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Package delivery scams have been common for years, but a new round of them has cropped-up, these ones pretending to be from the DPD — which is a big European package delivery service.

Here's the first red flag: DPD does not operate in Canada — only in Europe! Packages sent to via DPD to Canadian addresses from Europe are usually delivered here by Canada Post or Purolator.

Here's an iPad screenshot from "Tech Talk" listener Eva of the email, which claims to be from someone named Ray Nayari..

… but if you tap on the sender's name, it turns blue, and if you tap again, you get a pop-down rvealing that the email is actually coming from a hotmail.com account, not from DPD…

Note that the email contains numerous other telltale signs of a package delivery scam:

…but, if you ignore all that and tap or click on the Reschedule Now button, you'll be taken to a 'Verify you're human' screen designed to make you think this is a genuine message…

… then to a well-laid-out webpage complete with a (different) Tracking Number at (poorly-spelled) ReschedYourItemTday.com…

…if you tap or click on Schedule New Delivery, you'll be asked to pick from a choice of dates and times for the delivery to be made, and then to a page asking for your credit card info to pay a $2.99 redelivery fee…

If you fill-in your credit card info, within minutes, overseas scammers will be using that card info to buy giftcards online, and to make other online purchases of items which they can easily resell, untill your credit card company cancels the card.

NEVER tap or click on emaisl or texts about package delivery problems — they're all scams!

"Tech Talk" listeners Norma and Brian in Saanich had this happen to them this week, called the number, thought they were talking with a security specialist at Microsoft, installed UltraViewer which let the scammers in India gain remote access to their computer, and they started transferring money out of their credit union account. They eventually figured-out it was a scam. and stressed fo the max, went to Coast Capital, which reversed the transfers, and helped them change their passwords. I removed the remote access software and apps that had been installed.

Here are two screenshots of what these scams might look like on a Windows PC…

Here's a screenshot of what one of these scams could look like on a Mac…

And here's a screenshot of what one of these scams might look like on an iPad…

If this appears on the screen, it got there because you clicked on a button or link which took you to what's called a Browser Hijack — a website which has been crafted just to try to trick you.

Your device is NOT infected. It's just a scam.

If you call the number, it'll connect you to a call-centre (often in India) where a scammer will pose as someone from Apple or Microsoft or Samsung or Google, and will offer to fix the problem, either for a hefty fee — they'll want your credit card info — or they'll try to pursuade you to give them banking info.

NEVER call the number, and NEVER click on the button or link. Just restart your phone, tablet, or computer and it should go away.

If you know someone who you think might fall for one of these scams, you can print out a warning sheet which I've created, and give it to them to post on the wall near their computer.

Here's a Windows version…

…and here's a Mac version…

Police across Canada are warning of a sophisticated phone scam that leaves you on the hook for a very real bill while scammers make off with a new device.

It begins when you get an unsolicited call from someone claiming to represent one of the big garriers — Rogers, Telus, or Bell. Often, these calls are spoofed, which makes the call appear legitimate, as it might say the carrier’s name in the caller ID.

The callers then offer you a promotion, such as a heavily discounted new phone and a great rate plan, and arrange for it to be delivered to your home. They'll trigger a genuine security code from your carrier to confirm it's you, and if you give them that code, they'll place the order on your behalf. Once the device is delivered, the fraudsters call back and convince you to return the phone, saying its the wrong model, or there’s a problem with the phone itself. Crucially, the fraudsters get you to return the device to an address they control.

That leaves you without the device and with hefty new charges on your account, and your carrier will not waive those charges, because you authorized the purchase.

Carriers are trying to combat this scam by placing bold notices in the box warning you not to return the phone to a different address from the one on the notice, but scammers get around that by offering to send someone to your home to collect the phone so you don't have to send it back!

If you get one of these calls, and the offer sounds tempting, ask the caller to email you the details along with a call-back number. You'll usually get a generic email from a Gmail address. Contact your carrier and ask them if the offer is genuine. It almost always is a scam.

