Science and technology

Football superstar Erling Haaland arrived at the brand new season of Clash of Clans that is set to begin in May. The Manchester City striker will debut as the Barbarian King after he collaborated with the Clash of Clans. The Norwegian footballer is named Barbarian King Erling Haaland in the gameplay and will be a playable character. In his gameplay video, Haaland’s character is seen striking down defenses, kicking a grenade just like a football as his animations mimic his real-life moves. It is pertinent to mention that the Manchester City striker’s Barbarian King is the first in the game to be actually based on a real person. The Haaland season will begin on May 1 and will run through May 31 in which players will earn rewards like potions and ore, along with a place on the leaderboards by taking down his animation on the battlefield. Read more: Call of Duty now lets you play as a dinosaur in MW3, Warzone In this regard, Clash of Clans General Manager Stuart McGaw said: “When

It has long been thought that meat played an important role in the diet of hunter-gatherers before the Neolithic transition. However, due to the scarcity of well-preserved human remains from Paleolithic sites, little information exists about the dietary habits of pre-agricultural human groups. A new study challenges this notion by presenting compelling isotopic evidence of a strong preference for plants among 15,000-year-old hunter-gatherers from Morocco. This is the first time a significant amount of plant consumption has been measured for a pre-agricultural population, shedding new light on the dietary practices of ancient human societies. Human tooth from the Taforalt Cave in Morocco, showing severe wear and caries. Conducted by an international team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany), Géoscience et Environnement Toulouse (Toulouse, France), and the Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine (Rabat

Google has introduced Google AI Essentials, a self-paced course designed to help people across roles and industries learn AI skills to boost their productivity. The course requires no programming skills or experience and is available to everyone. To ensure equal access to AI training, google has launched a $75 million AI Opportunity Fund to train over 1 million Americans on critical AI skills. The first recipients of the fund will be the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) and Goodwill Industries International. The AI Essentials course teaches users how to leverage AI tools to, develop ideas and content, make informed decisions, speed up daily work tasks. Users will learn from Google’s AI experts and gain hands-on experience using AI. Upon completion, they will earn a certificate from Google that can be shared with their professional network. The platform is collaborating with employers, educational institutions, and nonprofits to help people learn practical skills

WASHINGTON: US auto safety regulators said they have opened an investigation into whether Tesla’s (TSLA.O), opens new tab recall of more than 2 million vehicles announced in December to install new Autopilot safeguards is adequate following a series of crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it opened the probe after receiving reports of 20 crashes involving vehicles that had the new Autopilot software updates installed under Tesla’s recall. The new investigation adds to regulatory scrutiny to Autopilot at a time when CEO Elon Musk is pushing for full self- driving, as Tesla is offering a month of free trials and plans to unveil its robotaxi on Aug. 8. The agency said it had concerns following those 20 crashes as well as results from preliminary NHTSA tests of updated vehicles. Also on Friday, the agency closed its nearly three-year defect investigation into Autopilot, saying it found evidence that “Tesla’s weak driver engagement system was not ap

WASHINGTON: The chief executives of OpenAI, Microsoft and Google are among the high-profile members of a new federal board created to advise the US government on the “safe and secure” development of artificial intelligence. The new advisory board will help authorities combat AI-related disruptions that may “impact national or economic security, public health, or safety,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement released Friday. President Joe Biden directed department Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to set up the 22-member board. Mayorkas said that while AI is a transformative tool, “it presents real risks.” “The Board will help DHS stay ahead of evolving threats posed by hostile nation-state actors and reinforce our national security,” the statement said. AI may be used by unfriendly forces to enable larger scale, faster attacks against targets like pipelines, railways and other critical infrastructure, it said. “Artificial Intelligence is the most transformati

Scientists at University of California Riverside have demonstrated a new, RNA-based vaccine strategy that is effective against any strain of a virus and can be used safely even by babies or the immunocompromised. Every year, researchers try to predict the four influenza strains that are most likely to be prevalent during the upcoming flu season. And every year, people line up to get their updated vaccine, hoping the researchers formulated the shot correctly. The same is true of COVID vaccines, which have been reformulated to target sub-variants of the most prevalent strains circulating in the U.S. This new strategy would eliminate the need to create all these different shots, because it targets a part of the viral genome that is common to all strains of a virus. The vaccine, how it works, and a demonstration of its efficacy in mice is described in a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “What I want to emphasize about this vaccine strategy i

