Technology

The Meta Quest 3 can power augmented reality board games like Demeo.

Arts

Meta Quest 3 review: powerful augmented reality lacks the games to back it up

11:00am October 09, 2023

by Will Mitchell

Meta offers more powerful graphics and "mixed reality" experiences with their new Quest 3 VR headset. But at $500, the device lacks many stand-out games to justify the price.

A digital display attached to the helmet will show the player which play the coach has chosen.

Sports

A deaf football team will debut a 5G-connected augmented reality helmet to call plays

7:01am October 07, 2023

by Becky Sullivan

The helmet, developed by AT&T and Gallaudet University, will debut at the school's Saturday game. When a coach chooses a play on a tablet, it will then display on a small lens on the player's helmet.

Robert Wayne Lee — known as "Boopac Shakur" — would pose as a teenage girl online to lure and expose alleged pedophiles. Lee was shot and killed Sept. 29 in the Pontiac, Mich. area. A GoFundMe has been created to help the family with funeral expenses.

National

Police investigate the shooting death of man who often confronted alleged pedophiles

6:01am October 07, 2023

by Jonathan Franklin

Robert Wayne Lee, known online as "Boopac Shakur," was killed during an argument in a Michigan restaurant. So far, there is no evidence the confrontation was a planned sting by Lee, police said.

Claire Montegut (second from right), 16, and Anika Zhou (right), 17, are members of the Space Cookies, a FIRST Robotics Competition team composed of all Girl Scouts. Here they fix their robot's roller "claw" designed to pick up cones and cubes to score points.

Meet the high school sport that builds robots — and the next generation of engineers

6:01am October 07, 2023

The FIRST Robotics Competition has evolved from a fascinating after-school activity to having an impact on the tech and engineering world, involving tens of thousands of teens across the globe.

A researcher typed sentences like "Black African doctors providing care for white suffering children" into an artificial intelligence program designed to generate photo-like images. The goal was to flip the stereotype of the "white savior" aiding African children. Despite the specifications, the AI program always depicted the children as Black. And in 22 of over 350 images, the doctors were white.

Health & Safety

AI was asked to create images of Black African docs treating white kids. How'd it go?

10:48am October 06, 2023

by Carmen Drahl

Researchers were curious if artificial intelligence could fulfill the order. Or would built-in biases short-circuit the request? Let's see what an image generator came up with.

Pyxis Ocean sets sail in August on its first voyage since being retrofitted with WindWings.

New technology uses good old-fashioned wind to power giant cargo vessels

2:33pm October 05, 2023

by Scott Neuman

Cargo ships equipped with massive rigid sails called WindWings could save a substantial amount of fuel, considering how much of the world's goods are transported by sea.

Queue Listen Now

Tech workers said they saw unusually high numbers of men in a monster line for a career expo at a tech conference aimed at elevating women and nonbinary workers.

National

Men took over a job fair intended for women and nonbinary tech workers

12:34pm October 05, 2023

by Emily Olson

The Grace Hopper Celebration was designed to celebrate and uplift workers who are traditionally underrepresented in the tech industry. This year, men showed up in droves.

Ziare Gearring (left) and his grandfather Ricky Brown pose for a portrait outside of their home in Los Angeles. The 65-year-old retired handyman had already been struggling, and taking in three grandsons after his ex-wife's sudden death has put him thousands of dollars behind on rent and utilities.

Los Angeles is using AI to predict who might become homeless and help before they do

3:26pm October 04, 2023

by Jennifer Ludden

L.A. is housing more people than ever, but an even greater number keep falling into homelessness. This first-of-its-kind prevention program calculates who seems most at risk for landing on the street.

Detective Pikachu Returns, a kid-friendly mystery game from Nintendo, releases the same week as Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Mirage.

Arts

Detective Pikachu Returns, Assassin's Creed Mirage and more Fall games reviewed

11:55am October 04, 2023

by James Perkins Mastromarino

Nintendo and Ubisoft both return to form this Fall, while massive games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Resident Evil 4 get new expansions. NPR rounds up the best and biggest new games of the season.

Elon Musk is pictured in May in Paris. A California man says he was harassed after Musk amplified posts on X that falsely said he was involved in a confrontation between far-right protesters.

National

Elon Musk is being sued for libel for accusing a man of having neo-Nazi links

5:00am October 04, 2023

by Ayana Archie

A picture of Ben Brody, 22, began circulating on social media, accusing him of being involved in a brawl between right-wing extremist groups. Brody says he made several attempts to clear his name.