The topic of open source has been a touchy one for MakerBot over the past decade. The one-time 3D-printing darling was the subject of some serious smack talk when it stopped disclosing machine design in 2012. MakerBot Labs doesn’t mark a full return to those roots, but it is carving out a niche for the DIY community that was once a driving force in its rapid growth. Read More

Coevolution, which occurs when species interact and adapt to each other, is often studied in the context of pair-wise interactions between mutually beneficial symbiotic partners. But many species have mutualistic interactions with multiple partners, leading to complex networks of interacting species.

Scientists have developed the first material with conductivity properties that can be switched on and off using ferroelectric polarization.

 There isn’t much to say about the new Sonos One that hasn’t been said about Sonos already. The company has long been the gold standard in wireless whole-home audio and their speakers, while small, are powerful and more than usable for music, home entertainment, and general merriment. So how do you make a good speaker better? Just add Alexa. The new Sonos One is a $199 fully… Read More

 AdHawk is announcing that it has acquired one of its competitors, Y Combinator-backed Automate Ads. Even if you weren’t a customer, Automate Ads may sound familiar because it was previously known as Kuhcoon, a social advertising startup co-founded by Andrew Torba, who has since been in the news for getting banned from the YC alumni network and for his controversial far-right social… Read More

Powerful solar eruptions could electrically charge areas of the Martian moon Phobos to hundreds of volts, presenting a complex electrical environment that could possibly affect sensitive electronics carried by future robotic explorers, according to a new NASA study. The study also considered electrical charges that could develop as astronauts transit the surface on potential human missions to Phobos.

A researcher studied the fossil-rich sediments present in the Karoo, deposited during the tectonic events that created the Gondwanides, and found that the vertebrate animals in the area started to either go extinct or become less common much earlier than what was previously thought.

 How fast the landscape seems to shift. SoftBank has been making waves in Silicon Valley since announcing its Vision Fund earlier this year. Now, one of SoftBank’s besties — the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates, called the Mubadala Investment Company — is also making a splashy debut onto the scene, announcing today that it’s opening a San Francisco… Read More

 Google wants to make Gmail the place where you check all your email accounts, not just your Google accounts. The company announced this week it’s testing a new version of the Gmail app on iOS that will allow users to add their non-Google accounts, including those from Outlook (including Hotmail or Live), Yahoo, and elsewhere. The announcement, which was sent out via a tweet from the… Read More

Cases of a rare type of cancer that is linked to breast implants appear to be on the rise, according to a new review.

 Since Issac Asimov first laid out the three laws of robotics in 1942, human safety has been the number one concern of the inventors, innovators and futurists that have pondered our place in the age of robots. But for robots to be able to ensure human safety, those robots have to be able to see humans and recognize them as humans. That’s where Veo Robotics comes in. The Cambridge,… Read More

Mass killings may have increasing news coverage, but the events themselves have happened at a steady rate for more than a decade, according to a new study. Furthermore, some types of mass-killing events seem to occur randomly over time, making prediction difficult and response crucial.

 The MysteryVibe is a snake-shaped vibrator that took the Internet by storm and is still going strong. This week I talked to the co-founder of the company, Stephanie Alys, about the future of pleasure and sextoys. It’s safe to say that this episode of Technotopia is a little NSFW. The future, suggests Alys, will feature smart tools that will help with our sex lives and our relationships.… Read More

 CNN has won an interesting waiver regarding its commercial drone operating license with the FAA – an exemption that allows it to fly its Vantage Robotics Snap drone over open-air crowds of people at altitudes of up to 150 feet. This is a new precedent in this kind of waiver: Previous exemptions allowed flight of drones over people in closed set operations (like for filmmaking purposes)… Read More

 Facebook’s tests of an alternative News Feed dubbed the “Explore” feed are progressing, it seems. Previously available on mobile devices in the main navigation, Facebook’s new Explore Feed is now appearing for users on the desktop. The feed is found in the left-side sidebar, within the “Explore” section – where you’ll also find links to… Read More

After decades of continuous growth, participation rates have started to decline. What does it mean for the future of the sport?

Powerful solar eruptions could electrically charge areas of the Martian moon Phobos to hundreds of volts, presenting a complex electrical environment that could possibly affect sensitive electronics carried by future robotic explorers, according to a new NASA study.

 Adobe today announced that it has acquired KyleBrush.com, a service that offers digital brushes for Adobe’s Creative Cloud tools, and hired the service’s creator, Kyle T. Webster. Webster’s over 1,000 brushes will now be exclusively available for Creative Cloud subscribers, something not all of his users are happy about because they were previously able to use his tools… Read More

A new study confirms the existence of a large open lava tube in the Marius Hills region of the moon, which could be used to protect astronauts from hazardous conditions on the surface.

Hidden beneath Chamber A at the Johnson Space Center is an area engineers used to test critical contamination control technology that has helped keep our James Webb Space Telescope clean during cryogenic testing.

 Toyota is debuting a new concept vehicle for the forthcoming Tokyo Motor Show, and it’s a fuel cell vehicle that’s designed to get around 1,000 km (around 621 miles) on a single hydrogen pack that can be refuelled in about 3 minutes total. The concept looks like an aggressively future-styled minivan, though it’s billed as a “premium saloon,” and it’s got… Read More

 A one-year-old data transfer mechanism that’s used by thousands of companies to authorize transfers of personal data between the European Union and the U.S. for processing has been given the thumbs up after its first annual review. Read More

 It was just a matter of time, really. Motorola’s been teasing Alexa integration since Mobile World Congress in February. Back then, the company previewed a sort of “experimental” Mod for the Moto Z sporting Amazon’s insanely popular smart assistant. The add-on is finally really real and set to start shipping next month. The AI has already slowly made its way onto a… Read More

 Nielsen is hoping to make the viewership numbers for the shows airing on streaming services a little less of a mystery. The company is today announcing a new service, Nielsen Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) Content Ratings, to measure streaming services’ programs in a way that’s comparable to linear TV. That includes ratings, reaches, frequency and segmentation reporting,… Read More

 Flexibits, the company behind popular calendar app Fantastical, is releasing a new app for macOS today. CardHop is another take on a default productivity app. This time, the company is trying to improve the Contacts app. It is available on the Mac App Store for $19.99, with a $14.99 introductory sale. I’ve been using CardHop for a few weeks, and it’s been a breath of fresh air when… Read More