Feel free to bookmark that page, as we'll keep updating it with screenshots of the latest scams!

You're invited to join Kyle, John, and me this Sunday at Freedom Mobile's Hillside Centre store when they open an hour early at 10am, for a back-to-school "Tech Talk" meet-&-greet!

I had a great time at our last one on July 12, but it was really busy, so manager Darren has invited us back for another one, coinciding with back-to-school specials.

We won't be getting paid anything to be there; we're just doing it so we can meet you and save you some extra money, such as this Meet-&-Greet special:

The details: pay $0/month for the iPhone (retail price: $899) for 24 months, and $50/month for the (usually $60/month) plan for 18 months, then $60/month for the last six months. At the end of the two years, either give back the iPhone, or pay $275 and keep it. That's a phone + plan saving of $864!

In addition to the back-to-school rate specials shown below, if you switch to Freedom Mobile between 10am and Noon at the Hillside Centre store only, you'll get an additional $10/month off your bill for 18 months, if you get either what were the $50/month plan or the $60/month plan…

All of Freedom's plans include Canada/USA/Mexico calling and roaming, plus "Roam Beyond" coverage that lets you use your phone in more than 120 countries at no extra cost.

Hwre are the other Meet-&-Greet phone specials, which again, are only available this Sunday, August 30, at the Freedom Mobile store in Hillside Centre…

Apple:

Android:

You can also get special deals at Freedom's pop-up locations at the PNE in Vancouver for new customers only; thanks to "Tech Talk" listener Raj for giving-up the heads-up on this…

Now that Samsung's Galaxy Watch 9 has been released, stores are discounting the Galaxy Watch 8 which was released last year, and Best Buy is clearing its stock out at $400. That's $150 off the regular price, and $160 off the price of a Watch 9.

The Watch 9 was only a modest upgrade off the Watch 8, with a faster chip and a bigger battery and a couple new health features, so the Watch 8 is an excellent Android-based smartwatch.

Lenovo's 8.7" Tab One is a very good budget tablet for reading, YouTube, travel, and casual apps — but not for heavy multitasking, demanding games, or crisp high‑resolution visuals, and it's on sale from now through Labour Day weekend for just $120 — a $50 saving — at Best Buy.

It has 64GB of storage, so you can't download a lot of apps or videos, and runs on Android 14 but we'd recommend you install a free upgrade to Android 15. It's powered by an entry-level MediaTek Helio G85 chip with just 4GB RAM, so you should really only have one app running at a time or it'll struggle. It also has only basic cameras — 8MP rear / 2MP front — so it'd be okay for video calls, but not for photography of any quality.

This charger has it all: 10,000mAh power, a fold-out AC plug for recharging it, built-in cables for charging both USB-C and Lightning devices, and a digital readout…

Items start at #10, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more security items above!

Halfway through a landmark class-action lawsuit trial in the USA, Meta Platforms this week agreed to make major changes — including implementing time-limits — and pay up to $18 billion USD, to resolve claims brought by 20 states that Meta designed Instagram and Facebook to get kids addicted to them, misled consumers about their ‌safety, and improperly collected the personal data of children who used its platforms.

The measures which form a key part of the watershed settlement include these changes for users under 16:

However, Meta says these changes are USA-specific — at least for now.

“We’ll continue to monitor how these changes are working in the USA and engage in productive dialogue with other governments to support age-appropriate experiences on our platforms, and across the many apps teens use,” read the statement.

The settlement will see Meta pay $18 billion USD to US states and territories over the next 10 years, which represents 3-4 months of profit for the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company.

The full value of Meta’s payout depends on whether other social media companies also settle with the states and agree to financial penalties and product changes. Meta will initially pay about $12 billion. and has agreed to pay an additional $5 billion if Snap, TikTok, and YouTube also settle with the US states and agree to financial penalties and product changes.

