the digest (Page 170)

Latest in the digest

Apple was just granted three new patents for the Apple Watch, one of which involves taking an uncomfortably-close look at the skin on your wrist.

Robots and Machines

Instead of Fingerprints, Future Apple Watches May Scan Your Wrist

By Dan Robitzski

Using a deepfake imitating the voice of its parent company's CEO, a scammer convinced an energy executive to transfer $243,000 to a third-party account.

Artificial Intelligence

A Scammer Reportedly Used a Deepfake to Steal $243,000

By Dan Robitzski

In a first-person view video uploaded to Twitter by Russia's space agency today, humanoid robot Fedor can be seen manning an electric drill.

Watch Russia’s Gun-Toting Robot Use a Power Drill on the ISS

By Victor Tangermann

Chinese deepfake app Zao replaces famous actors with iPhone users' faces, and though popular, it has quickly raised serious privacy concerns.

Artificial Intelligence

New Deepfake App Lets You “Act” in Popular Movies, TV Shows

By Kristin Houser

The Gateway Foundation wants to build a luxury orbital space hotel based on plans drawn up by NAzi scientist Wernher von Braun in the 1950s.

A Startup Wants to Launch a Space Hotel Named After a Nazi

By Dan Robitzski

Shortly after SpaceX's Starhopper completed its test launch last week, Elon Musk speculated that the next iteration would be twice as wide.

Elon Musk: “Next Gen” Craft Could Be Twice the Size of Starship

By Dan Robitzski

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch took to Twitter to share terrifying photos of Hurricane Dorian that they'd snapped from the ISS.

NASA Astronauts Snap Terrifying Photos of Hurricane Dorian

By Kristin Houser

Several national governments are using country-wide internet shutoffs and censorship to squash internal dissent and censor their critics.

Governments Are Shutting off the Internet to Squash Dissent

By Dan Robitzski

Astronomy experts managed to glean much more from a spy satellite image of an Iranian rocket base tweeted by President Donald Trump last week.

Trump Tweet Accidentally Reveals Secrets About US Spy Satellites

By Victor Tangermann

A ransomware attack left approximately 400 dentist offices hacked and without access to their computer files, and most are still trying to regain it.

Bizarre Ransomware Attack Targets True Villainy of World: American Dentists

By Kristin Houser

PornWikiLeaks, a website responsible for the doxxing and harassment of thousands of porn performers, just got permanently shut down by Bang Bros.

A Porn Company Bought, Promptly Incinerated a Website That Doxxed Performers

By Dan Robitzski

$YouTube Kids is using basic math problems to ensure that young children don't access content that they're not supposed to be watching.$

YouTube’s Plan to Protect Your Kids from Watching ISIS Snuff Films: Math Problems

By Victor Tangermann

In light of an impending "monster storm," the City of Miami requested all e-scooters to be removed from its streets by noon today to avoid a "scooternado."

Miami Requests E-Scooters to be Removed to Avoid “Scooternado”

By Victor Tangermann

An Australian man has uploaded a video of himself hanging from a drone while fishing — and the whole stunt appears to have gone surprisingly well.

See a Man Dangle From Drone to Literally “Fly” Fish

By Kristin Houser

The Pentagon's AI intelligence chief sees deepfake technology as a serious threat to democracy. He called on the government to develop better safeguards.

Artificial Intelligence

Pentagon’s AI Director Calls for Stronger Deepfake Protections

By Dan Robitzski

Google security researchers have uncovered an extensive iPhone hacking effort that may have compromised thousands of users weekly for years.

Google Uncovers Massive, Multi-Year iPhone Hacking Effort

By Kristin Houser

People seem to love knocking over and attacking robots, especially those security robots, which is a totally cool and good thing to do, writes Wired.

Robots and Machines

Wired: It’s Time for War Between Humanity and Machines

By Dan Robitzski

Flying Taxi Takes Off from International Airport for the First Time

Advanced Transport

Flying Taxi Takes Off from International Airport for the First Time

By Victor Tangermann

Tesla had a hell of a time getting its new insurance business in California off the ground mere hours after launch.

Tesla’s New Insurance Business Had 24 Hours of Hell

By Victor Tangermann

Elon Musk believes that we will have a hard time communicating with futuristic AI because it will process information far more rapidly than we do.

Artificial Intelligence

Elon Musk: We Communicate Too Slowly for Future AI to Understand

By Dan Robitzski

Bad weather encounters on highways might become a lot less scary thanks to advancements in self-driving car technology.

