Researchers have just discovered that the moon is about 40 million years older than previously thought. Which is a big difference. In a study published by the European Association of Geochemistry, scientists looked at the age of crystal formations. The prevalence of zircon crystals in the samples, collected years ago from NASA’s Apollo program back in 1972, suggests that the surface of the moon was created around 110 million years after the formation of the solar system.

NASA’s theory is that a Mars-sized object collided with Earth several billion years ago to form the moon. This new baseline age of the moon gives scientists a rough idea of when that collision might have occurred.

– Mat Smith

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The biggest stories you might have missed

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Apple will honor California’s ‘right to repair’ rules nationwide

The tech giant has come out in support of having a uniform federal right to repair law.

What?! Apple has officially come out supporting the federal right to repair regulations at an event hosted by the Biden administration. Apple VP Brian Naumann proclaimed at the event that the company “supports a uniform federal law that balances repairability with product integrity, data security, usability, and physical safety.” He added that the company intends to “honor California’s new repair provisions across the United States”. It’s a big turn from a company that has opposed “right to repair” rules. The company once said that Nebraska was bound to become a mecca for hackers when a bill was introduced in the state. That.. didn’t happen.

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Apple teases ‘scary fast’ event for the night of October 30

New iMacs, or MacBooks?

Apple just confirmed another streaming event for October 30 at 8PM ET. It’s been a surprisingly long time since there’s been a new iMac. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggested that this event will refresh the aging iMac line, but it could also offer up a new MacBook Pro.

The colorful 24-inch M1 iMac came out all the way back in April 2021, which is a lifetime in Apple hardware years. It hasn’t been updated since, so that’s the prime target for rumors. Further rumors hint that the event may reveal the company’s follow-up chip, the M3.

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Crunchyroll is now an Amazon Prime Video channel

The anime-focused streamer joins Max, Starz and Paramount+.

The anime-focused channel Crunchyroll, is joining Amazon’s slate of Prime Video channels. This agreement brings two tiers of Crunchyroll to Prime Video customers in the US, Canada, Sweden and the UK. Like Starz and Max, you won’t get access free with a Prime sub, but it silos the channel in a place you might be more likely to access. A Fan subscription gives you full access to the entire catalog of anime, which includes over 1,000 titles and 30,000 episodes, while Mega Fan (ugh, naming) subscribers get offline viewing and access to four concurrent streams. It’s $8 a month for the Fan tier and $10 for the Mega Fan tier.

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Chevy offers $1,400 to Bolt EV owners who endured lower charging levels

It’s part of an expected class-action settlement over battery issues.

GM will pay $1,400 to owners of 2020-2022 Bolt EVs and EUVs who endured a recall that limited range to 80 percent for a significant period of time. It’s effectively an upfront payment to customers as part of an expected class action settlement. Owners must install a “software final remedy” by December 31, 2023 and sign a legal release — those who decline will have to wait for the class action lawsuit to play out. If the settlement ends up being more than $1,400, those who accept the payment will still receive the difference.

Bolt EVs have had a long run of issues with batteries: The 2017-2019 models had serious defects that could cause fires, forcing GM to recall them and install special software, reducing maximum charge levels to 90 percent.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-moon-is-older-than-we-thought-111520335.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – The Morning After: The moon is older than we thought

Robocalls are rampant, using AI and other tools to disrupt day-to-day life and scam Americans out of their money through impersonations of family members, phone providers and more. On October 24, the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband heard the latest issue and solution floating around: AI.

Currently, bad actors are using AI to steal people’s voices and repurpose them in calls to loved ones — often presenting a state of distress. This advancement goes beyond seemingly real calls from banks and credit card companies, providing a disturbing and jarring experience: not knowing if you’re speaking to someone you know.

The financial repercussions (not to mention potential mental distress) are tremendous. Senator Ben Ray Luján, chair of the subcommittee, estimates that individuals nationwide receive 1.5 billion to 3 billion scam calls monthly, defrauding Americans out of $39 billion in 2022. This figure is despite the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement (TRACED) Act of 2019, which expanded the government’s power to prosecute callers and for individuals to block them.

In fact, much of the blame for this continued issue has been collectively placed on government agencies like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). “FCC enforcement actions are not sufficient to make a meaningful difference in these illegal calls. U.S.-based providers continue to spurn the Commission’s requirements to respond to traceback requests,” Margot Saunders, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, said in her testimony to the subcommittee. “The fines issued against some of the most egregious fraudsters have not been recovered, which undermines the intended deterrent effect of imposing these fines. Yet the Commission has referred only three forfeiture orders to the Department of Justice related to unwanted calls since the FCC began TRACED Act reporting in 2020.”

