Technology News Era

A researcher at Wageningen University & Research recently published a pre-print article detailing a system by which facial recognition AI could be used to identify and measure the emotional state of farm animals. If you’re imagining a machine that tells you if your pigs are joyous or your cows are grumpy… you’re spot on. Up front: There’s little evidence to believe that so-called ’emotion recognition’ systems actually work. In the sense that humans and other creatures can often accurately recognize (as in: guess) other people’s emotions, an AI can be trained on a human-labeled data set to recognize emotion with… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2QBKrTL

A “bat-sense” algorithm that generates images from sounds could be used to catch burglars and monitor patients without using CCTV, the technique’s inventors say. The machine-learning algorithm developed at Glasgow University uses reflected echoes to produce 3D pictures of the surrounding environment. The researchers say smartphones and laptops running the algorithm could detect intruders and monitor care home patients. [Read: 3 new technologies ecommerce brands can use to connect better with customers] Study lead author Dr Alex Turpin said two things set the tech apart from other systems: Firstly, it requires data from just a single input — the microphone or… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3eLzqao

Yes, you read correctly. During Tesla’s Q1 earnings call on April 17, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, commented on the recent fatal crash in Texas and proved that Elon Musk’s claims were, well, lies.  Musk had claimed via Twitter that Autopilot wasn’t enabled, and that it wouldn’t work on a street without lane lines, as was the case.  Your research as a private individual is better than professionals @WSJ! Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD. Moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Tesla from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2Si3hzF

Big, terrifying changes are afoot: there’s going to be a new default font in Microsoft Word. Please, don’t panic. You can riot, sure, but no panicking. This decision was announced on Microsoft’s blog. In the piece, the company explains that it has commissioned five different fonts that could potentially replace the current default, Calibri. The piece itself provides a balanced view of all these different options, going into an admirable amount of depth about why they may be suitable to become Microsoft Word’s next default font. Unfortunately though, we didn’t see this news on the blog. Instead, we saw it on… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Microsoft from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3tcXs3m

Well, you read the headline, here are the goods: It’s time. You can buy the very first seat on #NewShepard. Sign up to learn how at https://t.co/XNq9WALA7u. Details coming May 5th. #GradatimFerociter pic.twitter.com/K9jugCs9yz — Blue Origin (@blueorigin) April 29, 2021 If you can’t piece together why Bezos is blasting through the desert in a pre-production Rivian R1T all-electric truck, I can explain. Blue Origin is a private space tourism business that’s privately owned by, you guessed it, a Stetson-ed Jeff Bezos. Rivian is an electric vehicle startup, and one of its main backers is Amazon… are you seeing how all… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3uaWCVV

TLDR: The WeMax Dice Portable Smart Projector is a travel-friendly full Bluetooth enabled digital media hub that beams 1080p resolution video at up to 120 inches across. In this 21st century wave of cutting edge digital projectors, image quality obviously is a big deal. But as we start to reopen the world and put the pandemic behind us, don’t sleep on another hard-charging feature that all the best projectors now flash like a badge of honor: portability. Movie night could be on your couch. But real soon, it could be on somebody else’s. In that case, the WeMax Dice Portable… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3u9cEzs

Apple is in the EU’s crosshairs once again. The European Commission has charged the iPhone maker with breaking antitrust laws by imposing unfair rules on distributing apps via the App Store. The EU’s executive arm accused Apple of abusing its market power in two ways: forcing developers to use Apple’s own in-app payment system — which gives the tech giant a 30% cut — and banning them from informing customers about alternative subscription options. The latter rule EU antitrust czar Margrethe Vestager said the restrictions meant consumers were losing out: By setting strict rules on the App store that disadvantage… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Apple from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3nzY6q6

Earlier in April, Android Auto announced that it would soon feature apps for navigation, parking, and EV charging, to increase choices and enhance the driving experience of its consumers.  Well, Google did commit to its promise. Starting yesterday, Android users are able to use the ChargePoint app on their Android Auto compatible vehicle.  To do that, they only need to connect a phone running on Android 6.0 or above, and to download the app from the Play Store.  Credit: chargepoint.comChargePoint app – Begin Charging Session That’s great news for EV owners, as their car’s infotainment system will directly display all the charging information they… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Android from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3aNUBqT

