The Morning After: Monday, July 10th 2017
Packing for the week.
Hey, good morning!
Say hello to the new Tesla Model 3 -- just don't expect to buy one all that soon. We also have accidental voice commands stopping robberies and China's latest space-exploration experiment.
After months of waiting and no shortage of hype, Tesla's first Model 3 is finally rolling off the production line. Elon Musk has revealed that the initial production unit is ready (no, not the one in the picture) pending a "final checkout." It's safe to say that owners would be part of a very exclusive club, at least initially, given that a mere 30 Model 3s will reach buyers by the end of July.
Alexa notifies you when Amazon has shipped your package
You can add one more device to the pile of gadgets vying for your attention, now that Amazon has switched Alexa's notifications on. The e-commerce titan first revealed on its developer site back in May that visual notifications were coming to its speakers. Now, the feature is live, though in very limited capacity. For the moment, it can only tell you about packages out for delivery.
China starts 200-day simulation of living on another planet
Four university students in Beijing have begun a 200-day isolation experiment, Lunar Palace 365, where they'll live solely on the resources they would have on the Moon or Mars. That means generating life-giving oxygen from plants, recycling urine to produce drinking water and generally making the most of limited supplies.
Smart home gadget ends a violent dispute by calling police
Inadvertent smart speaker commands aren't always bad. New Mexico police report that a smart home device (incorrectly labeled at first as a Google Home) intervened in a domestic violence incident by calling 911. When Eduardo Barros asked "did you call the sheriffs?" as he threatened his girlfriend with a gun during a fight, the device interpreted it as a request to call emergency services. They overheard the altercation and called both negotiators and a SWAT team, who arrested Barros over assault, battery and firearms charges after a stand-off.
