Fans have been waiting a long, long time for another installment in the 28 Days Later franchise, and we now know when the next followup is coming out: June 20, 2025. Per Variety, Sony Pictures announced the release date for the upcoming film 28 Years Later on Friday. It would have been kind of cool if it were timed with the original films actual 28th anniversary in 2030, considering how close we are to that now (horrifying, I know), but I can't blame them for not keeping people hanging even longer.
28 Days Later, starring Cillian Murphy in what turned out to be his breakout role, came out in 2002, and was followed by a sequel with a different cast, 28 Weeks Later, in 2007. There were at one point murmurs of plans for 28 Months Later, but it looks like were skipping over that. The new film will be directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, who both helmed the first movie, The Hollywood Reporter reported earlier this year. Murphy will be among its executive producers, according to Variety, but dont get your hopes up for seeing him in a starring role. As of now, it doesn't seem like thatll be the case.
We dont know anything about the plot yet, but 28 Years Later will reportedly star Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes. And it could be the first of three new movies in the franchise. According to THR, the plan is ultimately for a trilogy.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/28-years-later-is-coming-to-theaters-next-summer-171831988.html?src=rss
In this installment of What We're Listening To, Engadget writers and editors discuss some of the recent music releases we've had on repeat. It's safe to say there's some variety on this list.
Sierra Ferrell - Trail of Flowers
Sierra Ferrell seems almost like an anachronism in 2024, but in the best possible way. She has this effortless, old-timey country style that is at points reminiscent of the likes of The Carter Family or Flatt and Scruggs (her brilliant covers of songs once performed by the latter duo are permanently seared into my brain), and its just so refreshing. Trail of Flowers, Ferrells second studio album, toes a little further into a more modern sound, but it maintains this deeply Americana feel that just seems to roll off the West Virginia-born artist so naturally.
Country music isnt just one thing, and neither is Trail of Flowers. It meanders through different flavors folk, bluegrass, hints of jazz but it manages to do so in a way that feels cohesive when its all taken together. The wistful American Dreaming and Wish You Well are offset by sillier, whimsical numbers like I Could Drive You Crazy or the deep cut cover, Chitlin' Cookin' Time in Cheatham County. Tracks like Money Train, Ill Come Off the Mountain and Lighthouse are instantly catchy. Why Havent You Loved Me Yet and No Letter feel like classics in the making.
And then theres the cheekily sinister, scorned-lovers lament, Rosemary. Its one of the songs that first got me hooked on Sierra Ferrell years ago, as I imagine is the case for a lot of fans who have followed Ferrells career since her busking days or her unforgettable GemsOnVHS performances. I was almost nervous to hear it on Trail of Flowers, with a full production, after loving the raw, stripped-down recording Ive been replaying on YouTube for so long. But theyve done a beautiful job of capturing that magic, and Rosemary may be my favorite track on the album. Its hard to pick, though.
Castle Rat - Into the Realm
Sometime early last year, I discovered something I didnt realize was missing from my life: medieval fantasy doom metal. I was at a show at the gloriously trippy Brooklyn Made watching an opener ahead of the band Id gone there to see, and unexpectedly found myself witness to an on-stage choreographed sword fight (well, there was a scythe involved too) between a woman in chainmail and someone wearing a hooded rat mask and lingerie. Id already been enraptured by the bands heavy, immersive riffs and the singers hypnotic 1970s-esque vocals, but in that moment, yeah, things really clicked into place. This was my introduction to Castle Rat, and it was a damn good one.
Ive been eagerly awaiting the release of their debut album ever since, and from the second it dropped last month an LP called Into the Realm Ive pretty much been playing it on a nonstop loop. It would actually be embarrassing if you were to check the number of times Ive listened to the albums standout ballad, Cry For Me. It is a haunting, emotional song that really takes you on a journey and Im a little obsessed with it. Into the Realm opens strong with the boppy Dagger Dragger, and some real heavy-hitters follow in tracks like Feed the Dream, Fresh Fur and Nightblood. Red Sands is a slow-building powerhouse, and Ive even found myself loving the three roughly minute-long instrumental interludes that tie the whole album together.
