All posts tagged: Atlas

VW replaces US ID.4 production with 18mpg Atlas SUV as gas prices spike

VW replaces US ID.4 production with 18mpg Atlas SUV as gas prices spike

Published by skeptic

VW says it will stop building the ID.4 in the US, and instead replace it with production of a gas-guzzling, pollution-spewing, 18mpg three row land yacht instead. The change comes just as gas prices have risen dramatically and after republicans inflated the price of every EV by $7,500, ensuring Americans have even fewer affordable choices during an affordability crisis. VW announced today that it is “updating its Chattanooga production strategy” for its plant in Tennessee. This will include ending production of the US-built ID.4 EV within the next couple weeks, and instead replacing it with the Atlas. The Atlas is a huge, three-row SUV which gets as little as 18mpg, making it one of the worst gas guzzlers available today. It uses 5-6x as much energy as the ID.4 it’s replacing. Advertisement – scroll for more content And, as a 20-inch longer and 5-inch taller vehicle, that means it’s harder to park and harder to see other vulnerable road users. Ballooning vehicle sizes have contributed to the US nearing an all-time high in pedestrian deaths, …

OpenAI ‘Superapp’ to Merge ChatGPT, Codex, and Atlas Browser

OpenAI ‘Superapp’ to Merge ChatGPT, Codex, and Atlas Browser

Published by skeptic

OpenAI has a Mac “superapp” in development that unifies its ChatGPT app, Codex coding platform, and Atlas browser, reports The Wall Street Journal ($). The idea behind the all-in-one app is to simplify the user experience, following the launch of several standalone products, some of which haven’t resonated with OpenAI’s customers. The company is also trying to bounce back after the recent successes of its main rival, Anthropic. OpenAI executives are said to be looking at areas it can deprioritize while it focuses on creating agentic AI capabilities within the new superapp that can work autonomously on a user’s computer to carry out various tasks like writing code and analyzing data. In an all-hands meeting last week, OpenAI’s chief of applications Fidji Simo reportedly told employees they couldn’t afford to be distracted by “side quests” given Anthropic’s rapid success winning over enterprise and coding customers. From the report: An OpenAI spokeswoman said the new “superapp” will enable teams inside OpenAI to work more closely together, and help the research division focus its efforts around improving …

The Human Flatus Atlas plans to measure the explosivity of farts

The Human Flatus Atlas plans to measure the explosivity of farts

Published by skeptic

  Feedback is New Scientist’s popular sideways look at the latest science and technology news. You can submit items you believe may amuse readers to Feedback by emailing feedback@newscientist.com   It’s a gas Feedback is feeling bold, so here is a prediction: the research we are about to describe is going to win an Ig Nobel award within the next decade. The entire project feels tailor-made for the Igs. It is an effort to objectively measure human flatulence using biosensors, or “Smart Underwear”. We learned of this from a press release from the University of Maryland, flagged to us by physics reporter Karmela Padavic-Callaghan with the phrase: “Surely, Feedback can do something with this.” The essential problem is that we do not know the normal range for flatulence, unlike other key biomarkers like blood glucose. Most studies have relied on self-report, which doesn’t really work because people often don’t remember all their farts and are poor judges of how big each was. Plus there is “the impossibility of logging gas while asleep”: anyone who has …

I Got Up Close and Personal With Boston Dynamics’ New Atlas Robot

I Got Up Close and Personal With Boston Dynamics’ New Atlas Robot

Published by skeptic

When I say that I went hands-on with the new Boston Dynamics Atlas robot, I mean that I actually held hands with it. This humanoid robot, which CNET just awarded the Best Robot of CES Award, is one of the most advanced in the world, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get up close and personal with it. This product version of the robot, which is set to be shipped to Hyundai factories imminently to start working, has been the talk of CES this year. The specific Atlas robot I encountered was a static model that wasn’t turned on or fully operational. Our interactions were, therefore, sadly one-sided. Still, I ran my hands over its soft-touch plastic shell and gently prodded at its finger joints, wondering how it would feel if they gripped me back. Atlas’ hands are one of the most human things about it. Katie Collins/CNET People tend to have varying feelings about humanoid robots — understandable given that they are built to some degree in our image, while also usually …