The Morning After: Zuckerberg is going to DC
And maybe some 'Westworld' season two spoilers.
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.
Welcome to Tuesday! Facebook's CEO goes to Washington, Apple launches its latest limited-edition Product RED phones and we check out whether those newly discovered human organs are really just that.
Mark Zuckerberg goes to Washington, DC
For Facebook's CEO, this is the start of two days speaking to lawmakers following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. His prepared testimony is already available, so we have a few ideas about what he's going to say even before the questions start flying. Meanwhile, users who have had their data exposed should see notifications, and Cambridge Analytica has already started to push its version of the facts.
'Westworld' creators have an unusual approach to S2 spoilers
During a Reddit AMA with Westworld show creators, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, Nolan made an unexpected announcement -- they'd spoil their own show instead of making fans cry or letting them down. Typically, fans try, all season, to connect threads and predict the plot's resolution without any real idea of what's happening. The deal was that the creators would do it if Nolan's comment received 1,000 upvotes, which it did. And so, the video has arrived.
Apple's red iPhone 8 and 8 Plus go on sale today
For over a decade now, Apple has worked with HIV/AIDS charity Product RED. It's raised over $160 million for the non-profit to date, on the back of sales of scarlet-colored accessories and the occasional special-edition device. Next up: the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus. The deep-red editions will be available to buy online today and in stores from Friday April 13th for the same price as existing models, and while there's no Product RED version of the iPhone X, a new claret-colored $99 leather folio case is also incoming.
Leap Motion crafts a reference design for cheap AR headsets
Leap Motion is a company most famous for building a gesture-recognition peripheral that wound up integrated into PC keyboards. Since then, however, it has built ever-smarter sensors that can bring hand gestures to VR without the use of dedicated controllers. Now, it's announced Project North Star, a proposed augmented reality headset it plans to open-source next week -- and it should be cheap to produce.
Two newly discovered human organs aren't what they seem
For a minute there, 2018 was shaping up to be a year of new-organ discoveries. In January, Dr. J. Calvin Coffey, foundation chair of surgery at the University of Limerick, declared that he had "discovered" a new organ, dubbed the mesentery. Then, in March, fledgling science journal Scientific Reports declared the interstitium, a fluid-filled membrane that surrounds the lungs, digestive tracts and arteries, an organ as well. If verified by the rest of the medical community, these findings could potentially revolutionize our understanding of the human body. There's only one problem with that: These biological structures aren't actually organs. Let Senior Editor Andrew Tarantola explain.
Smart home devices offer a vision of domestic harmony: everything switching on and off as and when you need it to. But not everyone needs a dedicated smart hub to make their setup run smoothly. A smart speaker like the Amazon Echo or the Google Home can serve a similar purpose, with each device's apps acting as central command. Manufacturers have even begun bundling hubs into other devices like security systems and mesh WiFi routers, making home automation simpler for beginners. But do you actually need one?
But wait, there's more...
In pursuit of the perfect AI voice: How developers are humanizing virtual assistants
What we're buying: Toto's toilet upgrade and an old Game Boy Advance
What's on TV: 'The Expanse,' 'Lost in Space' and 'Chef's Table'
Cliff Bleszinski's free-to-play battle royale game 'Radical Heights' debuts today
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