt out of the romance if desired. The game is set to release on November 19.
    9 sourcesSee all sources
  2. ScienceEarth

    Chinese Lab Z.ai Claims Ox Alpha Model

    Chinese AI company Z.ai has revealed it is behind the mysterious Ox Alpha model that gained attention for its performance. The free model was a preview of Z.ai's new GLM-5.3-Flash model, tested on OpenRouter and OpenCode to gather user feedback. Z.ai has made the model's weights publicly available on Hugging Face, allowing developers to download, modify, and build on it. The model is multimodal, working with text, images, and video, and has a context window of up to 1 million tokens. Z.ai has priced use of the model at $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens.
    5 sourcesSee all sources
  5. ScienceTrade

    iPhone 17 Tops Global Smartphone Sales in Q2 2026

    The iPhone 17 was the world's best-selling smartphone in the second quarter of 2026, according to Counterpoint Research. It accounted for 6% of global smartphone unit sales, with Apple securing five spots in the top 10. The iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro ranked second and third, respectively. Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra was the top Android phone. The overall smartphone market shrank by 11% due to ongoing shortages and price rises.
    18 sourcesSee all sources
  6. ScienceAstronomy

    Intense Magnetic Storm to Hit Earth for Several Days

    An intense magnetic storm is expected to hit Earth starting this evening, August 27, due to a fast solar wind flow and a cloud of solar plasma moving towards Earth after a series of M-class flares. The first geomagnetic disturbances are expected after 21:00 Moscow time today, with the peak of the storm occurring on Friday and Saturday. The storm is forecasted to last until Sunday, causing disturbances at levels G1-G2, which are not dangerous for equipment but may cause headaches, weakness, or pressure fluctuations in sensitive individuals. It is advised to avoid overstraining and get enough sleep during these days.
    6 sourcesSee all sources