The coronavirus pandemic is in a dreadful phase in India with more than 300,000 cases daily cases registered over the last 10 days. Amid people searching for hospital beds, oxygen, and meds, the government has opened up its vaccination program for all adults aged above 18. Till now, the vaccination program allowed anyone above 45, as well as healthcare workers, and frontline workers to get the approved shots to fight COVID-19. As the program opens up for more people, Facebook is rolling out a new tool to find the nearest vaccination center in the coming days. The tool will be available in… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Facebook from The Next Web https://ift.tt/336dP6Q

Ebikes are blowing up, and it’s bloomin’ glorious to watch. No, I don’t mean exploding, but people are buying them at the fastest ever rate. But I’m worried some of us are missing out, because we’re not appreciating the ugly ones. Over the past year, electrified bicycles have come of age. It’s part of what the BBC calls, “The great bicycle boom of 2020.” Pandemic lockdowns around the world opened our eyes to how much we rely on the car, and it’s got people thinking about two wheels as a more preferable mode of transport. People are gravitating to sexy… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3xBAc2h

The UK‘s shift to EVs will come with a heavy price, an expected  £40 billion ($56bn) loss in the Treasury’s funds. On Wednesday, Greener Transport Solutions, a non-profit group that provides recommendations to central and local government, submitted to MPs a report, aimed at tackling this problem. Specifically, the report proposed a mandatory per-mile road pricing scheme by 2030, to coincide with the sales ban on internal combustion vehicles. The organization considers this measure a “fiscal imperative.” With the electric vehicles being exempt from vehicle excise duty (an emissions based tax) and the expected decrease in fuel demand, the Treasury will loose 28 billion ($39bn) from… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3vveFX1

Australia’s trucking industry is making moves to go electric. The latest development — a system for using swappable batteries instead of time-consuming recharge stations for long-haul trucks between Sydney and Brisbane — shows how this transition is gathering momentum. There will be clear socio-economic, environmental and health-related benefits from the switch to electric trucks — for the broader community as well as for the trucking industry and truckies themselves. As electric vehicle researchers, we think swappable batteries could work well for trucking, but are perhaps less suitable for everyday electric cars. Electric trucking There are many benefits from electrifying truck… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3vvC6Qe

India opened up its vaccine registration program for hundreds of millions of people aged 18-45 on April 28. However, most people in this age bracket could not find any slots for their vaccinations on the official CoWin website, as most states and private hospitals haven’t obtained the required doses. To easily search for vaccination slots, Programmer Berty Thomas came up with a simple but effective website called under45.in. The site lets folks in search for places that are open for vaccination of the 18-45 age group.  That solves a major point that visitors face on the CoWIN website: it’s meant to be used by… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3xEDF0a

Just a few days after Spotify launched in India back in 2019, I hopped on a flight with a bunch of songs downloaded in the app for my journey. But the moment I turned on airplane mode, there was no sign of my downloaded tracks. The horror! It’s currently hard to find your downloads in the Spotify app, even if you switch to the offline mode by going to Settings > Playback > Offline mode (who designed it this way, really?). Offline listeners can celebrate at last: Spotify has finally found some time in between its rush to acquire other… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Spotify from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3aQNONl

I need three hours of focused time per day to complete — and feel proud of — my week’s work. It’s just how my brain works. As a coach and facilitator, I’ve become convinced that everyone, regardless of their role, needs uninterrupted work time every day. Engineers need to write code without errors. People managers need to synthesize a day of one-on-one calls. Support and sales roles need to manage their pipeline after a day of context-switching between customers. When my clients get this dedicated work time, they’re more motivated and focused. But uninterrupted calendar blocks are hard to design… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2SaNoe5

This article was originally published by Sarah Wray on Cities Today, the leading news platform on urban mobility and innovation, reaching an international audience of city leaders. For the latest updates follow Cities Today on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, or sign up for Cities Today News. The City of Helsinki is trialing a quiet, emission-free robot in a bid to find new ways to keep streets clean with minimal disruption to residents. The Trombia Free vehicle will run from today until April 27 on weekday evenings on a busy street (Välimerenkatu) and bicycle path (Baana) in the Jätkäsaari… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3nDEilN

