EPFL researchers have made an important discovery about the brain. The team says that a form of neuron-to-neuron communication previously dismissed as background noise is actually required to keep nerve junctions intact as animals age. Their finding suggests defects in this type of neural communication could contribute to neurodegenerative disorders and other conditions of the brain.
In 2018, a NASA spacecraft called InSight landed on the surface of Mars. Before InSight landed on the surface, all other missions, including rovers and orbiters studying Mars, concentrated on the surface of the Red Planet. However, InSight was different because it was designed to study Mars' interior using a seismometer.
Apple fans are always anticipating the next round of products from Cupertino. Recently, a new rumor began making the rounds that started with noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Today, Kuo issued an investor note that claims the next-generation MacBook Air will feature a 13.3-inch mini LED display. The current generation MacBook air uses a Retina display of the same size utilizing traditional LED backlighting.
University of Zürich researchers have created a new algorithm for handling autonomous flying for a quadrotor drone. The new algorithm was tested against a pair of human drone racing pilots and outperformed them in a race. The new algorithm calculates time-optimal trajectories that fully considers the drone's limitations.
Microsoft Edge has come a long way since it switched from Microsoft's homegrown edgeHTML engine to Chromium. It gained quite a number of useful feature that helps it compete with other Chromium-based web browsers, including Google Chrome. Those features are coming into focus as Microsoft prepares for the upcoming academic year with a few bits and pieces that make Edge a better partner for planning the school year safely.
Cadillac may have launched Super Cruise, but it'll be GMC which launches the hands-free driver assistance tech into the heart of the mass market when it arrives on the new 2022 Sierra pickup. Not only will it feature the same on-demand lane change feature but, as I found behind the wheel of a prototype 2022 Sierra this week, a new automatic lane change option that promises to make highway driving even more relaxing.
Motorola's smartphone branding strategy seems to be all over the place. In the past, it was easy to distinguish between E, G, X, and Z lines, but these days it almost seems like Motorola is using the G brand for everything. Originally meant for its mid-range line, the company announced a Moto G100 a few months back bearing rather high-end features. That unexpected premium phone has finally made its way to the US and has an equally unexpected price tag.
Chromebooks have the stigma of being low-cost, low-power computers designed to cater to the limited needs of offices and schools. That's despite the existence of some models that rival high-end Windows laptops in specs and even in prices. One computing segment that Chromebooks still don't sufficiently address is gaming, but that could be changing soon, at least on the hardware side, thanks to NVIDIA's efforts to push its RTX technology to Arm processors.
The smartphone market has been trying to push for full-screen displays for a long time now, but no single solution seems to stick around for long. From cutouts to popup cameras, every year sees a new design or mechanism designed to minimize the amount of screen real estate taken up by the front camera. Ideally, the solution would be an under-display camera or UDC that's completely hidden from view. In practice, even ZTE's upcoming Axon 30 5G shows how we're still a long way from that ideal.
The very first Samsung foldable phone in 2019 looked like a marvel but easily caved in under pressure. Given its unique design, particularly its hinges, it wasn't exactly surprising to learn that the Galaxy Fold couldn't live up to its peers in terms of dust and water resistance. Since then, Samsung has worked hard to improve the durability of its foldable phones, inside and out. This year's generation will even be waterproof, according to the latest leak, but it still has one Achilles' heel common to all foldable phones.
A former darling of the smartphone market, OnePlus has recently received a lot of flak over one unpopular strategy after another. Its software commitment for some of the OnePlus Nord phones didn't sit well for fans of the company's "Never Settle" philosophy, and its "merger" with OPPO raised doubts about its future. Its biggest offense of late, however, is its secret throttling of performance on OnePlus 9 phones. Now it seems to be reconsidering its position and will offer a compromise, but probably not until next year.
Instagram's Adam Mosseri has published a new video addressing the presence of hate speech, including racism, on its platform, as well as some of the tools it offers users who want better control over what is said on their posts. In addition to those existing tools, Mosseri confirmed that Instagram is also working on a new feature called Limits that'll allow users to temporarily lock down their accounts.