It’s taken Huawei just four years to become a force in smart car technology, navigating the devastation of trade sanctions on its smartphones business while simultaneously developing a driver assistance system that is the darling of the Beijing auto show. Huawei Technologies has two huge booths at this week’s event, and there are at least seven Chinese automakers touting its Qiankun installed in their cars as the most sophisticated advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) to date. Even Germany’s Volkswagen will equip its China-made, China-bound Audi Q6L e-tron with Qiankun upon the car’s 2025 launch, in Huawei’s first deal with a foreign automaker, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida’s interest was piqued too as he visited a Huawei booth and listened to representatives explain the systems developed for the Seres car on display. A Nissan spokesperson said Uchida was touring booths and had no comment on any considerations of a Huawei tie-u

Meta’s WhatsApp has warned that it will cease its operations in India owing to the introduction of new rules and regulations. During a hearing at the Delhi High Court, the messaging platform said that WhatsApp services will be effectively shut down in India if it is forced to break message encryption, an Indian media outlet reported. “As a platform, we are saying, if we are told to break encryption, then WhatsApp goes,” the company’s lawyer Tejas Karia told a Division Bench. WhatsApp argued that the end-to-end encryption of the messaging platform gives protection to users’ privacy as only the sender and recipient can access message content. Read more: Apple pulls WhatsApp, Threads from China app store The lawyer maintained WhatsApp is widely used for interaction due to the privacy features it offers. Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp and Facebook, challenged India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. The rules require t

The Season 3 reloaded update of Call of Duty  (CoD) Modern Warfare 3 (MW3), Warzone, and Warzone Mobile is set to arrive on May 1. The update will include a new weapon, additional multiplayer maps, more game modes, and a new Zombies story act, gaming website Gamespot reported on Thursday. In a blog post, Call of Duty announced that Season 3 Reloaded mid-season update will be launched on May 1 at 9 am PT (GMT 5 pm) across all platforms. “The vast amount of action brought by the gigantic Season 3 update is set to keep on rolling with the upcoming Season 3 Reloaded content drop, bringing more Multiplayer maps and modes and the introduction of the next story mission, Dark Aether Rift, and more in Modern Warfare Zombies,”  it said. Read more: Call of Duty now lets you play as a dinosaur in MW3, Warzone The update will add another gun with the BAL-27 assault rifle from 2014’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Additionally, a couple of core 6v6 multiplayer maps will be added in the updat

Meta’s WhatsApp is reportedly testing the feature to allow users to share files including photos and video with nearby users without an internet connection. The platform is also working to introduce an in-app dialler for users, Business Standard reported. The feature that allows users to share photos, videos, documents, and other files with nearby WhatsApp users is available for testing in beta version of the platform. However, Meta has not begun testing the in-app dialler in beta release while it is reportedly only available in the early version of the app. Read more: WhatsApp Beta gets new colorless and minimal UI design According to WABetaInfo, users must be near other WhatsApp users for the new feature to work. Users will be able to share files via a locally-created network after finding the other users. Meta has also given users the option to revoke these permissions at any time. On the security side, WhatsApp has made file sharing end-to-end encrypted similar to messages

PUBG has announced the return of the nostalgic classic Erangel map for a limited period to take players back in time. The development team will make the 2017 classic Erangel map available from May 14 to May 28 on PC and from May 23 to June 6 on gaming consoles. “Erangel Classic is finally making its triumphant return to the battlegrounds! We hope this offers the chance not only to revisit the iconic world but also to recall the cherished moments shared with friends and comrades in days gone by,” a post by PUBG read. During the announced timeframe, the classic Erangel will replace the modern Erangel in normal matches. The map will include gloomy weather, the prematch island with a downed plane, classic UI, and the tommy gun in care packages. Read more: Last Sentinel: PUBG maker reveals most ambitious game yet for consoles According to PUBG, players will see the familiar sight of a vintage world map and minimap, the match start timer, and the tacky font and graphics upon entering

Volvo EX30, a made-in-China electric vehicle will hit U.S. dealers this summer offering power and efficiency similar to the Tesla Model Y, the world’s best-selling EV, but for about $8,000 less. The Volvo EX30 from Volvo Cars, the Swedish luxury brand owned by China’s Geely, foreshadows the fierce competitive threat U.S. automakers could face from Chinese EV manufacturers that have surged far ahead of global rivals, especially on affordability. The $35,000 window sticker of Volvo’s compact SUV hits a sweet spot in the U.S. market, where most buyers cannot afford most EVs. The competitive price reflects an unusual combination of Geely’s China-specific cost advantages and Volvo’s ability to skirt U.S. tariffs on Chinese cars because it also has U.S. manufacturing operations, according to interviews with four sources familiar with Volvo and Geely strategy and several U.S. trade policy experts. Chinese EV makers can undercut global competitors largely because of the nation’s domination