Doom bands love a good theme (as do I), and we tend to see a lot of weed, witchcraft, science fiction and fantasy pop up throughout the subgenres that fall under this umbrella. Castle Rat definitely isnt the first to have a shtick, but theres a certain freshness to the bands even more specific, self-described medieval fantasy brand, perhaps because they commit to it so hard. Their 70s and 80s influences are obvious, yet everything theyve put out so far still feels original. Some people might find the whole thing gimmicky, but I think its working. Especially since they have the chops to back it up. Im excited to see where Castle Rat goes from here.
Honorable Mentions:
Girl with No Face, Allie X Another song Ive been listening to an embarrassing amount these days is Weird World, off Allie Xs latest album, Girl with No Face. I somehow havent tired myself of it yet, it makes me go absolutely feral. Girl with No Face is full of synth-pop gems, like Off With Her Tits a dancey, angsty anthem sure to resonate with anyone who has experienced dysphoria around their body image John and Johnathan, Black Eye and Staying Power.
Club Shy, Shygirl This is just a collection of straight-up bangers. Its not even 16 minutes long, but it really hits. If you need an instant mood-elevator ahead of a night out, this album is it.
Stampede: Volume 1, Orville Peck Orville Pecks first release in his fringeless era is a duets album, the first part of which was released on Friday and features artists including Willie Nelson, Noah Cyrus and Elton John. I havent had much time to spend with Stampede: Volume 1 yet, but Im into it so far. Conquer the Heart ft. Nathaniel Rateliff and How Far Will We Take It? with Noah Cyrus feel like they combine the best elements of Pony (2019) and Bronco (2022). Bronco came in two waves, so I expect well see a Volume 2 for Stampede before long, too.
Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend Editor
Hannah Jadagu - Aperture
Whenever I hear the words banger or bop, I dont think about artists like Taylor Swift. I think about the nebulous musical genre known as bedroom pop. Bop, after all, is right there in the name. Hannah Jadagu is a bedroom pop wizard of the highest order. Her first EP was made entirely on an old iPhone and still slaps, though she has since graduated to real recording studios. Jadagus latest full-length on Sub Pop, Aperture
If you've been seeing more Waymo robotaxis recently in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles, that's because more and more people are hailing one for a ride. The Alphabet-owned company has announced on Twitter/X that it's now serving more than 50,000 paid trips every week across three cities. Waymo One operates 24/7 in parts of those cities. If the company is getting 50,000 rides a week, that means it receives an average of 300 bookings every hour or five bookings every minute. Waymo has revealed, as well, that it's had over one million rider-only trips across four cities, including Austin, where it's currently offering limited rides to select members of the public.
In its announcement, Waymo credited its "safe and deliberate approach" to scaling its program for reaching the milestone. "We see people from all walks of life use our service to travel carefree, gain independence, reclaim their commute and more. Fully autonomous ride-hailing is a reality and a preferred mobility option for people navigating their cities every day," it added.
While Waymo certainly seems to be doing better than Cruise, which only recently re-deployed some of its autonomous vehicles following a much-needed hiatus, it's had its share of controversies. In April, six Waymo robotaxis blocked traffic in a San Francisco freeway, and it was just one of the instances wherein the company's vehicles caused traffic blockage. Earlier this year, two Waymo vehicles crashed into the same pickup truck one after the other, because their software had incorrectly predicted the future movements of the truck. The company issued a software recall after the incident to fix the issue and prevent similar incidents from happening.
Our safe and deliberate approach to scaling the Waymo Driver is gaining traction, as were now serving more than 50,000 paid trips every week across three major cities. Thank you to our riders for trusting us to get you to your destinations safely and reliably. pic.twitter.com/g0ws4QnV7v Waymo (@Waymo) May 9, 2024
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/waymo-says-its-robotaxis-are-now-making-50000-paid-trips-every-week-130005096.html?src=rss
The following includes spoilers for The Devils Chord.
