Rocket Report: Starship heats up in third flight; Chinese lunar launch failure
Enlarge / Starship made its third test flight in mid-April. SpaceX Welcome to Edition 6.35 of the Rocket Report! It’s been a big week for rocket failures, with a small launch in Japan going sideways shortly after liftoff, a rare misstep for China’s Long March family of rockets, and another Starship flight test. The latter […]
Africa’s push to regulate AI starts now
In February, just before the AU’s AI policy draft came out, Shikoh Gitau, a computer scientist who started the Nairobi-based AI research lab Qubit Hub, published a paper arguing that Africa should prioritize the development of an AI industry before trying to regulate the technology. “If we start by regulating, we’re not going to figure […]
Mercedes begins piloting Apptronik humanoid robots
Pilot season has officially begun for the world of humanoid robotics. Last year, Amazon began testing Agility’s Digit robots in select fulfillment centers, while this January, Figure announced a deal with BMW. Now Apptronik is getting in on the action, courtesy of a partnership with Mercedes-Benz. According to the Austin-based robotics startup, “as part of […]
Silicon Valley Bank is back, after collapse and acquisition
SAN FRANCISCO — The ads loom over commuters and tourists, plastered with the colorful brand of what many here in the tech industry’s capital city thought was a company consigned to the dustbin of history. A year after Silicon Valley Bank imploded in the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history, the start-up- and tech-focused bank […]
Here’s How to Disable NameDrop
iOS 17 arrived last September, and in the months following, users assessed and tested all the new features of the Apple mobile operating system. Though some features have been praised for being super helpful or fun to use, others haven’t received the same fanfare. One of the features that has iPhone users seriously split is NameDrop. Some people […]
Russia Strengthens Its Internet Controls in Critical Year for Putin
Russia is ratcheting up its internet censorship ahead of elections this weekend that are all but assured to give President Vladimir V. Putin another six years in power, further shrinking one of the last remaining spaces for political activism, independent information and free speech. The Russian authorities have intensified a crackdown against digital tools used […]
The Designer Who’s Trying to Transform Your City Into a Sponge
Your city isn’t prepared for what’s coming. The classical method for dealing with stormwater is to get it out of town as quickly as possible, with gutters and sewers and canals. But more and more, that strategy is breaking down: As the atmosphere warms, it can hold more moisture, spawning ever-wetter storms that overwhelm this […]