Saunders called on the FCC to issue clearer guidance on existing regulations and harsher penalties (namely suspension) on complicit voice service providers. She further expressed the need for explicit consent requirements in order for individuals to be contacted.

Mike Rudolph, chief technology officer at robocall-blocking firm YouMail, pitched the idea of using AI to flag insufficient information in the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database. Instead of properly completing and filing the required information, some phone providers avoid accountability for their (lack of) action and submit blank or irrelevant papers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-senate-begins-collecting-evidence-on-how-ai-could-thwart-robocalls-102553733.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – US Senate begins collecting evidence on how AI could thwart robocalls

Honda has brought its iconic Prelude back in the form of a new concept EV, a two-door coupe that looks surprisingly ready for production, the company announced. No details about the powertrain were revealed, but Honda said it represents a preview of the company’s future EV lineup and demonstrates its commitment to driver-focused performance.

The Prelude concept was revealed at the end of Honda’s Tokyo Mobility Show presentation without many details, other than the appearance. It resembles the latest Honda Civic, particularly in the front end. It’s less angular though, retaining the smoother lines that later versions of the original Prelude were known for. Other notable visual cues include bulging fenders, regular side mirrors (not cameras), a small spoiler and blacked out windows. The latter probably means that the concept doesn’t have much in the way of an interior yet. 

The original Prelude put Honda on the map for front-wheel-drive performance, famously coming in second to the Porsche 944 in a 1984 Car and Driver shootout (while beating a Ferrari 308, Lotus Esprit, two other Porsches and a Toyota Supra in the process). It was discontinued in 2001, with the final US model offering 200 horsepower.  

Honda was very slow, reluctant even, to embrace electric cars — bringing the breakthrough Honda E to market was an uphill battle. And that vehicle likely won’t get a follow-up, as Honda said earlier this year that it would focus on SUVs instead. However, CEO Toshihiro Mibe made clear that the Prelude concept represents the company’s way forward in terms of sporty EVs. 

“The word ‘prelude’ means an ‘introductory or preceding performance,'” he said. “This model will become the prelude for our future models which will inherit the ‘joy of driving’ into the full-fledged electrified future and embody Honda’s unalterable sports mindset. The Prelude Concept is a specialty sports model that will offer [an] exhilarating experience.”

Those comments suggest that the company will eventually built the Prelude, or something like it. That would be a way for Honda to move into EVs while still embracing its enthusiast performance heritage. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-honda-prelude-returns-as-a-concept-ev-095016392.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – The Honda Prelude returns as a concept EV

In addition to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the Snapdragon X Elite, Qualcomm has also introduced the S7 and S7 Pro Gen 1 at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii. The company said its new chips deliver six times the compute power of their predecessor’s, along with on-device AI capabilities. More intriguing, perhaps, is the S7 Pro’s micro-power Wi-Fi connectivity, which will apparently allow users to “walk around a home, building or campus while listening to music or making calls.” 

As The Verge notes, the chip uses Qualcomm’s Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN) technology that can automatically switch a device’s connection. When a user strays too far from their phone while their earbuds are connected to it via Bluetooth, for instance, XPAN switches the connection to a Wi-Fi access point. It can deliver 96kHz lossless audio via earbuds, Qualcomm’s Dino Bekis told the publication, and it works with 2.4, 5 and 6GHz bands. Bekis also said that users only have to click on a prompt once to connect their earbuds powered by the chip to their Wi-Fi.

Outside of the S7 Pro’s Wi-Fi connectivity, the platforms’ on-board AI enable better responsiveness to the listener’s environment if they want to hear ambient sounds. But if they want to block out their environment completely, the chips are supposed to be capable of Qualcomm’s “strongest ever ANC performance” regardless of earbud fit. 

These features will only be enabled when headsets, earbuds and speakers powered by the S7 and S7 Pro are paired with devices equipped with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile platform and Snapdragon X Elite, though. That means we won’t be seeing products with the new sound chips on the market anytime soon. When they do come out, they’ll most likely be meant for Android devices, seeing as Apple has its own ecosystem.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/qualcomms-new-audio-chip-uses-wi-fi-to-massively-extend-headphone-range-091614802.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Qualcomm’s new audio chip uses Wi-Fi to massively extend headphone range

“Right to repair” advocates probably couldn’t have imagined that Apple would be one of the biggest names on their side a mere five years ago. But that’s precisely what’s happening here: The tech giant has officially came out in support of having federal right to repair regulations at an event hosted by the Biden administration. Apple VP Brian Naumann proclaimed at the event that the company “supports a uniform federal law that balances repairability with product integrity, data security, usability, and physical safety.” He also said that the company intends to “honor California’s new repair provisions across the United States” even though national regulations have yet to be established. 

