TheAcer Swift 16 AIlooks like a piece of slate. At the least, it is a nice and pretty screen. That thin package also has issues when I push down on its keyboard. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo Its bendy and surprisingly uncomfortable. Still, at $1,200 MSRP, you may find far better build quality elsewhere. See Acer Swift 16 AI at Best Buy Setting up this workhorse is another matter. © Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo...
Solar panels and wind turbines give the world bountiful energybut come with a conundrum. Youve probably heard aboutgiant lithium-ion batteriesstockpiling that energy for later use. But when providing backup power, even a big battery bank will usually drain in four hours. A company called Hydrostor pumps water in and out of caverns to store energy generated by renewables.© Hydrostor We need to think about all these factors, how they work....
Our biometric data is freelyavailable to anybody with an AI model and a camera. Couldnt you just wear an N95 mask, scarf, and sunglasses to dodge Big Brother? So far, the best way to avoid being picked up by facial recognition is to avoid cameras. This camera shown by SK Telecom at 2024 Mobile World Conference detects people and offers descriptions of their appearance and actions for use by security or police....
Similar bans have passed or are being considered across the country. As a result, tenants were associated with criminal charges they never faced and denied homes. Is it price fixingor coaching landlords? © J Studios According to federal prosecutors, RealPage controls 80% of the market for commercial revenue management software. But thats an illusion. The complaint names specific areas where rents are artificially high. Thats 50% higher than the national average rent....
Well, scientists in Illinois have built a microscopic four-fingered hand to do just that. Although the study focused specifically on the covid-19 virus, the results have important implications for numerous medical conditions. We are using DNA for its structural properties. An artist’s rendering of three NanoGripper gripping a COVID-19 virus.© Xing Wang It is strong, flexible and programmable. Yet even in the DNA origami field, this is novel in terms of the design principle....
What would you expect to find within a permanently frozen Antarctic lake? Lake Enigma sits between two glaciers, Amorphous and Boulder Clay, in Antarcticas Northern Foothills. Back at the lab, the researchers found something surprising in the samples: life. The area investigated in the Lake Enigma study.© Communications Earth & Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-024-01842-5 SuperphylumPatescibacteriais an extremely simple bacteria with limited functions. Collectively, these features reveal a new complexity in Antarctic lake food webs, the researchers wrote....
The billionaire owners of media companies are increasingly making their voices heard. Little is known about how such a meter would actually work. Soon-Shiong also previouslysought a role in the first Trump administration. © Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times Other notable figures, like its editorials editor, have recentlystepped down. But in previous times, there were always people who saw the upside. It is different now. Its often just simply wrong....
X has made its Grok chatbot free to all users. Grok is developed by xAI, Elon Musks AI company that was spun up as a response to OpenAI. Results from Grok can be embedded into X posts. © Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images X provides by far the most revenue to xAI, but Grok does have a developer API now. Musk will likely need to expand access to Grok beyond X if he wants to catch up....
Indiana Jonesshould be the perfect video game hero. WithIndiana Jones and the Great Circle, hes very much still waiting. Its in telling that story thatIndiana Jones and the Great Circlereally shines. © Bethesda Great Circleis packed with great characters giving impeccable performances. But thats where the good news stops. Almost every mechanical aspect ofIndiana Jones and the Great Circleis miserable to experience. © Bethesda While you are exploring, youll also be sneaking through enemy encampments....
TikTok challenged the new law, which was passed in April, on First Amendment grounds. The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States, the ruling reads. Then something very odd happened. Trump changed his mind. If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business. I dont want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!...
If you grew up in the 1990s, you rememberthe scare that was Y2K. It never happened but, what if it did? Thats the idea ofY2K,the new sci-fi comedyfrom co-writer and director Kyle Mooney. SNL alum Kyle Mooney makes his directorial debut with the comedy Y2K, now in theaters.Image: A24 Oh, and Fred Durst is in it, as himself. Y2Kis in theaters now and io9 sat down over video chat to talk with Mooney all about it....
It turns out author George R.R. Martin isasking all these thingsstill, too. I dont know, it happens a day at a time. © Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images To which point, Martin himself offered a vague but existential update. [Winds ofWinteris] still a priority. A lot of people are already writing obituaries for me. Oh, hell never be finished. Im alive right now! I seem pretty vital! Want more io9 news?...
And now, its time for Google to throw in its version of a lookback for Google Photos. People seem pleased with it so far. It surfaces the most memorable moments from the year as Googles algorithms interpret them. © Florence Ion / Gizmodo The first version is the basic recap. Theres also another option that reveals your color palette for the year. So far, I only have access to this one....
