ICYMI
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ICYMI: More gadget highlights from CES 2021
Here are some devices from CES 2021 that you may have missed this week, including new HP laptops, a new Philips smart toothbrush and Otterbox gaming accessories.
ICYMI: We take a listen to Apple's AirPods Max
Here's a recap of all of Engadget's tech reviews over the past few weeks, including the Apple AirPods Max and the Amazon Echo Frames.
ICYMI: We put the MacBook Pro M1 through its paces
Here's a roundup of all the gadget reviews on Engadget this week, including the Apple MacBook Pro M1 and the Razer Hammerhead True Wireless Pro earbuds.
ICYMI: We test the pricey and problematic ThinkPad X1 Fold
A roundup of this week's tech reviews on Engadget, including the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, the Anova Precision Oven and the Grado GT220 earbuds.
ICYMI: An in-depth look at Apple's MacBook Air M1
The new MacBook Air runs like similarly to an iPad Pro, which is to say that it’s speedy and smooth and now silent thanks to its new fanless design. Apple has been working towards the MacBook Air M1 for a while now; the company has spent a decade building its own mobile chips and the M1 is their first system-on-a-chip for their laptop line.
ICYMI: Catch up on a busy week of console and phone reviews
All the gadgets we've reviewed this week, including the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
ICYMI: Control D-ing this show
Today on In Case You Missed It: When this show was announced on Engadget two years ago, we promised to find you the offbeat tech and science news you might have missed while following the previous day's big headlines. I've felt a great responsibility covering innovations from the likes of NASA and MIT, plus discovering promising cancer studies and environmental inventions aimed at saving us all. I've learned so much from writing this show for you. And let's be real, it's probably the best job in tech journalism since very few autonomous car inventions could go without a Russian dash cam montage and I've needed to (ahem) carefully review options before selecting the perfect moment.
ICYMI: The evolution of car safety and a tiny search and rescue robot
Today on In Case You Missed It: While we're all focused on cars becoming autonomous and electric, automakers have also been making important advancements in safety. No where is that more apparent than in a collision between a 1998 Toyota Corolla and its 2015 counterpart conducted by New Zealand's ANCAP. The safety advisory slammed the two vehicles into each other head first. It's impressive to see the difference between 2015 model with its mostly intact cab and the car built in 1998 which is so mangled there's a good chance the person behind the wheel would not have survived.
ICYMI: Skydiving from drones while Lowe's exoskeleton does heavy lifting
Today on In Case You Missed It: Latvian UAV company, Aerones, which specializes in heavy-lift drones, has made publicity stunts an annual tradition and this year is no different. They perched a man atop a 330 meter electrical tower, then sent their 28-rotor drone up to pick him up, then release him to gently parachute back to the ground. It's the future of commuting. We also take a look at a new, unpowered exoskeleton that Lowe's home improvement and Virginia Tech have developed. It utilizes carbon fiber rods situated around the wearer's legs that flex as the user bends over bend and spring back once they stand back up. It makes picking up heavy items a breeze and has been well-received by store employees during recent trial runs. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @Terrortola.
ICYMI: A 'Back to the Future' jacket and the super-secret space shuttle returned
While manned shuttle missions ended back in 2011, the US government is still sending reusable spacecraft into orbit. This past weekend the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle returned from its super-secret two year mission. Speculation about what the craft was doing up there all this time ranges from; testing autonomous navigation system to evaluating if the X-37B is suitable for surveillance.
ICYMI: Virgin Galactic 'feathers' and neural network animations
Today on In Case You Missed It: Virgin Galactic's Unity spaceplane took to the skies once again following its earlier crash to perform its first successful "feather" maneuver. That's when the tail flaps flip up and the plane falls to Earth like a conventional crew capsule rather than, you know, a plane. We also take a look at a crazy piece of animation software developed at the University of Edinburgh which leverages machine learning neural networks to generate stunningly lifelike movements for video game characters. The science behind it is pretty tricky but the results speak for themselves. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @Terrortola.
ICYMI: The Hoff speaks for AI and MIT builds a mobile 3D printer
Today on In Case You Missed It: David Hasselhoff stars in a short film about an AI that takes over people's lives and decides what they should do and say. The kicker is that all of The Hoff's lines were written by -- you guessed it -- an AI. As M. Night Shyamalan would say, what a twist!