Apple has a lengthy history of opposing attempts at passing right to repair rules. The company once said that Nebraska was bound to become a “mecca for hackers” when a bill was introduced in the state. It changed its tune in the past few years, however, and started selling parts and tools to consumers, as well as offering them access to repair guides so they could fix their iPhones and Macs on their own. Apple also backed Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman’s right to repair bill in California in August before Governor Gavin Newsom signed it into law. 

Under California rules, device makers are required to stock replacement parts and tools and offer repair documentation for three years for gadgets that cost between $50 and $99. For devices that cost over $100, they’re required to provide parts, tools and documentation for seven years. Apple already sells parts and repair tools across the US, but if it’s following California provisions nationwide, that means those items and its repair guides would be available for years to anyone in the country.

In addition to promising to honor California’s right to repair provisions across the nation, Naumann also talked about what an ideal federal law should have. “We believe that a uniform federal repair law should do the following: Maintain privacy, data and device security features which help to thwart theft; Ensure transparency for consumers about the type of parts used in a repair; Apply prospectively, to allow manufacturers to focus on building new products that can comply with the proposals; And finally, create a strong national standard that benefits consumers across the US and reduces the confusion created by potentially conflicting state approaches,” he said. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-will-honor-californias-right-to-repair-rules-nationwide-062704819.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Apple will honor California’s ‘right to repair’ rules nationwide

Adult film icon and media investor Riley Reid aims to bring the transformational capabilities of generative AI to adult entertainment with an online platform where users can chat with digital versions of content creators. But unlike other, scuzzier adult chatbots, Clona.AI’s avatars are trained with explicit consent of the models’ creators who have direct input in what the “AI companions” will, and won’t, talk about.

For $30 a month, fans and subscribers will be able to hold “intimate conversations” with digital versions of their favorite adult stars, content creators and influencers. The site’s roster currently includes Reid herself and Lena the Plug. A free tier is also available but offers just five chat messages per month. 

“The reality is, AI is coming, and if it’s not Clona, it’s somebody else,” Reid told 404 Media. “When [other people] use deepfakes or whatever — if I’m not partnering up with it, then someone else is going to steal my likeness and do it without me. So being presented with this opportunity, I was so excited because I felt like I had a chance to be a part of society’s technological advances.”

Clona uses Meta’s Llama 2 large language model as a base, then heavily refines and retrains it to reflect the personality of the person it’s based on. Reid explains that her model was first trained on a variety of her online media including interviews, podcast appearances and YouTube videos (in addition to some of her x-rated work) before further fine tuning its response by having the AI chat with Reid herself.

“I’ll be able to see how it responds to users, and edit it to be like ‘no, I would have said it more like this,’’’ Reid said. “But in the beginning my focus was on things like making sure it had my dogs’ names right, making sure I was fact-checking it.”

While the AI companion will be capable talking dirty, how dirty that gets depends on the actor’s preferences, not the user’s. Reid notes that her model, for example, will not discuss physically dangerous sex acts with users. “I don’t know if the tech team thought about the sounding guys, but I was like, I thought about them,” she said.

Generative AI technology has shown tremendous potential in creating digital clones of deceased celebrities and recording artists. The process requires little more than the celeb’s permission (or that of their estate) and a sufficiently large corpus of their vocal or video recordings. However, we’ve already also seen that technology be misused in deepfake pornography and shady dental advertising. Unscrupulous data scraping practices on the public web (data which is then used to train LLMs) has also raised difficult questions regarding modern copyright laws, copyright infringement and Grammy award eligibility.

Still, Reid remains optimistic about the historically proven resilience of the sex industry. “I feel like we’re gonna be a huge part of AI adapting into our society, because porn is always like that,” Reid said. “It’s what it did with the internet. And the porn world has seen so many advances in technology.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/adult-film-star-riley-reid-launches-clonaai-a-sexting-chatbot-platform-000509221.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Adult film star Riley Reid launches Clona.AI, a sexting chatbot platform