The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Videoconferencing platform Zoom had a huge second quarter, with $663.5 million in revenue compared to $145.8 million a year ago, the company announced on Monday. It now has around 370,000 customers with more than 10 employees, an increase of 458 percent year over year.“Our ability to keep people around the world connected, coupled with our strong execution, led to revenue growth of 355% year-over-year in Q2,” Zoom founder and CEO Eric S. Yuan said in a statement announcing the earnings.On a call with analysts— over Zoom, of course— Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg said subscriptions from new customers accounted for 81 percent of the second quarter revenue growth. The company did not see the customer churn it had expected, she added. Yuan... Continue reading…

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines both said they would permanently eliminate fees associated with changing or canceling a flight. The news comes less than a day after United Airlines first announced a permanent end to its change fee policy.All three carriers have been waiving change fees since March 2020, when the novel coronavirus pandemic first disrupted global air travel. With demand dried up, the airlines are seeking to make flying look safe, stress-free, and, most of all, cheap. And that means eliminating many of the fees and surcharges associated with air travel.“We’ve said before that we need to approach flexibility differently than this industry has in the past, and today’s announcement builds on that promise to ensure... Continue reading…

Left: Matt Birchler’s recreation. Right: Apple’s original wallpaper. | Matt Birchler, Apple Many of us are finding cool things to work on while stuck at home, and I think Matt Birchler takes the cake this week. He, like much of the internet, has been taking off in Microsoft Flight Simulator, and he used the absolutely unreal detail in the game to re-create some of the more iconic wallpapers from recent releases of macOS.To re-create these images, Matt flew to each location, then used Flight Simulator to position the camera, set the focal length, and adjust the time of day with in-game controls. Then, with a little post-processing magic in Adobe Lightroom, he created the images below.“Flight Simulator is a ‘make your own fun’ game and I was looking for interesting things to do while flying around,” Birchler told The Verge. He... Continue reading…

Image: Bang & Olufsen Bang & Olufsen has announced its new Beoplay H95 noise-canceling headphones for the steep price of $800. You can get a stellar pair of headphones for much, much less than that, but the audio specialist is hoping to leapfrog Sony, Bose, and other headphone makers in craftsmanship and sound quality. With their lambskin ear pads (with memory foam inside), aluminum frame, and leather headband, these certainly look the part of top-end, premium headphones.With the H95 headphones, Bang & Olufsen also copied one of the best things about Microsoft’s Surface Headphones: the dial controls. You can twist the dial on the right ear cup to adjust volume and the one on the left to control the adaptive noise cancellation. That’s exactly how the Surface... Continue reading…

Intel has teamed up with Square Enix’s Crystal Dynamics game studio to optimize the graphics for the upcoming Avengers game, specifically for PC players. It’s the sort of partnership that usually crops up for graphics card companies like AMD or Nvidia. While Intel wouldn’t provide details on numbers, it did confirm that the deal (which includes a two-year commitment to continue to support Avengers) is its biggest gaming deal yet.Intel — as a company that largely focuses on the CPU, rather than the GPU — may seem like an odd choice as a game company partner for graphics-facing improvements. But the improvements Crystal Dynamics made to Avengers are expressly designed to take advantage of Intel’s prowess by optimizing tasks more suited to... Continue reading…

Brands and influencers have locked in a Twitter bidding war for the chance to get a branded costume added to Fall Guys since August 17th, and that bidding war came to an end today. G2 Esports, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, Aim Lab, and Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, have emerged victorious as a team effort, pledging to donate $1 million to charity.Mediatonic confirmed the news today, calling it “probably the spiciest team up since The Avengers,” with a tweet from Aim Lab. “Crowns should be held in the palms of those who continue to do good,” Aim Lab said on Twitter. It’s unclear what the costume will actually look like or when it will be added to the game.The first official bid was €212 from PC hardware manufacturer Cooler Master, and the... Continue reading…

The latest update to Overcast, a popular iOS podcast app, is bringing new transparency to podcast ads. Listeners who are in the beta can now view the services their favorite podcasts use to serve ads and track listeners. This means listeners will be able to tell when a podcast is using dynamic advertising, which allows networks to swap and target ads based on the specific person listening. For most people, this likely won’t change the shows they enjoy, but for the audience that cares or wants more information about how a podcast serves them ads, it’s a notable transparency feature that isn’t yet available in any of the other major podcasting apps.This distinguishes Overcast particularly from Spotify, which gathers more information than... Continue reading…