The agreement between Meta and the states also imposes tougher penalties and higher costs if other social media companies reach similar agreements. For example, if YouTube and TikTok also settle litigation previously brought by the states, Meta would reduce its daily time limits on Instagram and Facebook to one hour from two.

The aim is to pressure the other social media companies into agreeing to the same rules, creating an industry standard that doesn’t overly penalize or single out Meta.

Meta Platforms still faces numerous other lawsuits from school districts and individuals, some of which are scheduled for trial in the coming months, but the settlement could signal an inflection point for a social media industry that has largely escaped regulatory scrutiny over the harms its products have caused children.

Can you tell when someone nearby is wearing AI-powered smart glasses?

As millions of people buy into the smart glasses fad each year, the odds are increasing that you could be secretly recorded while simply going about your day.

Meta is not the only smart glasses maker, but its AI glasses are by far the most popular. And as the devices become more common, some public places, including schools, courts, restaurants, and entertainment venues, have begun to ban them.

Released in early August, thousands of users have downloaded the Zuckoff iPhone app, with some eagerly submitting feedback that has helped improve key functionality, including the ability to detect AI glasses and receive alerts when the app is closed. Perpetual scanning is an optional upgrade (Zuckoff Pro) that costs $13 CAD a year after a one-week free trial. Szydlowski says that subscription helps cover the costs of “continuous support” for the app.

Zuckoff collects no data and was created partly in response to the toxic Meta glasses content that is flooding social media. Szydlowski told Ars that he built the app in one week after finishing another project that scans for nearby Bluetooth devices and deciding, “Let’s see how far we can go with detecting those glasses. Here are some screenshots of the app in use…

Two answers: if you just want to know how Canadian a product is, we recommend the Buy Beaver app. But, if you want to know the ingredients in a product, and how good or bad they are for you, try the free Yuka app…

The Buy Beaver app by Chris Dip and Alexandre Hamila is available free on Apple's App Store and ion the Google Play Store for Android devices.

The first one is a box of Cheez-It Crunch white cheddar baked snack crackers, which got a horrible score of just 3/100…

The second one is a tub of BC-made "Spread'Em" cashew-based non-dairy garlic and chive dip, which got a score of 57/100…

In order to use the Yuka app, you have to create a free account, but no personal info is captured by the app developers. They simply want to know what products are being scanned that are not in their database, so they know which ones to prioritize adding.

The 782 categories of goods from the USA on which Canada will impose 50% counter-tariffs on September 8 include smartphones, TVs, electronics, and gaming consoles and gaming accessories.

While that sounds ominous, it actually isn't!

That's because these "country of origin" counter-tariffs will only apply to those items which are made in the USA and coming into Canada, and there are virtually no phones, TVs, or gaming consoles made in the USA, and not a lot of consumer electronics.

Where the counter-tariffs will hurt us in the pocketbook is on cosmetics and appliances, as the majority of those sold in Canada are made in the USA, and will be hit by 25% to 50% tariffs.

Some brands, sensing that this isn't going to be resolved quickly, may switch Canada to distribution from overseas to avoid the tariffs. The tariffs will actually help Canadian brands like Danby fridges, which will get a lot more customers here as we buy Canadian, and as American brands jump in price.

Below is the full list of products which will be hit by counter-tariffs; as you look through it, remember that the tariffs will only apply to American-made goods, and not goods made overseas and imported into Canada via the USA…

Samsung has packed a lot of useful new features into its new lowest-cost flagship phone, the Galaxy S26 FE, and at a starting price of $999 CAD, that's a price hike of just $75 over the S25 FE which it succeeds.

Samsung keeps the price of its FE (Fan Edition) models down by using less-costly components, but the S26FE comes with Samsung's new One UI 9 operating system, and runs on an Exynos 2000-series processor, which together allow the phone to run some great new features previously only found on the more-pricey S26 models…

Despite all of these features and Samsung’s promise of seven years of software and security updates, the S26 FE is noticeably more expensive than similar phones like the $680 Google Pixel 10A and Apple’s $900 iPhone 17e.

