When the pandemic hit and nobody could find toilet paper, many people transitioned to using a bidet. By using a stream of water to clean your backside, you not only save money on toilet paper, but you also help reduce waste as well. Now Kohler has introduced the most premium bidet imaginable. It’s so advanced, it’s not even a bidet; it’s an “Intelligent Toilet.” With a sky-high price of $11,500, you’d expect it to tickle your bum just right each and every time, and also wash the dishes. Although it won’t do the latter, it does earn its title by being loaded with tech you’d never expect to find in a toilet.
(Photo: ActionVance/Unsplash)NASA’s Geostationary Carbon Observatory (GeoCarb) mission would have placed a satellite in geostationary orbit with the sole purpose of tracking Earth’s greenhouse gas emissions. It would have clocked the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane levels no less than 10 million times each day. This information would have helped scientists better understand specific regions’ methane emissions as well as how much carbon the Amazon rainforest captures and stores. Except now it won’t. After a few weeks of paperwork, NASA has officially canceled the GeoCarb mission as it it likely would in late November. The mission, which was first in January 2018, will no longer launch this decade as originally planned.
Google is preparing to bring end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to Gmail accounts accessed via web browser—but not everyone will get to enjoy the new feature. According to an announcement from Friday, only Google Workspace users will experience new E2EE email protections when they’re swapping messages back and forth. Now through Jan. 20, Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers are able to apply for Google’s (Google’s term for E2EE) beta. The beta period will allow Google to touch up the new security feature before the official rollout. (Google didn’t specify when this would be, but it would be surprising if E2EE didn’t make a broader introduction sometime in 2023.
Time is running out for NASA’s InSight lander. On the heels of , the lander’s power reserves have dropped to critical levels. InSight, which has been on Mars since late 2018, beamed home what may be its final image, featuring the arid surface and its own dust-covered instruments. InSight’s impending demise is not a shock — NASA that it expected the lander to go offline in late 2022. At the time, NASA estimated November as the end for InSight, but it’s eked out a few more weeks. The cause of its final shutdown is a problem familiar to Mars missions: power.
(Photo: Erik Mclean/Unsplash)(Image: IGDB)Epic Games, the developer and distributor best known for Fortnite, has found itself in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) bad graces. The consumer protection agency has charged Epic $520M for multiple privacy violations and for “tricking” users into making purchases they didn’t actually want. According to the FTC, Epic violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal data from users under 13 years of age. COPPA requires that software publishers must notify children’s parents of personal data collection and obtain consent for said collection prior to gathering or storing any of it, something Epic allegedly failed to do.
Although keyboards have had the same basic features for decades, recently they’ve experienced a renaissance of sorts thanks to mechanical switches. This has led to a wide variety of different typing experiences and custom designs. Plus, with the underground DIY scene, keyboards are now more customizable than ever before. However, there’s still room for innovation, as evidenced by a new keyboard called the Finalmouse Centerpiece that includes transparent keys and switches. Those are necessary to see the high-resolution display embedded beneath. It’s one of those features that we never knew we needed until we saw it in action. Keyboards have had displays before, of course, but nothing like this.
(Photo: HTC/The Verge)For the past several years Meta hasn’t had to face much competition in the virtual reality (VR) market. Sure, there’s been a few companies with headsets, but none have been able to hit the price-to-performance target like the Meta Quest 2. Valve tried with its Index, but its high price tag made it inaccessible to a lot of people. HTC has offered VR headsets for many years, but none of them have broken through the way the Quest has. HTC says it’s looking to change that in 2023. It has shared an image of an upcoming headset that looks surprisingly thin, which it will be unveiling at CES in early January.
Nerve cells are difficult to heal after disease or trauma, but UCSF’s research might change that. (Credit: PASIEKA/Getty Images)Despite how efficient the cells in our bodies can be, they still need something to hold them all together and form tissues. This job goes to adhesive molecules, or cell surface proteins that define individual bonds and help to form cellular matrices. This vital function ensures our bodily tissues remain strong, our immune systems remain effective, and our nerve cells continue to facilitate communication. Unfortunately, this system comes with its caveats: Adhesive molecules bind cells together how they want to, and in certain systems (like the nervous system), adhesive molecules aren’t enough to reconstruct damaged tissues.
(Photo: Asia Chang/Unsplash)Tokyo has passed regulations that will require most new residential buildings to incorporate solar paneling. The regulations, which constitute Japan’s first-ever solar mandate, will go into effect in 2025. The measure came about as a revision to an existing environmental ordinance, Japan’s Kyodo News. The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, a group of 127 elected officials representing the Tokyo prefecture, voted to pass the requirement on Thursday in an effort to pursue a low-carbon future. Under the new regulations, large construction firms will be required to incorporate solar paneling into new homes with less than 2,000 square meters (21,527 square feet) of interior space.