ICYMI: Boston's book cleaning machine and Disney's new SFX tricks
Today on In Case You Missed It: We take a look at the Boston Public Library's novel method of keeping its archives clean. Hint: it involves pushing them through a portable vacuum cleaner. The Depulvera book cleaning machine, as it's called, can scrub the dust and accumulated grime from up to 12 ancient tomes a minute without damaging the books themselves. Disney is also making headlines with a pair of new special effects tricks. The first will enable Disney CG animators to motion capture real life hairstyles and port them directly into computer generated simulations. The second uses high speed cameras and infrared lasers to map and project digital images and animations onto actors' faces. One will result in more lifelike and naturals doos in kids movies, the other will serve as a steady source of nightmare fuel for the parents. Good times. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @Terrortola.
ICYMI: The story of Microsoft's Solitaire and volleyball-blocking robots
Way back in 1988, Wes Cherry was a Microsoft intern and during his time at the company he created the biggest time waster the world has ever known: The Solitaire computer game. Cherry built the game out of boredom instead of being directed by his superiors. But he bosses -- including CEO and founder Bill Gates -- liked the game so much they added it to Windows in 1990. Since then, Cherry has made exactly zero dollars on his creation. And you thought your internship was bad.
ICYMI: Cadillac takes on Tesla's Autopilot and a biometric thrill ride
Today on In Case You Missed It: When people think semi-autonomous driving, Tesla's Autopilot system is usually the first thing that comes to mind. But Cadillac wants in on the robot-driving action. The automaker is launching it's own system called Super Cruise on the upcoming 2018 CT6. The company says it's the "industry's first true hands-free driving technology for the highway." The new semi-self-driving technology will not only keep track of the road, but also the driver to make sure that they pay attention even if they don't have to have their hands on the wheel at all times.
ICYMI: Zip lines for astronaut emergencies
Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers at Aalto University have found a way to make clothing truly recyclable via a process called Ioncell. An ionic solvent dissolves the cellulose found in natural fibers, leaving behind the synthetic parts of the blend. The dissolved material can be extracted, reconstituted, then respun and woven into cloth which can then be reused. It's not perfect since it doesn't work on those synthetic weaves, but it could make the fashion industry a lot less wasteful.
ICYMI: DIY Iron Man
Today on In Case You Missed it: British inventor Richard Browning show us his (slow, careful) flights across a test area using his "Daedelus" jet pack prototype. Daedelus consists of six kerosene-powered microjets strapped to his limbs, which doesn't sound dangerous at all. While that might sound like a bad idea, the system "flies" at a walking pace, and the wearer only hovers about six to ten feet off the ground. For his part, Browning's convinced the jets are safe, stating that he uses small amounts of kerosene and has a dead-man's switch to kill the set-up when not pressed. For now, Browning is mostly shopping the device around at exhibitions, but he hopes it will one day be used by rescue or military personnel.
ICYMI: Moving arms with thought and painting faces with light
Today on In Case You Missed It: A quadriplegic man can now move his right arm thanks to the miracles of modern science. No, not like that. A team of doctors from the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation center bridged the gap in his severed spine with a brain control interface and a "functional electrical stimulation" system allowing him to move his right arm. He still doesn't have a sense of touch but at least he can scratch his nose. We also take a look at new media artist Nobumichi Asai's latest work, a motion-tracking projector that paints its target's face and hands with digital designs. It's a more advanced version of what Asai set up for Lady Gaga for her David Bowie tribute. The system runs at 1000 frames per second and boasts a sub-10 millisecond lag time. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @terrortola.
ICYMI: SpaceX's rocket re-launch and a universal wireless charger
Today on In Case You Missed It: We take a look at SpaceX's plan to see if its rockets are really reusable. Tomorrow the company plans to send the first Falcon 9 rocket that successfully landed on its floating barge back into orbit where it will deploy a telecommunications satellite. Be sure to bring some popcorn. It's also time to get (milli)amped! The Juiced battery system uses wirelessly-charged 1500mAh power packs and a universal, tethered base station to charge up to 6 mobile devices at once. Squad goals! As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @terrortola.
ICYMI: Watching plants grow and playing 'Mario Kart' with an actual car
Today on In Case You Missed It: The thought of watching a plant grow seems, well, boring. But researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology in Austria used lasers, fluorescent lights and a microscope to track the growth of a flowering weed's roots. The end result is a close-up 3D video that looks more like a glowing burrowing worm than a plant. The researchers also twisted the plate the plants are growing on to see how the roots adjust to changes in gravity, which could be helpful when we need to grow food in space.
