Gizmodo

Big tech companies want to put big, driverless trucks on the road, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom is ready to help them reach that goal. Now the Democratic mainstay is taking a beating from unions who say he's allowed unsafe 10,000+-pound vehicles onto the road without drivers.

The last time Lower Decks truly surprised me was in season two's remarkable tri-perspective episode wej Duj," a compelling experimental story that examined the plights of lower deckers across all sorts of Star Trek vessels, not just Starfleet. It's fitting then perhaps that in surprising me this week, it does so by...Read more...

In December 2020, the Arecibo Observatory's radio telescope was destroyed when a catastrophic cable failure caused its 900-ton platform to collapse onto the iconic dish below. Now, the National Science Foundation has named the stewards of the site's future as an education center, marking the probable end of Arecibo's...Read more...

Star Trek: Picard ended earlier this year, and though the series could be messy at times, leading man Patrick Stewart always made it work. While the future of Jean-Luc and other Next Generation cast members is still up in the air after the show wrapped its three-season run, Stewart's now reminiscing on how the show...Read more...

The video game company behind the massive battle royale game Fortnite is also fighting for its life. Epic Games is reportedly laying off 870 employees as well as selling some of its previous acquisitions.

Just like people, some elephants might have more of a knack for puzzles than others, new research this week suggests. The study of wild Asian elephants at an animal sanctuary found that only some were willing and able to solve a puzzle box that offered food as a reward, and even fewer cracked all three types of...Read more...

Anyone who has used H&R Block's tax return preparation services in recent years may have unintentionally helped line Meta and Google's pockets. That's according to a new class action lawsuit which alleges the three companies jointly schemed" to install trackers on the H&R Block site to scan and transmit tax data back...Read more...

In a year that already saw a rather entertaining Evil Dead universe entry in the form of Evil Dead Rise, there's more good news for fans of the Sam Raimi-created cult horror classic: all three seasons of the late, great Starz series Ash vs. Evil Dead are coming to Hulu October 1.

If you're an extremely online Apple user, you've probably heard the collective disappointment over the company's new FineWoven cases for the iPhone 15/15 Pro series. Everyone from Reddit to The Verge to Digital Trends has reasons why you shouldn't spend $60 on Apple's case made of recycled materials. It's a scratch...Read more...

Whether it's sinking the Titanic, inventing new technology to make Avatar, or making VFX history with Terminator 2, filmmaking is never easy for James Cameron. Almost every film he makes raises the bar in some way, usually with wildly successful results. And yet, when that happens no one making the movie is ever...Read more...

Since before the iPhone 15 first hit the market, there have been concerns about the new titanium frame and A17 processor causing it to get hot. After its release, some users have hammered Apple with complaints the new iPhone 15 Pro gets hot, like really hot. Are we looking at a quality control disaster or just a speed...Read more...

Amazon stalled the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA)requirements by claiming it isn't a very large online platform, according to a court ruling on Wednesday. In April, the EU ordered the tech company to abide by DSA rules to regulate its content moderation policies and provide ad-transparency data.Read more...

After reports last year indicated that Russell T. Davies' plan to pretty much what he did the first time on Doctor Who but, well, again, would include another returning favorite in a behind-the-scenes companion series, the BBC has confirmed that when Doctor Who returns in November, it won't be alone.

58-year-old Lawrence Faucette has become a medical milestone this month, being only the second living person in the world to have received a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig.Read more...

The Chandra X-ray Observatory didn't exist in 1838, when the Eta Carinae star system started to brighten as it ejected material in an event named the Great Eruption." But traces of the eruption remain, and a timelapse has now been created by compiling 20 years of the space telescope's data to showcase the dynamic...Read more...

Elon Musk's SpaceX has secured a Pentagon contract for its military satellite network, Starshield. This news, first reported by Bloomberg, marks the Pentagon's first confirmed Starshield contract with SpaceX.

