Technology

When you jump into a video on YouTube or Netflix, a lot happens very quickly behind the scenes. Video data is rapidly downloaded to your device, which then has to unpack and normalize that information into a smooth, hiccup-free stream. The process of encoding and decoding video data has changed greatly over the years, with H.264 (AVC) and its successor H.265 (HEVC) remaining two of the most widely used codecs for streaming.But in 2015, tech giants including Netflix, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta banded together to develop video compression’s latest evolution: AV1. The companies, which are part of the overarching Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), say the video codec is around 30 percent more efficient compared to other standards like HEVC and the Google-developed VP9, allowing it ...

Robots aren't just efficient machines anymore, they are now agile performers that can flip and jog. Take, for instance, Unitree, a Chinese robotics company that has been making headlines with its incredible G1 humanoid robot. You might have seen it dancing alongside humans or remembered its predecessor, the H1, which stunned us with a backflip using electric motors. But now, the G1 has taken things to a whole new level. It has mastered the side flip.STAY PROTECTED & INFORMED! GET SECURITY ALERTS & EXPERT TECH TIPS – SIGN UP FOR KURT’S ‘THE CYBERGUY REPORT’ NOW G1 humanoid robot does a side flip (Unitree)A backflipping legacyRemember when Unitree's H1 robot shocked us all by performing a backflip using electric motors? Well, they've taken it up a notch with the G1. This little ...

Tuberculose, grippe, variole, peste ou choléra… Les maladies contagieuses ont surgi au fil des siècles, jouant un rôle majeur dans le destin des sociétés humaines. Le chercheur de l’Inserm Renaud Piarroux, qui reproche aux historiens d’avoir minimisé leur rôle, a entrepris de le retracer. Source link

The first batch of 27 Project Kuiper space internet satellites are scheduled to launch next week. Amazon has secured 80 such launch missions that will each deliver dozens of satellites into low earth orbit (LEO) to create a constellation capable of competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink juggernaut. Amazon says it expects to begin offering high-speed, low-latency internet service “later this year.”The KA-01 mission satellites — short for Kuiper Atlas 1 — will launch on an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance. It’s currently scheduled for 12pm ET on Wednesday, April 9th, assuming weather and technology cooperate at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Amazon’s other Project Kuiper launch partners include Arianespace, Blue Origin, and yes, SpaceX.As a global service offeri...

Nintendo revealed its Switch 2 in full yesterday, just hours before Trump took to the White House Rose Garden for his own launch: his latest, and largest, round of tariffs yet. Unfortunately for Nintendo, the tariffs hit the countries where it builds its consoles, with new rates of up to 49 percent that it may pass on to US buyers.The company is in this position in part because it had to adapt to Trump’s trade policy before. Its manufacturing was heavily based in China until Trump’s first term, when the combination of tariffs on China, the covid pandemic, and later, Russia’s attack on Ukraine, created supply chain upheaval. That prompted Nintendo to diversify, and according to the Financial Times, more than half of its US hardware is now manufactured in Vietnam and Cambodia.Nintendo’s p...

Smartphone apps that track our driving behavior may be the key to safer road conditions. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety just published a study that found that using smartphone apps to monitor driver behavior, and then providing summaries of that behavior via text message or a data dashboard, leads to safer driving. Researchers borrowed techniques from usage-based insurance (UBI) programs, in which insurance companies use smartphone apps to measure dangerous driving behaviors, like hard braking, sudden acceleration, and speeding. Rather than rely on actuarial data, like driving records and vehicle type, UBI programs use real-time data from app trackers to determine premiums. These are typically opt-in programs, marketed as a way to lower premiums. But if your driving isn’t as safe...

Un enfant atteint du cancer, à l’hôpital Armand-Trousseau, à Paris, le 16 mars 2021. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP Pour lutter contre les déserts médicaux, les députés ont adopté, mercredi 2 avril, un article phare d’une proposition de loi transpartisane, visant à réguler l’installation des médecins sur le territoire. L’examen du reste du texte est prévu début mai. « Six millions de Français sont sans médecin traitant, huit millions de Français vivent dans un désert médical », a martelé Guillaume Garot (PS), à l’initiative de la proposition de loi depuis 2022 avec un groupe transpartisan (plus de 250 députés cosignataires, de LR à LFI). Cette inégalité crée un « sentiment délétère pour notre République qui a failli dans...

At an event in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, Donald Trump unveiled a new set of planned tariffs that are being described as “short-sighted,” and having “no basis in logic,” and being compared to Great Depression-era policies. Holding a giant poster board blowing in the wind, Trump announced staggering new taxes on products coming into the US from abroad. Among the 60 countries listed, tariff rates ranged anywhere from 10 percent to nearly 50 percent: 34 percent for China, 46 percent for Vietnam, 20 percent for the EU, and 49 percent for Cambodia, among others.The US is the world’s biggest importer, bringing in trillions of dollars of goods every year. Relatively little is produced in the US, and the eye-watering taxes will impact supply chains across industries: tech products and gadget...

It’s perhaps no surprise that Nintendo opened its Switch 2 Direct with Mario Kart World, a Switch 2-exclusive launch title that’s a sequel to the original Switch’s most popular game. But it was more of a surprise that the Direct’s second segment, instead of focusing on the console’s specs, was all about Nintendo’s Discord-like GameChat system – a system that seems to show that Nintendo is finally catching up with its online services.For playing with your pals, GameChat looks like it could be a lot of fun. You can join a shared call with your buddies and play games together or hang out and share screens of the games you’re playing separately. The Switch 2’s onboard microphone picks up your voice for voice chat, and you can use the Switch 2 Camera accessory, which is designed to sit next ...

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)is shutting down after more than 20 years of hosting its annual challenge for writers. In a video and an email sent to community members, the nonprofit organization explains that it can no longer continue “after years of financial struggles.” As shown in the video, NaNoWriMo interim executive director Kilby Blades details how participation and fundraising in the program have decreased in recent years. The NaNoWriMo site will remain online for “as long as possible,” though it will no longer formally host its writing challenges.“We recognize that the closure of NaNoWriMo represents a huge loss to the writing community, and that grief over this outcome will be exacerbated by the challenges of the past sixteen months,” NaNoWriMo’s email to the communi...