November 28, 2018 – Peter's Quasi-Daily Blah-g

Speaking at a genetics conference in Hong Kong earlier today, embattled Chinese scientist He Jiankui said he was “proud” to have created the world’s first genetically edited babies, despite receiving near-universal condemnation from his peers. Speaking publicly today for the first time, the scientist offered new…

Rivian debuts new US-made electric truck and SUV with 400-mile range

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1419247

Rivian

If Ford’s decision earlier this year wasn’t proof, then GM’s announcement this week should remove all doubt: Americans are done with the sedan. Like it or not, the trucks and SUVs have won. Which bodes well for one of the newest entrant into the market, a startup called Rivian. This week, it finally revealed its first two products, the R1T, an all-electric pickup truck starting at $61,500, and the R1S, a seven-seater electric SUV that starts at $65,000.

Both are ground-up designs, sharing a skateboard platform (common to most battery electric vehicles, with the battery pack living between the axles and underneath the passenger compartment). Rivian will offer three different sizes of battery in both vehicles; at launch you can pick either 180kWh (and 400 miles/640km of range) or 135kWh (310 miles/500km) packs, with a third configuration of 105kWh (240 miles/390km) coming six months after production starts in 2020. The batteries are capable of recharging at up to 160kW on a DC fast charger, and are also equipped with an 11kW onboard charger.

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via Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com

November 28, 2018 at 09:42AM

November 28, 2018

New at Amazon: Its Own Chips for Cloud Computing

https://www.wired.com/story/new-amazon-chips-cloud-computing

Amazon follows Google in designing a chip to make cloud computing more efficient; the chip is based on designs typically seen in smartphones.

via Wired Top Stories https://ift.tt/2uc60ci

November 27, 2018 at 07:24PM

November 28, 2018

Interactive ‘Minecraft’ adventure is now available on Netflix

https://www.engadget.com/2018/11/27/minecraft-story-mode-netflix/

When developer Telltale Games laid off most of its staff in September, it temporarily retained a skeleton crew to finish up work on a Netflix version of Minecraft: Story Mode. The first three episodes of the "interactive adventure" are now available on the streaming platform.

The adaptation is not so much a fully-fledged game as a choose-your-own-adventure experience — you don’t actually move protagonist Jesse around, for instance. Instead, you’re occasionally given choices on how to move the story forward. The series starts with a character named Petra guiding you through a brief tutorial before asking whether you’d like to play as a male or female version of Jesse.

The final two episodes of the season will drop December 5th. It’s not clear, however, whether the second season of the game will be adapted for Netflix.

You can check out Minecraft: Story Mode on Netflix on iOS, smart TVs, consoles and computers. If you’d like to experience it on an Android device, however, you’ll need to grab the Minecraft: Story Mode app.