While we’ve seen scientists find novel ways to use insects after they’re dead, it’s hard to imagine any group of researchers topping the work of a team from Rice University that turned lifeless wolf spiders into “necrobotic” grippers. Yes, you read that right – and, no, you’re not the only one with a sudden phantom itch.
How did we get here? Well, I’m glad you asked. Let’s start with an anatomy lesson. Unlike human beings, spiders don’t have antagonistic muscle pairs to move their limbs. Instead, they rely on blood pressure and flexor muscles that allow their legs to curl inward. A chamber in their head contracts to send blood outward, and that hydraulic pressure allows a spider to extend their legs. It’s for that reason that arachnids curl up when they die. Their heart stops beating, and they lose the ability to pressurize their bodies.
Incidentally, the sight of a dead spider inspired the team from Rice University to start exploring the possibility of using one as a gripper, and they’ve been working on the project since 2019. “This area of soft robotics is a lot of fun because we get to use previously untapped types of actuation and materials,” said Assistant Professor of Engineering Daniel Preston. “The spider falls into this line of inquiry. It’s something that hasn’t been used before but has a lot of potential.”
Once Professor Preston’s team understood how spiders move their legs, turning them into robots that could lift more than their own body weight was straightforward. The procedure involved tapping a needle into the arachnid’s prosoma chamber and securing it with a dab of superglue. A handheld syringe or lab equipment attached to the other end allowed the researchers to deliver a small amount of air to the cavity, which in turn would cause the dead spider to extend their legs instantly. The resulting mechanism was suitable for about 1,000 open and close cycles.
According to Preston, potential use cases include microelectronics assembly and insect capture. As TechCrunch points out, it’s hard to imagine anyone selling necrobotic wolf spiders at scale. But if nothing else comes out of the project, you at least know how spiders move their limbs. The next time you see a dead one, you can tell a friend or family member this fun fact. I know I will.
We hope you weren't using Meta's experimental Tuned app to keep your relationship fires burning. Gizmodoreports Meta is shutting down Tuned on September 19th, and that sign-up attempts for the couple-oriented app now produce errors. The company wasn't shy about its reasons for the move. In a statement to Engadget, a spokesperson said Meta's New Product Experimentation team winds down apps if they "aren’t sticking."
Meta's (then Facebook's) NPE Team launched Tuned in April 2020 to give partners a "private space" where they could share feelings, love notes, challenges and music streams. The timing was apt (if unintentional) given the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In theory, this helped distant couples cement their bonds when they couldn't connect in person.
It's not certain how many people used the app, though. While Meta brought the initially iOS-only software to Android and said there were "many couples" who used Tuned to get closer, there's little doubt Tuned remained a niche product compared to the likes of Facebook or Instagram. There's a good chance you're hearing about this app for the first time, after all. We'd add that there wasn't much point when you could text, video chat or otherwise use existing services to accomplish many of the same goals.
You might have seen this coming. Meta has routinely shut down experimental apps, and has even axed higher-profile apps when they didn't gain traction. These closures help the company save resources and focus on more popular platforms. As it stands, Tuned was increasingly an outlier for a tech giant shifting its attention from social networking to the metaverse.
Internet satellite operators OneWeb and Eutelsat are planning to merge in the hopes of becoming a stronger rival to SpaceX's Starlink. The merger, which is subject to approval from regulators and Eutelsat shareholders, is expected to close by mid-2023 and it values OneWeb at $3.4 billion. Shareholders of OneWeb and Eutelsat will each own half of the combined company.
Eutelsat has a fleet of 36 geostationary orbit satellites. These will be combined with OneWeb's cluster of low-earth orbit satellites, which can provide internet access from the skies. OneWeb currently has 428 satellites in orbit of a planned 648 in its first-generation network.
OneWeb and Eutelsat expect to have combined revenues of €1.2 billion ($1.56 billion) in the 2022-23 fiscal year. Eutelsat chair Dominique D’Hinnin and CEO Eva Berneke will remain in those positions in the merged entity. OneWeb investor Sunil Bharti Mittal will become co-chairman.
The merger comes after OneWeb stumbled in its bid to become a viable competitor to Starlink and Amazon's Project Kuiper. OneWeb filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2020 as it sought a buyer. The UK government and Mittal's Bharti Global each paid $500 million for a 45 percent stake in OneWeb. The company secured additional funding in early 2021 to launch hundreds of satellites.
More recently, OneWeb was caught in the crossfire between Russia and the West following the former's invasion of Ukraine. UK sanctions prompted Russia to block launches of OneWeb satellites — it demanded that the UK sell its stake in OneWeb and wanted assurances the satellites wouldn't be used for military purposes. OneWeb ended up turning to its rival SpaceX to launch the remainder of its first-gen satellites.
