Jun 01
The 85-year-old comedian, who was freed from prison 11 months ago, is accused of forcing a teenager to perform a sex act at the Playboy Mansion in 1975.
Jun 01
If you’ve been keeping an eye out for discounts on the Apple AirPods Pro, now’s your chance to grab a pair. The wireless earbuds are currently listed for $180 at Amazon — not quite an all-time low, but still $69 less than its usual retail price of $249. Unlike the basic AirPods, the AirPods Pro come with silicon tips that enable a more comfortable fit and give them the seal necessary for effective noise cancellation. We gave the earbuds a score of 87 in our review, praising them for having better audio than previous models due to their built-in amplifiers and the ability to automatically tune low- and mid-range frequencies to each user’s ear. In addition, we praised the earbuds for giving users hands-free access to Siri voice assistant and having IPX4 water resistance.
Buy Apple AirPods Pro at Amazon – $180
That said, Apple’s second-gen AirPods are also on sale for $100 right now. In case you’re looking for something cheaper and don’t mind that the model doesn’t have silicon tips, you can still get a pair for $100 or $59 off its retail price of $159. They aren’t quite that different from the first iteration of the earbuds, but they’re better at seamlessly connecting with your devices, thanks to the H1 wireless chipset.
But if you’re on the lookout for over-ear headsets, then head over to Amazon to see the website’s deal on the Apple AirPods Max. You can get the AirPods Max in Space Gray or Silver for $450, or $99 off its retail price. In our review, we discussed how the headphones have an excellent balanced sound quality, solid active noice cancellation and a lengthy battery life.
Buy Apple AirPods Max at Amazon – $450
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Jun 01
Madonna and her son were knockouts at the title fight between Gervonta Davis and Rolando Romero in Brooklyn, New York.
Jun 01
Shark Bay, an Australian World Heritage Area, serves as home to various animals that feed on its thriving sea grass. Turns out that sea grass called Poseidon’s ribbon weed, or Posidonia australis, is a single ancient plant that’s been cloning itself for the past 4,500 years. Researchers from The University of Western Australia and Flinders University studied samples of the organism taken from across the bay and generated a DNA fingerprint with 18,000 genetic markers. What they found was that the sea grass stretching across 180 kilometers (112 miles) — the size of Cincinnati, as The New York Times notes — of Shark Bay is just a single plant.
Senior author Dr. Elizabeth Sinclair said they’re often asked how many plants grow in sea grass meadows. For Shark Bay, lead author and UWA student Jane Edgeloe said: “The answer blew us away — there was just one! That’s it, just one plant has expanded over 180km in Shark Bay, making it the largest known plant on Earth.”
The Posidonia apparently clones itself by producing new shoots growing out of its root system. It doesn’t reproduce sexually, because it’s most likely unable to: The organism has a condition called polyploidy, which means it inherited 100 percent of each parent’s genome instead of just 50 percent from each. Since polyploidy often results in sterility, cloning might be the only way for the Shark Bay Posidonia to proliferate.
Sinclair said its polyploidy might have also made it more resilient than usual, though. It could have given the organism the “ability to cope with a broad range of conditions, which is a great thing in climate change.” It remains to be seen whether the Shark Bay Posidonia will continue to thrive in the face of modern climate change, but the researchers may find out soon enough. They’ve set up a set of experiments to figure out how it survives in environments with variable conditions that include a wide range of temperatures and salinities, as well as extreme brightness and darkness.
You can read the group’s paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Jun 01
The Morning After: The French government bans English gaming terms, including ‘eSports’
Posted in: Today's ChiliNot satisfied with trying to replace “WiFi” with “l’access sans fil à internet” (which didn’t work), l’Académie française set its sights on gaming terms in 2017. It’s now gained traction with the government, and France’s Ministry of Culture has announced it’ll ban terms including “streamer” and “esports,” according to AFP. Going forward, government communications must use terms like“joueur-animateur en direct” (for “streamer”) and “jeu video en nuage” (for “cloud gaming”).
The Ministry of Culture told the AFP it’s concerned that English terms could become a “barrier to understanding” for non-gamers. Which is fair. But at least make the terms a little pithier.
— Mat Smith
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Watch NASA’s Mars helicopter complete a record-setting flight
Ingenuity flew its fastest and longest flight in April.
NASA
NASA has shared video of Ingenuity’s milestone 25th flight on April 8th, when it broke duration and speed records. The robotic helicopter flew at 12MPH for just over two minutes and 41 seconds, providing footage of the Red Planet’s rippling sands as part of the 2,310-foot journey. Don’t worry: The footage has been sped up.