For a show about time (and space) travel interwoven with British pop culture since its start in 1963, a trip to visit the Beatles is an obvious premise. So obvious that this is the second time weve had a what if episode hinging on the Fab Fours cultural impact. After all, both the Beatles and Doctor Who became global cultural exports as Britain flexed its post-imperial soft power. But while theres plenty of material to mine in that premise, this isnt an episode thats interested in doing that, relegating the Beatles to little more than window dressing.
This has always been a trick in Doctor Whos toolbox, especially when Russell T. Davies is in charge. He loves dangling an idea, or eye-catching visual, to lure in an audience before moving the focus to something else. Im reminded of the kung-fu monks from Tooth and Claw which looked great in the trailers but had no real impact on the story. Its Tooth and Claw that The Devils Chord feels similar to an early season one episode that doesnt quite work in and of itself, but does spend a lot of its time gesturing to this years recurring themes. (FilmStories reported from a recent Q&A, where Davies said that this episode lacked a central plot and was, instead, "Just some subplots.")
James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios
But to understand that, and my stance, were going to have to take a little look at The Context before we get to examining the meat. You see, during its history, Doctor Who has bent itself to fit the vision of its primary creative figure and Davies is a voracious watcher of TV. Hes obsessed with the form and format of TV as much as its content, and this is reflected in his work. His episodes often develop with news reports, CCTV clips and deeper forms of exposition revealed through screens. Bad Wolf is a great example, where the show lands at a TV studio thats making sci-fi versions of the then-current pantheon of British reality TV.
Davies also trusts his audience to instinctively know the unspoken rules of TV even if they cant name them. Which is why I think its worth looking at The Devils Chord as an episode that is, for want of a better phrase, collapsing in on itself. When Mrs. Flood talks to the camera at the end of Church on Ruby Road, it felt Deliberately Wrong, especially after she was seemingly unaware of the TARDIS earlier in the episode. Here, the numerous fourth wall breaks and lapses in storytelling are similarly an intentional sign of How Wrong Things Are. What starts out as a by-the-numbers celebrity historical quickly collapses into a fever dream like Sam Lowrys descent into madness at the end of Brazil.
James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios
We open in a concert hall in 1925 as a teacher outlines the basics of music theory for a young child. He shows off that he has discovered The Devils Chord and, by playing it, unleashes Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon), the embodiment of music. Maestro is a godlike elemental force and a child of the Toymaker featured villain of the 60th Anniversary special episode The Giggle. After praising the musician for their genius, Maestro then sucks the music out of their heart and eats it like cotton candy before staring into the camera and playing the show's theme tune on the piano.
When the titles end (notice the theme is playing out of the jukebox) its clear Ruby has been on the TARDIS for some time. She asks the Doctor if it would be possible to visit the recording of the Beatles first album at the EMIs studios on Abbey Road. Before they open the doors, she asks if it might be worth them changing into less conspicuously modern clothes and they spring off to sample the delights of the TARDIS wardrobe, complete with a wig for the Doctor.
James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios
The pair sneak into George Martins producers booth but quickly spot something is wrong with the scene in front of them. Rather than playing any of Please Please Mes big and recognizable hits, theyre turning out mop-top music about animals. The Doctor doesnt know it yet but Maestro has spent the last few decades swallowing all of the music out of peoples hearts. Its a genius way to get around the fact that, even with all the cash thrown at Get Back and Disneys vast bank balance, Doctor Who still cant readily afford to license Beatles songs.
Next door, (famous British singer / TV presenter / notorious diva) Cilla Black is similarly stricken with a case of the muzaks while a concert orchestra is just about mustering a version of Three Blind Mice. The Doctor and Ruby head to the canteen to corner John and Paul to try and find out what went wrong with history. They then head to the roof with a piano, where Ruby plays a tune she wrote to help a friend get over a breakup. But once the Doctor hears Maestros giggle, he sprints away, hiding in a nearby basement.
