FAA closes airspace around Area 51 ahead of alien raid event
To deal with any extraterrestrial-seeking attendees of the now-canceled Alienstock festival or the viral Storm Area 51 event, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that airspace around Area 51 will be temporarily closed this weekend for "special security reasons."
Descript’s new podcast editor can deepfake your voice to dub over errors
Descript Podcast Studio launched Wednesday with a feature called “Overdub,” which allows you to replace recorded words and phrases with synthesized speech that blends in with the other audio. The feature is meant to fill in the blanks of any mistakes or awkward pauses during the recording of a podcast.
The Navy says Tom DeLonge’s UFO videos are real. That doesn’t mean it’s aliens
The U.S. Navy has confirmed a collection of UFO videos, one of which was released by Blink-182 musician Tom DeLonge, are indeed authentic and do show off unidentified flying objects. Here's why they don't quite prove that there's alien life on Earth.
Facebook’s new oversight board could overturn Mark Zuckerberg’s decisions
Facebook gave more details about its Supreme Court for content decisions -- an oversight board that would have the ability to overrule CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The board would have the final say on taking down content and recommendations for further changes.
Facebook hopes its new Ray-Ban smartglasses will replace your smartphone
Move over Snap Spectacles: Facebook is reportedly entering the smartglasses market with its version of augmented reality eyeware. According to reports, Facebook has partnered with Luxottica, Ray-Ban’s parent company, to develop a pair of glasses that would permanently replace smartphones.
Fortnite is getting a new alien skin just in time for the Area 51 raid
The hype of the Area 51 raid has trickled over into the gaming world. Fortnite is about to get a new alien skin just in time for with the September 20 event. A Fortnite player uncovered the new skin, or character outfit, that looks just like an alien -- complete with an Area 51 badge on the arm sleeve.
Seventh person dies from vaping-related lung disease, health officials say
A seventh person has died from a vaping-related illness, authorities said, this time in California. The death comes as the Trump Administration has moved to ban flavored e-cigarettes and the CDC says that hundreds of people have contracted a lung disease linked to vaping.
NASA wins 2 Emmy Awards for InSight Lander, Demo-2 mission coverage
NASA just joined the ranks of Game of Thrones by winning two Emmy awards for its coverage of the InSight Lander and Demonstration Mission 1. NASA received the awards on Sunday from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the Outstanding Original Interactive Program and Outstanding Interactive Program categories.
SpaceX completes over 700 tests of Crew Dragon’s SuperDraco engines
SpaceX has completed over 700 tests of its Crew Dragon SuperDraco engines as it pushes to use the spacecraft to bring astronauts to the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon has an integrated launch escape system that can ferry a crew to safety in the event of an emergency.
Astronomers found a comet that may have come from another solar system
An interstellar object from outside of our solar system has been spotted casually passing through our neck of the universe. The comet's name is C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), and it’s only the second interstellar object ever to be seen passing through our solar system, the first being ‘Oumuamua back in 2017.
The U.K. says loot boxes are a form of gambling and shouldn’t be sold to kids
A report from the United Kingdom parliament says loot boxes found in many video games are a form of gambling and recommends banning the sale of loot boxes to children. The report from U.K. Government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee condemned the practice of selling them to kids.
GM recalls 3.4 million pickup trucks and SUVs over faulty brakes
General Motors has voluntarily recalled over 3 million pickup trucks and SUVs due to a brake problem. The faulty brakes can cause drivers to experience a harder brake pedal and an increase in stopping distance which poses a crash risk. Here's how to find out if your vehicle is affected by the recall.
The Trump administration will move to ban flavored e-cigarettes
Amid vaping-related lung illnesses and multiple deaths around the United States, President Donald Trump's administration is gearing up to ban flavored e-cigarettes nationwide, officials announced Wednesday. The move comes as a mystery vaping illness has killed at least 6 people in the U.S.
Elon Musk says SpaceX is getting ready to fly its Starship into orbit
SpaceX is getting ready to launch its orbital Starship rocket, pending approval from the FCC, according to CEO Elon Musk. The test will include an experimental launch, landing, and recovery of the Starship suborbital test vehicle.
California’s gig economy bill could fundamentally change Uber and Lyft
Legislators in California just passed a bill requiring app-based companies like Uber and Lyft to treat their contractors the same as regular employees. Under the bill, contractors would be eligible for basic protections like minimum-wage requirements, health benefits, and Social Security.