Ring Federal Bureau of Investigation documents warned that owners of Amazon’s Ring and similar video doorbells can use the systems — which collect video footage sometimes used to investigate crimes — in order to watch police instead.The Intercept spotted the files in the BlueLeaks data trove aggregated from law enforcement agencies. One 2019 analysis describes numerous ways police and the FBI could use Ring surveillance footage, but it also cites “new challenges” involving sensor- and camera-equipped smart home devices. Specifically, they can offer an early warning when officers are approaching a house to search it; give away officer locations in a standoff; or let the owner capture pictures of law enforcement, “presenting a risk to their... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Amazon’s Echo Buds wireless earbuds are $40 off at Amazon, which brings them down to their lowest-yet price of $90. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this deal, but it doesn’t happen regularly. (It happened once before in January 2020.) If you’re in the market for wireless earbuds, these are a particularly good value if you’re seeking a solid set of noise-canceling buds. They utilize Bose noise-reduction technology to help block out sound, and they’re also worth the price, thanks to their excellent sound quality and comfortable fit. Image: Remedy Entertainment Several sites are offering discounts on the Steam version of Control Ultimate Edition, but the best one I’ve seen yet (thanks to Slickdeals) is happening at... Continue reading…

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge Revel’s shared electric mopeds are now available in San Francisco, with over 430 mopeds scattered across in the city, the company says. Revel has been expanding into new cities across the US this year even as it faces questions about its safety protocols.Revel isn’t new to the Bay Area; the company also operates in Berkeley and Oakland. But the scooters that are available in San Francisco are not the same as the ones offered in other markets like New York City. The company says the mopeds are custom-designed with new hardware, including a 2960-watt motor “designed to help riders navigate San Francisco’s famous hills.”“designed to help riders navigate San Francisco’s famous hills”The mopeds are serviced and rebalanced by a staff of... Continue reading…

Image: Activision Cheating in the PC versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone has been a huge problem, but now, Activision appears to be cracking down on the people creating these exploits. CxCheat.net, a company known for making exploits in PC multiplayer games, says it will stop creating Call of Duty cheats because Activision threatened legal action.The announcement that it was ending the development and sale of its Call of Duty cheating products was first spotted on Reddit. CxCheat.net notified users on Discord that it would stop developing and selling exploits that allowed players to gain advantages in several Call of Duty games, including the free-to-play battle royale title Warzone. The hacking company also sold cheats for Apex Legends... Continue reading…

The next expansion of the sprawling League of Legends universe is something unexpected: a board game called Tellstones. This isn’t developer Riot’s first foray into tabletop games — that would be 2016’s Mechs vs. Minions — but what makes Tellstones interesting is that it’s a game set within the franchise’s expansive fantasy realm. “We portray Tellstones as a game that’s actually played in Runeterra, as part of their history and culture in the same way that chess or mancala have ancient roots in our own world,” explains Greg Street, Riot’s VP of IP and entertainment.The developer isn’t talking too much about how the game works just yet, but you can get an idea in the teaser trailer below. Tellstones appears to be a game about strategy... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge TikTok creators will soon be able to sell merchandise they design and create directly to fans via the app itself.Creator commerce platform Teespring is set to roll out the integration soon, and it’s currently being tested with a limited group of users. Thousands of TikTok creators have already partnered with Teespring to start creating merchandise they can sell to their followers. The integration will allow “creators to create their own products on Teespring, push it directly to TikTok, and then have fans be able to buy products directly through TikTok,” Teespring CEO Chris Lamontagne told The Verge. It marks the first time that creators can sell their own merchandise directly through TikTok.There are a number of questions the... Continue reading…

