the digest (Page 21)

Latest in the digest

An amateur Austrian space photographer has managed a difficult feat — capturing imagery of China's secretive Shenlong spaceplane.

Amateur Spacewatcher Uses Telescope to Spot Secret Chinese Spaceplane in Orbit

By Noor Al-Sibai

A new study found that we could use metals found on Mars to create particles that would trap heat once released into the planet's atmosphere.

Scientists Propose Low Cost Plan for Terraforming Mars

By Frank Landymore

China has deployed its first batch of satellites as it seeks to rival SpaceX's Starlink communications megaconstellation.

China Launches First Portion of Satellite Megaconstellation

By Noor Al-Sibai

According to internal data obtained by The Verge, far more customers returned their Humane AI Pins than those who bought it.

Artificial Intelligence

More People Are Returning That Horrid “AI Pin” Than Are Buying It

By Victor Tangermann

MIT economist and AI skeptic Daron Acemoglu argued that generative AI isn't intelligent enough to impact jobs.

Artificial Intelligence

MIT Economist Blasts AI Hype, Says It’s Too Dumb to Really Impact Jobs

By Victor Tangermann

An isolated tribe in the Amazon rainforest used bows and arrows to head off loggers who were likely encroaching on their land.

Science & Energy

Isolated Amazonian Tribe Attacks Encroaching Loggers With Bows and Arrows

By Noor Al-Sibai

Meta's AI chatbot kept giving strangers a man's phone number, and it remains unclear how or why it happened.

Man Puzzled When Meta’s AI Keeps Giving Out His Phone Number to Strangers

By Noor Al-Sibai

Rossmann, one of the largest drugstore chains in Europe, explicitly blamed Elon Musk, calling out his endorsement of Donald Trump.

Large Company Says It Won’t Purchase Any More Teslas Due to Elon Musk’s Erratic Behavior

By Frank Landymore

Robert Zubrin, president and founder of Mars Society, thinks NASA should skip its Moon missions and use Starship to go to Mars — now.

Mars Society President Calls for Starship Mission to Red Planet

By Frank Landymore

One way to improve your Cybertruck? Add a pair of googly eyes, and watch the world finally embrace your choice in vehicle.

Advanced Transport

The Cybertruck Is Much Improved by Adding Googly Eyes

By Maggie Harrison Dupré

Google is allowing paid-for promoted links to AI apps that expressly help users make nonconsensual deepfake nudes, 404 Media reports.

Google Caught Taking Money to Promote AI Apps That Create Nonconsensual Nudes

By Maggie Harrison Dupré

Uber-popular YouTuber Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson is facing allegations surrounding his forthcoming reality game show, "Beast Games."

Allegations Keep Piling Up Against MrBeast

By Noor Al-Sibai

Andrew Odlyzko, an expert in financial bubbles, compares the AI industry's downturn to the telegraph and electricity booms of the past.

Artificial Intelligence

Expert on Financial Bubbles Weighs in on AI Industry

By Frank Landymore

NASA's plans to return two astronauts on board a SpaceX spacecraft instead of the leaking Starliner has enraged Boeing officials.

Boeing Not Happy With NASA Plan to Return Stranded Astronauts on SpaceX Craft

By Victor Tangermann

NASA is officially pushing back the upcoming launch of SpaceX's Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.

NASA Pushes Back Next SpaceX Astronaut Launch as Boeing Crisis Deepens

By Victor Tangermann

Elon Musk's transgender daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson is once more pushing back against her father's claims.

Elon Musk’s Trans Daughter Just Cooked Him Again

By Frank Landymore

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is probing a Tesla Cybertruck fire that left the driver burned beyond recognition.

Advanced Transport

Feds Investigating Cybertruck That Caught Fire, Burning Driver Beyond Recognition

By Sharon Adarlo

Michal Kosinski, Stanford psychologist, claims that AI programs can detect people's IQ, sexual orientation, and politics by scanning faces.

Artificial Intelligence

Scientist Claims His AI Can Tell Disturbing Things About You Just by Looking at Your Face

By Sharon Adarlo

European scientists are warning in a new study that key places important to keeping global climate stable are in danger of collapsing.

Major Earth Systems on Track for Collapse, Scientists Find

By Sharon Adarlo

The voice mode that comes with OpenAI's latest ChatGPT model seems to have some trouble counting and, er, breathing.

ChatGPT Voice Mode Is Having Serious Trouble Counting to 100

By Noor Al-Sibai

If the trillion-dollar AI industry in the throes of a gold rush crashes in the face of slight unpredictability, how much is it really worth?

Artificial Intelligence

The AI Bubble Is Bursting, Experts Say

By Maggie Harrison Dupré

Starliner's current flight software isn't able to autonomously undock from the space station and reenter, Ars Technica reports.

