The Biden administration's focus on science will include a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence. The Commerce Department, National AI Initiative Office and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy are forming a National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC) to advise the President and federal officials on AI-related issues.

NAIAC will provide guidance on several AI concerns, including "competitiveness," employment, scientific progress, the viability of national strategy and future initiative revisions. The committee will also address ethical issues ranging from workforce equity to accountability and algorithmic bias.

Members will come from a "broad and interdisciplinary" pool including academics, companies, non-profits and federal labs. They'll be accepted on a continuous basis, with any eventual vacancies filled as they pop up.

This isn't the first major organization influencing the US government's use of AI. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence has been urging officials to treat AI as a major concern. Members of Congress have also been pushing for greater adoption of AI in government. However, NAIAC could make AI a frequent consideration in government policy, not to mention shape AI-specific policies.

Whether or not the committee satisfies enough people is another matter. Some in Congress want hard limits on the use of AI, including a Democrat call for an outright ban on facial recognition in federal government. It should still lead to more informed decisions on AI — it's just uncertain whether or not those decisions will include all the right voices.

You have one last chance to try Android 12 before its official debut. Google has released the fifth and final beta for Pixel phones (including the Pixel 5a) and several third-party devices, giving you one more look before the finished version arrives. Beta 5 is a release candidate build with the usual last-minute fixes and performance improvements, so don't expect major changes from beta 4 or even beta 3.

The completed software is due sometime in the "weeks ahead," Google said. If history is any indication, only Pixel owners will get Android 12 first — you'll have to wait for third parties to customize and deploy their releases in the months to come.

The Material You design scheme remains the most conspicuous change in Android 12, including an overall interface refresh, more fluid animations as well as color themes that adapt to your wallpaper. You'll also see more privacy features, including a dedicated Privacy Dashboard as well as toggles and in-use indicators for cameras and microphones.

There are subtler under-the-hood improvements, too, such as camera-based auto-rotation and an on-device search engine that helps find content within your apps. This isn't a gigantic leap in some respects, but it could help revitalize Android if you've felt that previous releases were a little stale.

NASA's long-delayed James Webb Space Telescope is close to entering service. The agency now plans to launch the telescope on December 18th, 2021, just a few months after testing completed in late August. The hardware will reach orbit aboard an ESA-supplied Ariane 5 rocket lifting off from French Guiana. NASA still has to ship the telescope to the launchpad, although much of the rocket has already arrived. 

The JWST was deemed complete in 2016 ahead of an expected 2018 launch, but faced a number of delays due to its elaborate construction. It wasn't assembled until 2019, and factors like the COVID-19 pandemic further hindered NASA's efforts. That's not including earlier setbacks — development started in 1996 with an expected 2007 deployment, but the team scrapped much of its work and redesigned the equipment in 2005.

The telescope's importance hasn't changed. It's considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. It includes a much larger mirror along with a focus on lower-frequency observations (particularly mid-infrared) that will help it detect early galaxies that even Hubble can't find. That priority also helps explain some of its technical challenges. The JWST's instruments will need to stay extremely cold (-370F) to avoid interference with infrared measurements, requiring both a large sunshield and an insertion near a Sun-Earth Lagrange point.

The mission will be relatively short. As the JWST needs propellant to maintain orbit, it can't last indefinitely like a telescope circling Earth. NASA would consider a five-year lifespan "nominal," although it's hoping for 10 years.

All the effort might just pay off. In addition to shedding more light on the early Universe, the JWST should also help astronomers and astrophysicists fill gaps in studies where Hubble wasn't enough. Infrared waves are more likely to cut through cosmic dust, and they're the primary radiation from cooler celestial bodies like brown dwarfs and planets. There's a very real chance the JWST will help solve a string of cosmic mysteries during its brief lifetime.

Roku is finally expanding its original content beyond a parade of Quibi shows. The company has revealed that its first original feature-length movie (outside of acquired material) is Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas, a "holiday encore" for NBC's cancelled TV show Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. It keeps the musical format and will preserve the original cast, including lead Jane Levy as well as Skylar Astin, Mary Steenburgen and Bernadette Peters.