Self-Driving Vehicles

Watch a Self-Driving Car Deftly Zoom Through a Heavy Rainstorm

By Victor Tangermann

A massive international study debunked the long-standing myth of a so-called "gay gene." The genetic links to sexual orientation are far more complex.

Huge Study Conclusively Debunks the “Gay Gene” Myth

By Dan Robitzski

MIT's autonomous boats can now shapeshift, starting in one configuration, separating, and then joining up to form a new configuration.

Self-Driving Vehicles

MIT’s Fleet of Autonomous Boats Can Now Shapeshift

By Kristin Houser

Facebook scientists built a minecraft-playing AI assistant that they hope will learn to understand natural language as it performs tasks.

Artificial Intelligence

Facebook Research is Using Minecraft to Train AI. Here’s Why.

By Dan Robitzski

Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak believes his recent interview with Bloomberg was misinterpreted, and he wants to set the record straight.

Steve Wozniak: I Didn’t Mean the Gov’t Should Break up Apple

By Kristin Houser

Tesla has launched a car insurance program in the U.S. that it claims will be able to save drivers up to 30 percent on their rates.

Tesla Just Launched a Car Insurance Program

By Kristin Houser

German startup Sono Motors has revealed a new solar-powered electric car with moss integrated into the vehicle's dashboard that help the car filter air.

Advanced Transport

This Electric Car Uses Moss in the Dashboard to Filter Air

By Victor Tangermann

Former Google manager Jennifer Blakely shared her story of how the company's Chief Legal Officer abandoned and abused her after they had a child.

Google Exec Accused of Fathering, Abandoning Baby With Employee

By Dan Robitzski

NASA finally pieced together the James Webb Space Telescope, connecting the telescope piece with the spacecraft piece. Now it just needs to get it in orbit.

James Webb Space Telescope

NASA Finally Assembled The James Webb Space Telescope

By Dan Robitzski

A BMW covered in Vantablack, a coating that absorbs nearly all light, is about to go on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Advanced Transport

BMW Unveils a Car Coated in Vantablack

By Kristin Houser

In an inexplicable tweet, DARPA called all city dwellers to please find them "commercially managed underground urban tunnels and facilities."

DARPA Needs a Creepy Underground Lair ASAP

By Victor Tangermann

Scientists think they've detected a bizarre black hole that, at 100 times the mass of our sun, is twice the theoretical size limit.

Science & Energy

Spotted: A Black Hole That Shouldn’t Be Physically Possible

By Dan Robitzski

China's central bank is set to launch a state-backed cryptocurrency and hand it out to several major institutions in the country, according to Forbes.

Report: China’s Central Bank is Ready to Launch Cryptocurrency

By Victor Tangermann

Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet with an extremely elliptical orbit that sets it apart from any other known planet.

Science & Energy

Newly Discovered Exoplanet Is “Unlike Any Other”

By Kristin Houser

The U.K. has new surveillance CCTV cameras that can read people's lips, and privacy-focused government watchdogs are not happy about it.

UK Watchdog Is Worried Government Will Deploy Lip-Reading CCTVs

By Dan Robitzski

The Pentagon is considering launching a network of satellites that would be able to identify and track any acts of aggression in outer space.

The Pentagon Wants Sentinel Satellites to Deter Space Warfare

By Dan Robitzski

Over the past six months, hundreds of endangered species, especially the Helmeted Hornbill, have illegally gone up for sale on Facebook.

Science & Energy

Traffickers Are Using Facebook to Sell Endangered Bird Skulls

By Dan Robitzski

KFC sold out of all the plant-based "chicken" available at an Atlanta restaurant on Tuesday, a sign that customers are eager to try faux meats.

KFC Sold All of Its Meatless “Chicken” in Five Hours

By Kristin Houser

NASA just activated its Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC), starting off its year in Earth's orbit after launching in June.

Science & Energy

NASA Officially Activates Its “GPS for Deep Space”

By Victor Tangermann

SpaceX's Starhopper finally launched itself some 150 meters (492 feet) into the air Tuesday evening at the company's Boca Chica test facility in Texas.

SpaceX’s Starhopper Aces Test Flight to Almost 500 Feet

By Victor Tangermann

A self-driving racecar league is in its first competitive season, and the vehicles are already approaching world record times.

Self-Driving Vehicles

Self-Driving Racecars Are Edging Up Toward Human Records

By Dan Robitzski

After Tesla fired Carl Medlock, he began repairing the company's Roadsters on his own, and today, he's well known amongst the Roadster community.

