A major breakthrough in nuclear fusion has been confirmed a year after it was achieved at a laboratory in California. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) recorded the first case of ignition on August 8, 2021, the results of which have now been published in three Read more…
Alphabet’s “urban innovation” arm Sidewalk Labs planned to build a model “smart city” along a 12-acre patch of Toronto waterfront known as Quayside. But they abandoned the project in 2020, points out MIT’s Technology Review, “at the tail end of years of public controversy over its $900 million vision for Read more…
Earlier this week, Samsung unveiled their new Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 — two of the most refined and polished foldable smartphones on the market. However, what Samsung hasn’t done (or any other phone manufacturer for that matter) “is make the case for why you’d actually want a Read more…
The US Federal Election Commission approved a Google plan to let campaign emails bypass Gmail spam filters. The FEC’s advisory opinion adopted in a 4-1 vote said Gmail’s pilot program is permissible under the Federal Election Campaign Act and FEC regulations “and would not result in the making of a Read more…
The world’s largest smartphone market is in deep trouble. China saw a 14.7% decline in phone shipments in the second quarter, according to research firm IDC. And multibillion-dollar pillars of the industry like Xiaomi Corp., Vivo and Oppo all reported steep sales declines. Many factors drove the fall, including a Read more…
As Washington embarks on a multi-billion dollar, decade-long semiconductor development campaign, Beijing is reckoning with its own 20-year effort that’s largely failed to deliver. Both will need to grapple with wasted funds and misguided goals as they play catch-up to Taiwan and South Korea. Architects of China’s ambitious efforts may Read more…
Google will stop giving snappy answers to stupid questions, the company has announced, as it seeks to improve its search engine’s “featured snippets” service. That means users should see fewer answers to questions such as “When did Snoopy assassinate Abraham Lincoln?”, to which the service would once merrily respond with Read more…