Google is rolling out an update to Google Images designed to make it easier to license photographs or pictures that are covered by copyright. The change could help publishers, photographers, and artists get in front of their audience, while also helping users find images that they have a right to use.Images with licensing information provided by the publisher will now appear in search results with a “Licensable” badge over the thumbnail. Clicking on that image will then bring up its licensing requirements and a link to where you’re able to buy rights to it, if necessary. Licensors are able to specify a purchasing link that differs from the page the image has been surfaced from.It’ll also be possible to filter image search results by... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple on Monday announced that its new App Store appeals process, first revealed at WWDC in June, is now live, meaning developers can challenge Apple over whether their app is in fact violating one of its guidelines. In addition to that, Apple says developers can also suggest changes to the App Store guidelines through a form submission on its online developer portal.“For apps that are already on the App Store, bug fixes will no longer be delayed over guideline violations except for those related to legal issues. You’ll instead be able to address guideline violations in your next submission,” reads a note posted to Apple’s developer website. “And now, in addition to appealing decisions about whether an app violates guidelines, you can... Continue reading…

This past weekend, the Ikea Harajuku location in Tokyo was home to something unique: an installation starring a virtual person. The retail giant partnered with Imma, a virtual influencer, in order to explore the concept of “happiness at home.” Over three days, those passing by the first floor could peer into Imma’s living room, watching as she lounged on a couch, mindlessly browsing her phone. Meanwhile, a view into her bedroom was streamed on a screen on the second floor, viewable from Harajuku Station.Of course, these weren’t real living spaces, since Imma is a CG model and not an actual human. But Ikea says that it created the installation using LED screens inside of the physical rooms, which were “curated” by Imma, to give the... Continue reading…

Amazon unveiled the latest version of its drone last year. | Image: Jordan Stead / Amazon Amazon has been given the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval to operate as a drone airline in the United States, paving the way for it to start offering commercial deliveries on a trial basis, Bloomberg reports. The FAA said that the ruling allows Amazon to “safely and efficiently deliver packages to customers,” according to CNBC, and let its drones carry packages outside of the operator’s visual line of sight.“This certification is an important step forward for Prime Air,” Amazon’s vice president in charge of Prime Air, David Carbon, told Bloomberg, adding that the decision “indicates the FAA’s confidence in Amazon’s operating and safety procedures for an autonomous drone delivery service that will one day deliver packages to... Continue reading…

Alex Castro / The Verge And they may meme him into reelection Continue reading…

8Bitdo If you’re serious about fighting games, 8BitDo has announced a mod-friendly, wireless arcade stick that may interest you. It’s designed to work with PC and Nintendo Switch, and you can easily toggle between two sets of controls depending on the platform you’re using. It costs $89.99 and ships October 20th, but preorders are open now from the company’s site and Amazon.The wireless arcade stick supports Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless via a receiver hidden in its underside, though you can wire it directly with a USB-C cable (which you’ll need to do on occasion to recharge its 1,000mAh built-in battery). 8BitDo claims that it can last 40 hours per charge while using the 2.4GHz wireless receiver or up to 30 hours via Bluetooth. Wireless... Continue reading…

Image: Asus Asus has taken the wraps off its new ZenBook S, a slim ultrabook that can be equipped with up to Intel’s Core i7-1065G7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of fast PCIe-based storage. Asus gave its flagship laptop a glow-up in the screen department, going from a 16:9 aspect ratio in last year’s model to a taller 3:2 aspect ratio for this year’s 3300 x 2200 touchscreen. What’s more, the bezels surrounding it are thin, and the display is Pantone-validated with 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut.The ZenBook S has plenty of other traits that might make it a worthy contender for your next laptop. It features two Thunderbolt 3 ports that can be used for fast data transfer, connecting to an external monitor, or charging its battery.... Continue reading…

Photo by Brent Rose for The Verge GoPro may be adding one of its most useful new features to its main camera line with the upcoming Hero 9: a front-facing color screen. The feature, revealed in leaked renders obtained by WinFuture, wouldn’t be a first for GoPro; the company added such a screen to last year’s GoPro Max camera. But that device is a 360 camera costing $500, so adding one to the presumably cheaper Hero 9 — so filmmakers (and especially vloggers) can see in full color what the shot looks like as they record — is a nice touch.The leaks indicate the new front-facing screen would remain the same size as the current monochrome status display, which sits on the front next to the lens. That screen typically displays information like frame rate, resolution, and... Continue reading…

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Small satellite launcher Rocket Lab successfully returned to flight late Sunday night, less than two months after the company’s previous mission failed to reach orbit during launch. The company’s primary rocket, the Electron, took off from Rocket Lab’s launch facility in New Zealand, deploying a small Earth-observing satellite into orbit around Earth.The launch marked a quick turnaround for Rocket Lab after its failed launch on July 4th. During that mission, the company’s Electron also took off from New Zealand, carrying seven small satellites into space. But just a few minutes into the flight, a faulty electrical connection set off a chain reaction of events that caused the engine on the upper portion of the rocket to shut down early.... Continue reading…