I tend to try to avoid the comments section on YouTube as much as possible, but it turns out the company is testing a way to make them even more prominent. As spotted by Android Police, the video platform is testing a way to allow users to post comments linked to a specific time. It sounds a lot like SoundCloud‘s comments, based on the information on this support page: We’re currently testing a new feature that allows you to view comments timed to the exact moment you’re watching in a video. This experiment is available on some videos to a… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: SoundCloud from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3e1pVEG

Oh hey, Facebook is taking a page out of Clubhouse’s book. Again. Times two. Instagram has added the ability to run audio-only broadcasts on Instagram Live. It doesn’t quite turn Instagram into Clubhouse, but it’s hard not to look at the update through the lens of the meteoric rise of audio-centric platforms like Clubhouse and Twitter’s Spaces. Who’d have thought that glorified conference calls would be the next big thing? Granted, maybe this update has nothing to do with Clubhouse. At its core, it’s a very simple tweak. I mean, it’s a livestream with the video turned off. But it’s… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Instagram from The Next Web https://ift.tt/334BtRa

Windows 10 is getting a big sound quality boost for a whole bunch of Bluetooth headphones out there — including Apple’s AirPods. The company today announced support for the AAC Bluetooth codec is coming to Windows 10, starting with Windows Insiders. While Windows 10 already supports another high-quality codec, AptX, many audio devices don’t. Notably, Apple headphones — including Beats — use AAC exclusively as their high-quality option. I’ve tested many a product that only supported AAC (aside from the basic SBC), so this is pretty great news for this audio enthusiast. There’s more good news. If you’ve ever tried… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Windows from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3u5TA5m

“Consumers looking for an on-demand service won’t find it with Game Pass.” That’s how I ended this 2017 article titled “Xbox Game Pass isn’t the Netflix of Anything.” I’m happy to say that now, in 2021, it finally is. That’s right. It’s three years later and Xbox Game Pass is the Netflix of Gaming. And it’s all thanks to Microsoft’s excellent “Xbox Cloud Gaming” service, which recently entered beta. I’ve tested the service and ran it through some paces and, well, I have some thoughts. The short version is this: Here’s a more nuanced take: Microsoft’s been telling us for… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Xbox from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3aRVjUb

Downloadable content has somehow managed to become a polarizing issue in the gaming community. Debates rage about when it’s appropriate for a developer to create DLC, how much gamers should be charged, and exactly how many add-ons a company can put out before it becomes too much. Here’s the thing: there’s no such thing as too much DLC. Stop being ridiculous. Here’s what’s wrong with DLC: Developers might choose to prioritize DLC development so they can rake in the big bucks rather than finish or fix the main game Developers might decide to withhold content they could include in the… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3nyfWtD

A terrifying robot dog that’s been prowling New York’s streets over the past few months is being sent back to the pound. The NYPD had been leasing the quadruped from Boston Dynamics since last year, but canceled the contract last week after a public backlash. “This is a casualty of politics, bad information, and cheap sound bytes,” John Miller, the department’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, told The New York Times. “We should have named it ‘Lassie’.” Nah they really got these robot police dogs in NYC. This is wild pic.twitter.com/iG7CTPFevH — THEE DON❤️‍🔥 (@1800SPOILED) April 12, 2021 The device… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3vt1plH

For the first few months of 2021, the Martian atmosphere was buzzing with new visitors from Earth. First, it was the UAE Space Agency’s Hope probe, followed by the Chinese Tianwen-1 entering orbit. More recently, Nasa landed the biggest-ever rover on Mars, as well as its companion, an ingenious helicopter. Both have been setting new milestones since. The next visitor to the planet will be Tianwen-1 mission’s lander, which will attempt to reach the surface of Mars in mid-May. To enter the Martian atmosphere, it will use a slightly different technique to previous missions. Landing on Mars is notoriously dangerous –… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3u5OINF

Boris is the wise ol’ CEO of TNW who writes a weekly column on everything about being an entrepreneur in tech — from managing stress to embracing awkwardness. You can get his musings straight to your inbox by signing up for his newsletter! A friend of mine is filled with ideas, and every time I meet him, he’s always got a crazy new pitch. I love those conversations because his passion and out-of-the-box thinking always make me eager to discuss it and think about how it could be done. He recently told me I’m one of the few people who’s… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3u4b8ie

