Technology

A greenhouse gas-tracking technology is about to go commercial. Greenhouse gas detectors will soon take flight on an Alaska Airlines-run Boeing 737-9, in an effort to help federal scientists get even more information about how we’re changing the climate. The tools would measure concentrations of planet-heating pollution in the air, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced today. They’re calling the plane, which won’t have any passengers, an “ecoDemonstrator.” It’s testing a number of contraptions along with the greenhouse-gas detector — including features that might make the plane more fuel-efficient or less noisy. Over several test flights this year, NOAA will figure out the best place to install their devices — either mounted on a window or in a duct that feed...

Google is rolling out new safety features for Chrome which are designed to make it easier to spot dubious downloads and extensions. They build upon the browser’s Enhanced Safe Browsing feature, which launched last year to offer better warnings against phishing sites. When it comes to Chrome extensions, the browser will now show a warning if what you’re installing is not considered “trusted.” In order to be trusted, extensions need to come from a developer that has followed Google’s Developer Program Policies and has been around for “at least a few months.” That means brand-new developers won’t immediately be considered trusted by Google. When attempting to download an extension that’s not trusted, Chrome will show a pop-up warning that you should “proceed with caution.” However, there’s st...

Nanoleaf, the company best known for illuminated panels that you stick to your wall, has announced the new Nanoleaf Elements line, a set of wall panels that are designed to look as nice turned off as they do when on. The new Elements line accomplishes this through a wood-like veneer that allows the light to shine through when its on but doesn’t look blank when the light isn’t in use. Aside from the new veneer, the Elements lights are very similar to Nanoleaf’s other hexagonal light panels. They glow from both the front and back of the panel, allowing for a double lighting effect, and can be programmed with different lighting patterns and effects. The Elements do not have a full color spectrum LED, but they are adjustable from warm to cool white. Nanoleaf includes 11 preset lighting effects...

Deliveries of Ford’s first long-range electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E, in the United Kingdom are on hold after a “safety risk” was discovered, The Verge has learned. It’s the latest delivery snafu to hit the automaker’s much-hyped electric SUV, after US customers experienced similar delays earlier this year. But while the cause of the US delivery delays was unknown, the UK delays are a result of “incorrect location information when using the eCall system,” according to documents viewed by The Verge. The eCall system, in which emergency services are notified when a vehicle’s airbags are deployed, is a European Union requirement in all vehicles manufactured after 2018. “incorrect location information when using the eCall system” “While investigations continue new vehicles … must n...

Two days after the World Health Organization declared that the coronavirus outbreak was a pandemic, then-President Donald Trump stood in the Rose Garden next to a flow chart. The chart promised that soon, it would be easy for anyone in the United States to get tested for the virus. According to Trump, Google was building a website to streamline the entire process. It was the first of many promises that private companies would swoop in and rescue or bolster the country’s flailing COVID-19 response. Public health infrastructure in the United States has been underfunded for decades, and its underlying tech infrastructure is outdated and clunky. Health departments relied on fax machines and paper printouts to ferry data around. Fighting the pandemic would require a clear view of how many peopl...

The Nvidia TX 3080 Ti is here, at least for those lucky enough to find one. Announced earlier this week alongside the forthcoming RTX 3070 Ti, the 3080 Ti serves as the pricier successor to the GeForce RTX 3080, an excellent graphics card that made 4K gaming that much more affordable and exemplified just how transformative DLSS technology could be. Like the RTX 3090, Nvidia’s newest flagship touts impressive 1440p and 4K performance, albeit in a smaller, quieter package with half the VRAM. It certainly isn’t cheap at $1,200, but given the ongoing semiconductor shortage and the outlandish street prices of most GPUs right now, the RTX 3080 Ti might be more affordable at MSRP than if you were to succumb to the resale market. While we expect availability to be limited at launch and throughout ...

Twitter has officially announced Twitter Blue, a paid subscription service that offers access to new features like undoing tweets and viewing threads in an easier to digest “Reader Mode.” Starting Thursday, it will roll out first in Canada and Australia, where the subscription will cost $3.49 CAD or $4.49 AUD per month, respectively. We already had a good idea of what features to expect from Twitter Blue thanks to sleuthing from app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, but now Twitter has detailed everything the service includes. A new undo send feature gives you the option of retracting your tweets before they actually go live, and you can set a timer for undoing your tweets that can last up to 30 seconds. A Bookmark Folders feature lets you group saved tweets to make them easier to find later. ...

Fortnite is getting a visual boost on PC very soon. As part of the upcoming Chapter 2: Season 7, which will launch on June 8th, the PC version of the game is getting a new “epic” graphical setting. Epic says it will include “new and enhanced effects plus improved post-processing features and shadow quality.” Among other changes, it sounds like many of the great visual enhancements that came to the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game are coming to PC, including “more advanced explosion effects.” In other words, after you update, try to find a rocket launcher to play with. As part of the update, the system requirements for Fortnite are now getting a tweak. Basically, there are now three ranges: epic, recommended, and minimum. Here’s what you’ll need: Epic specs Nvidia GTX 1080, AMD Ra...

When somebody comes to your door — not a virtual door, your real door — and wants to get your attention, they usually ring the doorbell. Zoom has a feature that is sort of, kind of like that: it notifies you with a loud “ding dong” when somebody enters your meeting. This can be useful if you’re waiting for a friend to show up for a Zoom meeting and are playing with your dog or dusting the bookcase in the meantime. It can also be irritating if you’re part of a meeting with ten or more people, and you hear a “ding dong” every time somebody enters or leaves the meeting. So if you want to turn this notification on — or off — here’s how you do it. To turn audio notifications off, go to the web-based Settings page. If you’re in the Zoom app, click on your personal icon (usually in the upper righ...

The Philips Hue app is getting a big update on Thursday. The team at Signify, which makes Hue lights, has rebuilt the app “from the ground up” to make it easier to use. The new version looks mostly the same as the existing app, but it has tweaks around the edges to make it quicker to access different controls. One of the bigger changes is faster access to room controls. Now, when you tap on a room or zone, the app will present a grid of all the available lights and pre-set scenes so you can find them right away. In the prior version, you had to switch back and forth across different tabs that were easy to get lost in. You’ll also now be able to add new lights from within the Room tab — not just the Settings menu — and if you’re a power user with multiple Hue bridges, the app will let you s...

Ring is adjusting how public agencies such as police and fire departments are able to request video clips from Ring camera owners in its Neighbors app. Starting next week, agencies will only be able to request clips be sent to them through public posts that are viewable in the app’s main feed; they will no longer be able to send individuals specific requests for clips. Ring says this new method provides greater transparency to what public agencies are requesting, as all requests will now be logged on the agency’s profile and reviewable by anyone using the app. Agencies will not be able to remove or delete the posts, according to Ring, though they can be marked as “resolved.” Ring says it limits video clips requests to “verified public safety agencies” and has a set of guidelines that agenc...

WhatsApp has confirmed that its long-rumored multi-device support will be entering public beta in the coming months, allowing users to access their accounts from up to four linked devices. New “view once” and “disappearing mode” features were also officially announced. The news came in an interview between WABetaInfo and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and WhatsApp head Will Cathcart. Cathcart stopped short of confirming reports that WhatsApp has an iPad app in development, but said that multi-device support will make WhatsApp on iPad a possibility. As well as multi-device support, Zuckerberg also confirmed that WhatsApp is adding a new “view once” feature, which will allow users to send content that disappears after it’s been viewed. The service is also expanding its disappearing messages fe...