After the expected merger, the UK will retain a "special share" in OneWeb as well as exclusive rights over the company. These grant the government a significant say in national security controls over the network and veto rights over certain decisions, such as the location of OneWeb's headquarters.
You're not alone if you think Instagram's TikTok-like test feed is undercooked, but don't expect it to go away completely. As CNBCnotes, social network head Adam Mosseri has posted a Twitter clip acknowledging that the video-focused trial feed is "not yet good," and would need to be improved before it reached all Instagram users. However, he maintained that Instagram would invariably become more video-centric over time as that's the content people were sharing. Get used to seeing more clips, in other words.
Mosseri also defended the rise of recommended posts in users' feeds. He contended they were the "most effective and important" ways for creators to grow their audiences. Users could pause all recommendations for a month if they weren't interested, he said.
👋🏼 There’s a lot happening on Instagram right now.
I wanted to address a few things we’re working on to make Instagram a better experience.
The Twitter post is effectively Instagram's response to a mounting backlash against the video feed and recommendation efforts. High-profile users like Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian recently blasted Instagram for "trying to be TikTok," while posts and petitions have increasingly called on the social media site to "make Instagram Instagram again" by returning its attention to photos.
While Mosseri asked for feedback, there's no guarantee Instagram will change course. Meta has a long history of duplicating features from social networks that pose a competitive threat, including TikTok and Snapchat. The test feed and recommendations are clearly meant to keep Instagram users from drifting toward TikTok, and Meta is trying a similarly overt strategy with Facebook. So long as Meta is worried that rivals might take its user base, it's unlikely to completely scrap features like these.
Sony is finally ready to share early details of PlayStation VR2's software experience, not just the hardware. The company has previewed a few key features for its PS5 VR headset, including livestreaming support. If you have a PS5 HD Camera, you can broadcast both gameplay and a view of yourself. As you might guess, that could be helpful for Twitch streamers, YouTubers and others who want to share their PSVR2 footage without relying on capture cards and green screens.
The company also explained how it will handle non-VR content. The PSVR2 headset will offer a 1080p "Cinematic Mode" that displays the PS5 interface and conventional games on a virtual screen at refresh rates between 24Hz and 120Hz. This is a very familiar experience if you've used VR before, but it will still be helpful if you'd rather not remove your headset to change system settings. Native VR content displays at 4,000 x 2040 with a 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rate.
Other known features exist primarily to prevent accidents. A "see-through" mode lets you quickly peek at the room to avoid a collision or find your controllers. You can also define a customized play area that will warn if you're too close to the couch or TV. This also isn't a novel concept, but it could prove crucial to apartment dwellers and anyone else with limited space for walk-around VR experiences.
There are still many more unknowns, such as the VR-native interface. Sony has promised that developers will "soon" have access to this latest experience, though, and it has teased upcoming details for the release date and more games. Don't be shocked if you hear considerably more about PSVR2 in the near future.
In 2021, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman revealed the country's plans to build The Line, a smart linear city that will be constructed vertically, have no roads or cars and run purely on renewable energy. Now, the Saudi government has released image renders of what The Line could look like once it's done. The city was designed to only be 200 meters (656 feet) wide, but 500 meters (1,640 feet) tall and 170 kilometers (105 miles) long. It will house multiple communities encased in a glass facade running along the coast and will eventually be able to accommodate up to 9 million residents.
The Line's designers envision a city wherein facilities are just a five-minute walk away from people and where residents can organically bump into each other as they go about their daily errands. While it will have no roads and won't be able to accommodate cars, it will have a high-speed rail for end-to-end transit that will take 20 minutes. It will also rely on a natural ventilation system to make sure residents enjoy the ideal climate all year round.
The Line
The Saudi Crown Prince said in a statement:
"The designs revealed today for the city's vertically layered communities will challenge the traditional flat, horizontal cities and create a model for nature preservation and enhanced human livability. THE LINE will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live."
The Line is part of Saudi's $500 billion Neom mega-city project being built in the country's Tabuk Province. It's a divisive initiative that's been beset with controversy from the time it started, because around 20,000 people will be forced to relocate by its construction. The residents facing eviction belong to the Huwaitat indigenous tribe, who can trace their lineage before Saudi was even founded.
According to Al Jazeera, a prominent Huwaitat activist was arrested and imprisoned in 2020 in relation to the tribe's refusal to relocate. Another Huwaitat activist also told the news organization that year that at least 15 other tribe members were abducted and imprisoned. Two of them were reportedly taken after criticizing the Saudi government and the Neom project on social media. In addition, expats recruited to work on the initiative criticized its management for making unrealistic demands and turning a blind eye to discrimination, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The controversies surrounding Neom had compelled Riot Games to quickly go back on its decision to enter a sponsorship agreement with the mega-city project. Neom was supposed to be a main partner for Riot's LEC esports championship in Europe two years ago until backlash from fans caused the company to end the sponsorship deal a mere 24 hours later.
