But there’s hope. The European Space Agency (ESA) has been exploring a new technological solution that could overcome all these challenges: solar power delivered wirelessly from space to Earth — also known as space-based solar power (SBSP). Although this might seem like science-fiction, the concept is more achievable than it sounds. The sun is continuously available, inexhaustible, and sustainable. Harnessing its power from above the Earth would be more efficient compared to weather-dependent terrestrial solar power solutions....

Rimac announced on Monday that it’s taking over the 110-year-old Bugatti brand from Volkswagen to form a joint venture, called Bugatti Rimac. And if that’s not the best match in the automotive world, I don’t know what is. Seriously. Rimac’s new shareholder structure This has brought some changes to the overall shareholder arrangement. First, there’s the newly-formed Rimac Group, led by Mate Rimac with a 37% share, and co-owned by VW’s Porsche unit with 24%, Hyundai with 12%, and other investors with 27%....

In the UK, where there are around 2,000 drive-throughs, it’s not unusual to see snaking queues of vehicles whose drivers are waiting for their turn to make, pay for, and collect their orders. In fact, drive-throughs are on an upward trajectory in the UK. There was a 41% increase in the number of drive-throughs between 2015 and 2020, and 12% of sales at fast food restaurants and coffee chains were made through their drive-through sites in the year to March 2021: jumping 50% from pre-COVID figures....

Although there are currently rumors of a HomePod with a screen and camera, it’s now looking like one of the best alternatives may actually come from an ex-Apple designer and his new company, Syng. Well, it’s more of an ‘upgrade’ than an alternative, considering it costs $1,799. Christopher Stringer, who worked at Apple for 21 years and was Jony Ive’s first hire, and Damon Way of DC Shoes and Incase fame, teamed up to create a futuristic speaker called the Cell Alpha....

A team of researchers from the US and the UK recently conducted a groundbreaking study into the neurological conditions of two people living without the sense of touch. Most people orient their conscious existence with the world through a combination of our five senses. We can see a ball flying towards our head, we can feel the ground beneath our feet, we can hear a car whooshing by, and we can smell delicious food before we taste it....

Data officers from the UK, European Union, US, Canada, Burkina Faso, and Australia issued a joint statement on Monday, noting that “while Facebook and Calibra have made broad public statements about privacy, they have failed to specifically address the information handling practices that will be in place to secure and protect personal information.” “The involvement of Facebook Inc. as a founding member of the Libra Association has the potential to drive rapid uptake by consumers around the globe, including in countries which may not yet have data protection laws in place....

The annual conference was scheduled to take place in San Jose, California on May 5-6. Facebook announced the cancellation in a blog post Thursday morning. The company’s platform partnerships director, Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, wrote: Approximately 5,000 people attended F8 in 2019 – about a thousand more than in 2017 and 2018. This year’s event will be replaced by a series of regional developer and student meet-ups, according to the company’s blog post....

The company recently announced a new feature called ‘Quiet Mode,’ which does pretty much what you’d expect: limit notifications and the time you spend on the app. Facebook says the feature “mutes most push notifications” and that if you open Facebook while it’s activated, “you’ll be reminded that you set this time aside to limit your time in the app.” Quiet Mode also includes shortcuts to your notification settings and feed preferences so you can adjust the types of Facebook alerts and posts you see in the first place....

The Chief Minister was present at Facebook India’s first year celebrations, where he declared the world’s most popular social network would be assured full support by the government for its growth in the region. Facebook’s Hyderabad office helps supports users, advertisers and developer in India and around the world, joining rivals Google and Microsoft in the city. It already employs more than 100 staff and is actively recruiting in the country, seeking user operations and sales operations staff, but also financial and recruitment specialists....

Oculus’s new features include chats with friends, Events and Groups that let you arrange multiplayer sessions with your friends, links you can share with your friends that let them join you exactly where you are in any given VR app — basically there’s lots of stuff involving friends. You can also livestream your gameplay directly to Facebook, or share photos or videos. Trouble is, if you want to use these social features, you have to log into your Facebook account....