TLDR: The Ocushield Anti-Blue Light Glasses protect your eyes from the harmful effects of blue light-emitting devices that can lead to headaches, eye strain, fatigue, and unrestful sleep. Studies — and the resulting news reports that cover them — are filled with findings that often grab your attention. Then there are those study results that should scare the living bejeezus out of you.  Like that your smartphone is covered in 10 times more bacteria than a public restroom. Or that making toilet paper kills 27,000 trees a day.  Or how about this — during the height of the pandemic, the… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3335HnC

Netflix has much garbage on it that I often spend more time searching for shows than actually watching them. Nowadays, I frequently give up hunting and do something more productive instead, like reading or collecting lint from my belly button. But doomscrolling through Netflix’s catalog is no longer the only way to find those rare nuggets of gold. After years of testing, the streaming behemoth has finally launched a shuffle button that lets an algorithm do the digging instead. Imaginatively named “Play Something,” the feature recommends shows based on your viewing history. Click the button and Netflix will play a series or… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Netflix from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3e3jz7T

This week’s release of iOS 14.5 was a big one. Not only are there interesting new features like mask unlock and a redesigned podcast app, but Apple also went all Wild West on app tracking. And the tech world took notice. Facebook head honcho Mark Zuckerberg has been particularly and repeatedly critical of Apple strapping on a pair of six shooters and heading to Advert Town to protect your privacy. Of course, Apple is doing this for profit, but that doesn’t make it infuriating Facebook any less delicious. All this means one thing and one thing only: we need to rank… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: iOS from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3xBPzaP

I spent the last week playing Housemarque’s upcoming PS5 exclusive Returnal and I absolutely love it, but don’t consider this a review. “Ok, so what even is Returnal?” If you had asked me this question a month ago I would’ve shrugged and mumbled something about a generically titled PS5 game that I had little interest in. Then my review code came in and I’ve been obsessed ever since. It’s almost like Returnal is tailor-made for me. It’s an insanely challenging third-person shooter with roguelike elements. Think Hades with a AAA budget. Returnal starts off with the main character, Selene, crashing… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3vyqPyB

Electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular, but still, range anxiety and charging time are obstacles to their widespread acceptance. Imagine, though, charging your car by simply changing lanes and driving over to special charging strips embedded in the road. That’s exactly the vision of Khurram Afridi, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University. Along with his team, they’re developing a groundbreaking approach to charge EVs without the need for cables. Drivers could save time, and cars would need smaller batteries, which means that their cost would be reduced, as much as their environmental impact. In fact, over the… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Tesla from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2QzeoDU

For most people, getting to the stars is nothing more than a dream. On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito achieved that lifelong goal – but he wasn’t a typical astronaut. Tito, a wealthy businessman, paid US$20 million for a seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to be the first tourist to visit the International Space Station. Only seven people have followed suit in the 20 years since, but that number is poised to double in the next 12 months alone. NASA has long been hesitant to play host to space tourists, so Russia – looking for sources of money post-Cold… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/32VU8il

You decide to call a store that sells some hiking boots you’re thinking of buying. As you dial in, the computer of an artificial intelligence company hired by the store is activated. It retrieves its analysis of the speaking style you used when you phoned other companies the software firm services. The computer has concluded you are “friendly and talkative.” Using predictive routing, it connects you to a customer service agent who company research has identified as being especially good at getting friendly and talkative customers to buy more expensive versions of the goods they’re considering. This hypothetical situation may… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3xxikp3

Like Uber, ride-hailing platform Lyft has sold its self-driving division. It’s a massive u-turn for the company considering that just last year, it said it was planning to launch its  first robotaxi fleet in 2023. Let’s take a closer look at what’s happened. The deal On Tuesday this week, Lyft announced an acquisition agreement with Toyota’s Woven Planet Holdings (WPH). The deal sees WPH buy Lyft’s self-driving division, called Level 5, for $550 million in cash. As TechCrunch reports, Lyft will receive $200 million upfront, with the remaining $350 million paid in installments over the next five years. Most of… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/32YjMTr

Google Assistant is great for knowing weather forecasts, checking scores of my favorite sports teams, or asking it to show nearby restaurants. But one of my huge complaints with it is that when I try to call a contact, it would often fail to recognize their name. I live in India, and because of the diverse nature of the country names, people in my contacts and their pronunciations vary a lot. So it might be hard for Google Assistant to correctly identify all of them every single time. To solve this problem, Google is rolling out a new update to the… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Google from The Next Web https://ift.tt/32XLPm3

