A Texas woman took to Facebook after her 9-year-old left his stuffed gorilla at a California hotel. A stranger saw the post, went an hour out of her way to pick it up, then documented the gorilla’s journey home. Absolutely watch this if you need a smile!
The world’s most advanced chatbot - March 15th, Hour 2
Meet Manus, an AI that thinks on its own. What it means for your job and the future of work. Plus, futuristic laptops, Millennials’ biggest parenting regrets, and a message sent 15 billion miles into the unknown.
👮 Stop, it’s the police: DJI made new drone accessories that let cops yell at you from the sky. The Zenmuse V1 speaker blasts voices at up to 127 decibels, which is about as loud as a jet taking off. Nothing says “subtle police presence” like a screaming metal bird. There’s also a spotlight that beams light up to 500 meters (that’s 0.3 miles for the rest of us).
7 miles
How far a lost 2-year-old boy walked to safety. He wandered from his home in rural Arizona and spent the night alone in mountain lion territory. After 16 tense hours, a rancher spotted him safe with his dog, Buford. Turns out, the shaggy companion guided him out of the wilderness. Imagine getting out-hiked by someone who can’t say or spell “hike.” Amazing.
A solar powered SUV
Fisker’s Ocean SUV has a driving range of 1,500 miles and has solar panels on the roof. It might get even more miles in “ideal conditions.” Starting price? Just under $38K.
👀 Smile, you’re on 15 different cameras: A journalist drove 300 miles across rural Virginia, then filed public records requests to see how often his car was caught on surveillance. The short answer: a lot, proof that even on the quiet backroads, Big Brother is watching and judging your late-night Taco Bell runs.
3,700 miles
How far a man’s body was flown from the UK to Michigan to be stored in a liquid nitrogen cryogenic chamber. The goal? Freeze now and hope science figures out how to bring him back to life later. Think advancements in AI, stem cell research and nanotechnology. Hey, it’s a long shot, but when you’re already dead, what have you got to lose?
🚗 Meanwhile, have a second-gen Rivian? A new update lets you drive with your hands totally off the wheel. It only works on 135,000 miles of “compatible highways” in the U.S. and Canada. I wouldn’t trust it.
300 to 500 miles
The common myth about when running shoes need replacing. Try this instead: Grab the heel with one hand, the toe with the other and twist. If the midsole doesn’t bend and still feels stiff, your shoes are probably good to go (paywall link). What did the sneaker say when it sneezed? A shoe! (Good one!)
33 mushers
Are taking on this year’s Iditarod dogsled race in Alaska because the usual route didn’t get enough snow. There are normally 50 to 75 mushers. The new course is farther north and now stretches a record 1,128 miles, forcing racers through endless wilderness and brutal blizzards (paywall link). You know, life is like a dogsled team. If you’re not the lead dog, the view is always the same.
31,000 miles
The longest undersea cable Meta wants to build. If you wrapped it around the equator, you’d have 6,000 miles left over. It’ll speed up the internet, but Meta’s main goal is boosting their AI capabilities.
$2
For a Toyota Corolla with 116,000 miles. Yes, the side mirrors are duct-taped, the license plate is bolted on with pliers, and there’s a minion painted on the hood. But mechanic Scotty Kilmer said in a viral TikTok he’d never get rid of an old Corolla. Under the ugly paint job is a 1.8L engine that’ll last forever. Here’s one for ya: Can a Toyota stretch? No, but a Mercedes-Benz.
Pranksters, unite: TouchTunes is the app equivalent of putting a quarter into a jukebox. Over 65,000 bars and restaurants use them, and you don’t have to be there in person to add a song to the queue (paywall link). That made it easy for the troll who played “Rocky Top” (the University of Tennessee’s unofficial fight song) in an Ohio State University bar … from 500 miles away.
✈️ Faster flights? Yes, please: If all goes well, an XB-1 commercial plane nicknamed the “Son of Concorde” will hit Mach 1, or about 767 miles per hour, and break the sound barrier next week. How will it feel as a passenger? No extreme g-forces — just a slight pull as it reaches supersonic speeds. You’ll be finishing your peanuts in the baggage claim!
$20 trillion tunnel
Connecting New York City and London. There’s no telling how long the Transatlantic Tunnel would take to build. A 23.5-mile tunnel linking England and France took six years. NYC and London are 3,000 miles apart. For the record, I’d totally ride it.
Get a dashcam, trust me
The Fourth of July is just around the corner, and AAA says about 71 million people will be traveling over 50 miles that week. Make sure you’re prepared for anything that might happen on the road.
Tax tip: How to deduct miles
Want to write off your trips? There’s an app for that.
Satellite tech will change phones forever
Did you know there are 500,000 square miles in the U.S. with no cell phone signals? Listen to this one-minute podcast to find out how that’s all going to change.
What happens when a baseball hits a gong at over 1,000 mph?
Some professional baseball pitchers can throw a ball around 100 miles per hour. But, what would happen if you built a cannon that could fire the balls faster than the speed of sound? Well, this engineer did just that, and the results are astounding.