Intent is in the eye of the beholder Continue reading…

Thousands of protesters gathered at McCarren Park in Brooklyn for a massive march around Williamsburg, making a loud call for the defunding of the police force. This comes after NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio promised ‘intense change’ with police reform proposals amid calls to defund law enforcement, including shifting resources from NYPD and publicizing officers’ disciplinary records. Brooklyn, NY on June 7th, 2020. | Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images Real change takes time, willpower, and sustained resistance — and the technology to make police brutality visible to policymakers Continue reading…

A protester holds up their homemade sign that says, “Say Her Name” while holding her iphone to record a speaker during a protest at Trump Tower. This was part of the Black Womxn’s Empowerment March that started at Trump Tower and marched to Gracie Mansion. Protesters continue taking to the streets across America and around the world after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer Derek Chauvin that was kneeling on his neck during for eight minutes, was caught on video and went viral. During his arrest as Floyd pleaded, “I Can’t Breathe”. | Photo by Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images They’re harmful to the mental health of Black and Latinx adolescents and teenagers Continue reading…

A volunteer watches protesters from a mutual aid van on August 14, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. | Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images Amid police targeting, strenuous days, and COVID-19, mutual aid networks provide vital support Continue reading…

‘It made me feel like I was going to get picked up by a black van one day’ Continue reading…

Leon Ford was 19 when he was shot by police and paralyzed. | Photo by Emmai Alaquiva In 2012, Leon Ford was shot by the police. That was only the beginning of his journey. Continue reading…

Samsung has opened up preorders for the Galaxy M51 in Germany, officially confirming that its latest midrange phone has an absolutely massive 7,000mAh battery. It costs €360.01 (about $429), and Samsung’s site says that it expects the phone to start shipping on September 11th. There’s no sign of preorder pages on Samsung’s other regional stores just yet, but a release in India seems likely given that Samsung teased the phone there last week.At 7,000mAh, it isn’t the biggest phone battery we’ve ever seen. Last year, for example, Avenir Telecom showed off an Energizer-branded smartphone containing a bulbous 18,000mAh battery. But it’s almost unheard of in devices from mass-market manufacturers like Samsung, and we’ll be interested to see... Continue reading…

OnMail — the new email service from Edison Mail — is officially launching today in a public beta, offering the company’s reinvented take on email to the masses.Edison is best known for its regular email app (which recently debuted a new premium subscription service), but at the end of the day, the original app is effectively just a fresh coat of paint and some additional nice features onto the regular Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or iCloud mail experience. OnMail, on the other hand, is a more drastic attempt at fixing email from the ground up, offering a wholly new email service that’s designed around privacy and convenience. Interestingly, OnMail is second major new email service to launch in 2020 with an eye towards fixing... Continue reading…

Screenshot: Netflix Some of Netflix’s original TV shows and movies, including the Oscar-nominated Two Popes and horror thriller Bird Box, are now available to watch for free without a subscription, Gadgets360 reports. The free content, which also includes the first episode of Stranger Things, can be found here, and is available globally.Netflix confirmed the promotion in a statement given to Gadgets360. “We’re looking at different marketing promotions to attract new members and give them a great Netflix experience,” a spokesperson said. The free content includes a selection of films that can be watched in their entirety, but for TV shows only the first episodes are available.Here’s a full list of the TV shows and films available to watch for free:

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A Sunday tweet from Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) showing a video of activist Ady Barkan got a “manipulated media” label from Twitter. Barkan has ALS and speaks through voice assistance.In the video, a conversation between Barkan and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Barkan asks “But do we agree that we can redirect some of the funding?” The version Scalise tweeted edits in the words “for police,” to the end of the question, words which Barkan says in a different context earlier in the video.A Twitter spokesperson confirmed in an email to The Verge that the tweet was labeled “based on our Synthetic and Manipulated Media policy.” As of 10:45PM ET Sunday, the tweet with the manipulated video appears to have been deleted from... Continue reading…