Tesla’s (TSLA.O), opens new tab humanoid robot is still in the lab, but it may be ready to sell as soon as the end of next year, chief executive Elon Musk said on Tuesday. Several companies have been betting on humanoid robots to meet potential labor shortages and perform repetitive tasks that could be dangerous or tedious in industries such as logistics, warehousing, retail and manufacturing. Musk told investors on a conference call that he guessed the Tesla robot, called Optimus, would be able to perform tasks in the factory by the end of this year. Humanoid robots have been in development for several years by Japan’s Honda and Hyundai Motor’s Boston Dynamics. This year, Microsoft and Nvidia-backed startup Figure said it had signed a partnership with German automaker BMW to deploy humanoid robots in the car maker’s facility in the United States. Read more: Zoox robotaxis to drive faster, farther, at night Billionaire Musk has said before that robot sales could become a larger

Apple’s smartphone shipments in China tumbled 19% in the first quarter of the year, the worst performance since 2020, as the iPhone maker took a hit from Huawei’s new product launches in the premium segment, market data showed. Apple’s share in the world’s biggest smartphone market fell to 15.7% in the first quarter from 19.7% a year earlier. That put it almost level with Huawei, which saw sales jump 70%, according to research firm Counterpoint. Apple lost its crown as the biggest smartphone seller in China to rival Vivo, sliding to third place in the quarter, followed by Huawei whose market share jumped to 15.5% from 9.3% a year earlier. Honor, a mass market brand spun out of Huawei, was in second place. “Huawei’s comeback has directly impacted Apple in the premium segment. Besides, the replacement demand for Apple has been slightly subdued compared to previous years,” said Counterpoint analyst Ivan Lam in a press release. “For the second quarter, the possibility of new color opt

In a first, an AI-controlled fighter jet successfully faced a human pilot in an aerial dogfight test carried out last year by the US Air Force. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) revealed that the experiment with artificial intelligence (AI) applications began in December 2022 as part of its Air Combat Evolution (ACE) programme, The Verge reported. It worked to develop an AI system that was capable of autonomously flying a fighter jet while also adhering to the USAF’s safety protocols. The US Air Force released a video of the test where the AI-controlled F-16 fighter jet was pitted against a manned F-16. The US Air Force deployed human pilots on board the AI-controlled fighter jet, tagged X-62A, who had controls to disable the AI system, however, DARPA said the pilots did not need to use the safety switch at any point. According to DARPA, the X-62A was pitted against a manned F-16. Both aircraft engaged in nose-to-nose fight, a video for which has been rele

Global leaders will gather in Canada’s capital this week to discuss progress in drafting a first-ever global treaty to rein in soaring plastic pollution by the end of the year. The hoped-for treaty, due to be agreed at the end of this year, could be the most significant deal relating to climate-warming emissions and environmental protection since the 2015 Paris Agreement, which got 195 parties to agree to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5C. But negotiators have a tough task in Ottawa, with countries divided over how ambitious the treaty should be. WHY ARE WE HAVING PLASTIC TREATY TALKS? At the U.N. Environmental Assembly in 2022, the world’s nations agreed to develop a legally binding agreement by the end of 2024 to address the world’s plastic pollution crisis. The treaty is meant to address plastics through their entire lifecycle – from when they are produced, to how they are used and then disposed of. WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTICS? While plastic waste has bec

The National Information Technology Board (NITB) and Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) have launched an online app for the parents of differently-abled children to connect them with the world around them. According to details, the National IT Board is bringing approximately 30,000 out-of-school differently-abled children into the educational mainstream. It will assist them in the selection of suitable educational institutions near their residence so that they can apply online without physical access to the relevant center. The App will inform the people and parents about the services and facilities available in the DGSE’s centres and institutes as well as in the FDE schools for inclusive education. Last year, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has announced plans to establish four parks for differently-abled citizens across the city. The decision was announced by Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab in a post shared on X, formerly Twitter. During a meeting held at the Department of

TikTok on Sunday repeated its free-speech concerns about a bill passed by the House of Representatives that would ban the popular social media app in the U.S. if Chinese owner ByteDance did not sell its stake within a year. The House passed the legislation, opens new tab on Saturday by a margin of 360 to 58. It now moves to the Senate where it could be taken up for a vote in the coming days. President Joe Biden has previously said he would sign the legislation on TikTok. Many U.S. lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties and the Biden administration say TikTok poses national security risks because China could compel the company to share the data of its 170 million U.S. users. The step to include TikTok, opens new tab in a broader foreign aid package may fast-track the timeline on a potential ban after an earlier separate bill stalled in the Senate. “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assista