Sixth person dies from mystery vaping-related lung illness
Authorities in Kansas have confirmed another death caused by a mystery vaping-related lung disease, making it the sixth vaping death so far in the U.S. Other deaths have been confirmed in California, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Oregon.
KFC’s Colonel Sanders dating sim is real and coming out on Steam soon
As part of the fast food chain's latest marketing stunt, KFC will soon release a dating simulator featuring Colonel Sanders on Steam. "I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator" puts you in the shoes of a culinary student trying to woo your fellow classmate, Colonel Sanders.
Apple will conduct three new crowdsourced health studies using Apple Watch
Apple announced a new Apple Research app during Tuesday’s "By Innovation Only" event that will pair with the Apple Watch to crowdsource health data for future research. The company hopes that anyone with an Apple Watch will be able to share their data with scientists, enabling them to improve their research.
On World Suicide Prevention Day, Facebook announces it will ban self-harm images
Facebook announced changes to its policies that are geared toward improving how it handles suicide and self-injury content. Steps include banning self-harm images and making it harder for people to search for this type of content. There's also a new Suicide Prevention page that provides resources.
14 women sue Lyft after drivers allegedly sexually assaulted them
Fourteen women have filed a lawsuit against Lyft for allegedly being raped and sexually assaulted by their rideshare drivers. The victims are alleging that the ridesharing company doesn’t do enough to protect female passengers and have failed to cooperate with law enforcement. They also say Lyft could add more features to improve safety.
Facebook will spend $10 million and offer a cash prize to detect deepfakes
Facebook will offer a cash prize to the person or group that can build a next-generation way to detect deepfakes -- and it's even creating its own original deepfakes for participants to work with as part of the new Deepfake Detection Challenge. The deepfakes will feature paid actors, so no user data will part of the program.
Facebook Dating launches in the U.S. and will link to Instagram
If you’re sick of continuously swiping, there's a new addition to online dating: Facebook Dating. Facebook users who are at least 18 can create a separate Dating profile from their regular Facebook profile within the mobile app. You can even integrate photos from your Instagram profile.
Twitter disables tweeting via SMS after CEO Jack Dorsey’s account was hacked
Twitter announced that its temporarily disabling users’ ability to tweet via SMS. In a series of tweets, The official Twitter Support account made the announcement in a series of tweets, citing “vulnerabilities” that need to be addressed. . The move comes after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account was hacked last week.
Hackers who hijacked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s account claim another victim
The hacker group that took over Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account has seemingly claimed another victim: this time, they've stolen actress Chloe Grace Moretz’s account. Her account was taken over Wednesday morning, though tweets by the hackers have since been deleted.
Millions of phone numbers linked to Facebook found in exposed database
Millions of phone numbers associated with Facebook accounts have been discovered in an exposed database. A server that wasn’t protected by a password was found to contain over 419 million records from Facebook users worldwide, including 133 million from the United States alone.
Michigan is the first state in the U.S. to ban flavored ecigarettes
Michigan is the first state to ban flavored ecigarettes, amid rising health concerns for vaping and underage use. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the ban in response to increased vaping in youth. The prohibition will apply to flavored vape products both online and in stores.
YouTube slapped with $170 million fine for violating children’s online privacy
The FTC has fined YouTube $170 million as part of a settlement for the video platform’s treatment of kids. YouTube allegedly collected personal information used to track internet users from viewers on channels aimed at children. The FTC alleges YouTube collected this information without notifying parents.
YouTube deletes 30,000 videos for hate speech and promises new harassment policy
YouTube said that it removed more than 30,000 videos last month that contained hate speech content. According to YouTube, the videos containing hate speech content that were removed over the last month represented only about 3% of the views that videos about knitting had during the same time frame.
Facebook will stop using facial recognition by default on your photos
Facebook announced on Tuesday that it will stop using facial recognition by default when it suggests who you should tag in photos. The move comes after the social media company was issued a $5 billion fine by the Federal Trade Commission, partially over how it deployed facial recognition technology.
Terrifying new Chinese app Zao lets anyone make a deepfake
Deepfakes have finally gone mainstream with the Chinese app Zao, which spiked on the iOS App Store over the weekend. The app uses facial recognition to replace celebrities’ faces with yours, but it's raising concerns about how your face is being used and who has access to deepfake technology.