A Lawmaker Wants Fast Trains to Rev Up the US Economy
Accuse Representative Seth Moulton of loving trains too much at your peril. Yes, the Massachusetts Democrat worked for a time on a high-speed-rail project in Texas, one that is now…
The Nigerian Fraudsters Ripping Off the Unemployment System
As millions of people around the United States scrambled in recent weeks to collect unemployment benefits and disbursements through the federal CARES Act, officials warned about the looming threat of…
Samsung announces 50-megapixel camera sensor with faster autofocus
Samsung has announced a new 50-megapixel camera sensor called the ISOCELL GN1. It’s Samsung’s first sensor to include both dual-pixel autofocus and Tetracell pixel-binning, which the company says should offer…
Americans still don’t trust self-driving cars
Self-driving cars are having a really rough time gaining our trust. This is not a total shock considering autonomous vehicles remain theoretical and elusive for most people. The limited number…
OnePlus will temporarily disable ‘X-ray’ camera filter that sees through plastic and clothes
OnePlus will temporarily disable a camera filter on the OnePlus 8 Pro after users discovered they could use it to see through certain plastics and clothes. Although the company has…
How Facebook’s past acquisitions could haunt its purchase of Giphy
On Friday, Facebook made its fifth-largest known acquisition ever. The company bought Giphy, a database and search engine for the short looping videos known as GIFs, for $400 million. Today…
We Are All Livestreamers Now, and Zoom Is Our Stage
But now I’m trapped. I feel two-dimensional. I desperately need to break out of this simulation. After days of muting and unmuting, I go out searching for some software or…
It’s Called Artificial Intelligence—but What Is Intelligence?
Elizabeth Spelke, a cognitive psychologist at Harvard, has spent her career testing the world’s most sophisticated learning system—the mind of a baby. Gurgling infants might seem like no match for…
Metaphors Matter in a Time of Pandemic
Vibrating, near-hallucinatory, the Manú National Park in Peru is among the most biodiverse places on earth. Just about every one of the park’s 4.3 million acres, where the Tropical Andes…
Six-Word Sci-Fi: Write About Love in the Time of Coronavirus
SO I MARRIED THE DELIVERY MAN. —Hamish Hamish via Facebook Honorable Mentions: Love is sacrificing the last ply. —Kristos Samaras via Facebook There is an “us” in “virus.” —Zachy Allec…