Technology

SpaceX is about to make history as it attempts to launch its first passengers to space for NASA. Veteran NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are set to launch on SpaceX’s new capsule, the Crew Dragon, which will take the pair to the International Space Station. It’s a big moment for the company, as it’ll mark the first time a private company has ever sent people into orbit. And with this launch taking place from Florida, it’ll be the first time in nearly a decade that people have launched to orbit from American soil since the end of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. NASA’s coverage of the launch kicks off at 11AM ET, with takeoff scheduled for 3:22PM ET. There’s a lot of action leading up liftoff, so join us as we break it all down for you. Tune into our SpaceX launch live blog he...

Waymo’s self-driving cars are returning to Bay Area roads for the first time since the company halted its public testing in early March because of the coronavirus outbreak. The Alphabet-owned company plans to return its fleet of autonomous minivans to service starting June 8th, according to an email obtained by The Verge. Waymo’s self-driving cars will be put to use delivering packages for two Bay Area non-profits: illustrator Wendy McNaughton’s #DrawTogether, which provides art kits to Bay Area kids; and Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The company is the latest autonomous vehicle operator to discover that doing deliveries allows it to sidestep restrictions that would otherwise require them to keep their autonomous vehicles off the road. Waymo, along with the rest of Califo...

On Saturday, May 30th, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is set to become the first private spacecraft to carry humans into orbit. The launch, scheduled for 3:22PM ET, will also mark the first time in nearly a decade that NASA astronauts have launched into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida. For NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, this will be their second attempt at this historic launch. The first launch attempt, on Wednesday, May 27th, was scrubbed due to poor weather conditions less than 17 minutes before launch. They’ll get another chance today. If today’s launch is delayed for any reason, the next launch attempt will be on Sunday, May 31st, at 3PM ET. NASA plans to cover today’s event live, starting at around 11AM ET. If all goes well, they’ll cover everything from launch preparations to ...

Google had been planning to unveil new features coming in Android 11 on June 3rd, but it has decided to delay the unveiling. In a tweet on Friday evening, Android’s developer account said that “We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate.” Google says that it will “be back with more on Android 11, soon,” but did not say when that might be. Although Google doesn’t explicitly say why, the reason is very clear. The announcement comes as many American cities are filled with protests, looting, and fires. The response to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota has extended well beyond the conflict in Minneapolis. The Bay area where Google and most of its employees are based has seen major conflicts in both San Jose and Oakland the evening when Google mad...

Images: Ben Geskin / Twitter OnePlus accidentally pushed an over-the-air update that disables a filter that can see through some thin black plastics and, in certain cases, clothes. Though OnePlus said on May 19 that it would temporarily disable the filter in the Chinese version of its operating system in an update, the company hadn’t planned on removing the filter from its global software. Instead, OnePlus said it would update the filter. The recent update removed the filter for people outside of China anyway. The filter, called “Photochrom,” creates an X-Ray-like effect by using the infrared sensors built into the OnePlus 8 Pro to capture light that’s not visible to the human eye. The feature was intended to be used to create interesting-looking photos. But it… Continue reading...

Beats today announced four new colors of its Powerbeats Pro true wireless earbuds. The new hues are much brighter and more vibrant than the original lineup and include yellow, pink, red, and blue. They’ll be available from Apple’s website, stores, and other retailers on June 9th for the standard $249.95 price point. In lieu of a press release, Beats “announced” the new colors in collaboration with gaming organization FaZe Clan. The Powerbeats Pro were first released in April 2019, and it’s quite common for Beats to release new colors of its products. However, these new Powerbeats Pro also passed through the FCC, which indicates there might have been a slight tweak to the internals of the earbuds somewhere. But none of the specs for these new colors have changed. They still offer: Up to nin...

Facebook will not remove or take any other action on a President Trump post that Twitter removed for “glorifying violence,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Friday. “I know many people are upset that we’ve left the President’s posts up, but our position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies,” Zuckerberg said. Facebook “looked very closely at the post that discussed the protests in Minnesota,” Zuckerberg said, “to evaluate whether it violated our policies.” Ultimately, the company “decided to leave it up because the National Guard references meant we read it as a warning about state action, and we think people need to know if the government is planning to deploy force. Our policy around i...

The United States will terminate its relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO), President Trump said in a press conference today. “China has total control over World Health Organization,” Trump said. “We have detailed to them the reforms that they must make and engaged with them directly but they have refused to act.” Trump had previously frozen funding to the WHO, claiming that the organization bowed to pressure from China and was overly trusting on their early information about the spread of the coronavirus. He also took issue with the WHO’s criticism of travel bans. Still, severing ties with the organization is a drastic step. Experts say that if the US severs ties with the WHO, there could be catastrophic consequences to global public health. The US contributes hundreds of ...

A fourth prototype of SpaceX’s next generation Starship rocket exploded right after a test at the company’s south Texas test site on Friday. Shortly after SpaceX ignited the engine on the test rocket, a massive fireball engulfed the vehicle in flames, leaving very little hardware still standing and apparently causing damage to the test site. The failed test comes just a day before SpaceX is set to perform an unrelated launch for NASA that will send two astronauts to the International Space Station. That historic mission will take place out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, on SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, which has flown more than 100 times before. While the failure of the Starship prototype is not linked to the upcoming NASA mission, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk did tell Aviation Week that SpaceX...

Facebook’s decision not to take action against recent posts about mail-in ballots and the Minnesota protests by President Trump is roiling employees, some of whom are calling on executives to reconsider their stance. In response to an internal post explaining the company’s rationale, some employees criticized the company’s neutral posture. “I have to say I am finding the contortions we have to go through incredibly hard to stomach,” one employee wrote in a comment about the shooting post. “All this points to a very high risk of a violent escalation and civil unrest in November and if we fail the test case here, history will not judge us kindly.” On Tuesday Twitter labeled two tweets about mail-in voting as “potentially misleading” for suggesting the practice would lead to a rigged election...

TikTok has a new competitor: Zynn, a nearly button-for-button clone of TikTok that differentiates itself with one key twist — it pays users to sign up, watch videos, and convince others to follow suit. The app launched at the beginning of May, and as Mashable noticed, it’s now the number one free app in Apple’s App Store and in the top 10 on Google’s Play Store, too. Zynn is fully a TikTok clone. The core interface is identical, and both are oriented around watching short portrait-orientation videos. The big distinction is a countdown timer with a dollar sign in the middle that hovers over every video on Zynn. As you watch videos, the timer fills up and gives you points, which you’re supposed to be able to redeem later as cash or gift cards. I haven’t tested to see if this works, but a cou...