It Turns Out Boeing’s Derelict Starliner Is Unable to Fly Without a Crew on Board

By Victor Tangermann

Space tech company Honeybee Robotics has come up with a concept for a 330-foot pole that could act like a streetlight for a Moon base.

DARPA Funding Plan to Build Huge Streetlight on the Moon

By Victor Tangermann

According to Ars Technica, NASA is planning to push back its upcoming Crew-9 mission considerably because of Boeing's Starliner mess.

Boeing’s Stranded Starliner Has Failed So Spectacularly That It Looks Like It’ll Push Back SpaceX’s Next Astronaut Launch

By Victor Tangermann

In a bizarre bid to score points with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, former president Donald Trump was gifted a Rolex and a custom-wrapped Cybertruck.

Painfully Awkward Footage Shows Trump Pretending to Like Cybertruck

By Victor Tangermann

#Trumpisacoward trended on Truth Social in response to Donald Trump's decision to back out of an ABC-hosted debate against Kamala Harris.

“Trump Is a Coward” Trends on Truth Social

By Maggie Harrison Dupré

AI chip giant Nvidia has been quietly scraping astronomical amounts of YouTube video data to train its AI models, leaked docs reveal.

Artificial Intelligence

Nvidia Caught Stealing Mind-Boggling Quantity of YouTube Videos to Train AI

By Maggie Harrison Dupré

Former president Donald Trump claimed that he had "no choice" but to support Tesla CEO Elon Musk because he "endorsed me very strongly."

Trump Says He Supports Electric Cars Now That Elon Musk Endorses Him

By Victor Tangermann

ChatGPT creator OpenAI has reportedly developed effective tools for marking and tracking AI-generated content. Why isn't it releasing them?

OpenAI Has Software That Detects AI Writing With 99.9 Percent Accuracy, Refuses to Release It

By Maggie Harrison Dupré

Tech stocks crashed Monday morning, accelerated by a global selloff and rising concerns over slowing economic growth.

Artificial Intelligence

Is the Tech Stock Collapse Related a Sign of the AI Bubble Popping?

By Victor Tangermann

A Tesla Cybertruck has crashed and caught fire, killing its occupant in Texas, likely the first reported death involving the truck.

Advanced Transport

Cybertruck Catches Fire, Killing Driver

By Victor Tangermann

A death has been reported at Tesla's Gigafactory in Austin, Texas. OSHA has confirmed that it has opened an investigation.

Death Reported at Tesla Factory

By Victor Tangermann

NASA May Be Forced to Send Boeing’s Busted Spacecraft Back Empty

NASA May Be Forced to Send Boeing’s Busted Spacecraft Back Empty

By Victor Tangermann

NASA Head Bill Nelson this week showed admiration for VP Kamala Harris, referring to the presidential candidate as a "space aficionado."

Head of NASA Says Kamala Harris Really Gets Space

By Maggie Harrison Dupré

This ocean dead zone is larger than average this year, NOAA said, leaving thousands of square miles of water depleted of oxygen.

Science & Energy

Scientists Alarmed by Enormous Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico

By Frank Landymore

Default Futurism featured image

Tucker Carlson Says the CIA Created Bitcoin

By Noor Al-Sibai

It doesn't take much work for creeps to detect your exact location on dating apps, a new study from some academic hackers shows.

Bumble and Hinge Let Creeps See Your Exact Location

By Noor Al-Sibai

As part of his purported comeback, Eminem has chosen to have an AI hologram of him from his "Slim Shady" era stage a bogus interview.

Artificial Intelligence

The AI That De-Ages Eminem Into Slim Shady Is Astonishingly Bad

By Noor Al-Sibai

There's a new volunteer emergency vehicle on the streets of South New Jersey: the first Cybertruck ambulance. Yes, you read that right.

Advanced Transport

First Cybertruck Ambulance Has One Small Problem: Nowhere to Put the Patient

By Maggie Harrison Dupré

In an upcoming book about Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, a reporter is set to air some of the billionaire philanthropist's dirty laundry.

Microsoft Reportedly Had to Ban Bill Gates From Being Alone With Interns

By Noor Al-Sibai

The signal could help explain why an explosion called a gamma ray burst appeared to be the most powerful ever detected.

Scientists Find Hidden Signal in Epic Cosmic Explosion

By Frank Landymore

To combat growing extinction threats, scientists are proposing an out-of-this-world concept — keeping at-risk cells on the Moon.

Scientists Propose Fortress of Earth’s DNA Samples Housed on the Moon in Case of Apocalypse

By Noor Al-Sibai

The rider was killed in 2022 after a Tesla Model 3 on Autopilot mode rear ended the motorcycle, according to the lawsuit.

Tesla Sued by Family of Motorcyclist Mowed Down by Car on Autopilot

By Frank Landymore

AI industry may be headed for trouble after tepid earnings reports from tech companies dismayed Wall Street.