The head of Russia's space program says the country will withdraw from the International Space Station after 2024. It will instead focus on building its own space station as a successor to Mir, Roscosmos administrator Yuri Borisov said, according to the Associated Press. The country made the call at a time of heightened tensions with the West following Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
Russia and its cosmonauts will remain on the ISS for at least next two and a half years in order to fulfill obligations to partners. Earlier this month, NASA and Roscosmos signed an agreement to swap seats on flights to the ISS starting in September. For the time being, NASA astronauts will once more join Soyuz flights, while Russian cosmonauts will travel on SpaceX Crew Dragon trips.
Meta started removing COVID-19 misinformation early into the pandemic, but it's now wondering if it should take a gentler approach. The Facebook owner has asked the Oversight Board for advice on whether or not it should continue its existing coronavirus policies now that the pandemic has "evolved." The company provided multiple options for the Board's consideration, ranging from the status quo through to significantly softer approaches.
The social media giant suggested that it might temporarily stop the immediate removal of false COVID-19 claims and either limit its distribution, submit it to independent fact-checkers or apply labels steering users toward accurate information. Meta was also willing to continue removing at least some misinformation, but said it would stop pulling content when it no longer represents an "imminent risk of harm." The Board would provide guidance on how Meta would make that decision.
Global Affairs President Nick Clegg characterized the advice request as an attempt to strike a balance between "free expression" and safety. The Board's decision would not only help shape that balance, but would aid Meta in responding to future health crises. Clegg noted that Meta had removed 25 million instances of bogus COVID-19 content since the pandemic began, and that it now had resources including its own virus information center as well as guidance from public health authorities.
The Board is also tackling multiple potentially important cases in other areas. A transgender non-binary couple is appealing Instagram's decision to remove two images of (covered-up) nudity despite some moderators determining that the convent didn't violate the site's pornography policies. Meta stood behind its decisions to remove the posts, but the couple said the company didn't provide an adequate answer and shouldn't censor transgender bodies at a time when trans rights and healthcare are under threat.
Another dispute challenges Instagram's decision to remove a video playing a snippet of Chinx (OS)' drill music tune "Secrets Not Safe" after UK law enforcement claimed the rap song's lyrics (referencing a past shooting) could promote real-world harm. A fourth case, meanwhile, concerns an appeal from a Latvian user who allegedly promoted violence with a post accusing Russia of fascism and referencing a poem that called on people to kill fascists.
While all of the cases could have a significant effect on Meta's policies, the possible changes to the firm's COVID-19 misinformation response may draw the most attention. Critics have repeatedly argued that Meta wasn't doing enough to fight misinformation, pointing to evidence that people who lean heavily on Facebook for news are more likely to believe false claims about vaccines and the coronavirus. Meta's request for advice runs counter to that criticism, and could raise fears that misinformation will spread rapidly.
Rollerdrome is essentially the video game version of Rollerball, the fabulous 1975 sci-fi film starring James Caan. In Rollerball, monolithic corporations control society and the least powerful citizens are compelled to compete in lethal roller-skating competitions, in the name of entertainment and classism. (Yes, dystopian fiction existed far before The Hunger Games.) The movie is a slow burn of brutality, odd human rituals and shirts with huge collars, and it’s a brilliant time capsule whose themes remain relevant today.
Rollerdromebuilds a similarly rich, unsettling world through set pieces, costuming and audio cues, pulling a 1970s aesthetic firmly into the 21st century in the process. It takes place in 2030, in a world controlled by massive companies — the Matterhorn corporation is at the center of a new bloodsport called rollerdrome, where participants are challenged to shoot their way through enemies while completing ridiculous roller-skating tricks. Rollerdrome comes from Roll7, the studio behind the skateboarding series OlliOlli — it just has four more wheels and a lot more guns than those games.
I played a preview of Rollerdrome on Steam, using a controller as recommended. The entire game features bold, comic book-style visuals, with the main character wearing a red jumpsuit and striped white helmet, skates on their feet and a handful of firearms at their disposal. It’s a third-person, single-player shooter with environments ranging from abandoned malls to desert canyons, each one lined with ramps, walls, gaps and breakable windows, offering plenty of opportunities for tricks.
Roll7
Tricks are essential to Rollerdrome, and not just because they look and feel super cool. Completing tricks is how you refill ammo, so it’s critical to keep the moves coming. The game supports the classics, like ollies, grinding, flips and grabs, allowing you to spin every which way mid-air to change things up. Roll7’s expertise with fast-moving action is on full display here — it’s fun enough to simply skate along the ramps, building up speed and trying out new tricks, but this is just one aspect of gameplay.
