Boston

PAX East is canceled, but organizers are ‘cautiously optimistic’ about other in-person events

The PAX East 2021 gaming convention, previously scheduled for June 3rd through 6th, has been canceled, Penny Arcade and event coordination company ReedPop announced today. The PAX organizers also announced an online convention, PAX Online 2021, for July 15th to July 18th. “While we hoped PAX East could safely take place, we remained realistic and… Read more

Boston Dynamics unveils Stretch: a new robot designed to move boxes in warehouses

Boston Dynamics is best known for its robot dog Spot, a machine designed to work in a range of environments, from offshore oil rigs to deep underground mines. But in recent years, the company has increasingly focused attention on the logistics space, and today is unveiling a new robot with just one application in mind:… Read more

Apple Maps now shows COVID-19 vaccination locations

Apple announced today that Apple Maps has been updated with vaccine locations from VaccineFinder, a site run by Boston Children’s Hospital that provides information on vaccine eligibility and availability. People can search for nearby vaccination sites in Apple Maps or ask Siri, “Where can I get a COVID vaccination?” Over 20,000 locations are now listed,… Read more

MWC insists on holding potential COVID-19 superspreader event in Barcelona

The world’s largest phone show, Mobile World Congress, is moving forward with an in-person event in June, despite the risks that it could turn into a COVID-19 superspreader event. Over 100,000 people usually attend MWC. John Hoffman, the CEO of the GSM Association (which organizes the show) says those numbers will be scaled back this… Read more

Google Maps will now let you pay for public transportation and parking through its app

Google Maps is adding a couple of new useful features: the ability to pay for parking or buy a train ticket right from the app. Google Maps is integrating two mobile parking payment services into its app, Passport and ParkMobile. Both offer the ability to find, pay for, and replenish parking meters or parking lot… Read more

Minneapolis prohibits use of facial recognition software by its police department

The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously on Friday to approve an ordinance banning the use of facial recognition software by its police department and other city agencies, the Star Tribune reported. The ban adds Minneapolis to the list of US cities moving to limit or end the use of such technology by its law enforcement… Read more

Hyundai is getting serious about building a ‘walking car’ with four legs

Who needs an Apple car when you’ve got one with four legs? Hyundai, which recently acquired a controlling stake in robot maker Boston Dynamics, rolled out a new version of its four-legged “walking car” concept that it first unveiled in 2019. Hyundai is calling it TIGER, which stands for “Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot.” It’s… Read more

Just look at this amazing Pac-Man history book

Pac-Man celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, and to commemorate the occasion, Cook and Becker is releasing a history book later this year — and it looks incredible. While there’s a standard hardcover version of the book for $39, which is called Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon, you can also buy a $99 special edition… Read more

Verizon Fios is experiencing outages on the East Coast

Verizon Fios, the company’s fiber optic network, appears to be experiencing outages in many locations on the US East Coast. There are more than 22,000 user reports of problems with Verizon on Downdetector, and there appear to be hotspots on Downdetector’s outage map for Verizon in Boston, New York City, Washington, DC, and more. A… Read more

Slow certification process keeps some pharmacists from giving COVID-19 vaccines

When pharmacist Erin McCreary moved to Pennsylvania in 2018, she didn’t anticipate ever having to administer vaccines. She’d taken a vaccination certification course back in pharmacy school six years earlier, but it wasn’t part of her job description as an infectious diseases pharmacist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. That’s why she wasn’t concerned… Read more

Brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder

Customized electrical stimuli sent to the brain without surgery can alleviate obsessive-compulsive disorder for up to three months. This is what US researchers from Boston University write in the journal Nature Medicine. People with obsessive-compulsive disorder suffer from recurring, anxiety-inducing thoughts and compulsions. For example, they have to count, clean, or check items over and… Read more

MIT devised a hybrid-electric aircraft to reduce the pollution problem

Air pollution from aircraft does not it only affects the climate, but it also causes thousands of deaths a year. A team of MIT engineers proposes a hybrid-electric aircraft that could reduce nitric oxide emissions by 95% . by Manolo De Agostini published 16 January 2021 , at 12: 31 in the Science and Technology… Read more