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) fans were delighted after singer Taylor Swift mentioned the popular game in one of the songs in her latest music album amid anticipation for GTA 6. The album caught the attention of the gaming industry after Taylor Swift mentioned Grand Theft Auto, according to a gaming website. It is pertinent to mention that the sixth installment of GTA is expected to be released in 2025 while some suggest that the game might miss its release date and may be delayed by 2026. Among the new tracks, Swift also released a song titled “So High School,” which highlights the singer’s relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce. Swift, in her song, compared her relationship with Kelce to a high school couple, however, one specific line caught the attention of the gamers in which she mentioned the game. “Truth, dare, spin bottles/ You know how to ball, I know Aristotle. Brand new, full throttle/ Touch me while your bros play Grand Theft Auto,” the lyrics of the

In a viral video that left the internet in shock, a new AI app of Microsoft made the iconic painting of Mona Lisa sing. As per details, Microsoft has introduced a groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) model, VASA-1, capable of generating stunningly realistic videos of talking human faces. This innovative AI image-to-video model can transform static photos of people’s faces into lively animations, complete with synchronized lip movements, facial expressions, and head movements that mimic natural human behavior. A recent demonstration video showcasing VASA-1’s capabilities has taken social media by storm, leaving users in awe. The AI-generated video features the iconic Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci, lip-syncing to Anne Hathaway’s hit song “Paparazzi.” The level of realism and attention to detail in the video has sparked widespread amazement and curiosity about the potential applications of this technology. ”Microsoft just dropped VASA-1. This AI can make a single im

San Francisco: Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistant software to $8,000 from $12,000 in the United States, as CEO Elon Musk doubles down on self-driving technology. Musk is betting on the technology to become cash cow for the world’s most valuable automaker. But he has for years failed to achieve the goal of self-driving capability, with the technology under growing regulatory and legal scrutiny. Musk earlier this month said Tesla will unveil its robotaxis on Aug. 8, after Reuters reported Tesla had scrapped its inexpensive, mass-market car in favour of robotaxis. According to the Tesla website, customers can now pay $8,000 for the FSD feature, or subscribe to use it for $99 a month. Tesla recently cut the U.S. monthly subscription price for the feature from $199, while giving every Tesla customer a month’s free subscription to the software. Tesla has also been cutting prices on its auto line-up in major markets. Grappling

Concern about the rapidly rising US government debt is partly behind recent surges in gold prices and bitcoin, even as the Treasury market so far remains relatively sanguine about the country’s fiscal path, market observers say. The U.S. budget deficit widened to $1.7 trillion in fiscal year 2023 and is on track to reach $2.6 trillion by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office. U.S. government debt held by the public, meanwhile, is on pace to reach a record 106% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2028, up from 97% in fiscal year 2023. It has soared to $27 trillion from $17 trillion in early 2020 and $5 trillion in 2007. The unchecked growth of U.S. government debt is gaining more attention as interest rate payments also take a larger bite of the government’s budget – in some months exceeding spending on national defense. This worsening trajectory has boosted demand for bitcoin and gold, which are often used as a hedge against inflation and the depreciating purchasing pow

Elon Musk postponed a planned trip to India where he was to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing obligations at his Tesla opens new tab automaker and saying he aimed to reschedule the visit for later this year. “Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla obligations require that the visit to India be delayed, but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year,” Musk posted on his X social media platform. Reuters reported the postponement on Saturday, citing four people familiar with the matter. The trip was to have included the announcement of plans for the electric vehicle (EV) maker to enter the South Asian market, Reuters has reported. The CEO and the prime minister are both at critical junctures. Tesla could have used the India announcement to try to reassure investors after months of share-price declines and the news on April 15 that it would lay off more than 10% of its global workforce. Musk is expected to face tough questions from analysts when Tesla announces quarterl

In a surprising move, Grand Theft Auto (GTA 6) publisher Take-Two Interactive announced it’s laying off 5% (600) of its workforce and $140 million in canceled projects. According to Bloomberg, Take-Two revealed in an end-of-business SEC filing a plan to save itself more than $165 million annually due to “reductions in its existing expense base and lowered projected expense growth for the coming years.” In the process, it’ll incur up to $200 million in charges, the majority of which – up to $140 million – is related to the cancelation of projects, while another $25 million to $35 million is related to employee severance and related costs. Take-Two is also reducing its office space as part of the plan. Back in February, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that the company had “no current plans” to undergo layoffs. To see this turnaround is particularly galling, not least because in GTA 5, Take-Two owns one of the industry’s greatest cash-cows – Rockstar’s game has made at least $8.5 bi