We have to get rid of our past ideas of what a “normal” business office looks like. As lockdowns ease in the future, there will be industries that want to bring everyone back into an office location even as other companies remain in a fully-remote system. But there is another option that is poised to become the standard for business operations in the 21st century: the hybrid workplace. In this type of setting, some workers are based in a physical office, while others work from spaces outside of the physical office and can be located anywhere in the world. Our… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/330rsEF

Last night, when most of India was sleeping, Facebook temporarily blocked posts that included the #ResignModi hashtag— criticizing the Prime Minister‘s handling of the raging Coronavirus pandemic — and restored them hours later. The company said that the blocking was an oversight, and New Delhi didn’t order the social networking giant to restrict it: We temporarily blocked this hashtag by mistake, not because the Indian government asked us to, and have since restored it. This incident raises a lot of eyebrows because at one end we have the government, which ordered Facebook and Twitter to remove more than 100 posts that… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Facebook from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3sZYKOL

An Amazon lawsuit alleging former President Donald Trump interfered in the selection process for the Department of Defense’s JEDI project can go forward, a federal judge ruled today. The ruling stems from a 2019 lawsuit where Amazon insisted Trump purposefully snubbed the company in favor of Microsoft for the JEDI account – a $10B program to build AI solutions for the Pentagon. The reasoning for this, according to Amazon, has to do with its CEO’s ownership of the Washington Post, a newspaper Trump referred to as the “enemy of the people” numerous times during his one-time stint as US president. [Read: Amazon… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Amazon from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3uenQLa

If you’re in the market for a new set of hi-fi speakers or studio monitors, you might have come across the term ‘waveguide’ before. You might’ve seen a photo or illustration in marketing materials pointing to a fancy trim ring or horn-looking-thing around a speaker’s tweeter, as in the header image above. Sometimes a waveguide is even directly integrated into the speaker’s cabinet design itself. This is more than just an aesthetic frivolity. You might’ve used your big brain to surmise that a waveguide has something to do with ‘guiding’ the sound ‘waves.’ If so, congratulations — you’re a smarty pants.… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3t2VIJL

The UK government is retooling a National Health Service app as a vaccine passport for international travel, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced this morning. The app will provide proof that people have been vaccinated or received a negative test for the virus. Shapps told Sky News that the system is already being developed: In terms of vaccine certification, I can confirm we are working on an NHS application — actually it will be the NHS app that is used for people when they book appointments with the NHS and so on — to be able to show you’ve had a vaccine or… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3sUNvaw

A Black man says a passport photo he submitted was rejected by the British government because the AI software couldn’t recognize his “melanated hotness.” Joris Lechêne, a model and racial justice activist, said in a TikTok video that his photo met every rule in the application guidelines: But lo and behold, that photo was rejected because the artificial intelligence software wasn’t designed with people of my phenotype in mind. Lechêne shared a screenshot of the photo he submitted. It shows him standing in a black t-shirt, mouth closed, against a contrasting grey background. Nonetheless, the government website rejected the image because… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3xFgS4n

A group of researchers from Tel Aviv University recently discovered how shockingly easy it is to identify a person based on a tiny sample of their musical listening preferences. The gist: When companies such as Spotify use your data to train its AI, they remove all the identifying markers such as your name, account number, or anything else a computer or person could use to immediately identify you. What’s left is the raw data on your listening preferences such as how many times you’ve listened to a track and whether you’ve given a track a thumbs up or not. The… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3vqTBRI

Apple users across the globe are adopting the latest operating system update, called iOS 14.5, featuring the now-obligatory new batch of emojis. But there’s another change that’s arguably less fun but much more significant for many users: the introduction of “app tracking transparency”. This feature promises to usher in a new era of user-oriented privacy, and not everyone is happy — most notably Facebook, which relies on tracking web users’ browsing habits to sell targeted advertising. Some commentators have described it as the beginnings of a new privacy feud between the two tech behemoths. Apple vs. Facebook: A new iPhone feature… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Apple from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3dXlJ8U

