A lot can happen in a week when it comes to tech. The constant onslaught of news makes it nigh impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of this week’s top 10 tech stories, from our first take on the BlackBerry KeyOne to the juicer taking advantage of the Juicero debacle — it’s all here.
Computer-generated ‘brain age’ estimates how much time you’ve got left
While it’s easy to count our number of birthdays to figure out how long we’ve each been on the planet, researchers at Imperial College London have another age-related metric they think is even more important: A person’s “brain age.” That means taking into account the wear and tear on a person’s brain to help predict individuals at greater risk of suffering poor health and dying earlier. And, wouldn’t you know it, they’ve created a machine learning algorithm to help!
Read the full story here.
BlackBerry KeyOne: Our first take
BlackBerry kicked its own BlackBerry Operating System to the curb last year in favor of the more popular Android OS, and it no longer manufactures its own phones. But the Waterloo company isn’t exiting the business anytime soon. Rather, BlackBerry has partnered with Chinese company TCL to release Android phones under the BlackBerry brand name. Its latest phone is the KeyOne, a traditional BlackBerry phone with a full QWERTY keyboard.
Read the full story here.
Seriously?! A cruise ship is slapping a go-kart track on its deck
Go-karting is awesome fun wherever you do it, but have you ever thought of hitting the gas on the deck of a luxury cruise ship in the middle of the ocean? Now that’d be something to tell your buddies about when you’re back on dry land. The world’s first ship-based go-kart track — wait, let’s just say that again: the world’s first ship-based go-kart track is coming soon to Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest boat, the Norwegian Joy.
Read the full story here.
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ TV series: Everything we know so far
CBS unveiled the first teaser for its new Star Trek series in early 2016, and the show’s official title was revealed to be Star Trek: Discovery during Comic-Con International in San Diego in summer 2016. With the latest movie (Star Trek Beyond) in theaters this past summer, many Star Trek fans are wondering exactly how the television series from executive producer Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies) and showrunners Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts (Pushing Daisies) will fit into the framework of the sci-fi franchise as it exists now.
Read the full story here.
Meet the 400-pound robots that will soon patrol parking lots, offices, and malls
The K5 is a 400-pound, 6-foot tall autonomous security robot that roves parking lot aisles, the hallways of office campuses, sports stadium foyers, and shopping malls on the prowl for suspicious activity. Looking something like a mix between a Dalek from Doctor Who and Eve from Wall-E, it packs sensors like a LIDAR (light detection and ranging) array and cameras that help it differentiate between a harmless passerby and potential criminal, and it feeds all that data to the cloud.
Read the full story here.
No cell phone for you! Mumford and Sons ban cell phones at upcoming pre-release show
Planning on recording a shaky YouTube video of Mumford & Sons at their upcoming gig in Brighton, UK? You’re out of luck, as the folk rockers announced that they’ll be banning cell phones at the show — which takes place before their third LP, Wilder Eyes, comes out — as a precaution against leaking (via BBC). The group made clear that the last-minute show at the 1,700-capacity Brighton Dome in Brighton, which was offered exclusively to its mailing list subscribers, will not allow cell phones.
Read the full story here.
Synthetic material replicates photosynthesis to generate energy, clean air
Scientists at the University of Central Florida have discovered a method for triggering artificial photosynthesis using a synthetic material, opening up a new way to both generate energy and also convert greenhouse gases into clean air.
“The practical applications of this work include the development of future technology that will transform CO2 (carbon dioxide) into useful materials, including what we call ‘solar fuel,’” Dr. Fernando Uribe-Romo, a research professor who worked on the project, told DT.
Read the full story here.
New FCC ruling would eliminate net neutrality regulations for ISPs
Net neutrality is one of the more contentious issues in technology today. Given some recent developments, it is not going to become any less controversial anytime soon. With the new administration came a new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman, Ajit Pai, and he has been hinting at changing how the FCC regulates the industry in ways that will impact net neutrality regulations. Now, Pai has made his plans more official, Ars Technica reports.
Read the full story here.
Juisir is capitalizing on the Juicero hate with a discount for owners
If the dread of cleaning is what’s been keeping you from juicing, consider your aversion … averted. A new juicer has made its debut on Kickstarter, and while it’s entering a relatively crowded marketplace, it claims to have one feature that makes it stand out from the pack — no cleaning required. Meet Juisir, an “innovative cold press juicier” that applies eight tons of force to your favorite juice recipe, and leaves no mess in its wake.
Read the full story here.
NASA’s Cassini probe begins its suicide dive through Saturn’s rings
It’s been nearly two decades since the Cassini-Hyugens spacecraft launched from Earth toward Saturn, entering the ringed planet’s orbit on July 1, 2004. The Huygens lander separated on Christmas Day to dive into the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan, eventually landing and sending back images. Cassini then continued on to study the Saturn system alone. Unfortunately, 2017 marked the beginning of the end for the probe, which was beginning to run out of fuel. On Wednesday, NASA initiated the final maneuvers for its grand finale — a series of dives through the 1,500-mile-wide gap between Saturn and its rings.
Read the full story here.