Sonos Ray review: A soundbar that nails the basics
It gets the most important things right, including sound quality.
Sonos? Doing affordable soundbars? Are they any good? The Ray may be Sonos’ most affordable soundbar, but don’t consider it a budget device. For $279, you get the excellent sound quality Sonos is known for along with multi-room audio features in all Sonos speakers.
It’s not the loudest soundbar out there, and the compact design means its soundstage isn’t as wide as you’ll get from bigger speakers. But if you have a smaller living room, the Ray is a huge upgrade over built-in TV speakers. Read on for the full review.
China’s military scientists call for development of anti-Starlink measures
They’re looking into the capability to destroy the satellites.
China must develop capabilities to disable and maybe even destroy Starlink internet satellites, the country’s military researchers said in Chinese journal Modern Defense Technology. The authors highlighted the possibility of Starlink being used for military purposes that could aid other countries and threaten China’s national security. According to South China Morning Post, the scientists are calling for the development of anti-satellite capabilities, including both hard (missiles, or even lasers) and soft kill methods that target satellite software.
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 leaks in retail listing
The latest model could go on sale this week.
It appears Microsoft will soon reveal its next-gen Surface Laptop Go. The successor to the would-be Chromebook competitor popped up in a Korean retailer listing that appears to have gone live a little too early. The Surface Laptop Go 2 will shift from a 10th-gen Intel Core CPU to an 11th-gen Intel processor, with support for up to 8GB of RAM and as much as 256GB of storage, according to the listing. The listing also suggests pre-orders will open on June 2nd.
Blizzard won’t release ‘Diablo Immortal’ in countries with loot box laws
The company would rather cut off access than change the game’s business model.
Don’t expect to play Diablo Immortal in Belgium or the Netherlands when it launches this week. GamesIndustry.biz and Tweakers have learned Blizzard won’t release the free-to-play game in both countries due to their “gambling restrictions” — that is, their legislation banning loot boxes.
Evercade’s new retro handheld includes a vertical mode for shoot ’em ups
It also looks much nicer than the company’s past devices.
Engadget
Retro console maker Evercade has just announced its latest device, a new handheld called the EXP. If you’re not familiar with Evercade, its products are a bit different from your standard retro fare. Instead of purchasing a device with a limited library of preloaded games, Evercade sells cartridges with a selection of games. The EXP also has a Tate mode, which makes the handheld a better fit for playing games designed around vertical scrolling, like classic shmups.
Jun 01
Your a.m. routine could be having a big impact on your Zzzs. Here’s what you should avoid.
Jun 01
Texas Law Forcing Tech Companies to Host Heinous Content Put on Hold by SCOTUS
Posted in: Today's Chili
The U.S. Supreme Court put a controversial new Texas law on hold in a 5-4 decision late Tuesday. The law would allow social media users to sue companies like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook if those users felt they were being “censored” online.
Jun 01
Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” soared up the charts thanks to a key role on the hit Netflix show “Stranger Things.”
Jun 01
Porsche is strengthening its relationship with EV supercar company Rimac, investing “eight figures” for a total ownership stake of 20 percent, TechCrunch reported. Rimac scored $500 million in total, with additional funds coming in from investment giants Softbank and Goldman Sachs. All of that is a huge vote of confidence in the company, which has become a key supplier and collaborator on EVs built by Hyundai, Porsche and other mainstream automakers.
Porsche, which invested $83.3 million in Rimac last year, said it’s “delighted” that Rimac has gained some new, high-profile investors. “SoftBank is the biggest tech investor in the world, and Goldman is a very big financial investor,” said Rimac founder and CEO, Mate Rimac. The money will be used to build a $200 million Rimac campus in Zagreb, Croatia and bolster the company’s Rimac Technology subsidiary, which designs and builds EV parts for other automakers.
Despite the influx of cash from Porsche, Rimac said the overall investment will help it remain independent. “It’s very good for us to have Porsche and Hyundai onboard as shareholders, but we don’t want to be fully dependent on them,” the CEO explained.
Last year, Rimac set up a joint venture with Porsche to run Bugatti after Volkswagen ceded ownership. The new entity, called Bugatti Rimac, recently unveiled the 1,914-horsepower Rimac Nevera EV hypercar that will go from 0-60 MPH in 1.85 seconds and have an estimated top speed around 250 MPH. Apart from Porsche and Hyundai, Rimac Technology develops and manufactures batteries and other components for Koenigsegg, Pininfarina and Aston Martin.
Jun 01
Researchers were stunned when they discovered a species of seagrass had effectively cloned itself for 4,500 years and covered nearly 80 square miles.
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