After years of waffling, Twitter finally began taking a stand this year, placing warning labels on misinformation and hiding (but not removing) calls for violence. Today, Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook would follow a similar set of rules, placing a label on content it would otherwise remove were it not from a politician or government official. The change comes as a part of a broader set of initiatives to fight misinformation during the election season....

Live blog Follow along with TNW’s live blog, which will be updated here throughout the day. Hit refresh for the latest. [9:08] Off to a late start. I’m not mad. But if I hear the same song again I’m switching careers. [9:12] And we’re off. [9:18] HiCar, supported in 150+ vehicle models, could be in more than five million vehicles by 2021. The service is Huawei’s version of Apple’s CarPlay or Android Auto, and it sounds like the company has big plans for it in China....

But mastering machine learning is a difficult process. You need to start with a solid knowledge of linear algebra and calculus, master a programming language such as Python, and become proficient with data science and machine learning libraries such as Numpy, Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and PyTorch. Naturally, not everyone needs to become a machine learning engineer. But almost everyone who is running a business or organization that systematically collects and processes can benefit from some knowledge of data science and machine learning....

In the past, space was dominated by missions run by big space players, the US, Russia, and China. But the EU has set its sights to the skies, announcing a 20% increase in the European Space Agency’s budget at the end of 2021 — the largest the agency has seen in 25 years. Meanwhile, its upcoming ExoMars and JUICE missions are set to explore the mysteries of the red planet, Jupiter and three of its icy moons....

This comes from a (paywalled) Digitimes report that states Apple is expected to “incorporate ambient light sensors (ALS) in next-generation ‌AirPods‌ devices in the coming [one to two] years.” Now, the report in question doesn’t specify exactly why Apple would put ambient light sensors in future AirPods, but the common consensus (and something suggested by this other Digitimes piece) is that it’ll have health or biometric tracking features. With the Apple Watch, the company is expanding further into healthcare tech and it’s possible to see this rumor about light sensors in AirPods as part of this focus on wellbeing and body monitoring....

Luckily, literally everyone on Earth is standing right on top of a virtually limitless energy source; geothermal energy. Recently, an American startup called Quaise made headlines with their plan to drill super deep holes to access the Earth’s heat – which is very cool and spectacular, but also mostly science fiction at the moment. Other innovative startups and companies in Europe and elsewhere are developing opportunities to use the molten core of the Earth to supply power and heating....

Life as a video game designer is pretty sweet. Sure, it’s a job with all the regular chores and frustrations of the working world. But still, you’re making video games, and how cool is that? Now, you can learn all the skills that it takes to create your own games with the training in The Learn Game Design Certification Bundle. Right now, it’s priced for your holiday budget, only $18....

Among them are the so-called Faculty Paintings: Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence. The three pieces are believed to have been destroyed in a fire during World War Two. Only black and white photos of the artworks remain. The original paintings may never be seen again, but machine learning has come close to bringing them back to life. Using AI and the artistic expertise of Vienna’s Belvedere Museum, the Google Arts & Culture Lab developed an algorithm that applied Klimt’s colorization style to the photos....

Reliance’s chairman, Mukesh Ambani, said that this phone will have 4G connectivity, and readiness for 5G connectivity whenever the technology becomes available in India. In a blog post, Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, said that the smartphone will have optimizations to Android and Play Store for Indian customers: However, these enhancements don’t mean that Google is releasing a special Android fork. In the past couple of years, Jio has launched its ‘smart’ feature phones, JioPhone and JioPhone 2, with internet connectivity and apps such as Google Search, WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube....

There were issues. Firstly, I couldn’t select any text on Google Docs. Secondly, much of this text was running off the page. The technical term for this, I believe, is “a shitter.” On top of this, Google Sheets was layering text over the top of itself, making it impossible to read anything. And, I don’t know about you, but reading tends to be a big part of my Google Docs Suite experience....