Meet the Guy Tesla Fired, Who Now Fixes Roadsters

By Kristin Houser

Super intelligent cyborgs will soon replace humans as Earth's dominant species, British futurist James Lovelock argues in his new book "Novacene."

Futurist Predicts Cyborgs Will Replace Humans on Earth

By Kristin Houser

By transitioning pets to diets rich in insects, we could help save the environment and alleviate world hunger, experts told the BBC.

Scientists Say You Should Feed Insects to Your Dog or Cat

By Kristin Houser

Internal feedback reveals that Waymo passengers aren't entirely pleased with how the company's self-driving cars are performing.

Self-Driving Vehicles

Test Riders in Waymo’s Self-Driving Cars Won’t Stop Complaining

By Dan Robitzski

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine believes Pluto is a planet — but not because he thinks the scientific definition of planethood is flawed.

Science & Energy

Pluto Is a Planet, Insists NASA Chief Jim Bridenstine

By Kristin Houser

After a failed docking attempt over the weekend, Russia's humanoid robot Fedor is now on board the International Space Station.

Russia Just Sent a Gun-Toting, Spacewalking Robot to the ISS

By Dan Robitzski

Seven book publishers, including Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, have filed a lawsuit against Amazon's audiobook company Audible.

Artificial Intelligence

Several Large Book Publishers Are Suing Amazon

By Victor Tangermann

With not even a single second left before takeoff, SpaceX scrubbed Monday's final test flight of its 20 meters-tall Starship prototype called "Starhopper."

SpaceX Delays Starhopper’s Final Test Flight Once Again

By Victor Tangermann

Fortnite players who downloaded what they thought was software to help them cheat instead got hit by a ransomware attack demanding crypto payments.

Science & Energy

New Ransomware Steals Crypto From Fortnite Players

By Dan Robitzski

The freelance job board Fiverr housed a number of people offering illegal or otherwise unsettling surveillance and spy services.

People Used Fiverr to Spy on Their Spouses

By Dan Robitzski

KFC will begin selling Beyond Fried Chicken made from Beyond Meat's plant-based protein at an Atlanta restaurant to test customer response.

KFC to Begin Selling Meatless Fried “Chicken”

By Kristin Houser

The government of Venezuela is urging people working abroad to send remittances back home through its new cryptocurrency payment platform.

Venezuela Is Seriously Pushing Its State-Run Cryptocurrency

By Dan Robitzski

President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested nuking hurricanes before they can reach the U.S., several anonymous sources told Axios.

Science & Energy

Report: Trump Has Repeatedly Suggested Nuking Hurricanes

By Kristin Houser

A pharmacy call center has deployed AI that coaches human employees how to have more empathy with frustrated customers on the phone.

Artificial Intelligence

In a Strange Twist, This AI Tries to Teach Empathy to Humans

By Dan Robitzski

NASA astronaut Anne McClain's estranged wife has accused her of committing what may be the first example of a "space crime."

NASA Astronaut Accused of First Space Crime

By Kristin Houser

Young children growing up around robots may need reminders that their metallic pals aren't really alive, lest they form unhealthy emotional ties.

Kids Are Becoming Emotionally Attached to Robots

By Dan Robitzski

A team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology invented a glider made out of a special polymer that self-destructs at a certain temperature.

Robots and Machines

This Stealthy Glider Self-Destructs When Exposed to Sunlight

By Victor Tangermann

Fitbit partnered with Singapore to provide free fitness trackers to people in exchange for a monthly fee and access to their health data.

Fitbit Will Provide Free Smartwatches in Singapore

By Dan Robitzski

SpaceX is gearing up for the last flight test of its Starhopper test vehicle of its upcoming Starship spacecraft at its Boca Chica test site in Texas.

SpaceX Starhopper Will Fly for the Last Time Tonight

By Victor Tangermann

Don't fly a drone with a weapon attached to it, stupid, warned the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in a notice released publicly last week.

FAA Reminder: Don’t Fly a Drone With a Weapon Attached to It

By Victor Tangermann

A Canadian company is building a geothermal energy project so benign, its CEO claims you could "literally put it in someone's backyard."

This Geothermal Energy System Could Be Built in a Backyard

By Kristin Houser

Backers for Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency are reportedly considering pulling their support in the face of increased scrutiny and regulation.

Backers for Facebook’s Libra Cryptocurrency May Jump Ship

By Dan Robitzski

A working quantum radar device uses low-energy microwaves to spot objects that remain invisible to conventional radar technology.

Scientists Built a Working “Quantum Radar” Device

By Dan Robitzski