The Castlevania video game series has always been about the legacy of its heroes and vampiric villains-a battle between good and evil that plays out across generations of slayers as they battle the returning evil of Dracula and his allies. After a few years away from Netflix, Powerhouse's animated adaptation is taking...Read more...

The Federal Aviation Administration has closed its investigation into Blue Origin's New Shepard failed launch in September 2022, but the suborbital rocket remains grounded.Read more...

Extreme heat is deadly. Exposure to high temperatures can make people sick and eventually lead to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. But new research shows that rising temperatures come with other compounding dangers. This week,A study published in the journal Communications Medicine found that higher temperatures are...Read more...

A week before Google debuts the next-generation Pixel Watch, Fitbit is introducing the Charge 6 fitness band. The wellness-centered wearable launches in conjunction with the revamped Fitbit app. It's billed as the only fitness track with Google smarts." Depending on who you are, that'll either make you very happy or...Read more...

Few shows have enjoyed the kind of immediate, deeply invested fanbase that Our Flag Means Death garnered in 2022. This silly, tender, queer pirate show reimagined the legends of notorious pirates Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) and Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) in an anachronistic Caribbean. David Jenkins, the beloved director...Read more...

At a conference on Wednesday, X CEO Linda Yaccarino contradicted Elon Musk's claims that the platform's election monitoring team has been eliminated. Yaccarino disputed these claims, saying the team is growing" and will continue to monitor political misinformation on the platform.

Four more Exorcist: Believer clips tease a returning nightmare. Wolf Like Me season 2's new trailer shows troubled times ahead for the werewolf romance. he cast of The Boys welcomes the cast of Gen V in a new featurette. Plus, what's coming on Star Trek: Lower Decks. Spoilers now!

Reddit said it was simplifying" its ad privacy options by removing the ability to ignore targeted ads based on what communities you join, which posts you upvote or downvote, and how you spend your time on the platform.Read more...

After rumors began to swirl that Apple alum Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were having collaborative talks on a mysterious piece of AI hardware, it appears that the pair are indeed trying to corner the smartphone market. The two are reportedly discussing a collaboration on a new kind of smartphone device with $1...Read more...

Today, tabletop roleplaying game publisher Evil Genius filed a lawsuit against Netflix for Breach of Contract. Evil Genius was hired to create a franchise TTRPG for Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon, and alleges that after working alongside Netflix and Snyder, Netflix unceremoniously terminated its contract.Read more...

Recovering a password has never been as elaborate or entertaining as it is in Riddle of Fire, which had its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest 2023 this week. In the film, a trio of badass kids steal a yet-to-be-released video game console, get it home, but run into a problem. Mom has password-protected the TV. All they...Read more...

Netflix's new Castlevania show, Nocturne, is set hundreds of years after the events of the original series, with a long-line descendant of heroes Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, Richter, headlining the cast. What better way to connect the Belmont Clan bloodline across shows than immediately giving the poor young...Read more...

As if life isn't hard enough already: rabid otters are apparently a thing. Florida health officials reported this week that a 74-year-old man and a dog were bitten by an aggressiveotter, one that later tested positive for the usually fatal viral infection. Both victims have reportedly received treatment and the otter...Read more...

After blasting beams of energy through the clouds for the past 17 years, NASA's lidar satellite mission came to an end this past August, the agency has revealed.Read more...

Most modern disaster movies are rather cheesy-big, special effects spectacles that are an excuse to showcase lots of destruction and action. Concrete Utopia, a South Korean disaster movie, has some of that, but really focuses more on what comes in the immediate aftermath. First, the film grabs your attention with a...Read more...

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a lawsuit against eBay, Inc. in a Brooklyn Court on Wednesday for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act and other environmental laws and for permitting users to sell harmful products that don't align with automobile pollution controls.Read more...

Every tech company in existence is currently racing to cram as much AI into their product base as possible, so it's not at all surprising that Meta's annual Connect event was flush with such developments this year. In addition to a number of new VR and metaverse"-adjacent products and features, Meta's pale commander...Read more...

Following a nearly three-year journey through space, the canister containing samples from asteroid Bennu has finally been opened.Read more...

