America’s least communicative town could lose its status as the National Science Foundation considers mothballing a space observatory that currently means wireless signals are largely banned. Because Green Bank in West Virginia is so near to the observatory (and a naval radio station), where instruments must be kept free of interference, it’s the main residential […]
Google’s translate tool has created its own solution to greatly expand its automated capabilities. It can now translate between two languages even without a specific “dictionary” to do so. The company recently switched Google Translate away from its “traditional” method of consulting a known list of phrases and their equivalent in different languages. Instead it’s […]
Second World War codebreaking hub Bletchley Park could become a specialist codebreaking college for teams aged 16 to 19. The aim is to educate and recruit cybersecurity workers. As we’ve covered several times, the UK facility helped crack several key German encryption codes, giving Allied forces better intelligence and, by most estimates, shortening the duration […]
The US government wants smartphone manufacturers to adopt a common ‘driver mode’ that would stop the most distractive apps from running. The voluntary guidelines would be a one-stop mode along the lines of the common airplane mode on phones. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is making the proposals for handsets as a follow-up to […]
The day when most people in the world are online is not far off according to the UN. And it’s cost rather than logistics that is the main barrier for nearly all the rest. The UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) estimates that 47.1 percent of the world’s population now uses the Internet and that could […]
An alcoholic drinks company has produced a virtual reality video that lets users experience a car crash from a 360 degree perspective. It’s designed to highlight the dangers of drunk driving. The video from Diageo is compatible with most of the major VR headsets on the market. It also works on the Facebook and YouTube […]
Elon Musk claims Tesla can make solar-panel roofs cheaper than an ordinary shingle roof, even before taking into effect the energy costs. But there’s a big catch to his claim. The company recently unveiled a design for glass solar tiles that are transparent when viewed directly, but have a special coating that, when seen from […]
The promise of the world being at your fingertips has finally become a reality – albeit a virtual one. Google Earth, which covers almost the entire land mass of the planet through satellite and aerial imagery, is now available in virtual reality form. It’s been released through Steam for the HTC Vive system and Google […]
A phone designed to overcome the complexity and distraction of smartphones will soon be on sale. But bizarrely it requires a smartphone to work. The Light Phone costs $100 and was successfully funded on Kickstarter. It’s a device roughly the size of a credit card and does nothing other than make and receive calls. There’s […]
Dungeons & Dragons, which was originally designed by Gary Gygax (1938-2008) and Dave Arneson and first published in 1974, has finally earned its place in the National Toy Hall of Fame. It beat out a diverse set of nominees including Care Bears and bubble wrap. The Hall is housed at the Strong museum in Rochester, […]