Gizmodo

Up until now, the original Xbox has usually been the device people reference when talking about big-ass video game consoles. But with the arrival of the PS5, there’s a new sheriff in town.

San Francisco and Alameda counties have stopped using Verily, Google’s health-focused sister company, to test for the novel coronavirus, Kaiser Health News reported on Monday.

When Facebook purchased Oculus back in 2014—two years before the Oculus Rift was released—it wasn’t entirely clear what plans the social media giant had for the fledging virtual reality company.Read more...

If you’re a nature-lover in the U.S., you’re probably familiar with the National Park Service and how it protects landscapes. But a new book shows another group of protected wild places in America: the National Wildlife Refuge system.

A foodborne outbreak of Listeria linked to deli meats has hospitalized at least ten people in three states and killed one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC is now warning certain high risk individuals to avoid deli meats unless they’re served steaming hot.Read more...

We know almost nothing about the new season of The Mandalorian. Oh sure, there are rumors. There’s even been footage. But outside of some very vague statements (and lots of Baby Yoda merch), we honestly have no idea where the story is going or what surprises could be waiting for us.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft appears to be leaking tiny bits of Bennu, following a successful attempt to collect surface samples from the asteroid. Engineers blame a jammed lid for what NASA is calling a minor problem.Read more...

One year ago, at the last minute, I decided to attend a presentation held by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at a Manhattan hotel facing Central Park. Epidemiologists, economists, and other public health experts ran a simulation of what a realistic pandemic would look in the modern world. The basic…Read more...

Porn won the porn war in the UK, but now the industry is fighting on a different front in Germany, where authorities are trying to force internet service providers to block major sites that don’t implement age verification systems.

With four iPhone 12 options to choose from this fall, ranging in price from $700 all the way to $1,100, it feels like Apple has muddied the waters a bit. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because the company extended flagship features across the lineup. But it does make things a bit complicated. For the first time,…Read more...

I have learned that a Pinterest widget will roll out wide on iOS 14 today, and reader, I am elated.Read more...

While many of us mocked AirPods when they first came out, Apple’s wireless earbuds have turned out to be a popular product for the company and actually really solid wireless earbuds for most people. It appears Apple’s keen on continuing to capitalize on that popularity, with Bloomberg reporting that the company is…Read more...

The extreme level of secrecy behind the big reveal in the first season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian meant that the public’s immediate thirst for Baby Yoda merchandise went unquenched for a long time. Disney’s not making that mistake with season two, and ahead of the series’ return, Mattel has just revealed an RC…Read more...

A new study suggests that bioplastics—plastics that are made from biological material instead of from petroleum and/or are engineered to be biodegradable—contain as many toxic chemicals as conventional plastic.Read more...

This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. Oscar Isaac is getting his own Marvel show.Read more...

They can do everything from plot complex equations to even play games like Doom (if you have enough rotting potatoes) but the handheld calculator started out as a very simple device capable of performing just four basic mathematical calculations. One of the very first prototypes, created by Texas Instruments back in…Read more...

We’re weeks away from getting our first new generation of consoles in seven years. Meanwhile, Google and Microsoft are making big plays to stream 4k games, no console required. It doesn’t seem like an ideal moment for Facebook to cut in with a new cloud gaming service, but for reasons unknown, that’s exactly what it’s…Read more...

If you grew up in a religious household–or had a grandparent who loved bric-a-brac—chances are you’re familiar with Precious Moments. They’re the porcelain miniatures that depict young children doing good deeds. They might be cute, but there’s always been something a bit “off” about them. Something one artist is using…Read more...

Creepshow, Shudder’s horror anthology headedup by Greg Nicotero, is gearing up for Halloween with a two-story Halloweenspecial. Only, both stories are animated, which adds an interesting stylistictwist to the series.Read more...

The latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, has been hit hard by the myriad delays and theater closures caused by covid-19. It was hit so hard that MGM reportedly considered finding alternate means of distribution altogether.Read more...

Someone—maybe an adolescent, maybe someone older—rushed across the edge of Lake Otero, slipping as they walked but moving steadily ahead. Evidence suggests this person was carrying a child approximately 3 years old, setting the child down for just a moment in at least three separate places along the journey before…Read more...

Researchers at Leiden University have 3D printed the smallest boat in the world: a 30-micrometer copy of Benchy the tug boat, a well-known 3D printer test object. This boat is so small, it could float down the interior of a human hair.Read more...

Asking whether you could be suffering from smoke exposure or covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, sounds like a horrible joke. However, it is an unfortunate reality in Colorado and other states that are experiencing wildfire hell right now. In response, Colorado officials have one message: Get…Read more...

Just because a children’s app looks innocuous doesn’t mean it’s not doing some shady stuff in the background. Google has reportedly taken action against three children’s apps in the Play Store—Princess Salon, Number Coloring and Cats & Cosplay—for allegedly violating its data collection policies, according to a report…Read more...

Patreon has become the latest online platform to give QAnon conspiracy theorists the boot. Please excuse me while I play the world’s smallest violin.

State and federal investigators are planning to slap Facebook with antitrust charges as soon as November, four people familiar with the matter told the Washington Post. Such a lawsuit would mark the government’s latest crackdown on the biggest names in the tech industry, including Apple, Google, and Amazon, for …Read more...