While rolling and flipping through the maps, you have to dodge incoming shots from enemies, manage your health and ammo, and murder every character you see. Killing enemies leaves behind gems of health, there’s a lock-on option for all firearms, and you’re able to slow down time in bursts. All of these factors combine to turn each level into an action movie with a hand-drawn '70s filter: The main character flips in slow-motion high above the battlefield, shooting down a sniper before landing back in real time, dodging missiles and rolling at full speed into another jump. Dramatic scenes like this play out again and again, as the time-slowing ability refills rapidly and completing tricks quickly becomes second nature, in the name of collecting ammo.
Roll7
Enemies have a range of weapons, including sniper rifles, bats, handguns and rockets, while the main character gets firearms like dual-wielded pistols, a shotgun and a grenade launcher. There are tokens hovering around the maps indicating trick challenges, but otherwise each environment is an open, dangerous playground. It’s possible to skate off the edge of platforms and mountainsides, and this results in a time penalty, but it doesn’t stop the round. For the completionists of the world, there are specific time- and skill-based challenges in each level, each one raising your overall score at the end.
Once you start moving in Rollerdrome, there’s no need to continually press forward to accelerate, freeing up the mechanics for turning, dropping, flipping and shooting. Dodging is one of the coolest parts of the game, especially when multiple enemies have you in their sights — incoming fire is displayed by a blue line that turns white when the shot goes off, and timing a dodge perfectly results in a satisfying sound effect and the opportunity for a temporary damage boost. It’s a thrill to dodge, dodge, dodge and then leap into the air, slow down time and take out the people shooting at you, refilling ammo and collecting health in the process. And all the while, an original synth-forward soundtrack keeps the energy high.
There are multiple things to keep track of at any given time in Rollerdrome, but the abundance of stimuli never feels overwhelming. Dying in Rollerdrome isn’t the result of poor design; it’s simply a sign that you dropped focus for a second, forgot to dodge or collect health or do a trick for more ammo. It’s a sign that you should strap on those skates again and give it another go.
Rollerdrome feels endlessly replayable, especially with online leaderboards and a challenge mode for an all-encompassing test of skill. Plus, behind the smooth mechanics and retrofuturistic filter lies a dystopian mystery with themes that (unfortunately) feel right at home in 1970 or 2030.
Rollerdrome is due to hit PlayStation 4, PS5 and Steam on August 16th.
Amazon's smallest smart display is back on sale at one of the best prices we've seen. If you missed the chance to pick up the Echo Show 5 on Prime Day, you can get it now for only $40. That's 53 percent off its normal price and only $5 more than it was during Amazon's two-day shopping event. You're getting the most up-to-date model here, which is the 2021 version with a 2MP camera for video calls. The kids version of the gadget has also been discounted to $50, which is nearly half off its regular rate.
We've recommended the Echo Show 5 many times in the past as a solid, compact smart display that also works well as a smart alarm clock. You may not have a ton of space for another gadget on your desk, nightstand or countertop, but the Show 5 should be able to fit even in the most cramped spaces. It has a 5.5-inch, 960 x 480 resolution display that will show things like weather forecasts, calendar events, photos and more. The 2MP camera can be used to video chat with friends and family, but it can also be used as a makeshift security camera of sorts. When you're out of the house, you can access the camera to check out what's going on in your home. And if you prefer not to use the camera at all, the Show 5 has a built-in camera shutter (along with a mic mute button) to give you more privacy.
We were impressed by the Show 5's audio quality as well. While you won't get as rich sound as you would on a dedicated speaker, the Show 5 pumps out good audio and gets pretty loud, too. If you have the Show 5 on your nightstand, you can use it as a smart alarm clock and make use of the gadget's tap-to-snooze feature, which lets you silence the alarm with just a touch to the top of the device. Ultimately, the Echo Show 5 is one of the most affordable ways to get Alexa into your home when it's on sale like this. It's currently the same price as the Echo Dot, so if you prefer to have a screen to see certain information or to do things like check security camera feeds, follow along with recipe videos and the like, the Echo Show 5 is the better buy.
The Echo Show 5 Kids is essentially the same as the standard smart display, but it comes in fun colors and gives you one year of access to Amazon Kids+. It's the company's subscription service that includes a bunch of child-friendly videos, games, books and more, and a lot of them can be accessed directly on the Show 5. Also, the kids version has more advanced parental controls, so you can set usage limits and bed times, review activity and otherwise keep track of how your child can use the gadget.
If you'd rather skip the display and opt for a gadget with even better sound quality, the full-sized Echo remains on sale for $60. That's a record low and a return to its Prime Day price. It's been one of our favorite smart speakers since it came out in 2020 thanks to its great audio quality, 3.5mm jack for optional input and output, plus its ability to play stereo sound when you pair two of them together.
