The newest update introduces the first beam weapon to the game - a Suspendium Ray, firing charged particles. It's accurate, flexible, and fairly powerful, but also bulky.
There's also a new set of AI ship designs that specialize in those ray guns.
For modders, this means you can finally make beam-type weapons, including various options for beam dynamics, custom beam textures, and so on. As always, feel free to ask me for details on how to set this up.
Work on the big diplomacy/conquest/multiplayer update is ongoing.