Technology

Olympic athletes are grappling with another public health threat on top of the pandemic: extreme heat. This year’s summer Olympics are forecast to be the hottest in decades. Temperatures expected to rise above 30 degrees Celsius (close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit) this week could put even the strongest athletes in danger of heat stroke or illness. They’ll also have to contend with oppressive humidity, which interferes with the body’s ability to regulate its temperature by sweating, on top of the scorching heat. The training is brutal, and the conditions that the athletes are training for are dangerous Athletes have tried to acclimate themselves to the weather in advance of the games. Team USA, for example, even took inspiration from how the US military gets soldiers ready for desert deploymen...

Olympic athletes are grappling with another public health threat on top of the pandemic: extreme heat. This year’s summer Olympics are forecast to be the hottest in decades. Temperatures expected to rise above 30 degrees Celsius (close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit) this week could put even the strongest athletes in danger of heat stroke or illness. They’ll also have to contend with oppressive humidity, which interferes with the body’s ability to regulate its temperature by sweating, on top of the scorching heat. The training is brutal, and the conditions that the athletes are training for are dangerous Athletes have tried to acclimate themselves to the weather in advance of the games. Team USA, for example, even took inspiration from how the US military gets soldiers ready for desert deploymen...

Louis Vuitton has revealed its next foray into tech products: the $2,890 Horizon Light Up Speaker, which looks less like either a gadget or a piece of high fashion, and more like an artifact of untold cosmic power from the next Marvel movie. According to Louis Vuitton, the idea is that the Horizon speaker will serve as an artistic centerpiece of your living room or outfit, a unique blend of fashion and technology that aims to challenge what a portable speaker should look like, a goal in which it undoubtably has succeeded. But between the glass, stainless steel, and leather construction, 35 LEDs, and the brand’s traditional symbols and logos plastered on virtually every surface of the speaker, the overall effect is less the kind of discreet, high-end speaker that companies like Bang & O...

Louis Vuitton has revealed its next foray into tech products: the $2,890 Horizon Light Up Speaker, which looks less like either a gadget or a piece of high fashion, and more like an artifact of untold cosmic power from the next Marvel movie. According to Louis Vuitton, the idea is that the Horizon speaker will serve as an artistic centerpiece of your living room or outfit, a unique blend of fashion and technology that aims to challenge what a portable speaker should look like, a goal in which it undoubtably has succeeded. But between the glass, stainless steel, and leather construction, 35 LEDs, and the brand’s traditional symbols and logos plastered on virtually every surface of the speaker, the overall effect is less the kind of discreet, high-end speaker that companies like Bang & O...

Amazon has informed workers that it will end on-site COVID-19 testing at its US warehouses, as first reported by The Information. The company confirmed to The Verge that it will begin ramping down its testing operations in the US by July 30th. Although many in the US are vaccinated — 48 percent of the country is fully vaccinated, according to The New York Times’ data as of Monday — the change comes as case rates around the country are going up. The significant majority of new cases have been found among unvaccinated people. Amazon informed staff Monday about its plan to end COVID-19 testing, according to The Information. “Free COVID-19 testing is now widely available and our employees have many options available to them, including through health providers and public testing sites,” part of...

Earlier this month, Washington State-based Eviation Aircraft Inc. unveiled the design for Alice, its first all-electric aircraft. The aircraft is a compact commuter plane and is scheduled to take its inaugural flight later this year. The nine-passenger, two-crew member aircraft boasts no carbon emissions, minimal noise and has significantly lower operating costs per flight hour. Alice is powered by two magni650 electric propulsion units from magniX, which is the only flight-proven electric propulsion engine at this scale. Additionally, the plane’s fly-by-wire system is made by Honeywell. Regarding battery function, the single-volume, high-energy density battery system is made from battery cell technology that already exists. The design elements and utilized technology make it easy and reli...

