AUSTIN — At SXSW 2018, it seemed like any presentation with blockchain in the title was guaranteed to be at full capacity. Cryptocurrency mania has been at a fever pitch, with tales of overnight millionaires who invested in Bitcoin or Ethereum or others. But much like the internet IPO boom of the late 1990s that created enormous wealth – until it came crashing down – the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies, blockchain (like the web technologies of the late 90s), may well form the basis for a secure, distributed application platform that may be less dominated by a few major players than the internet is today.
The effects of long-term space travel are still murky, but it’s something we’ll need to understand if humanity is ever going to take a trip to Mars and beyond. NASA is hoping to answer some of these questions with the aid of astronaut Scott Kelly. It just so happens Scott has an identical twin brother who could serve as a control. After a year in space, NASA says Scott Kelly’s genes , and the effect may be permanent. Scott Kelly is a veteran of four space flights, and the last one was a doozy. For the so-called “year in space,” Kelly spent 340 consecutive days on the ISS, ending in March of 2016.
One more sign the ridesharing economy is heating up, at least in cool cities: Austin landed a fleet of that will be used by rideshare drivers and deliveries, and they arrived just in time for the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. This may be a tune-up for a GM program that allows owners of GM cars to rent them out when they’re not in use. The common thread is Maven Gig, a sharing service. Maven Gig launched in 2016 for Uber and Lyft drivers who didn’t have cars. They rent for $229 a week (starting price) for use of the car, insurance, maintenance, and charging.
It’s getting harder to turn a profit mining because it takes longer and electricity isn’t free. There are some places it’s pretty cheap, though. Many mining operations are run out of China for this reason, but there’s one US city where electricity is surprisingly affordable: Plattsburgh, New York. Miners have flocked to this small city in upstate New York, but now the local government is . It has instituted an 18-month moratorium on new Bitcoin mining after complaints from residents sick of rising electricity prices. Residents of Plattsburgh have long enjoyed incredibly low energy prices thanks to a nearby hydroelectric dam on the Saint Lawrence River.
The Kepler Space Telescope has discovered more than 2,000 exoplanets in our galaxy, exceeding all expectations for the mission. Even after tragic setbacks, this plucky little space telescope has been a boon to science. Yet, it’s days are numbered, according to NASA. Mission managers say they expect Kepler to , putting an end to nearly a decade of planet-spotting. The Kepler mission has operated in two distinct parts. After launch, the satellite started its main scientific observations by scanning large numbers of stars over time. It’s looking for telltale dips in brightness that could indicate an exoplanet has passed in front of the star.
DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford’s future is bright, the company says. It will push electrification — are you ready for a hybrid F-150? — across much of the line and aims to surpass Toyota as the No. 1 seller of electrified vehicles by 2021. It will put OnStar-like telematics on all its vehicles, make standard a core of driver-assist and safety features called Co-Pilot360, and by 2020 have the industry’s youngest lineup. Ford executives, including new CEO Jim Hackett, laid out the future at a quickly called media briefing and backrounder for about 125 editors, writers, and analysts. The Co-Pilot360 system raised eyebrows once when Ford said it will make standard blind spot detection, and once again when it turns out Ford won’t include adaptive cruise control standard in its safety package, as competitors Honda, Hyundai and Toyota are doing.
Ready to upgrade to a new smartphone? The Galaxy S9 is coming out soon, and this is one of the last opportunities to pre-order and save big. Depending on which provider you order from, you can potentially save up to 50 percent with trade-ins and credits in play. We also found great bargains on 4K TVs, home automation gear, and laptops, so take a look. Featured Deals for $629.99 at Dell (Coupon code: 50OFF499 – List price: $849.99). [Must upgrade to Intel Core i7-7700t] for $583.20 at Lenovo (List price: $729). with 4.2Ch Dolby Atmos Sound for $2399.99 at Massdrop (List price: $3497).
Audi is taking its automatic traffic light signal information to Washington, DC. The Traffic Light Information system alerts drivers to lights ahead turning red and then gives a countdown to the light turning green. More than 600 intersections in the District of Columbia support time-to-green communication. It’s one of Audi’s V2I, or vehicle to infrastructure, technologies, meaning the car communicates with traffic lights, speed limit signs, construction zones, and electronic toll collection areas, among other things. 9 Cities Now Support TLI
AUSTIN — At SXSW 2018, artificial intelligence (AI) was everywhere, even in the sessions that were not specifically about the subject. AI has captured the attention of people well outside the technology space, and the implications of the technology are far-reaching, changing industries, eliminating many human jobs, and changing the nature of work for most of us going forward. I expect that an AI bot could write this article within 10 years — and likely much sooner — simply by ingesting all the information from the sessions I attended, coupled with an ability to research related information on the internet much better than I could.
