The Nintendo Entertainment System was released in the United States on 18 October 1985: about a year after I was born, and 40 years ago today. It’s as if the company sensed that a sucker who’d spend thousands of dollars on plastic toys and electronic games had just entered the world. Actually, it’s as if the company had sensed that …
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The small, furtive companion of one of the brightest stars in Earth’s night sky has just turned out to be something no one suspected. Instead of being the kind of object astronomers expected to find orbiting mega-weirdo Betelgeuse, the binary companion appears to be a young, Sun-like star. This discovery offers a new window into the troubled star’s mysterious past. …
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Betelgeuse, the brilliant red star marking Orion’s shoulder, has long been suspected of harbouring a secret. I have to confess, Betelgeuse holds a special place in my heart as the first star I ever looked at through a telescope as a child, so learning that astronomers theorised this massive supergiant wasn’t alone made it even more intriguing. Proving it, however, …
Read More »If Martin Escobar’s AI girlfriend could have children, he said he would never date another human again. At 28, Escobar has yet to find a long-term (human) girlfriend. He’s mostly given up on the dating apps, which he said were filled with bots. He’d never tried an AI companion before xAI’s Grok released Ani, its anime-style companion. Grok was Escobar’s …
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Facebook Tweet Email Link Astronomers have spotted a quasi-moon near Earth — and the small space rock has likely been hanging out near our planet unseen by telescopes for about 60 years, according to new research. The newly discovered celestial object, named 2025 PN7, is a type of near-Earth asteroid that orbits the sun but sticks close to our planet. …
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California has taken a big step toward regulating AI. SB 243 — a bill that would regulate AI companion chatbots in order to protect minors and vulnerable users — passed both the State Assembly and Senate with bipartisan support and now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. Newsom has until October 12 to either veto the bill or sign it …
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When I heard the first movie Brendan Fraser chose to do after winning the Best Actor Oscar for The Whale was a movie called Rental Family, I thought that with that title he was going back to the kind of funny but gimmicky studio comedies he sometimes made earlier in his career. Not so. This sweet and lyrical movie, which …
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Dot, an AI companion app that aimed to be a friend and confidante, is shutting down, the company announced on Friday. On a message published on its website, the startup behind Dot, New Computer, said that the product will remain operational until October 5, giving users time to download their data. Launched in 2024 by co-founders Sam Whitmore and former …
Read More »Apple is still hard at work on becoming a relevant player in AI. The latest missive from Mark Gurman at suggests that Apple is shifting its artificial intelligence goals to center on new device segments. Sources reportedly told the publication that Apple has a slate of new smart home products in the works that could help pivot its lagging AI …
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Apple is planning to launch a tabletop robot in 2027, reports Bloomberg. The device features a 7-inch iPad-like display mounted on a movable arm that can rotate and extend around six inches in any direction, allowing the robot to reposition itself to face whoever is speaking. Some people at Apple apparently refer to it as the “Pixar Lamp.” The robot …
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