This evening, SpaceX launched another rocket from Florida, but this vehicle took a very different kind of path than most flights from the East Coast. Rather than head eastward after launch as most Florida missions do, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket headed south after liftoff, skirting over Florida’s southeast coast and heading over Cuba.That’s because this mission was headed to what is known as a polar orbit — a path that runs mostly north-to-south over the Earth’s poles. It’s a type of mission you don’t normally see taking place from Florida. In fact, this will be the first time since 1969 that a rocket taking off from Florida heads southward.Up until now, most polar launches in the US have taken place from the southern coast of California.... Continue reading…

Jeff Daniels as James Comey | Showtime After the sad news of Chadwick Boseman’s death, I planned a marathon of his movies this weekend. We’re still definitely planning to re-watch 42 and Get on Up, but so far we can’t stop watching Black Panther.Boseman is just so magnetic as T’Challa and everything about the movie is as stunning on the sixth or seventh watch as it was the first time— the acting, the cinematography, the music, the costumes, and of course the script— all amazing. If you have not seen it (honestly, why?) you should absolutely remedy that as soon as possible.In addition to four other trailers to check out this week, a bonus:Black PantherThat’s the original Black Panther trailer from 2017. The movie went on to earn a Best Picture nomination and three Oscar... Continue reading…

Photo by Matt Kennedy / Marvel Studios ABC will show the 2018 movie Black Panther without commercials on Sunday night, followed by an ABC News special “Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King.” The Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC, said in a statement that the special will “celebrate Boseman’s storied life, legacy and career,” and will “shine a light on the medical condition he privately battled.”Boseman died of colon cancer Friday at age 43, and according to a statement from his family, was first diagnosed with the disease in 2016.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Cloudflare said its Sunday morning outage affecting numerous websites was due to an IP outage by internet service provider CenturyLink. According to a tweet from CenturyLink, all affected services have been restored as of 11:15AM ET.“Today we saw a widespread Internet outage online that impacted many multiple providers,” a Cloudflare representative said in an email to The Verge. “This was not a Cloudflare-specific outage. Level 3/CenturyLink was responsible for an outage that affected many Internet services, including Cloudflare. Cloudflare’s automated systems detected the problem and routed around them, but the extent of the problem required manual intervention as well.”

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla is pushing a software update that will let its vehicles’ Autopilot system detect speed limit signs using their cameras, Electrek reported. When the camera detects a speed limit sign, it will be displayed on the driver visualization in the car and used to set a speed limit warning, according to the software release notes.The latest software update also adds to its traffic light and stop sign control features, and will sound a chime when your Tesla is sitting at a stoplight that turns green. It’s only intended as a notification so it’s up to the driver to decide whether and when to actually move the car forward.In April, Tesla rolled out a software update in beta for its newer cars to allow them to see and respond to stop signs... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge French game publisher Ubisoft is apologizing to fans after a video showing the opening sequence for Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad showed images of a raised black fist, which critics said was “insensitive” and appeared to connect the Black Lives Matter movement to a fictional terrorist organization in the game.The game’s opening sequence shows UMBRA, an anarchist group which the narrator explains is taking “advantage of escalating civil unrest” to “generate more chaos and weaken governments.” The black raised fist image was associated with UMBRA.After the video was uploaded, several fans criticized how the imagery, including the fist, appeared to cast the Black Lives Matter movement as a terrorist group. One Twitter user who is a senior... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Plans for a TikTok sale may have a new obstacle, with China implementing new rules on AI technology exports, The New York Times reported. The new export control rules, which focus on technology the Chinese government considers sensitive, could mean that TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, might need a license before it can sell TikTok to an American company.The updated regulations prohibit exporting technology including text analysis, voice recognition, and content suggestions without a license from the Chinese government. According to The Wall Street Journal, a Chinese government official told state-run Xinhua News Agency that ByteDance should “seriously and cautiously” consider halting talks for a sale of TikTok.M... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge More than 180,000 people have died because of COVID-19 in the United States. And this week, the agency tasked with fighting the worst pandemic in a century recommended surrender.Earlier this week, the US Centers for Disease Control updated its COVID-19 advice to recommend fewer people get tested for the virus. The agency’s previous advice urged tests for “all close contacts” of infected people, stressing the importance of contacts being “quickly identified and tested.” Now, it says people without symptoms “do not necessarily need a test,” even if they were directly exposed or attended a large gathering in a viral hotspot. It makes exceptions for “vulnerable individuals” and adds a vague instruction to follow local health officials —... Continue reading…