Riker’s appearanceas Jean-Luc’s faithful friend and former subordinate was a highlight of thefirst season of Picard. Dude just hasgreat vibes. There’s a reason, after all, that he’s such a popular character,beyond his chronic inability to sit in chairs correctly. So it’s only fittingthat the newest novel in the …Read more...

According toDeadline, Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert, executive producers of All That, creators for Cousins for Life, and writers on Kenan& Kel, are developing a pilot called Warped!for Nickelodeon.Read more...

The Meg, an action vehicle for both JasonStatham and prehistoric sharks, is getting a sequel. But someone else will bestepping up to the director’s chair.Read more...

Recently I was going through what should have been a rather straightforward announcement from Sony detailing which streaming services the PS5 will support at launch. And while things ended up being a bit messier than need be, the image of the PS5's Media Remote at the top of the press release has been stuck in my…Read more...

Samsung POWERbot R7070 | $350 | Best Buy

Facebook’s trying to muzzle a group of academic researchers working to shine a light on the company’s notoriously opaque political-ad targeting practices. It’s threatened the team with “enforcement action” if they don’t pull the plug on the project and wipe all data gathered so far, according to a Wall Street Journal…Read more...

The Louisiana National Guard stepped in to thwart a series of cyberattacks after several government offices across the state were targeted in recent weeks, according to a Friday Reuters report.

Although your first instinct when you see these photos might be, “Oh god,” we promise that it’s not an upcoming extreme weather event or some alien species coming to invade Earth. (Given that it’s 2020, you’re forgiven for thinking anything that’s not obviously good is probably horrific.) In fact, these are actually…Read more...

Among the reasons a federal judge ruled that 19-year-old Alexander Hillel Treisman should remain in custody while he awaits trial on child pornography charges: He conveyed his intent to assassinate Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden in a meme he posted online, according to prosecutors.

Quibi’s leadership has finally plugged the plug on a streaming service for which failure has for months seemed like an inevitability. But if Quibi’s founders believed the company’s legal troubles would vanish along with the service itself, Eko would like to inform Quibi otherwise.Read more...

The GOP-controlled Senate Commerce Committee is holding a hearing next week on Big Tech, and it’s called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to testify. Republicans on the committee have made it abundantly clear that their intent is to grill the CEOs over a conspiracy…Read more...

This week, Colorado-based startup ColdQuanta announced it has put “quantum matter on the cloud.” Which means—what exactly? To unpack this perfect pairing of buzz phrases: By “quantum matter,” ColdQuanta is referring to a collection of tens of thousands of rubidium atoms, cooled to near absolute zero. “On the cloud” …Read more...

My knowledge of American pop culture from summer 2006 to fall 2013 is hazy, at best. Those were the years I lived abroad in Tokyo, first as a broke college student and then an underpaid journalist. Illegally torrenting films while dodging Japan’s internet police was my main method of movie-watching, which meant I had…Read more...

At long last, iPhone owners can finally customize their home screens with widgets. (Android users, feel free to skip—y’all have had this feature for years.) After you install iOS 14, you can deck out your iPhone with fresh icons, wallpaper, and widgets for a fully personalized look. Here’s how to get started.Read more...

Unprecedented, globe-spanning popularity is cool and all, but it comes with drawbacks. The three-person development team behind AOC-approved deception sensation Among Us has been struggling with hacking issues for quite some time, but late last night, one particular hack forced their hand.

Law enforcement agencies across the United States are scrambling to secure funding for new cellphone-tracking equipment after the maker of the controversial “Stingray” device quietly announced last year it would no longer sell equipment directly to local law enforcement.Read more...

The presidential race may be sucking up all the climate oxygen at the national level, but it’s far from the only place climate is on the ballot. This election is full of existential choices down the ballot, with tons of crucial Senate, House, and local fights, too.Read more...

While the Pokémon franchise has never really featured stories in which the protagonists’ dads are around (with Norman of Petalburg City being the one big exception), the games have never been short on father figures who, depending on the generation you’re playing, act as either guiding mentors like Professor Oak or as…Read more...

The president has riffed on many a bizarre subject from his toilet-flushing habits to his appearance under LED lightbulbs. But Donald Trump has a new target in his unending war of grievances against modernizing how we live: windows.Read more...

A bombshell study from last month made the extraordinary claim of finding a type of molecule on Venus associated with life. An independent re-evaluation of the methods used in the paper has reached an entirely different conclusion, finding “no statistical evidence” for the biomarker.

Tesla’s issues with faulty production and inconsistent quality extend outside the U.S. market: As first reported by Bloomberg, the automaker is set to recall close to 30,000 of its imported Model S and Model X cars from China, citing problems surrounding the vehicle’s suspension systems.Read more...

At some point, Corsair is going to run out of upgrades to cram into its top-of-the-line keyboards, but it seems that time hasn’t arrived quite yet. That’s because by taking its previous high-end keyboard and upgrading it with new optomechanical switches and adding a new control wheel, the Corsair K100 has created a…Read more...

There are a few universal truths in this world. Water is wet, the Earth is round, and there will always be things your siblings do better than you. In my case, my older sister Christine Elderkin-Campos bakes delicious homemade sourdough. As if that weren’t enough, she’s also taken to stenciling her creations with…Read more...

What the hell is going on with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell?Read more...