Many of the cars on the road today have rudimentary self-driving capabilities, but pushes the autonomous envelope with Autopilot and the . It was one of the first to take self-driving features seriously, outfitting its vehicles with a raft of sensors to make it happen. After removing the radar modules, Tesla now seems poised to bring them back. Is this a sign that its camera-only approach isn’t working out? For a car to drive itself, regardless of whether it’s an EV, it needs as much data about its environment as possible. For companies like Waymo and Uber, that means a full lidar rig bolted to the roof.
(Photo: Brittany Colette/Unsplash)Maybe you anticipate more coughs and sneezes around the office during the winter. Maybe your mom once insisted you bundle up in socks and a beanie (even indoors!), and now it’s a habit. Perhaps you’re afraid to open your windows when it’s chilly outside for fear of catching a cold. But why? What causes respiratory viruses to be so common during the cold months, but seemingly nonexistent when it’s warmer? Apparently, there’s truth to the idea that we’re more susceptible to illness during the winter—but not because viruses themselves thrive in the cold. A group of medical researchers from Harvard Medical School, Northeastern University, and Cairo University has found that our immune systems are weakened by chilly temperatures.
(Credit: Ivo Andričić/pixabay) After decades of space exploration, humanity’s reach has still only barely extended beyond the bounds of the solar system. With current technology, it would take thousands of years just to reach the nearest star. A recent study proposes a new method of interstellar travel based on the way seabirds pick up speed as they glide between air currents. The team claims this approach to surfing the solar wind could accelerate a spacecraft to high speeds in a short time while using almost no fuel. (Credit: JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons) The concept is, on its face, similar to a traditional solar sail.
Google launched the in October and pushed a small security patch with some bug fixes in November. Now, the latest Google phones are getting their first major Feature Drop update with enhanced call quality, a free VPN, and more. It’s a big patch, but you can download and install it on your phone right now. The new update, which goes by the catchy name “Android 13 Quarterly Platform Release 1 (QPR1),” is an omnibus update with a ton of bug fixes, security patches, and a few new features. Google has posted a massive list of Pixel-specific bug fixes that you can peruse, and there are details on the security flaws in the monthly Android security bulletin.
(Photo: Philip Shoots/Unsplash)Alienware appears to be reviving its memorable 18-inch gaming laptop. In a video shared via the Dell subsidiary’s Twitter account Monday, Alienware—true to its brand—teases a product by depicting its UFO-like arrival to Earth. The only hint as to what the product could be? The number 18, stamped into a field of grass. Aside from this, Alienware’s teaser certainly leaves a lot to the imagination. “When something this big and powerful arrives, it leaves a mark,” the 15-second (missed opportunity!) clip says. In the original tweet’s replies, Alienware doubles down on the whole 18 thing, responding to fans’ speculation with “must be someth1n8 cool.
(Photo: Wil Stewart/Unsplash)A group of scientists who recently completed an expedition through South Africa’s Rising Star cave system has made a bold announcement: Homo naledi, an early human species with a brain one-third the size of ours today, might have used fire to cook and see in the dark. Expedition lead and University of the Witwatersrand professor Lee Berger his team’s discovery at a Carnegie Science talk last week. Berger claims he and a fellow archaeologist were exploring Rising Star, a secluded underground labyrinth, earlier this year when he noticed the “roof” of a cave was charred. Some rocks seemed to be covered in soot.
(Photo: Lucas Santos/Unsplash)Microsoft’s indeterminate acquisition of Activision Blizzard has sparked quite a bit of tension between the tech giant and its competitors. Most notably, Sony has voiced its concerns regarding Microsoft’s impending ability to snatch major Activision franchises away from PlayStation, which could in turn result in major hardware losses for Sony. Google, Apple, and other major players have even been invited to comment on the acquisition as antitrust watchdogs around the world review the deal. But there’s one company we haven’t heard much from: Nintendo. Now, after a long stint on the sidelines, Nintendo is having its moment.
(Photo: Tim Cook)As if TSMC’s massive new Arizona fab wasn’t (literally) groundbreaking enough, Apple CEO Tim Cook has added to the excitement. At a factory event on Tuesday, Cook announced that Apple would begin using chips made in the desert state. Cook joined President Joe Biden onsite this week to celebrate its forthcoming contribution to US chip manufacturing. In an announcement first by CNBC, Cook shared that Apple would be shifting away from imported chips in favor of Arizona-made chips once the factory was in production. “Now, thanks to the hard work of so many people, these chips can be proudly stamped ‘Made in America,’” Cook said.
NASA designed the Ingenuity helicopter to be a mere technology demonstration, riding along with the Perseverance rover when it headed off to Mars in 2020. It was not even expected to survive its first winter, but today, the drone has completed 35 flights on the red planet and reached its highest altitude yet. Mars has an atmosphere, but it’s less than one percent as dense as Earth’s and composed mostly of carbon dioxide. However, it’s possible to fly on Mars with the right design considerations. Ingenuity has a mass of 1.8 kilograms — that means it weighs 4 pounds on Earth but just 1.5 pounds on Mars.