Artificial Intelligence

With the Market Tanking, the AI Industry May Be in Huge Trouble

By Sharon Adarlo

Buyer satisfaction with Tesla vehicles has declined compared to a year ago, a prestigious consumer study reports.

Tesla Buyers Having More Regrets After Actually Using Their Cars, Research Finds

By Sharon Adarlo

Boeing Starliner seems to have failed because NASA officials are likely to hire Boeing rival SpaceX to rescue the two stranded astronauts.

It’s Sounding Like Boeing’s Starliner May Have Completely Failed

By Sharon Adarlo

YouTuber-turned-boxer Logan Paul has made the surprise move of apologizing — sort of — for being an asshole.

Logan Paul Issues Half-Hearted Apology For Transphobic Tirade Against a Cisgender Olympian

By Noor Al-Sibai

Boeing Starliner, which has marooned two astronauts in space right now, is almost double the cost of its rival SpaceX's Dragon.

Boeing’s Spacecraft That’s Stuck in Space Cost Twice as Much as SpaceX’s Version That Does the Same Thing and Works Perfectly

By Sharon Adarlo

Logitech's CEO has some bold new ideas about the future of the business's flagship offering — including selling mouse subscriptions.

Logitech CEO Considering Mouse You Have to Pay a Netflix-Style Subscription to Use

By Noor Al-Sibai

Outdoors outfitter Arc'teryx has partnered up with startup Skip to develop pants that have a built-in powered exoskeleton.

Robots and Machines

New Pair of Pants Has a Built-In Powered Exoskeleton

By Victor Tangermann

A violent scammer has been charged with extortion by federal authorities after unmasking himself on the "No Jumper" podcast.

Man Goes on No Jumper, Brags About Various Crimes, Gets Charged by Feds

By Noor Al-Sibai

In a new video, OpenAI's GPT-4o is heard telling a user that it apparently needs to breathe just like everyone else.

OpenAI’s GPT-4o Voice Mode Says It Needs to Breathe

By Noor Al-Sibai

As Bloomberg reports, a fleet of Baidu robotaxis is triggering traffic jams in the city of Wuhan, frustrating residents.

Advanced Transport

China Flooded With Robotaxis Causing Traffic Jams

By Victor Tangermann

An embarrassing Facebook photo of Donald Trump's vice president running mate JD Vance has publicly surfaced, showing him passed out drunk.

Trump’s Millennial VP Pick Left a Facebook Pic Up of Himself Passed Out Drunk in College

By Sharon Adarlo

Researchers have analyzed sound recordings of apes appearing to say the word "mama," and believe they've found evidence of human-like speech.

Videos Reignite Scientific Debate Over Whether Apes Can Speak

By Frank Landymore

There's a new, chain-wearing Mark Zuckerberg in town, and you bet he's swearing onstage while being interviewed by another billionaire.

Mark Zuckerberg Goes Onstage, Gets Excited and Says Swear Word

By Maggie Harrison Dupré

An underwater drone mapped the hidden side of an ice shelf in Antarctica, revealing a dramatic landscape eaten away by ocean waves.

Underwater Drone Discovers Strange Shapes Under Antarctic Ice

By Sharon Adarlo

Former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, a major running mate contender in Kamala Harris's election bid, could reverse plans to destroy the ISS.

Astronaut Poised to Become Vice President Could Reverse Plans to Destroy the Space Station That He Helped Build

By Victor Tangermann

Ukrainian forces have reportedly brought down a 12-ton, three-crew Russian helicopter using a tiny, two-pound drone.

Ukraine Apparently Blew Up a 12-Ton Russian Helicopter Using a Two-Pound Drone

By Victor Tangermann

Elon Musk thinks robotaxis are the future of Tesla, but the tech is likely many years away from being perfected, let alone being profitable.

Elon Musk’s Obsession With Robotaxis Could Doom Tesla

By Frank Landymore

OnlyFans content creators are deploying AI chatbots to impersonate them and help reduce the workload of chatting with simps all day.

Artificial Intelligence

OnlyFans Stars Are Using AI to “Sext” With Their Desperate Simps

By Noor Al-Sibai

Michael Orlitzky found a clever hack that tricks the coin drop in washing machines into thinking a quarter was inserted.

Genius Hacker Shows How to Use Laundry Machines for Free

By Frank Landymore

Researchers have found that including the words "artificial intelligence" in product marketing is a major turn-off for consumers.

Artificial Intelligence

Study Finds Consumers Are Actively Turned Off by Products That Use AI

By Victor Tangermann

In a major — though unsurprising — U-turn, Meta-formerly-Facebook has done away with its confusing celebrity AI clones.

Artificial Intelligence

Facebook Is Euthanizing All Its Celebrity AI Clones

By Maggie Harrison Dupré