The S26 FE will come in three colours: Pistachio (green), Blueberry (blue) and Graphite (dark gray), when it becomes available for $999 for the 128GB model on September 3, with pre-orders now available. A 256GB model will cost $200 more.

While it might not “go bad” in the same way food spoils, the chemical coatings and base materials in photo paper degrade over time, leading to diminished print quality, color shifts, and potential printing problems. If stored properly, most quality photo papers will last for several years before you'll notice a quality difference.

If you tend to buy whoto paper in quantity when it's on sale, if there's no expiry date on the package, we recommend you write the purchase date on the package with a felt pen.

Understanding Photo Paper Expiration: The Science Behind Degradation

Photo paper, far from being a simple sheet of paper, is a complex layered product. Its expiration hinges on the stability of these layers and their interaction with the environment. Understanding the science can help you manage your photo paper and ensure optimal results.

Modern photo paper typically consists of several key layers:

The primary culprits behind photo paper degradation are light, humidity, and heat. UV light can cause fading or discoloration of the receiver layer. Humidity can lead to the paper absorbing moisture, causing warping, sticking, and affecting the consistency of the coatings. Heat accelerates chemical reactions, hastening the degradation process. Even ozone, present in the air, can affect certain types of photo paper.

The expiration date printed on photo paper packaging is a manufacturer’s estimate of when the paper will likely begin to exhibit noticeable performance degradation under typical storage conditions. It’s important to remember that this is a guideline; if the paper has been improperly stored, its usable lifespan may be significantly shorter. Conversely, exceptionally careful storage might extend its usability beyond the expiration date.

Most people don't know this, but unlike smartphones and tablets, if you break the screen on a smartwatch, in many cases, you'll have to replace the whole watch…

To avoid that, John recommends you do as he's done (after smashing his, as shown in the photo), and buy a rubberized case, which you can get for $25-$50…

I checked, and London Drugs has a clear case for Apple Watch Ultra 49mm models by Spigen on sale for $25, regularly $55…

Ricky Winter says they also sell screen protectors for Apple Watches.

Best Buy, Staples, and Amazon also sell watch cases and screen protectors; if buying online, make sure you get a case or screen protector that will fit your precise model and size!

Tech Talk listener Gordon says he has this stainless steel case on his series 11 and had one for my series 2 and it has saved his watch many times…

Apple has announced its first fall product unveiling event for 10am Pacific time on Wednesday, September 9, under the tagline "Surprise and shine".

Apple is expected to announce three new iPhones:

This year, a standard iPhone model isn’t expected to be part of Apple’s fall lineup. Apple is reportedly splitting its annual iPhone launch, with iPhone 18, iPhone 18e, and iPhone Air 2 following in spring 2027.

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are expected to retain the same general designs and display sizes as their predecessors. Instead, this year’s upgrades will focus on new display, camera, and connectivity technology.

Rumours point to four main upgrades: once again, a faster processor, plus a variable-aperture Main camera, a smaller Dynamic Island, and Apple’s C2 cellular modem.

Apple may offer the new Pro phones in four colors: dark cherry, black, silver, and light blue.

The big question is price: the skyrocketing cost of processors, memory, and RAM fuelled by AI data-centre demands has some analysts thinking prices could be $300 or $400 higher than current models, but more recently, other analysts are thinking Apple may absorb some of the higher costs to avoid a big drop in sales. Google's Pixel 11 phones which were released earlier this month, came with price hikes of $100 to $150, which is less than what analysts say would have been necessary in order for Google to maintain the same profit margin, and Apple may do the same.

Apple has unveiled some big upgrades coming to its Mac mini computers, including new chip options and the debut of the company’s blazing-fast M6 processor, and the M5 prices are the same as the models they replace, while the M6's start at just $150 more.