Show creator Austin Winsberg will write and executive produce the show, while the series' pilot director Richard Shepard will return to his role for the movie. Lionsgate is leading the overall production. Like other originals, this will be free to watch on The Roku Channel (with ads) when it premieres sometime in the fall.

Roku is borrowing a familiar strategy: like Amazon and Netflix, it's extending a fan-favorite show that met a premature end on conventional TV. It's not a true original in that regard. This does signal growing confidence on Roku's part, though, and hints at where the company might take its originals going forward.

Google is keen to make Gmail your go-to hub for more than just messages. As The Vergenoted, Google is rolling out a larger Workspace update (more on that shortly) that will add direct calling via Google Meet to the Gmail mobile app. You'll get to ring up your coworkers and other contacts for a quick one-on-one when email or a scheduled meeting won't do. The feature will also send a "chip" to your computer if you'd rather answer on the larger screen.

The company has pitched the feature as a rough equivalent to "spontaneous" office chats in a hybrid work environment where some staff are at home. And before you ask — yes, the Meet app will eventually add this calling feature as well.

Google

The Workspace changes also include a broader redesign of Gmail that makes it a hub for other activities. You'll now see Google's promised "spaces," a renamed and expanded version of Rooms chat channels with full threaded messages and the option of making spaces visible in search. You can accordingly expect easier navigation between email, chats, spaces and Meet, not to mention improved admin and security tools to help manage communications. Enterprise users should see these changes starting today, but everyday Gmail owners will see updates later on.

Other tweaks include options to specify whether you're in-office or virtual on a given day (important for planning meetings) and a Companion mode for Meet that lets you use a conference room's audiovisual hardware. Google is expanding its Meet hardware ecosystem, too. There are two new Series One devices (third-party equipment made to fit Google's goals), including the Series One Desk 27 all-in-one and Series One Board 65 4K collaborative board. More gadgets are Meet-certified, too, such as Logitech's Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini room solutions as well as the Rayz Rally Pro speaker dock.

Google's ambitions for Gmail are fairly clear. Much like Microsoft Outlook, it's becoming a gateway for all office communication, not just email and the occasional meeting. That's not surprising when Google is directly competing with Office. At the same time, it does raise questions about support for dedicated apps. What need is there for other clients when Gmail theoretically does it all? Still, you might not mind if it saves you from switching apps and potentially losing focus.

Twitter has launched its second feature test in one day, and this one could be particularly helpful if you've ever been subjected to online abuse. A newly available web test lets you remove followers without blocking them. You'll disappear from their feed without notifications that might spark harassment and threats.

The social network hasn't said if or when it might roll out follower removals. This is coming alongside a string of anti-harassment and privacy-related projects, though, including a "Safety Mode" test and an experimental option to automatically archive tweets. It might be just a matter of time before tighter follower control is available to a wider audience.

This test may be particularly useful in fighting abuse. Until now, Twitter users have typically had to either report offending accounts (and hope Twitter takes action) or block them and risk retaliation. This won't prevent creeps from following your activity if you have a public account, but it could lessen the chance of immediate outrage.

Many efforts are underway to reduce the environmental impact of cars, but what about the tires those cars ride on? Continental thinks it might help. Roadshowreports the company has introduced the Conti GreenConcept (yes, a concept tire) where more than half of the materials are "traceable, renewable and recycled." You can even renew the natural rubber tread with little trouble — not a completely new idea, but refreshable treads have generally been reserved for large commercial trucks. Three renewals would be enough to ensure the material used for casing is cut in half relative to the total mileage.

About 35 percent of the materials are renewables, including dandelion rubber, silicate made from rice husk ash and a string of vegetable oils and resins. Another 17 percent is polyester yarn made from recycled PET bottles, reclaimed steel and recovered carbon black.

The design should improve the efficiency of the cars themselves, Continental added. New casing, sidewall and tread patterns make the GreenConcept about 40 percent lighter than a conventional tire at about 16.5lbs, That, in turn, leads to 25 percent lower rolling resistance than the highest-rated tires in the EU. Continental estimates you'd get six percent more range from an electric vehicle.

