Gizmodo

This story is co-published with Grist, and is part of Record High, a Grist series examining extreme heat and its impact on how-and where-we live.

Quantum Leap returns to NBC this week to catch up with Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee), a time-traveler who has no control over where or when he's going to end up next, but who fortunately has the help of a Los Angeles-based team of badasses and geniuses helping him through each mission.Read more...

A stormy, wet year for California has brought its perilously depleted reservoirs back to life. The state's water year" ended this past Saturday, with officials noting that reservoirs throughout California are at 128% of their historical average, the Associated Press reports.Read more...

Jonathan Majors' trial starts this month just as Loki season two is set to debut on Disney+, but the actor's place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains unchanged for now.Read more...

Android users rejoice, you're finally being treated with the dignity you deserve. Google announced a couple of cool things at their Pixel event today. One of the smaller announcements that stood out was regarding the software policy for the Pixel 8. Google guarantees seven years of OS updates for its latest phone....Read more...

French police arrested five former Ubisoft employees this week for sexual assault and harassment allegations dating back to 2020. The French newspaper, Liberation, first reported that police detained two chief executives on Wednesday while another three were arrested the previous day following a year-long...Read more...

In Star Wars, nothing is ever really gone, especially if you're a contemporary streaming show on Disney+ and are in need of another callback to the wider saga. This week's Ahsoka finale gave us one such callback in its final moments, setting the stage for a fascinating arc-one rooted in Star Wars' most esoteric Force...Read more...

The animal kingdom is a dynamic place, filled with action, splendor, and drama. But freeze any one moment in time, and creatures' behavior can become hilarious. These images represent the final shortlist of the 2023 annual Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards competition. Previous finalists have included a lion...Read more...

Google hosted its Pixel 8 event today and announced several interesting developments. Their newly-released Pixel 8 phones were the star of the event, with the Pixel Buds Pro and Pixel Watch 2 bringing up the rear. There were also a few announcements on AI, Android 14, and the Bard Assistant.Read more...

Part of what makes going to a Disney park so magical is trying to figure out how any of it is possible. How do the structures of the rides blend so perfectly into the park? How do they launch fireworks like this every night? Who's making all of this food? Disney normally prefers to keep all of that a mystery but it doe...Read more...

Forget about switching into a different holiday mode when October is over-November is going to keep Halloween alive thanks to a theatrical re-release of 2022 horror breakout Terrifer 2. And there's more enticement than big-screen extreme gore: fans can expect their first eyeball-gouging tease of Terrifier 3.

Tree planting projects seem like a great climate solution-lots of trees can sequester lots of carbon that would otherwise be warming the atmosphere. But, surprise surprise, it turns out you can't just plop any old tree into the ground and expect to reap environmental benefits, new research finds.Read more...

The Bezos-Musk rivalry intensifies this week as Amazon gears up for the launch of two demo internet satellites. This marks the beginning of the Amazon billionaire's 3,236-satellite-strong megaconstellation that might one day compete with Musk's leading space-based service, SpaceX-with one day" being the operative...Read more...

Apple is telling users they can finally take their iPhone 15 models out of the freezer. The company released an iOS patch Wednesday with the stated purpose of fixing some bug that's making the phones run hotter than they should.Read more...

The act of already remaking a game as beloved and influential as Final Fantasy VII was always a daunting prospect, even before 2020's FFVII Remake made an audacious move to reframe itself as more akin to a metatextual exploration of the very idea of remaking FFVII. But when that prospect then has to weigh generations...Read more...

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There's always room for more artificial intelligence in your news feed-at least according to Artifact. The news app developed by former Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger is now rolling out AI-generated images for posts on the platform.Read more...

More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers went on strike on Wednesday, adding to the growing list of strikes sweeping the nation this year. Healthcare workers threatened to go on strike after contract talks between union leaders and Kaiser stalled on Tuesday.Read more...

It's finally here. Eli Roth's Thanksgiving goes from Grindhouse trailer to real movie.Read more...

Your genetics might just help sway your veggie-eating habits, new research out Wednesday suggests. The study found a possible association between adopting a strict vegetarian diet and up to 34 different genes. Some of these genes affect brain function and how our bodies process the fats we get from our food, offering...Read more...

It's mind-blowing to think Ahsoka is already over. Fans waited years to see how the character's story would continue and now, a mere eight episodes later, a major piece of that story has come to its end.Read more...

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Meta plans to charge European users $17 a month for an ad-free version of Instagram and Facebook. It solidifies a trend that would have seemed absurd just a few years ago: every major social media platform now either has a premium tier or is experimenting with rolling...Read more...

Google is touting its new Pixel 8 Pro phone as the first phone built for the generative AI era." As expected, Google's premium smartphone is getting a whole smattering of AI features running on-device thanks to the Tensor G3 chip. Well, at least, maybe it will be, eventually.Read more...

Chucky's back-and if you've caught any of the season three marketing, you've seen that he's seized upon potent, real-life national anxieties by infiltrating the White House. But what's his motivation? Without spoiling anything, all is not what you might think in the first half of Chucky's new season.Read more...

Meta's continued experiments with piloting us into a half-baked future appear to be backfiring. After announcing more customer-facing AI features on Meta platforms in September, the company's new sticker generation tool is letting some choice phrases and prompts go unchecked.Read more...

