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After Math: Can't stop, won't stop talking coronavirus coverage
It's the new sensation that's sweeping the nation: the coronavirus! Maybe you've heard of it. This week's headlines sure have.
After Math: How COVID-19 is already clobbering 2020
Welp, we had a good run, America. While every other developed nation on the planet scrambles to defend itself against the deadly spread of COVID-19, the US had to be dragged into fielding a response. This year everything is cancelled. Schools have been shuttered, universities have migrated to online classes, and group gatherings larger than a couple hundred people are being postponed. Major league sports might be back sometime next year, workers are being asked to work from home and engage in social distancing to help slow the coronavirus' spread. Oh, you think it's a hoax? Then how do you explain all of this week's headlines about the coronavirus?
Hitting the Books: Disney's influence on America's first stealth planes
Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
After Math: Anything worth doing is worth overdoing
2020 is shaping up to be the year without conventions. Google I/O, Facebook F8, GDC, OMG, and MWC have already been called off, with exhibitors jumping ship from SXSW by the handful and Computex and E3 likely next on the chopping block. But these are not days for half measures, as this week's headlines illustrate.
Hitting the Books: How an attempt at digital allyship fell flat
Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
Hitting the Books: These brain cells could hold clues to the CTBI crisis
Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
Hitting the Books: A brief history of industrial espionage and corn
Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
America is falling in love with electric SUVs
Established automakers and startups alike are hoping to cash in on the American public's paradigm shift towards electric transportation. For a long time, however, EV technology simply wasn't mature enough to handle much more than toting families across town. But thanks to recent advances in battery design, electric vehicles are driving farther and hauling more weight than ever, opening the market for EV SUVs and pickup trucks.
After Math: Stunning figures
The news just wouldn't stop dropping this week. First, Parasite absolutely dominated the Oscars, everyone was convinced Bill Gates bought a hydrogen-powered mega-yacht for a hot second (surprise, he didn't), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political party left the entirety of its voter rolls -- millions of records -- just swinging in the breeze, and the massive $26.5 billion T-mobile/Sprint merger finally got the court's blessing to move ahead. And those were the tame ones! What we've got for you below, hooboy, just some jaw-dropping numbers.
After Math: Let's take a drive
Though Tesla reported its Q4 earnings last Tuesday, the auto industry has sent this week making moves and announcing news. GM is bringing its semi-autonomous Super Cruise system to nearly two dozen models by 2023, ChargePoint is teaming with NATSO to bring a billion dollars worth of the EV charging stations to the nation's highways, and Uber is making claims about finally becoming profitable by the end of the year -- though we've been hearing bold claims like that from the ride-hailing service before. Here are a few of the week's top transportation headlines.
Hitting the Books: The Y2K bug could come back sooner than you think
Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
After Math: That's something at least
This week has been a real kick in the teeth. The UK actually stepped off the Brexit precipice while the US Congress barely went through the motions of Trump's impeachment trial. Worst of all Elon Musk released a truly cringeworthy EDM track because sure, it's not like the week was going to be getting any worse at that point. Still there were a few high points, read on for the week's headlines that helped get us to Sunday.
Can we keep facial recognition from enabling a surveillance state?
Since the start of the 21st century, computer vision research has advanced at a breakneck pace. Today we can board flights, rent cars, and unlock our phones simply by looking into a camera. But these conveniences come with plenty of drawbacks. Authoritarian regimes and unscrupulous corporations are already leveraging the technology to create ever-present surveillance states, tracking citizens, stalking criminal suspects, monitoring employees, and even making hiring decisions. But for the myriad potential misuses of this technology, very little oversight and regulation has been drafted in response, and that could lead to dire privacy and civil liberty issues for us in the near future.
After Math: Risky businesses
Joel Goodsen would blush seeing the sorts of shenanigans some of these these corporations have been getting into. And occasionally even succeeding at. Netflix goosed its viewing criteria to give a coin to its Witcher, Microsoft had another privacy whoopsie, and Germany just straight up forgot to upgrade its OS and is now paying the price. Here are five of the week's top business headlines.
After Math: All the shows (and games) fit to stream this season
It was a big week for broadcasters and their associated streaming services, with studios announcing which shows would be returning and which would be relegated to the dustbin of television history. Steve Martin and Martin Short will be starring in a new Hulu series while Watchmen Season 2 is effectively DOA after its creator bailed. But that wasn't the only news, here are some highlights from the week's entertainment highlights.
After Math: All the stuff that happened while we were at CES
Oh man, what a week it's been. Over the course of seven days (and nearly 80,000 steps by this reporter alone), the Engadget staff descended upon CES 2020 to bring you the biggest, best, weirdest and wildest trends in consumer electronics. But the rest of the world doesn't revolve around CES and plenty of news happened while we were scouring the show floor. Here are some of the top stories of the week from everywhere that isn't Las Vegas.
Hitting the Books: How to get a date online
Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
Hitting the Books: How America's Space Race sought to renew our 'New South'
This week in Engadget's Hitting the Books series: How America's Space Race sought to renew our 'New South.'
To all the books we hit this year
Hitting the Books has been running for nearly two years now, so first off, thank you all so very much for continuing to read along. 2019 has seen some solid science and technology nonfiction titles. Unsurprisingly, one of the most popular excerpts this year ran on 4/20 yet, oddly, nobody seemed interested in slinging cats through interstellar space. Just look how cute he is, his spacesuit has footpads and everything.
After Math: That's not how this is supposed to work
Like burritos stuffed with french fries or labradoodles, the last few days have been just entirely too much. Politics aside, we were treated to Uber setting up a litigious warchest, Chipotle reinventing the drive-thru, and the debut of Soylent's successor. Check out the weirdest headlines to cross Engadget's newsdesk this week.
