AI gives voice to dead animals, Renault 4 returns as EV
If the pickled bodies, partial skeletons and stuffed carcasses that fill museums seem a little, well, quiet, fear not. In the latest coup for artificial intelligence, dead animals are to receive a new lease of life to share their stories – and even their experiences of the afterlife.More than a dozen exhibits, ranging from an American cockroach and the remnants of a dodo, to a stuffed red panda and a fin whale skeleton, will be granted the gift of conversation on Tuesday for a month-long project at Cambridge University’s Museum of Zoology. The Guardian
A SpaceX booster rocket has returned to earth and been caught by giant robotic arms – following a successful launch of the company’s reusable Starship spacecraft. It was the first attempt to bring the rocket’s 232-foot (71 metre) Super Heavy booster back to the launch tower. Three of its 33 Raptor engines were re-ignited to slow its speedy descent. After separating from the Starship second stage at a height of 46 miles (74km), the booster returned to Boca Chica in Texas, where it was grabbed and clamped in place using what the company describes as “chopsticks”. Sky News
The latest addition to Renault’s series of throwback cars repurposed for the modern age is this: the 4 E-Tech. And yes, it does come with a baguette holder. But where it separates itself from its 5-shaped sibling is size – it’s 220mm longer and 81mm taller – and brief: a bigger focus on versatility. The original 4 was a global hit with an estimated 8.13 million shifted in five continents over a 31-year production span. It was even famously compared to a pair of jeans for its adaptive nature by former CEO Pierre Dreyfus, which has inspired the new one to quite literally get a jeans-themed interior as an option (more on that later). Umm, no pressure here, then. Top Gear
Fundamentals over hype. Indeed that’s the lesson for Tesla (TSLA) investors after the EV maker’s disappointing robotaxi event last week exposed a disconnect between the stock’s lofty valuation and reality. A lack of details surrounding the rollout plan and regulatory approval, plus no mention of a more affordable regular EV left Wall Street wanting more. CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson likened the event to “watching a movie with a lot of plot twists and special effects, and at the end, you’re walking out scratching your head.” Yahoo! Finance
“The drama of a player shouting and making a challenge, and the crowd watching the screen and waiting for Hawk-Eye to make a decision, all of that drama is now lost.” David Bayliss is describing a scene he saw play out many times as a Wimbledon line judge – and one which the Championships won’t witness again. Just as with the many other sports that have embraced technology, the All England Club is waving goodbye to human line judges from next summer, after 147 years, in the name of “maximum accuracy”. But does this risk minimising the drama Mr Bayliss fondly remembers being involved in – and which so many of us love watching? BBC
There is now exactly one year to run until Windows 10’s end-of life becomes reality, with 900 million users still unable or unwilling to make the move to Windows 11. Absent an unlikely Microsoft u-turn on Windows 11 hardware requirements, there is a nightmare scenario where hundreds of millions of users lose access to support. And that nightmare is slowly becoming ever more real. For the Windows 11 refresh to hit its targets, a vast number of new PCs would need to be sold. But IDC has just reported that “worldwide shipments of traditional PCs dipped 2.4% year-over-year (YoY) to 68.8 million units, during the third quarter of 2024 (3Q24).” Forbes
