Новости за 15.09.2018

Without functioning ecosystems, “everybody’s poop would be everywhere,” says Rachel Ignotofsky, the author and artist behind the new book The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth. “The world doesn’t work if stuff doesn’t decompose,” she says.

In 2015, Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem (translated into English by Ken Liu), earned science fiction’s highest honor: the Hugo Award for Best Novel. The award was the first for a Chinese author, and put Liu in the global spotlight. Sequels to that novel, The Dark Forest and Death’s End, also received widespread acclaim, and now, Liu has a new book out in English: Ball Lightning, translated by Joel Martinsen. Like The Three-Body Problem, it’s a gripping tale of technology and physics, one that... Читать дальше...

The most exciting announcement from Apple’s annual iPhone event on Tuesday was not a set of three new smartphones, but a smartwatch. The Apple Watch Series 4 — with its rounded corners, larger display, and built-in EKG scanner — became undoubtedly the most sought-after gadget in the aftermath of Apple’s fall hardware refresh. While many people have bemoaned having to choose between the iPhone XS and XR, or are simply forgoing a mobile upgrade entirely, the Series 4 stood out for how simple of... Читать дальше...

The Deuce started up again last week, which means I’m subscribed to HBO again. But mostly, it means I’m back to being continually puzzled about how this show works. I enjoy watching it in a lot of ways, but a season and one episode in, I still have no sense of where it’s going, what it’s building toward, or even the stories that matter most to it.

On September 20th, FEMA will conduct a test of its Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which brings together two existing alert systems, the Emergency Alert System and the Wireless Emergency Alerts system. This system will also mark the first time that a “Presidential Alert” will be sent out to a majority of cell phone owners, who won’t be able to opt out.

On September 20th, FEMA will conduct a test of its Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which brings together two existing alert systems, the Emergency Alert System and the Wireless Emergency Alerts system, which will allow the government and president to send out an update to the public in the event of an emergency.

The new iPhone XS and XS Max and the Apple Watch Series 4 have found their way into lots of headlines this week. That’s because they’re all available now for preorder. A few retailers and carriers are offering some special deals associated with the preorder of a new Apple phone, but otherwise, this week’s best deals are a smattering of tech and home products that are discounted enough to be worth you checking them out.

HBO recently aired its adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s short novel Sharp Objects, and while I haven’t caught up on the entire thing yet, the first couple of episodes prompted me to dig my copy out to give it a read. I’ve been meaning to pick it up for years after a colleague of mine recommended it, and it seemed as good a time as any.

This year, Apple reached the end of its iPhone X (read: ten) names. Next year remains a mystery. Apple has gone through all the numbers from one through ten, skipping two and nine for its own reasons. Now, for better or worse, next year, it’ll likely need to figure out a new naming scheme.

Reality has had a tough year. When the president of the United States is denying that thousands of Americans died in a hurricane, journalists face an uphill battle. That battle has been particularly fraught on social networks, where malicious actors have spent the past several years peddling hoaxes and sowing division.

When Hurricane Florence struck the U.S. East Coast at 7:15AM ET this morning, it popped a squat near Wilmington, North Carolina. The hurricane — now downgraded to a tropical storm — is hovering over the area, unleashing torrential rainfall, and creeping towards the west at a glacial three miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. That means the rain will continue to pound the same waterlogged ground — which, combined with storm surge, is leading to deadly flooding. So far, at least two people have died, according to Vox. Читать дальше...

Disney has released a second featurette introducing some of the characters in its upcoming animated show, Star Wars Resistance: the Aces, a team of pilots who protect the base. The show will follow the inhabitants of Colossus, a massive floating base located on an ocean planet. Back in August, we got a featurette that introduced Team Fireball, a group of racing pilots, including Kaz, (voiced by Christopher Sean), who’s recruited into the Resistance as a spy.