Новости за 29.04.2021

I spent the last week playing Housemarque’s upcoming PS5 exclusive Returnal and I absolutely love it, but don’t consider this a review. “Ok, so what even is Returnal?” If you had asked me this question a month ago I would’ve shrugged and mumbled something about a generically titled PS5 game that I had little interest in. Then my review code came in and I’ve been obsessed ever since. It’s almost like Returnal is tailor-made for me. It’s an insanely challenging third-person shooter with roguelike elements. Читать дальше...

Electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular, but still, range anxiety and charging time are obstacles to their widespread acceptance. Imagine, though, charging your car by simply changing lanes and driving over to special charging strips embedded in the road. That’s exactly the vision of Khurram Afridi, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University. Along with his team, they’re developing a groundbreaking approach to charge EVs without the need for cables. Читать дальше...

For most people, getting to the stars is nothing more than a dream. On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito achieved that lifelong goal – but he wasn’t a typical astronaut. Tito, a wealthy businessman, paid US$20 million for a seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to be the first tourist to visit the International Space Station. Only seven people have followed suit in the 20 years since, but that number is poised to double in the next 12 months alone. NASA has long been hesitant to play host to space tourists... Читать дальше...

You decide to call a store that sells some hiking boots you’re thinking of buying. As you dial in, the computer of an artificial intelligence company hired by the store is activated. It retrieves its analysis of the speaking style you used when you phoned other companies the software firm services. The computer has concluded you are “friendly and talkative.” Using predictive routing, it connects you to a customer service agent who company research has identified as being especially good at getting... Читать дальше...

Like Uber, ride-hailing platform Lyft has sold its self-driving division. It’s a massive u-turn for the company considering that just last year, it said it was planning to launch its  first robotaxi fleet in 2023. Let’s take a closer look at what’s happened. The deal On Tuesday this week, Lyft announced an acquisition agreement with Toyota’s Woven Planet Holdings (WPH). The deal sees WPH buy Lyft’s self-driving division, called Level 5, for $550 million in cash. As TechCrunch reports, Lyft will receive $200 million upfront... Читать дальше...

Google Assistant is great for knowing weather forecasts, checking scores of my favorite sports teams, or asking it to show nearby restaurants. But one of my huge complaints with it is that when I try to call a contact, it would often fail to recognize their name. I live in India, and because of the diverse nature of the country names, people in my contacts and their pronunciations vary a lot. So it might be hard for Google Assistant to correctly identify all of them every single time. To solve this problem... Читать дальше...

We have to get rid of our past ideas of what a “normal” business office looks like. As lockdowns ease in the future, there will be industries that want to bring everyone back into an office location even as other companies remain in a fully-remote system. But there is another option that is poised to become the standard for business operations in the 21st century: the hybrid workplace. In this type of setting, some workers are based in a physical office, while others work from spaces outside of the... Читать дальше...

Last night, when most of India was sleeping, Facebook temporarily blocked posts that included the #ResignModi hashtag— criticizing the Prime Minister‘s handling of the raging Coronavirus pandemic — and restored them hours later. The company said that the blocking was an oversight, and New Delhi didn’t order the social networking giant to restrict it: We temporarily blocked this hashtag by mistake, not because the Indian government asked us to, and have since restored it. This incident raises a lot... Читать дальше...