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World’s Largest Electric Aircraft Takes Off on Just $5 of Electricity
Anders Forslund had eight years, a radical aviation bet, and $9.4 billion in airline commitments riding on a runway in upstate New York. He had left an aerospace research post in Sweden to build electric aircraft, scrapped his company’s original design after years of work, and eventually shut down its Swedish operation before moving the…
MapQuest’s Lake Ontario Stand Sends Forgotten App Straight To No. 1
For years, MapQuest seemed like one of those internet names people remembered more as a punchline than an app they actually used. Then a fight over the name of Lake Ontario exploded online, and suddenly the mapping service was racing past some of the biggest apps in America. After publicly refusing to change the lake’s…
Dad Learns 3D Printing To Build Arms For Children
Callum Miller was told his 10-year-old son could face an 18-month wait for a robotic arm. Rather than accept the delay, the dad bought a secondhand 3D printer despite having no experience with the technology. Six weeks later, he had built a prosthetic arm for his son Jamie. Then, after seeing another young child’s story…
AI Chatbots May Be Better at Building Scam Trust Than Human Fraudsters, Study Finds
Gilad Gressel knew something the 22 people in his study did not. For one week, each participant texted with two strangers for at least 15 minutes a day, talking about work, family, and the small personal details people share when they believe someone is genuinely listening. One stranger was human. The other was an AI…
Someone Hid an AirTag in a Box of Rare Books and It Led to a Facility Where Books May Be Destroyed for AI
Imagine selling nearly 1,000 books to one buyer in a single order. No carefully curated selection. No obvious interest in a particular author or subject. Just an enormous sweep of titles, bought in bulk from the used book market. For almost two years, rare books dealers had reportedly been seeing orders like this and quietly…
ICE Eyes $2 Million Robot Dog Purchase for Immigration Enforcement Operations
Four-legged robots that once looked like something from a science-fiction film could soon become part of U.S. immigration enforcement operations. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is looking to spend up to $2 million on Boston Dynamics’ Spot robots, according to a federal procurement notice outlining plans to use the machines for inspections, situational awareness, and…
Mexican Scientist Reports Promising Results in HPV Treatment Research
A Mexican scientist’s research into a treatment for human papillomavirus captured worldwide attention after reports claimed she had successfully eliminated HPV in 29 women. The headline was dramatic, hopeful, and quickly shared across social media, where many people interpreted the findings as proof that a cure for HPV had finally arrived. The real story behind…
These Fake License Plate Clothes Were Designed To Confuse Surveillance Cameras
At DEF CON 27 in August 2019, one table stood out for a reason that had nothing to do with hacking laptops or cracking passwords. It was covered in cotton clothing printed with dozens of tiny license plates, each one designed to fool the same automated cameras that quietly track millions of vehicles every day.…
Flock Safety’s New AI Could Track Drivers By How They Move
A surveillance company that spent years insisting its technology could not identify or track people is now testing an AI system that appears capable of doing exactly that. Flock Safety has built a tool for police that can identify drivers and track vehicles based on patterns of movement. The system can reportedly search for vehicles…
Wetherspoons Draws The Line On Loud Phone Calls In Pubs
If you have ever sat in a pub trying to enjoy a quiet drink while someone nearby blasts a video from their phone, Wetherspoons has some news for you. The pub chain has introduced a new rule across all 792 of its pubs, asking customers to stop playing music, videos and phone calls through their…