NASA is gearing up to start a crucial series of tests on the updated RS-25 engine, which will power the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon.

Astronauts traveling to the Moon as part of NASA's Artemis program will go there in style as Axiom Space taps luxury brand Prada to assist in the design of its spacesuit.Read more...

Uber wants to eliminate trips to FedEx or the post office with its new Return a Package" feature. The ride-hailing company announced the addition to its growing list of services on Wednesday, saying it will mail up to five pre-paid packaged items to UPS or FedEx per trip.

Play it again, Pazuzu-it's time for more demonic possession, but this time make it a double.Read more...

I'm struggling to muster excitement over the latest batch of Pixel devices. The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro have improved in style and design and probably in performance, too (I can only confirm everything once I test the specs myself). But where's the flair? The feature you can't live without? And I'm still waiting for someone...Read more...

It's hard to tell the Pixel Watch 2 from the first-gen Pixel Watch, but there's a new one!Read more...

Yeah, yeah, there's all that hubbub surrounding Google's new hardware like the Pixel 8 the company is finally showing off at its Made by Google event Wednesday. But for those who don't plan on making the switch to the latest Google phone or Pixel Watch 2, the most exciting thing coming from Google is the next Android...Read more...

Nintendo took to Twitter to announce that it is shutting down online services for 3DS and Wii U in early April 2024. Pokemon Bank and StreetPass will, however, remain available. They also confirmed that users will still be able to download, update, or redownload purchased software and downloadable content from the...Read more...

With Google's next-gen flagship launching just around the corner, this felt like an apt time to visit the iPhone 15/15 Plus and see what this first tier" model offers alongside its counterpart in the Android world. At its core, the iPhone 15/15 Plus are all the best bits of the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max without debut...Read more...

When protests in Pakistan earlier this year escalated into clashes between pro-government forces and supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the now-imprisoned leader turned to social media to bolster his message. Khan shared this brief video clip on Twitter showing his supporters holding up signs with his...Read more...

As per usual, Donald Trump just can't shut up-and it's causing him, and everybody around him, major problems.Read more...

The moment is upon us: Rebels have reunited, Thrawn's grand design has been put into motion, and everyone just wants to get back to the galaxy that's a little less far, far away than the one they're currently in. Ahsoka's finale is here, and... well, there's a lot that needs sorting out.Read more...

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After tackling the Halloween universe, director David Gordon Green set his sights on re-imagining The Exorcist for a new generation with The Exorcist: Believer.

After taking a year off to regroup on its mid-range offerings, Samsung is reinvigorating its Fan Edition line by announcing its plans to offer cheaper and somewhat pared-down versions of its mainline Galaxy S23 phone, Tab S9 tablet, and Galaxy earbuds.

We've got so much news! First, Hex & Co.-a board game cafe and after-school program with three locations in New York City, is unionizing! Workers are asking people to sign their petition in support of their organization, as the owners are (currently) refusing to voluntarily recognize their union.

Spooky season is here and discovery+ knows you'll be wanting to enhance your horror-movie binge with true-crime and ghost-hunting reality shows. The Warner Bros.-adjacent streaming service has plenty to offer in that department, but it'll now cost you a few more bucks to get your fix.Read more...

NASA's mission to a metal-rich asteroid is back on track after a minor setback. Psyche is now all set to launch on October 12.Read more...

For almost two decades and across generations, the Kiner family has helped shape the sound of Star Wars animation-and now with Ahsoka, they, like the former Jedi, have made the leap into the live-action side of the galaxy far, far away. As Ahsoka brings its season to an end this week, we sat down with the Kiners to...Read more...

Following a successful debut last year, we're getting a second Prime Day from Amazon this year as well. Amazon is referring to this second event as the Prime Big Deal Days and it will run from 3 a.m EST on Tuesday October 10 through 3 a.m. EST on Wednesday October 11. The first, bigger, Prime Day sale ran from July...Read more...

Earlier this year, Dungeons & Dragons released the supplemental lorebook/bestiary, Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. Fans were quick to point out that some of the illustrations looked... off. After answering some questions on X/Twitter, artist Ilya Shkipin explained that yes, he did use generative AI to assist his...Read more...

Zoom is setting out to compete with Google and Microsoft by introducing Zoom Docs at its annual Zoomtopia 2023 event on Tuesday. Zoom Docs is the company's own version of an AI-powered workspace that will provide users with AI capabilities to draft, edit, summarize, and include information from meeting discussions.Read more...

A team of astronomers have detected over 500 planet-like objects in the inner Orion Nebula and the Trapezium Cluster that they believe could shake up the very definition of a planet.Read more...

A new investigation shows that YouTube has a bug that allows users to upload hardcore pornography to its platform. To make matters funnier, it isn't exactly clear that YouTube knows how to fix the bug or that it is capable of taking down all the explicit material that has been uploaded.

On October 3, I asked my editor what day it was. It's October 3," he replied. October 3 has been crowned Mean Girls Day" in reference to a scene in the hit 2004 teen comedy. To celebrate, Paramount has made the decision to upload the entire movie to TikTok in 23 parts, in a classic how do you do fellow kids?"...Read more...