The 2nm M6 chip boasts the first 12-core CPU in an Apple M-series chip, comprised of two super cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores. The chip sports a Dual 16-core Neural Engine boasting up to 2x peak compute over the previous gen for AI workloads. Moreover, both engines can be used simultaneously.

On the GPU side, M6 also boasts two more cores than the M5 chip at 12 total. Further, each core sports a Neural Accelerator. The design delivers a nearly 30 per cent increase in peak GPU compute for AI compared to the M5. The changes significantly boost on-device processing for large language models (LLMs).

Apple is also highlighting other updates that enable the M6 to offer faster rendering and higher frame rates, making it better for gaming as well. On the memory side, the M6 chip supports up to 32GB of unified memory with up to 170GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Other upgrades to the Mac mini include support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and a 2.5Gb Ethernet port (with 10Gb options available). The M5 Pro variant of Mac mini also sports three Thunderbolt 5 ports, allowing users to cluster multiple Mac minis together to run large AI models locally.

Here’s the Canadian pricing:

Those M5 prices are the same as curent models (which went up in price in June), but the new M6 version starts at a $150 higher price than the current $1,099 Mac mini with M4.

The Mac mini is now available to pre-order, and will ship on September 22.

Apple Watch’s Workout app is better for accuracy, reliability, and real‑time training, while Strava is better for community, competition, and post‑workout analysis. Most fitness-oriented people end up using both: they record with Apple Workout and sync to Strava for social features.

John says he loves Strava, and while he says the free version is great, he personally feels the $100/year Premium subscription is worth it for the analytics and motivation he gets out of it.

Here are screenshots off the Strava app on John's iPhone from some of his recent bike-rides…

…and here are screenshots of the Apple Fitness Workout app from his iPhone showing his bike ride to work, tracking his performance and comparing it to his previous best ride to work…

An Apple Watch Workout subscription in Canada is $13/month or $100/year with a three-month free trial if you buy an Apple Watch

A Strava Premium subscription in Canada is $15/month or $100/year

If you have the Strava app on your phone, check-out John's progress by pointing your phone's camera at this QR code and tapping on the link that'll appear…

If you hike and want to know where you are (and how far you've gone), we recommend the free AllTrails app. Here's why…

If cell service is not great where you live or work, you can now easily see which carrier has towers where, so you'll know if switching carriers would improve things…

You can download the free TowerLocator Canada app, or you can go to Steven Nikkel's website…

While this map and app by Steven are excellent resources, because it's a volunteer project for him, the map is not always completely up-to-date. The current version for Victoria, for example, was last updated August 4, 2026.

If you zoom in and look at one of the largest areas of Victoria with poor coverage — the Broadmead area in Saanich — you'll see that there's now a Freedom (Vidéotron) tower on Falaise Drive and another on the Pat Bay Highway just north of Claremont, and a Telus tower on Claremont near Wesley. I'm told the carriers are working to find a suitable location for a tower they can share on the east side of Broadmead, to finally cover that area.

Many people who have an iPhone and/or iPad don't realize that they can turn the keyboard into a mini-trackpad just by holding down the spacebar, which lets you easily move the cursor up, down, left and right, to just where you want.

You're welcome.

But wait, there's more!

"Sean On Tech" (see Video #41 below) has discovered that if you hold-down the shift button and then also hold down the spacebar, you can easily select and de-select text by moving your spacebar finger left and right.

And, while you're in that Shift mode, if you tap on the now-blank keyboard, Sean says you can then highlight text in both directions!

Canadian (soccer) fans rejoice: the English Premier League is back and has just played through its first weekend of the regular season. The 2026-2027 Premier League season started on August 21, with the final games set to be played on May 30, 2027. The season will consist of 33 weekends and five midweek match rounds and is designed to avoid clashes with domestic and UEFA club competition dates.

In Canada, Fubo is the exclusive home for Premier League matches. Alongside that, if you want to catch matches from other top leagues around the globe (Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Concacaf, Canadian Premier League), you can do so directly through the service.

