If you’re looking for technology with a fast time to market, you can exclude most vehicles and mobility tech. And if you’re waiting for a ride in a hyperloop? Don’t hold your breath. I’ve been writing about hyperloop tech for nearly ten years. Much of the innovation is happening behind the scenes. It’s partnerships and pathways, rules and regulations, and in the case of tech — it’s most often R&D in stealth mode. Every so often, a company will send over illustrations or videos made in CGI of w
WhatsApp voice notes are useful when you want to send some explanation or rant about a bad date to a friend, and you’re too tired to type all of that. But creating and listening to these notes has been a sucky experience — until now, at least Last night, WhatsApp said that it’s going to roll out a bunch of features over the next few weeks that can turn voice notes into a pleasant experience. There are two things I’m most excited about: out-of-chat playback and remember playback. Here’s how it wo
The financial sector has not been seen as synonymous with any sort of institutional change — in fact, it’s largely been the opposite. Hidden behind heavy bank vaults, the opaque world of finance has remained relatively unchanged for the past couple hundred years, gate kept by a select few at the very top, and largely immune to an increasingly demanding and tech-savvy customer base. But that’s all changing now thanks to a swarm of new fintechs who are armed with the latest in disruptive technolog
I was recently reading comments on a post related to COVID-19, and saw a reply I would classify as misinformation, bordering on conspiracy. I couldn’t help but ask the commenter for evidence. Their response came with some web links and “do your own research”. I then asked about their research methodology, which turned out to be searching for specific terms on Google. As an academic, I was intrigued. Academic research aims to establish the truth of a phenomenon based on evidence, analysis , and p
Apple‘s AirTags are really good at finding misplaced items, but that same ability makes them an alarmingly effective stalking tool in the wrong hands. And while the company has implemented numerous ways of alerting iOS users about nefarious AirTags use, Android users remain at risk unless they download and pro-actively check Apple’s Tracker Detect app (or third-party alternatives). Google might now be working on a native solution to protect against stalking by AirTags and similar tracking device
Not to be melodramatic, today might be one of the most important days in PC gaming history. Intel is launching its first batch of Arc GPUs today, adding a third major competitor to a market that’s been dominated by Nvidia and AMD (or ATI, back in the day) for as long as many gamers and creators can remember. Now the question is just whether Intel’s discrete GPUs are any good. I’ll go ahead and warn you right away that Intel didn’t provide any hard comparisons with its competitors; we’ll have to
As manufacturers introduce new models of electric vehicles, demand for them is growing steadily. New EV sales in the U.S. roughly doubled in 2021 and could double again in 2022, from 600,000 to 1.2 million. Auto industry leaders expect that EVs could account for at least half of all new U.S. car sales by the end of the decade. EVs appeal to different customers in different ways. Many buyers want to help protect the environment; others want to save money on gasoline or try out the latest, coolest
British sports car maker Lotus has finally unveiled its long-awaited second electric vehicle, the Eletre. It’s the company’s first SUV, and while such vehicles don’t usually get called beautiful, this time I’ll call it: the Eletre is a slick-looking machine, which seems like a hell of a package. Feast your eyes: As you can see above, the EV isn’t beautiful in a conventional way. Its design language is rather aggressive with a cab-forward stance, long wheelbase, and short overhangs. Its front a
It takes expensive tools to learn about the universe, but projects like the Very Large Array for radio astronomy in New Mexico and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which orbits Earth, have pushed scientific knowledge forward in ways that would not have been possible without these instruments. Every 10 years, astronomers and astrophysicists outline priorities for the hardware they need in the decadal survey on astronomy and astrophysics. The newest version of the survey was published by the Nationa
In an effort to reduce its reliance on Russian oil, the Berlin government is slashing the cost of public transport for residents. In summer 2022, people living in Berlin can get a monthly public transport ticket for only €9 euros per month — a tenth of its usual price. The ticket will be offered for three months and will be called “9 for 90”. Heavily subsidized tickets are planned to get Berliners using public transport. The move is in response to rising energy and fuel prices caused by the Ukr