As EVs and semi-automated vehicles are becoming a bigger part of our lives, cybersecurity concerns are growing. Just a year ago, the Autopilot of the Tesla Model X was hacked, and not just once. In one instance, Israeli researchers at Ben Gurion University tricked the car by flashing “phantom” images on a road, wall or sign, causing it to unexpectedly brake or steer in the wrong direction.  A few months later, Lennert Wouters, a researcher at KU Leuven, “stole” a Tesla Model X in 90 seconds, Wired reported.  Having spotted a vulnerability in its keyless entry system, he only needed $300 in computer… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3nvtXrW

TLDR: With a lifetime GA Insights subscription, you can monitor your website analytics at all time and receive alerts the minute there’s a potential problem. There are currently over 2 billion potential customers for your online business out there right now on the web. The money they spend online accounts for almost 20 percent of the world’s retail sales totals. And since nearly half of all U.S. small businesses don’t have a website, you can capitalize big time by being one of the ones that do. But are you sure you’re ringing every dollar you can out of your digital… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3dWhsTo

Commonly known as the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), Xuntian (Heavenly Cruiser) is readying to become China’s first major telescope in space. Unlike previous space telescopes such as Hubble, this orbiting observatory, due for launch in 2024, will be orbiting alongside the Chinese large modular space station, able to dock with the outpost when needed. One of the most-important characteristics of a telescope is its diameter — which limits how much light it can take in at a single time. The main mirror in Xuntian will have a diameter around two meters (six-and-a-half feet) across, roughly the size of the… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/32VkyAF

This article was originally published by Sarah Wray on Cities Today, the leading news platform on urban mobility and innovation, reaching an international audience of city leaders. For the latest updates follow Cities Today on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, or sign up for Cities Today News. New research from Ramboll finds that personal safety concerns about walking, cycling and using public transport have a big influence on how women move around cities. The Gender and (Smart) Mobility report calls on cities and transport planners to adopt a safety by design approach and apply a gender lens to all… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3gHk9df

The closest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri. It is about 4.25 light-years away, or about 25 trillion miles (40 trillion km). The fastest ever spacecraft, the now- in-space Parker Solar Probe will reach a top speed of 450,000 mph. It would take just 20 seconds to go from Los Angeles to New York City at that speed, but it would take the solar probe about 6,633 years to reach Earth’s nearest neighboring solar system. If humanity ever wants to travel easily between stars, people will need to go faster than light. But so far, faster-than-light travel is possible only… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2S1PQDE

Have you ever dreamed of a mobile robot that would independently charge your EV with the tap of a button on your phone? Well, Envision Group has made it happen, and the firm says we will see its new device on the streets in June 2021. Last week, the Chinese green tech company launched what it claims to be the word’s first mass-produced charging robot, powered by 100% green electricity. “Mochi”, as it’s called, uses Envision Group’s EnOSTM intelligent operating system, which connects and manages over 200GW of renewable energy assets worldwide. Envision sees Mochi increasing flexibility for the growing user… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3eHjW7n

This article was originally published by Martin Banks on Clean Fleet Report, a publication that gives its readers the information they need to move to cars and trucks with best fuel economy, including electric cars, fuel cells, plug-in hybrids, hybrids and advanced diesel and gasoline engines. The electric vehicle market has seen incredible growth in the past decade. There were 7.2 million EVs on the road in 2019, despite there being less than 20,000 in use just nine years earlier. New models emerge all the time – and the Kenguru is easily one of the most intriguing. In an innovative… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2R3dX4C

The UK is making self-driving partially legal in the spring, so you should have an easier time in the cockpit. But you shouldn’t think of watching a movie or playing games on your phones while driving just yet. A report from BBC noted that the Department for Transport will allow autonomous driving modes that are limited to a single lane with a speed cap of 60km per hour (37mph).  The government said that vehicles with automated lane-keeping systems (ALKS) will have to take a GB-type approval to be classified as self-driving cars. It added that the drivers won’t need to pay attention to… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3exxYbs

In sales, you are only as good as your last deal. Every day, week, month, or quarter is a fresh start where, once again, your team needs to gear up and deliver. Great sales leaders are able to push or pull a team whether they are at 120% or at 50% of their goal, and they are able to recruit and maintain high-performing sales teams over a long period of time.  There is no silver bullet for sustaining a high performing sales team, but here are a few things that I think are important: You win the battle on the… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/3vouWwR