The Morning After: 'Cyberpunk 2077' got its first post-launch patch

This week’s news swung between some ridiculous extremes. CD Projekt Red released Cyberpunk 2077 without addressing many of the issues people had with its design choices, marketing, development crunch or performance on older consoles -- and still set records. At least a patch is rolling out now to address a feature that could induce seizures, but that seems like a pretty low place to set the bar.

SpaceX had to scrub a test flight at the last second, then launched it the next day and successfully pulled off a breathtaking Starship maneuver… before seeing the vehicle explode while attempting to land. Oh, and while SpaceX cleaned up wreckage, the supports holding up its next prototype failed, with SN9 showing minor damage while leaning against a wall.

-- Richard Lawler

Boeing's tanker drone completes first flight with refueling pod

The MQ-25 is intended to take over for human-piloted F/A-18 Hornet fighters

Boeing has flown a test version of its MQ-25 tanker drone with a refueling pod attached for the first time, taking it one step closer to topping up military aircraft. The 2.5-hour flight showed that the autonomous drone’s aerodynamics were sound with the wing-mounted pod it’s expected to carry much of the time.
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The Engadget Podcast

AirPods Max, 'Cyberpunk 2077' and the death of cinema

This week, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into Apple’s newest headphones, the AirPods Max, and discuss if they’re actually worth $549. They also chat about the FTC’s antitrust charges against Facebook, and Warner Bros.’ decision to premiere all of their 2021 films on HBO Max. Jessica Conditt also joins to discuss her impressions of Cyberpunk 2077 — was it worth the long wait?

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or Stitcher.
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This week's best deals: $110 AirPods, $278 Sony headphones and more

And a six-month deal for HBO Max.

Even though most of the flagship deals have come and gone now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed, you’re still able to save a lot of money on speakers, robot vacuums, computer accessories and more. What’s more, many of these items are still slated to arrive before Christmas if you don’t delay your holiday shopping much longer.

Here are all the best deals from the week that you can still snag today, and remember to follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for more updates.
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CERN is making the Large Hadron Collider's data more accessible

Some light weekend reading material.

Under an updated policy, data will be released around five years after it's collected and CERN hopes to release the full dataset publicly "by the close of the experiment concerned." Core LHC collaborators ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb all endorsed the move.

CERN will make level 3 data available, which will allow anyone to conduct “high-quality analysis” on information obtained from Large Hadron Collider experiments. Level 3 relates to "calibrated reconstructed data with the level of detail useful for algorithmic, performance and physics studies," according to CERN.
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But wait, there’s more...

Recommended Reading: Behind the wheel of the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport

Apple unveils AirPods Max, its $549 over-ear noise-cancelling headphones

The next Mass Effect game may pick up where 'ME3' left off

Black Mirror's creators made a 'Death to 2020' Netflix special

Pornhub ends unverified uploads and bans downloads

'Dune' director slams AT&T's decision to release films on HBO Max

Surprise, Christopher Nolan hates the Warner Bros. HBO Max strategy

The fastest-selling PC game ever is a 'World of Warcraft' expansion

Anova's Precision smart oven is good at both baking and sous vide

Hyundai confirms its $1.1 billion acquisition of Boston Dynamics

Apple's 2021 Mac CPU roadmap reportedly includes 32-core chips