It’s a mildly annoying problem: when you’re reading the snippet of a news article on Facebook and you click through to read the full article, even if you’re subscribed to the news publication, you hit its paywall and have to manually log in. Facebook says it’s now testing a feature that will help reduce how often you have to log in to news sites, allowing paying news subscribers to link their Facebook accounts to their subscriptions.The goal, according to Facebook, is to “provide a better news consumption experience on Facebook,” and allowing publishers to “deepen their relationships with subscribers.” Here’s how it works: Facebook identifies a subscriber from one of its publisher partners, and the subscriber is invited to link their... Continue reading…

Transforming classic video game consoles into on-the-go gadget gaming goodness is practically a time-honored tradition — I remember writing about Bacteria’s bulbous portable Nintendo 64 a decade ago.But @GingerOfMods new “Wii Boy Color” (via NintendoLife) is so clean, so compact, I just have to share it with you.OK, it’s a little bit thicker than an actual Game Boy Color if you count the rear triggers. But it’s remarkably close — and when have you had a Game Boy that can play Nintendo Wii and GameCube games on the go?

Illustration by Alex Castro Google took five days to review several ads with misleading information about voting by mail before opting to approve them, The Washington Post reported. The ads were created by Protect My Vote— a group the Post refers to as “shadowy”— and appeared to target people in several US states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, and Texas, showing up in response to searches for “mail-in voting.” One of the ads reads “think mail-in voting and absentee voting are the same. Think again! There are different safeguards for each,” a misleading and inaccurate claim.Google ultimately declined to remove the ads. Spokeswoman Charlotte Smith told the Post “We have zero tolerance for ads that employ voter suppression tactics or undermine... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge At T-Mobile, you can get a free iPhone 11 Pro if you meet all of the carrier’s qualifications. First off, you have to switch from another carrier and trade in your old device, or if you’re an existing customer, you can get one by adding a line to your plan. For either one, you’ll pay for the phone up front, then T-Mobile will pay you back in billing credits each month over a 24-month period.It’s worth noting that Apple is likely a month out from announcing the rumored iPhone 12, and with any new iPhone release, there are usually a bunch of carrier incentives. Still, it’s a free iPhone now, if you want it and meet the criteria. Control Ultimate Edition just launched this week on Steam, following a yearlong exclusive stint... Continue reading…

Update August 29th, 8:15AM ET: At just 3 seconds to liftoff, the Delta IV Heavy aborted the launch, just after the engines initially ignited and then shut off quickly. ULA says “an unexpected condition” prompted the abort. ULA’s CEO, Tory Bruno, noted the vehicle is in good shape, but the company will take at least a week to review all the data and try again.Original Story: In the very early morning hours on Saturday, the United Launch Alliance is set to launch its most powerful rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, lofting a classified spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. The mission could be the first of three back-to-back launches out of the Cape, too, with SpaceX set to launch two missions shortly afterward.Such a... Continue reading…

A gaming laptop that doesn’t cut too many corners Continue reading…

Steve Granitz/WireImage Actor Chadwick Boseman has died at 43 after battling colon cancer for four years, according to a statement posted on his Twitter account.“It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman,” the statement reads. “It was the honor of his life to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther.”Boseman worked on a number of films and TV shows over the last two decades, including 42 where he portrayed iconic baseball player Jackie Robinson, James Brown in Get on Up, and Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, but he was best known for his role as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Boseman first took on the role as T’Challa in Marvel’s 2016 film, Captain America: Civil War, before starring in his own Black Panther f... Continue reading…

Elon Musk’s brain-machine interface company Neuralink showcased a pig outfitted with the company’s device, at an event livestreamed on YouTube. One pig, Gertrude, had a device recording signals from an area of the brain linked to her snout. She’d had the implant for two months at the time of the demonstration.As Gertrude’s snout touched things, an array of dots and a series of noises indicated when more neurons were firing. Pigs have large parts of their brains that are devoted to the snout, a sensitive sensing instrument.“Like a Fitbit in your skull.”The design of the Neuralink device has changed since it was unveiled last year, rendering the device itself hard to see on Gertrude. It is now coin-shaped, and meant to sit flush with... Continue reading…