Self-driving startups are becoming an endangered species
Commercializing self-driving technology is taking longer than many expected. Enlarge / A Voyage vehicle at the Villages in Florida. (credit: Voyage) Bloomberg reports that Cruise, a self-driving company jointly owned by GM and Honda, is in tal.....»»
Amazon"s robotaxi unit Zoox being probed by NHTSA after 2 crashes
NHTSA said it received two complaints alleging a Toyota Highlander equipped with Zoox autonomous driving technology braked suddenly and collided with motorcycles. Both collisions occurred during daytime conditions and resulted in minor injuries, NHTS.....»»
NHTSA probes Amazon-owned Zoox for unexpected braking in AV software leading to crashes
NHTSA said it received two complaints alleging a Toyota Highlander equipped with Zoox autonomous driving technology braked suddenly and collided with motorcycles. Both collisions occurred during daytime conditions and resulted in minor injuries, NHTS.....»»
Monster galactic outflow powered by exploding stars
Star death and birth both contribute to driving material out of a galaxy. Enlarge / All galaxies have large amounts of gas that influence their star-formation rates. (credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and J. Lee (NOIRLab)) Galaxie.....»»
In Defense of Parasitic Worms
Nature can’t run without parasites, and climate change is driving some to extinction. What happens when they start to disappear?.....»»
Saturday Citations: Dietary habits of humans; dietary habits of supermassive black holes; saving endangered bilbies
The onset of solar maximum has resulted in severe geomagnetic storms, with the possibility of aurora borealis events this weekend as far south as the northern United States. Do not be alarmed if you see awesome displays of light over your neighborhoo.....»»
Is it a bird or a dinosaur? Fossils from Teylers Museum in Netherlands secretly visit UK"s synchrotron
The feathered limbs, sharp teeth and claws of the oldest known bird-like dinosaurs, the Archaeopteryx have fascinated naturalists and paleontologists including Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin who propelled the species to fame especially following pu.....»»
Nepal"s nature threatened by new development push: conservationists
Nepali conservationists condemned on Thursday new regulations permitting hydropower and hotel projects in protected nature reserves, saying they threatened to damage the habitats of tigers and other endangered animals......»»
Japan Fisheries Agency proposes allowing commercial catching of fin whales
Japan's Fisheries Agency on Thursday proposed a plan to allow catching fin whales in addition to three smaller whale species currently permitted under the country's commercial whaling around its coasts......»»
Scientists find ancient, endangered lamprey fish in Queensland, 1400 km north of its previous known range
The Australian brook lamprey (Mordacia praecox) is part of a group of primitive jawless fish. It's up to 15 cm long, with rows of sharp teeth. Surprisingly, it doesn't use these teeth to suck blood like most lamprey species—it's non-parasitic......»»
Tesla’s self-driving claims subject to federal securities and wire fraud probe
Prosecutors are combing subpoenaed materials for evidence Tesla knowingly misled. Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Tesla | Airplane!) There's more bad news for Tesla. On Monday, we learned that CEO Elon Musk is continuin.....»»
Saving the Mary River turtle: How the people of Tiaro rallied behind an iconic species
Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered......»»
A "conservation conundrum"—when rat control to conserve one species threatens another
When pest rats and mice decimate populations of native species, pest control is a no-brainer. But what if baiting rats protects threatened songbirds, while poisoning critically endangered owls?.....»»
In Tesla Autopilot probe, U.S. prosecutors focus on securities, wire fraud
U.S. prosecutors are examining whether Tesla committed securities or wire fraud by misleading investors and consumers about its electric vehicles’ self-driving capabilities, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. .....»»
Discovery of ancient Glaswegian shrimp fossil reveals new species
A short but robust little shrimp may have died out over 330 million years ago during the Carboniferous period, but the rare Scottish shellfish has been revitalized as a new species to science and as a Glaswegian......»»
In South Africa, tiny primates could struggle to adapt to climate change
In the "sky islands" of the Soutpansberg Mountains of South Africa, two closely related species of primate jostle for space. One is the thick-tailed greater galago (Otolemur crassicaudatus), also known as a bushbaby, which is about the size of a larg.....»»
Bsal and beyond: Task force helps stave off amphibian disease threat
Amphibians—like frogs and salamanders—are the most imperiled group of animal species in the world; infectious diseases are among the greatest threats to their existence. After a decade of research, a scientific task force is poised to stave off t.....»»
New Vincetoxicum species found in Yunnan
Vincetoxicum is a genus of plants in the Apocynaceae family. It is distributed in Asia, especially in mountainous areas, and most of the known species occur in China and Japan. The extended Vincetoxicum includes about 150 species. In recent years, ne.....»»
Hyundai-backed self-driving startup Motional delays plans, cuts employees
Motional, the joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv, said Tuesday it would delay its driverless commercialization plans and it had laid off employees......»»
Why parrots sometimes adopt—or kill—each other"s babies
Infanticide and adoption in the animal kingdom have long puzzled scientists. While both males and females of many species are known to kill the babies of their rivals to secure sexual or social advantage, other animals have been observed caring for t.....»»
Little-known self-driving startup raises $1 billion from Nvidia, Microsoft, SoftBank
Wayve is a UK startup with an AI-focused approach to solving autonomy for cars. It's akin to a vehicular version of ChatGPT......»»