Earlier this month, Washington State-based Eviation Aircraft Inc. unveiled the design for Alice, its first all-electric aircraft. The aircraft is a compact commuter plane and is scheduled to take its inaugural flight later this year. The nine-passenger, two-crew member aircraft boasts no carbon emissions, minimal noise and has significantly lower operating costs per flight hour. Alice is powered by two magni650 electric propulsion units from magniX, which is the only flight-proven electric propulsion engine at this scale. Additionally, the plane’s fly-by-wire system is made by Honeywell. Regarding battery function, the single-volume, high-energy density battery system is made from battery cell technology that already exists. The design elements and utilized technology make it easy and reli...

Phone accessories company Mophie has unveiled its latest charging innovation — a 3-in-1 wireless stand with MagSafe support. Mophie’s unique design features designated slots for each product in Apple’s portable accessory lineup — from the iPhone and Apple Watch to the latest AirPods. Users can install their own MagSafe charger to offer 15W of front-facing charging power, allowing for easy charging during video calls or social scrolling. In addition to the Apple Watch’s integrated magnetic charger, customers can enjoy the flexibility of charging their iPhone in portrait and landscape mode. The stand maintains Apple’s sleek minimalist look by utilizing shiny white plastic alongside a silver aluminum lining. The 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Stand is available to purchase via Zagg and Apple for $9...

Phone accessories company Mophie has unveiled its latest charging innovation — a 3-in-1 wireless stand with MagSafe support. Mophie’s unique design features designated slots for each product in Apple’s portable accessory lineup — from the iPhone and Apple Watch to the latest AirPods. Users can install their own MagSafe charger to offer 15W of front-facing charging power, allowing for easy charging during video calls or social scrolling. In addition to the Apple Watch’s integrated magnetic charger, customers can enjoy the flexibility of charging their iPhone in portrait and landscape mode. The stand maintains Apple’s sleek minimalist look by utilizing shiny white plastic alongside a silver aluminum lining. The 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Stand is available to purchase via Zagg and Apple for $9...

If you’re looking to reserve a Steam Deck and haven’t managed to secure a reservation yet, it looks like you’ll be waiting a while to actually get your device. According to Steam’s store site on Sunday, the $399 64GB Steam Deck and the $529 256GB version both have “expected order availability” dates of of Q2 2022, meaning sometime next spring. The 512GB $649 model is even later; it’s showing expected availability in Q3 of next year, which is sometime between July and September 2022. According to Steam’s website, it plans to send order invitations by December of this year. Steam will then convert reservations to orders. As of July 18th, the wait time for the top-of-the-line Steam Deck is Q3 of 2022. Steam’s official Twitter account posted Sunday that reservations for Steam Deck were open to...

Season one of Loki is a wrap and while I know not everyone loved the finale, the show is my favorite of the Marvel/Disney streaming series so far. That’s due mostly to Tom Hiddleston’s fascinating performance as the title character, once a villain who’s evolved into… someone else, not quite sure who yet. Plenty of storylines to pick up in Loki season two (yay). And a reminder it’s Ted Lasso week; season two arrives on Apple TV Plus July 23rd. In the media buzz leading up to the new season, there has been some evidence that Ted and creator Jason Sudeikis are kinda the same person: At the show’s world premiere, Sudeikis wore a shirt with the names of three England footballers who were subjected to racist vitriol on social media, to show his support. And Uproxx entertainment writer Mike...

A sweeping investigation by 17 media outlets found that NSO Group’s Pegasus software was used in hacking attempts on 37 smartphones belonging to human rights activists and journalists, The Washington Post reported. The phones were on a leaked list of numbers discovered by Paris journalism nonprofit Hidden Stories and human rights group Amnesty International, according to the Post. The numbers on the list were singled out for possible surveillance by countries who are clients of NSO, the report states, which markets its spyware to governments to track potential terrorists and criminals. Pegasus can extract all of a mobile device’s data, and activate the device’s microphone to listen in on conversations surreptitiously, as The Guardian notes. The list of journalists dates back to 2016, the P...