A sister company of Google, Alphabet’s Wing Aviation, just got federal approval to start using drones for commercial delivery. Amazon’s own drone-delivery program is ready to launch as well. As drones take flight, the world is about to get a lot louder – as if neighborhoods were filled with leaf blowers, lawn mowers and chainsaws.
A blue moon, if you’re being technically correct (the best kind of correct), is the second full moon to appear in a single calendar month. A Blue Moon, though, is the lunar lander unveiled by Amazon head and Blue Origin founder, Jeff Bezos.
Facebook started rolling out a new tool in April 2019. Under updated procedures, the social media website would request ID verification for people who wish to advertise or promote political posts or ads. The announcement received very little publicity, but it can be interpreted as Facebook’s latest attempt to curb Russia’s anticipated interference in EU elections and prepare to manage any meddling in the 2020 US presidential elections.
Samsung’s smartphones are known for producing great images, for all that they’re using nothing but 12MP cameras (technically). But it’s a fair bet that Samsung’s new flagships are going to default to 16MP — thanks to a new 64MP ISOCELL image sensor the company revealed this morning.
Technology is designed to be addictive. And a society that is “mobile dependent” has a hard time spending even minutes away from their app-enabled smartphones.
In 2017, U.S. adults spent an average of three hours and 20 minutes a day using their smartphones and tablets. This is double the amount from just five years ago, according to an annual survey of internet trends. Another survey suggests most of that time is spent on arguably unproductive activities like Facebook, gaming and other types of social media.
This addiction has consequences.
You might think that the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home is going to be a light-hearted affair. And, since Spider-Man is in it, you’d mostly be right. But there’s the little matter of the event of Avengers: Endgame to contend with. Yes, Tom Holland prefaces this trailer with a warning about Endgame spoilers and they’re… substantial. If you’ve managed to avoid spoilers so far, take Tom’s advice and avoid watching the trailer below.
This week in Light Start, we explore some of the Marvel universe, check out some frikkin’ laserbeams, and witness an eldrich abomination made flesh.
Your vacuum cleaner that you leave to do its job while you are away is a robot. It senses the world around it and makes driving decisions as it sucks and sweeps.
But your washing machine is not a robot. You tell it how to wash when you select the cycle and it gets on with it. There are grey areas and the definition is debated, but let’s leave it there.
The Competition Commission last week confirmed what all South Africans have been telling each other for years: the cost of…
This week on Light Start: multiple Will Smiths, William Gibson’s Alien script, Endgame shatters records, and Bill Nye the Science Podcast.