China’s state-controlled Xinhua News Agency news has debuted a pair of virtual news anchors to embrace advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). Based on the appearances of two real Chinese news presenters, their computerized counterparts read out text that is fed into their system, complete with moving mouths synced to the reports. Officially called “AI Synthetic Anchors”, there’s one for Chinese and one for English news, developed in partnership with Sogou Inc, a Beijing-based creator of search engines and voice-recognition technology. Read more to see an actual news report read by the English anchor.
The terrifying video you see above was captured by a family fleeing the fast-moving wildfire in Paradise, California, which has caused the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. In just a 6-hour time period, the raging fire had grown to more than 26-square-miles, and fortunately, the driver who recorded the video stated on social media that his family is now safe. Read more for another drive-through video and more information.
Photo credit: Shabtai Hirshberg
Kanye West was surrounded by reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday as he pitched the “iPlane 1,” a hydrogen-powered replacement for Air Force One, by industrial designer Shabtai Hirshberg, to President Trump. “We want to start with this – I brought a gift with me right here. This right here is the iPlane 1. It’s a hydrogen-powered airplane, and this is what our president should be flying in. We’re going to have Apple, an American company, work on this plane,” said West. Continue reading for more pictures and information.
The FAA Reauthorization Act was passed on Wednesday by the U.S. Senate, and it gives authorities permission to shoot down recreational drones that are determined to be threats. “The Alliance for Drone Innovation is thrilled that House and Senate leadership worked tirelessly together and with input from industry to pass legislation that provides a long-term FAA authorization and reinforces the agency’s central role in regulating the National Airspace System. This bill confirms Congress’s intent to support the ongoing work to safely integrate drones into our airspace. We applaud the critical new tools that FAA will have to help ensure drones and traditional aircraft can safely share the skies,” said ADI Executive Director Jenny Rosenberg. Continue reading for another video and more information.
A Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II fighter jet crashed near the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina on Friday, for reasons that are currently unknown to the public. The pilot was the only person aboard the craft, and managed to eject safely.The jet crashed just before noon local time. It was the first crash of an F-35 fighter jet since they became operational in 2006, and Friday’s incident also marked the first time a pilot had ejected from an F-35B. Continue reading for another video and more information.
Photo credit: Peisert Design
Today, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Tesla CEO Elon Musk for securities fraud as he made “false and misleading statements” to investors on August 2nd. On that day, he Tweeted to his 22-million Twitter followers that he was going to take his publicly traded company “private at $420. Funding secured.” Continue reading for another video and more information.
Anthony Helinski, a 34-year-old teacher from Lawrence, Massachusetts, has been charged with putting his toddler into a BarberCut Lite arcade machine at a New Hampshire shopping mall and using her to steal prizes. He turned himself in Wednesday, five days after witnesses at the Mall at Rockingham Park recorded video of a man encouraging the girl to grab prizes from within the game. Continue reading to watch the video without effects straight from the Salem NH Police Department.
Photo credit: Rokhana
This isn’t the first time a Samsung smartphone has either caught fire or exploded, but is definitely one of the most recent incidents. Reddit user “Rokhana” from Morocco reported that this Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge was in their back pocket before being taken out to snap a photo, but it suddenly froze and then shut down. After it failed to turn back on, the user laid it down on their kitchen countertop and decided to try again later, but a “couple seconds after putting it down the whole thing spontaneously went up in flames.” Continue reading for more pictures and information.
Anyone who watched The Weather Channel’s coverage of Hurricane Florence may have seen reports that seem to be straight from a science fiction film, but the technology used to create those crazy graphics are not so out of this world. The Weather Channel and The Future Group, a Norwegian augmented reality company, partnered with the makers of Unreal Engine – Epic Games – to use the tech in TV broadcasts. Continue reading for another video and more information.
The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced today that it will invest more than $1-billion in Lucid Motors, enabling the Silicon Valley-based company to achieve the commercial launch of its Lucid Air electric vehicle in 2020. “By investing in the rapidly expanding electric vehicle market, PIF is gaining exposure to long-term growth opportunities, supporting innovation and technological development and driving revenue and sectoral diversification for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said a PIF representative. Continue reading for a video of the incredible Lucid Air and more information.