The much-anticipated seventh season of Rick and Morty arrives in just a few weeks; a few days ago, we got a trailer revealing the show's new soundalike" voices for its lead characters after Justin Roiland's departure. It's been a weird ride for Rick and Morty fans-and now, in a new interview, Roiland's co-creator Dan...Read more...

Here's something to chew on: a fossilized trilobite from the Ordovician Period, which is so well preserved that a team of paleontologists was able to identify its last meal, now mineralized in the creature's fossil stomach.

As the Writers Guild of America comes to an agreement with movie and television studios over the use of AI in Hollywood, it would appear that the music industry is in for a reckoning too. CEO of Warner Music Group Robert Kyncl thinks AI is a really good thing for the music industry, actually. TechCrunch reported on...Read more...

Men looking for a better sex life might someday own their thanks to a spider. A Brazilian pharmaceutical company is developing a topical treatment for erectile dysfunction derived from the venom of Phoneutria nigriventer,aka the Brazilian wandering spider. The treatment has already cleared an early human trial and...Read more...

After nearly 150 days on strike, the Writers Guild of America and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers have finally reached an agreement. The unit members celebrated across the country, and now the WGA has released a Memorandum of Agreement, as well as some additional documents to inform members...Read more...

Smart glasses seem to be having a resurgence lately. First, Amazon reminded us they still make them with Alexa built in. Now, Meta is launching a new lineup with a slight rebrand. They're no longer called Stories. Instead, they're called the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, and they are so much more stylish than the...Read more...

A new battle is brewing between states and the federal government. This time the fight isn't over taxes or immigration but rather the limits of regulating advanced artificial intelligence systems. Political disagreements around AI's role in healthcare, in particular, could be the tip of the spear in that emerging...Read more...

Mammals are halfway through their era on this planet. We've existed about 250 million years since mammals evolved on earth and we only have another 250 million left before most of the world is no longer habitable.

Meta's been questing around for a new vision for its VR, and it's finally arrived. At Meta's 2023 Connect conference, the company introduced the Meta Quest 3, a mixed-reality VR headset. It starts at $500 and you can pre-order it now, with devices shipping beginning Oct. 10. But before you do, let's talk about how it...Read more...

During its Drop 01" livestream event, Netflix unveiled the first official look at its Tomb Raider anime, The Legend of Lara Croft. The show was originally announced back in 2021 and marks the first new piece of Tomb Raider media since the 2018 reboot movie starring Alicia Vikander.

He-Man returns to Netflix next year for more of Kevin Smith's epic animated series-this time titled Masters of the Universe: Revolution. A new clip featuring terrifying, fiendishly taunting adversary Scare Glow is here to get you pumped for battle.Read more...

When Scott Pilgrim searches for his dream girl-you know, the one who has hair like this"-he gets some important intel from Julie Powers. The rest of the scene, which you can see below, follows what you might recognize from Edgar Wright's 2010 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World movie... with a Netflix twist that's perfect...Read more...

Designing a program in such a way that it can truly convince someone that another human is on the other side of the screen has been a goal of AI developers since the concept took its first steps toward reality. Research company OpenAI recently announced that its flagship product ChatGPT would be getting eyes, ears,...Read more...

Thrawn and Ezra have been found. Our heroes have reached-or are on their way to-a new galaxy far, far away. With season one of Ahsoka nearing its end, the penultimate seventh episode started there and moved all the pieces just one or two steps ahead, setting the stage for the finale. The result was a highly...Read more...

The British Museum is asking the public for help to recover several stolen artifacts on a webpage launched on Tuesday. The museum dismissed an unnamed employee over the summer for allegedly stealing artifacts and reported in an Aug. 16 press release that an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service is underway.

During its animation-focused Drop 01" livestream event, Netflix unveiled a first look at Blue Eye Samurai, a brand new series from Michael Green (A Haunting in Venice), his co-writer/wife Amber Noizumi, and supervising director Jane Wu (Interview With a Vampire).