In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it’s almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top 10 tech stories from this week. Everything from what happened at Apple’s big MacBook event to Hubble’s latest discovery, it’s all here.
Apple debuts new MacBook Pro, TV app, and more at today’s special event
On Thursday, Apple hosted one of its trademark special events — just a matter of hours after Microsoft’s rival briefing on the future of its Surface line and Windows 10. Tim Cook opened the show in understated style, presenting a slideshow of photographs taken by iPhone 7 users to attendees. However, it wouldn’t take long for the event to move on to the topic of the day: some big changes to the MacBook Pro line, and plenty of demonstrations highlighting how users will benefit.
Microsoft unveils pricey but powerful Surface Book update, Surface Studio at NY event
Microsoft’s event in New York on Wednesday was a lot more than just a Windows 10 showcase. The Surface lineup added two major products, a revised Surface Book and, yes, the Surface Studio. The hotly anticipated Surface Studio marries the success of the Surface lineup with an elegant and intuitive desktop experience. The Studio is, frankly, a gorgeous product. Here’s everything you need to know.
Want to sit courtside? The NBA will live-stream 25 games in VR this season
The idea of a courtside view of Kevin Durant and Steph Curry launching three-pointers in the same jersey is surreal enough if you’re watching on TV, let alone virtual reality. Today, the NBA has unveiled the full schedule for the 25 games it will live-stream with leading VR producer NextVR once a week in virtual reality for the 2016-17 season. All 30 teams will appear in at least one of the 25 games. One game will be live-streamed in VR every Tuesday via the free NextVR app’s NBA channel.
Honda’s Clarity Fuel Cell can drive 366 miles on a single tank of hydrogen
Hydrogen-fueled vehicles remain a controversial subject, but proponents of the technology just picked up a serious feather for their zero-emission caps. Honda has announced that its upcoming Clarity Fuel Cell sedan will feature an Environmental Protection Agency driving range of 366 miles, which gives it the best rating of any electric vehicle without a combustion engine range extender. That means if you’re looking to take a road trip without spewing any additional carbon into the atmosphere, hydrogen might just be your best bet.
Hubble finds 10 times the number of galaxies in our universe, making Earth but a grain of sand
A recent census performed by NASA and the ESA have updated the number of galaxies in the observable universe and unsurprisingly, original estimations were very wrong. When the Hubble Deep Field telescope first began capturing images in the mid-1990’s, scientists determined the number of galaxies in the universe to sit between 100 to 200 billion. Now, an international team led by Christopher Conselice from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom just found those initial estimates to be roughly 10 times too low.
Amid losses, Twitter confirms that 9 percent of its workforce will be let go
Having released its earnings report for the third quarter of 2016, Twitter has now confirmed that it will be laying off 9 percent of its workforce, or around 350 employees. This is a slightly greater proportion than Bloomberg originally reported, as Twitter was expected to lay off around 8 percent of its employee base. This follows a similar move it made last year when current CEO Jack Dorsey took over the reins.
The Immotor Go electric scooter wheels you around in style
Segways. Ebikes. Hoverboards. The field of personal transportation is a booming one, and likely to remain one for some time: By some estimates, the personal transportation device market is forecast to grow to nearly 25 million owners by 2020. The problem? Supplying power to the devices on which all those folks will be riding, and doing so safely. But ambitious startup Immotor is proposing a solution: the Immotor Go scooter and its companion modular power cell, the Super Battery.
This killer Halloween blender blood recipe is to die for
Halloween is fast approaching and that means it’s time for all of those fun (albeit gory) costume projects your kids want to undertake for the spookiest night of the year. Among the most requested costume accessories will no doubt be fake blood, and we’ve got you covered on that. Many parents may be looking for an edible or at least safe-to-ingest fake blood recipe as an alternative to the products available in stores. The team over at Steve Spangler Science has put together this killer recipe for fake blood.
Using wood pulp and footsteps, a professor just found a new source of renewable energy
While thousands of people the world over continue to go solar to generate alternative energy, a lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison just made a major breakthrough on a completely unique new conductive material: wood pulp. While the mention of wood pulp mention leaves many scratching their head, the lab found a way to manufacture floorboards out of the commonly wasted material and did so in a manner that took advantage of its composition of cellulose nanofibers.
In New York, it’s now a crime to advertise short-term apartment listings on Airbnb
Hoping to find a cheap pad to crash while drifting through the Big Apple? You probably won’t be doing it through Airbnb. On Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that levies steep fines on property owners who advertise the short-term availability of their apartments and homes. The legislation, which the New York state legislature passed in June, effectively strengthens New York’s existing laws on short-term property listings.
