The Morning After: Netflix's Golden Globes success story
"Have you seen 'The Crown'?"
Good morning! If you missed the Golden Globes over the weekend, the big news is that Netflix dominated proceedings. Netflix’s The Crown took three major awards, with Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor winning for their portrayals of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, while Gillian Anderson also won best supporting actress for the series. Netflix also won best limited series or TV movie with The Queen’s Gambit. I won’t touch on all of them, but the streaming service won a lot.
While Netflix is probably very pleased with itself, the Golden Globes is arguably the wobbliest of Hollywood’s big awards shows, with recent reports on questionable press junkets and freebies suggesting that these awards might not truly reflect the greatest shows and movies of the past year. Incredibly shocking, I know.
Even the Poehler–Fey comedic magic (literally, the only reason I watch anything to do with the awards) couldn't make up for the shakey Zoom call connections, audio issues and how shows like I May Destroy You missed out on any nominations to begin with.
— Mat Smith
Watch Rivian test its R1T electric truck in extreme cold weather
The truck should run well even in frigid conditions.
The e-truck start-up has shared a video of winter weather testing in Baudette, Minnesota, where the temperatures dipped to -40F — cold enough to pose a severe performance problem for a lot of EV batteries. Its R1T passed the test, using a central cold plate that uses relatively little energy to keep battery cells warm enough for ideal performance, sidestepping the need for internal heating. Continue reading.
Social media bots may have fuelled the GameStop stock frenzy
Just how much of a role they played isn't clear.
Cybersecurity firm PiiQ Media discovered that some nefarious actors were using social media bots to promote GameStop, Dogecoin and other "meme" investments. Posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube hopped on trading keywords like GME (GameStop's stock symbol) and "hold the line," starting around the opening of trading and surging toward the end. PiiQ said, in a report by Reuters, it noted “tens of thousands” of accounts. Continue reading.
Scientists sequence 64 human genomes to better reflect genetic diversity
It should reveal more about diseases and our species' variety.
In a big leap from the original Human Genome Project of 2001, researchers have revealed a new dataset of 64 sequenced full human genomes that should better reflect genetic diversity. The new reference point covers 25 different human populations. Crucially, it doesn't borrow from the Human Genome Project's original material either.
While there are still apparently gaps in gene structure variation, this should offer a more rounded, powerful landscape for medicine and disease research. Continue reading.
OnePlus may launch three new phones and a watch this month
It could be a very busy month with the 9 and 9 Pro also on deck.
OnePlus might be prepping a lower-cost 9R smartphone (you're looking at the 8T above) as well as the standard 9, the 9 Pro and the company's previously teased smartwatch. The 9R was rumored as a 9E or 9 Lite and might straddle the gap between OnePlus' usual flagships and budget devices, like the company’s Nord series.
It could be OnePlus’ biggest launch event to date, and a good time for the company to rebound after the departure of co-founder Carl Pei, who’s keeping himself busy with Nothing. Continue reading.
NASA’s Perseverance rover carried a family portrait of its robotic siblings to Mars
Including Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity and Curiosity.
Since landing on Mars on February 18th, NASA has been sharing thousands of photos captured by the rover. And if you look close enough, as Space did, you’ll catch a decal bolted to the top of its body. That decal depicts Perseverance and every single other NASA rover to successfully make it to the surface of Mars.
From left to right, you can see Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity and Perseverance lined up in the order they landed on the Red Planet: 1997, 2004, 2012 and 2021. On the far right of the decal is NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter drone, which caught a ride on Perseverance and will attempt to fly the skies of Mars later this year, which I guess you could call a cousin? Continue reading.
But wait, there’s more...
Hitting the Books: The Brooksian revolution that led to rational robots
Lime's latest e-bike can borrow batteries from scooters
Microsoft is testing 1080p Xbox Game Pass streaming
'Terraria' will hit Stadia after all
Facebook's BARS is an experimental TikTok-like app for rappers
The UK government will reportedly buy stakes in tech startups
