Trump administration moves to rescind rule protecting national forest land
The change would lift a 25-year-old ban on logging, roads and mining in undeveloped forests.
Science & space
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SignalTrace can link device signals to your car
SignalTrace by Leonardo detects wireless signals from your devices and links them to license plate data, creating electronic fingerprints for police.
Whoop drops the subscription requirement for its Advanced Labs blood testing.
The wearable company now says the Advanced Labs blood testing service that it launched last year is now available, with prices starting at about $150, even if you don’t have one of its wearable devices or the membership subscription tied to them. It’s also adding the “multi-cancer early detection test” Galleri to the package, which might help it stand out from the increasingly crowded wearable field and alleged lookalikes. [Link: WHOOP Makes Advanced Labs Available Without a Wearable Membership | https://www.whoop.com/us/en/press-center/whoop-makes-advanced-labs-available-without-a-wearable-membership/ | Whoop]
Robot learns to dismantle broken machines
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology researchers built a robotic disassembly system that adapts when screws get stuck or parts go missing in old machines.
'The Odyssey' streaming scam could steal your bank info
Fake streaming sites promise free access to Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" but steal credit card details through bogus free trial signups.
Woman claims her stepfather used Grok to transform childhood photo into explicit imagery | TechCrunch
The woman claimed that AI tools are "taking everyday life and turning it into child sexual abuse."
Every fusion startup that has raised over $100M
Fusion startups have raised $7.1 billion to date, with the majority of it going to a handful of companies.
MouthPad lets your tongue control a computer
The MouthPad is a custom-fit hands-free touchpad that sits inside your mouth, letting you control a cursor with your tongue or head movements.
Exclusive: Hyperscalers might regret embracing natural gas if new forecast proves correct | TechCrunch
Natural gas prices could triple in some parts of the U.S., which could saddle hyperscalers with massive bills to power their AI data centers.
Cursor is officially part of SpaceX.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX completed its $60 billion acquisition of the AI coding tool Cursor on Friday. Cursor says it’s going to work on the company’s Grok AI chatbot, which added a new AI agent feature this week. [Link: Cursor is now part of @SpaceX | https://x.com/cursor_ai/status/2088249881718919393?s=20 | X (formerly Twitter)]
Here’s your chance to name a spaceship something prescreened and dull.
Virgin Galactic is running a poll to choose the name for an upcoming member of its fleet. Unfortunately, you’re limited to voting for a preselected group of four finalists: Horizon, Explorer, Ascend, and Apeiron. All appropriately boring names — no Rocket McRocketface here. [Link: Name a Virgin Galactic Spaceship. Shape a Piece of Spaceflight History. | https://www.virgingalactic.com/news/name-a-virgin-galactic-spaceship-shape-a-piece-of-spaceflight-history | Virgin Galactic]
Here we go with the fake Moon pictures again.
A person on Reddit says their friend’s phone added craters to the Sun during yesterday’s solar eclipse. The poster doesn’t say what phone this was captured on, but it’s definitely something we’ve seen before. [Media: https://www.reddit.com/r/softwaregore/comments/1vmndg9/friends_smartphone_added_a_moon_texture_to_solar/]
Wearables are getting a taste of much-needed minimalism
In this Optimizer, we explore why screenless wearable trackers are having a moment. Hint: data fatigue, signifying status, and freedom from notifications.
AI nuclear power firm Fermi finally has a new CEO | TechCrunch
Lee McIntire, an independent member of Fermi's board, has been hired as CEO, more than three months since the company fired co-founder Toby Neugebauer from the top post.
Tesla’s planning to build a $10 billion solar panel factory in Texas.
TechCrunch reports that the new factory would be located 45 minutes outside of Houston: > The new factory, called Project Crystal Sun, could cost as much as $10.1 billion. Tesla has applied for tax incentives to partially offset the cost, saying that it is exploring other sites “across multiple U.S. states.” The factory would create about 9,700 full-time jobs, Tesla said. Correction, August 21: fixed the “million” typo in the headline to correctly say “billion.”
The eclipse broadcast will be upon us at 1:15PM ET.
Today there will be a total solar eclipse viewable from “parts of Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain, and a small corner of Portugal,” as well as a partial eclipse across some of the US and most of Canada, Europe, and northwestern Africa. NASA has a livestream covering the event, and if you’re tempted to look for yourself, make sure you’re properly equipped. [Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSvCuSQhC3w]
Tesla wants to build a $10B solar factory in Texas | TechCrunch
Tesla wants to build a massive solar factory in Texas, but first it wants the state to chip in to defray the costs.
Form Energy raises $750M to build more 100-hour batteries for the grid | TechCrunch
Form Energy has landed Google and Crusoe as customers. Now, it has raised $750 million to expand manufacturing to deliver its massive, 100-hour batteries.