Fubo is available as a TV app, or as a smartphone or tablet app, and you can also watch on theiir website. You do have to get a subscription, and there are some tiers involved and you have to pick the correct one.

To access the Premier League and Serie A, you need to subscribe to the service’s mid-tier “Sports Monthly” package, which also gives you access to 71 channels (compared to 51).

It costs $41.49/month CAD, but you can get the first three months for $45 if you sign up for an annual subscription.

This is a bit of an unusual tip, but two banks have confirmed the advice, after two separate "Tech Talk" listeners queried emails from Air Canada and Westjet directing them to turn-off auto-deposit in order to get their compensation!

We recommend you have auto-deposit turned on for Interac deposits sent to your bank accounts, as that way, the money can't be intercepted by hackers.

However, if you have money coming to you from a Canadian airline which is compensating you for a cancelled or delayed flight, you need to temporarily disable your auto-deposit, or you won't get the money.

This is especially true if the compensation is for a flight to or from Europe, as the EU requires airlines to compensate you within days of a flight being cancelled or delayed.

Here's a screenshot of one of the emails from Air Canada, with personal info removed…

Unlike a refunded fare if you cancel a booking, which would be credited back to the credit card you used to make the booking, airlines here in Canada sometimes pay compensation for cancelled or delayed flights by Interac eTransfer, and the system they use sends you the eTransfer along with a security question and answer, the same way as is done with an Interac eTransfer if you don't have auto-deposit.

The catch is, the system which Canadian airlines use, makes the security question and answer mandatory, where person-to-person Interac transfers skip the question and answer if you have auto-deposit turned-on.

ETIAS stands for the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, and the EU has created it to identify any risks associated with visa waiver-exempt visitors — including Canadians —travelling to Europe.

ETIAS waivers were supposed to be required starting last year, but that start date has twice been postponed, and now, the EU has postponed the rollout indefinitely, because they're still sorting-out sometimes huge delays with the EES (Exit/Entry System) which took effect in April.

An ETIAS Visa Waiver was supposed to cost €7 — which is about $10 CAD — but now the EU has decided to hike the fee, whenever it begins, to €20 — which is about $32 CAD.

Canadians under the age of 18 or 70 years of age and older will not have to pay for an ETIAS Visa Waiver, but will still need to get one before travelling to Europe.

The start-up of the program has now been put on 'hold' to give EU countries time to get the bugs worked out in the new EU EES system. When it eventually kicks-in, there'll be a six-month transition period during which an ETIAS Waiver will not be mandatory, but will be strongly encouraged, with express clearance lines for those who have one.

There are now more than 40 of them, and they're in a separate Travel Tech Tips notes, which you can find on our Home Page, or on the toolbar at the top of any of our Notes.

A class-action lawsuit in the USA should answer this thorny question, and the answer may have implications here in Canada.

When the Trump administration imposed tariffs on tech gear made overseas (as part of sweeping tariffs on many nations including Canada), Logitech raised prices on more than half its products by an average of 25%.

When the US Supreme Court ruled that those tarrifs were illegal and ordered refunds, Logitech was successful in getting-back all $61 million USD it paid in tariffs.

But prices remained the same, and that has led to a class-action lawsuit from people who claim Logitech should have lowered prices and refunded customers the price difference.

Logitech joins a handful of other consumer tech companies, including Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, which customers are suing over tariff refunds. Some customers feel entitled to being refunded as these companies were, although mass refunds like this could present financial and logistical challenges.

For its part, Nintendo has argued that customers “received exactly what they paid for” and that there is not “anything ‘unjust’ about Nintendo retaining money that it may receive from the government as tariff refunds”.

While this is happening in the USA, numerous Canadian firms also raised prices to offset traiffs and many have since obtained refunds from the US government. However, none other than Costco have pledged to find a way to compensate customers, and no class-action lawsuits to compel this appear to have been filed here in Canada.

The GTA6 game's preview on Netflix and Twitch caused significant disruptions this week, with both platforms experiencing crashes and bandwidth issues.

