Hasta La Gadget!

“There’s definitely these intimate moments where I’m signaling to my son,” the actor told IndieWire.

Children ages 5 to 11 are likely to be eligible for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines any day now.

If you’re looking for a way to get just a taste of Windows 11 without taking the full dive, Microsoft has a way. Today Windows 10 Insiders have the ability to download and load the newest design for the Microsoft Store. It doesn’t appear exactly as you’d see it with Windows 11, but it’s close enough to get you ready … Continue reading

Something Adobe does at nearly every one of its annual design conferences is preview experimental features that may one day make their way to its apps. In 2020, it was a tool called Sharp Shots. This year, it was Project In-Between and a feature called Project Morpheus.

Building on the Neural Filters Adobe debuted last year, Project Morpheus is capable of automating frame-by-frame video edits in a way that produces consistent results. In the demo the company showed off, one of its employees modified a video of themselves where they had a neutral expression throughout to put a smile on their face. They did it in mere moments, with Adobe’s Sensei AI most of the heavy lifting. You only need to see the demo once to understand the potential for misuse, something Adobe told Engadget it’s taking into account. 

“As with all Adobe Max Sneaks, Project Morpheus is a way in which we preview exploratory and forward-looking technologies from our research labs and engineering teams. These proof-of-concept ideas aren’t always destined for inclusion in products,” a spokesperson for the company said. “We recognize that we have to balance innovation with our responsibility to ensure our technology is being used for the good of our customers and society. Our development of AI is guided by the principles of Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency.”

Additionally, the company pointed to its work on the Content Authenticity Initiative. First announced in 2019, the project has seen Adobe work with The New York Times and Twitter to develop a metadata tagging system designed to limit the number of altered images and videos that circulate online. At Max 2021, it also started beta testing Content Credentials. It allows professionals, including photojournalists and artists, to attach attribution data to their images that detail the edit history of a file.

Next month on Mars, the ESA and China’s National Space Administration (CNSA) will try something that’s never been attempted before in space: Sending data from a planet-based rover to an orbiter that it can’t receive any messages from. Specifically, China’s selfie-taking Zhurong rover, which has been on the Red Planet since May, will try to shoot data over to the ESA’s Mars Express Orbiter. 

As the ESA explains, Zhurong can’t actually receive any communications from the Express Orbiter, due to a radio incompatibility. That means it can’t hear the hail signal sent from the orbiter, which is typically what a rover waits for before it starts sending out data. Instead, next month Mars and the ESA will attempt a new method that’s previously only been tested on Earth. During five tests, Zhurong will send a signal blindly into space, and the Mars Express will listen for that signal and any potential data.

“If [Mars Express] detects the magic signal, the radio will lock on to it and begin recording any data,” ESA’s Josh Tapley writes. “At the end of the communication window, the spacecraft will turn to face Earth and relay these data across space the same way it does for other scientific Mars missions. When the data arrive at ESOC, they will be forwarded on to the Zhurong team for processing and analysis.”    

It’s not unusual for rovers to send data to foreign orbiter — that’s commonly been seen as a smart backup method — but this test opens the door for communication between incompatible systems. That’ll be useful if China has any issues with its Tianwen-1 orbiter down the line, or if the US and other countries need help in turn.