While you might not outfit your car with these exact tires any time soon, this is more than just a thought exercise. Continental plans to gradually deploy its recycling technology starting in 2022, including the production of tires using recycled bottles. 

Efforts like the Conti GreenConcept are partly meant to burnish Continental's public image. It wants to be the most environmentally responsible tire company by 2030, and become completely carbon-neutral by 2050 "at the latest." However, it also hints at a more holistic approach to eco-friendly cars where many components, not just the powertrain, are kinder to the planet.

Never mind buying a robot dog for your kids — you might just get them a mythical creature instead. Chinese EV maker Xpeng has teased a robot unicorn meant for children to ride. As SCMPnotes, the quadruped will take advantage of Xpeng's experiences with autonomous driving and other AI tasks to navigate multiple terrain types, recognize objects and provide "emotional interaction."

The company is shy on most other details, although the design looks and trots like a cuter, more kid-friendly version of Boston Robotics' Spot. It's appropriately about as tall as a child. Sorry, folks, you won't prance your way to work.

This robot unicorn is just about as mythical as the 'real' thing, too. Xpeng hasn't revealed when it expects to deliver its robotic horse-with-a-horn, let alone pricing or availability. It might not cost as much as a $75,000 Spot, but we'd expect something this sophisticated to cost more than the $2,900 Aibo from 2019.

To some extent, profit is beside the point. Xpeng chief He Xiaopeng said the unicorn was part of a broader move into the robotics space by taking advantage of the company's existing technology. Think of this as a first step. What Xpeng learns from its unicorn could lead to more sophisticated (and hopefully adult-oriented) robots you're more likely to buy.

Twitter is an increasingly visual social network, and it's accordingly giving your media some more breathing room. The company has started testing an "edge-to-edge" timeline on iOS that gives you a much larger, borderless view for photos and videos.. You won't have to tap on a picture just to make full use of your big smartphone screen, to put it another way.

The firm didn't say how soon the feature might move beyond the experimental stage, but did vow to "iterate" on the test. We've asked about the possibility of (and timing for) Android and web tests.

The test is a bid to "bring more focus to the content" as more Twitter users share media. We'd add that it could also help Twitter counter Instagram, TikTok and other imagery-driven social networks. You may have a stronger incentive to post on Twitter if you know people are more likely to see (and appreciate) your snapshots.

El Salvador is officially the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin as legal currency. CNBCreports the Central American nation's Bitcoin law took effect on September 7th, letting Salvadorans use the cryptocurrency in physical and online shops. Accordingly, locals can use a Chivo wallet app on their phones to make purchases and manage their funds.

The government has been eager to give itself a good start. President Nayib Bukele revealed El Salvador had bought 550 Bitcoin as of this writing (about $26 million), and the country's Congress passed a law last week establishing a $150 million fund to aid conversions from Bitcoin to US dollars (also accepted in El Salvador).

Bukele previously claimed the move would not only foster investment, tourism and overall economic development, but would make El Salvador's financial system more inclusive by courting the 70 percent of residents who don't have bank accounts. It's also an acknowledgment of the financial reality of the country. Its economy relies in part on remittances from migrants, and Bitcoin theoretically streamlines those transfers.

Not everyone is thrilled with the decision, though. Cointelegraphnoted that some Salvadorans have protested the adoption of Bitcoin, arguing that politicians didn't consult with the public. They're also worried cryptocurrency's volatility could pose a serious risk next to the relative stability of the US dollar. Reutersadded that police briefly held an outspoken critic of the Bitcoin law, Mario Gomez. Officials said it was related to a financial fraud investigation, but supporters were concerned this was an act of intimidation meant to silence political opposition.

We wouldn't count on other countries rushing to join El Salvador. Countries like the US are exploring central bank cryptocurrencies, potentially more stable and easily regulated than Bitcoin. Other countries are hostile. China banned many companies and institutions from handling cryptocurrency, and India has looked into banning private currencies. There's also the simple matter of varying economic conditions. Successful Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador wouldn't guarantee success elsewhere — other countries might gain little if anything from embracing digital money.