The 27-minute gameplay preview, which was exclusive to Netflix for six hours, led to a surge in traffic, and that briefly crashed Netflix. When Twitch got the preview video, so many gamers went to watch it, that platform briefly crashed, too.

Despite the technical difficulties, the game's potential for high sales and player engagement was evident, with analysts predicting a launch week sales of $4.5 billion USD, with more than $1 billion in pre-orders already received!

The preview's success was a testament to the game's popularity and the gaming community's anticipation for its release on November 19.

The exclusive availability of the preview trailer pushed Netflix's Apple App Store ranking on the 'free apps' chart on Thursday from #96 to #35, and it was #36 on Friday. 40% more people downloaded the Netflix app on Thursday and Friday than on any average day. Next weekend we'll have more details on Netflix usage and pre-orders.

The availability of the trailer (together with impending price hikes) has also led to a sales rush for gaming consoles, with many showing as being sold out at most retail and online stores.

The "Our Favourite Apps" list — which will have a lot more added in the coming weeks — is on our home page, and you can also get to it by going to Tech-Talk.ca/apps.

The mythical Loch Ness Monster now has a little sister — a tiny aquatic animal that lived in the Triassic Period around 220 million years ago. Discovered from fossils from Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, the new species represents a new taxon of tanystropheid, a type of real ancient reptile — sorry Nessie — that’s recognized by its long neck.

Akidostropheus Oligos was an aquatic mammal (NOT a dinosaur, despite what you might have read online) with a neck longer than both its body and tail combined. It swam and lived in the warm, swampy ponds and small rivers of northern Arizona during the Triassic period.

Akidostropheus Oligos means “tiny, spiked back bone,” because a single neck bone is less than 7mm, smaller than the average pinky fingernail, and has a unique spike on top.

Paleontologists from Petrified Forest National Park partnered with the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to confirm that it's an entirely new species.

The tiny new fossils were found near a site at Petrified Forest known as “Thunderstorm Ridge” and were found by collecting large amounts of rock from the site, rinsing that rock with water through fine metal screens, and looking at it under a microscope to find the tiny fossils.

The fossils are so small that the species' name refers to the small size of the remains.

Check out our new YouTube Favourites playlist #2:

YouTube.com/playlist?list=PLOKnlVLuXE5URgg0ou8uGg4CnHXcou1UA

Our original Favourites playlist maxxed-out at 5000 videos; it's here…

YouTube.com/playlist?list=FLPPpa_PY8rxt-z1RoYZ7QJ

Videos start at #40, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more tech news items above!

40) Watch Samsung showcase the new features on the Galaxy S26 FE…

41) Watch "Sean On Tech" show how to access spme very-useful hidden keyboard commands on an iPhone or iPad…

42) Watch magician David Blaine amaze Harrison Ford, Will Smith, and other celebrities with his incredible up-close illusions…

43) Watch Marques (MKBHD) Brownlee review a raft of unusual new tech products that companies sent to him to try out…

44a) Watch Nanaimo's Tod Maffin go over some of the more unique US-made items which will be hit by Canadian counter-tariffs starting Sep. 8…

44b) …and watch Tod explain how history shows that the USA has never won a trade wars with Canada…

45a) Watch a compilation of the many funny moments so far from the 2026 World Humanoid Games that are being held in Beijing…

44b) …you can also watch the full Opening Ceremonies showcasing just how far humanoid robots have come…

45) Watch (and listen to) the impressive full 9-minute DJI Osmo Action 6 action-camera video of a LandSpace rocket launch, reentr,y and landing…

46) Watch ABC's David Muir look back at the amazing life of country music legend Dolly Parton, who died this week at the age of 80…

47) Watch NBC's Chloe Melas look back at the career of "Rocky Horror Picture Show"actor Tim Curry, who also died this week at the age of 80…

48) Watch Gil O'Teane show a new way to memorize the names of the Great Lakes…