James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios
The Doctor explains that any villain who laughs is tied to the Toymaker and is a sign of the fractured universe. Fighting the Toymaker in The Giggle was sufficiently draining and difficult, especially given how powerful these elemental forces are, that he doesnt want to do it again. Maestro is hunting for them, but the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to kill all of the sound in the area. (The Doctor knows just enough about how the form and format of TV works to turn the tables on their opponent.) Maestro works out how to undo the blocking with some magnificent sound editing but is then distracted from their pursuit of the Doctor by an older woman Ruby had inspired to play the piano.
The eagle-eyed among you will notice that this is the econd time in two episodes that Ruby has inspired another person to be bold to their detriment. Her words were enough to encourage Eric to try and take on the bogeyman single-handed in Space Babies, nearly imperiling him. The older woman isnt so lucky and gets consumed by Maestro
Because of how long Doctor Who has run, it's often its own source material. Ruby, once theyve escaped, assumes that everything is okay because she recalls listening to music as a child and so therefore Maestro cant have won. So, in a scene pulled from Pyramids of Mars, the Doctor takes her to 2024 in the TARDIS to show the wreckage of the alternate future. Because while shes protected from the ravages of continuity by the fact shes traveling through time, the rest of the universe isnt so lucky.
Natalie Seery/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios
But this flash-forward, in an echo of the meeting with the Toymaker, flips from a visage of a bombed-out London to a stagey set. Maestro arrives behind a white piano to outline their plan to rid the universe of music, leaving just the aeolian tones of the wind brushing against objects. But the Doctor says that a universe without music, unable to express joy or anger through art, turns sour and destroys itself. It's a feeling I can relate to like when love becomes so painful in its absence that you'd rather disappear into the void than keep going on. Davies is also a nihilist so many of his episodes have revolved around the dark face of humanity that reveals itself when denied Earthly pleasures.
Escaping back to the 60s, the Doctor and Ruby meet Maestro and find the walls of reality are collapsing. Murray Golds swirling soundtrack isnt just the background music, its bled into the fabric of the show itself. The Doctor and Ruby start trying to find a chord that will bind Maestro with the Mrs. Mills piano, a (real) fixture of Abbey Roads studio. As they play, the notes are rendered floating over the piano, but the pair fail to identify the final note before Maestro turns up.
Maestro begins attacking, throwing around musical scores as weapons and hurling the piano into the hall. Its here that the episodes coherence starts to sag, the scenes get longer and odder, a wonky version of a standard monster-of-the-week TV show conclusion. The tension builds, and all looks lost, until John and Paul stumble upon the piano in the hallway. Theyre able to see the notes hanging in the air over the piano and with their, uh, innate musical nous, and complete the chord to bind the villain. But before theyre whisked away, Maestro has time to reveal they arent the only one of the Toymakers minions coming, and the one who waits is lurking in the background.
Out of nowhere, the episode ends with a big musical number that features the cast dancing through the Abbey Road sets, delighted at the return of music. Even the steps of the road crossing light up as the Doctor and Ruby cut a rug across them. I cant work out if its simply an indulgent sequence, or another big sign that the shows structure is breaking down. That the Doctor and Ruby are blind to the apparent Wrongness of it all hints at the latter, especially given the deeper context of the songs title see below.
James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios
There are other signs that Doctor Who is collapsing into its own TV series, including the casting decisions. The older woman who plays the piano is June Hudson, the shows costume designer from 1978 to 1980 who famously redesigned the fourth Doctors costume. The musician at the piano during the dance number is Murray Gold, while the figures the Doctor and Ruby dance with at the end are Strictly Come Dancing stars Shirley Ballas and Johannes Radebe. Maybe the big nemesis haunting the series will be some form that could threaten its existence as a TV show itself.
Its worth saying that Doctor Who has an uneasy relationship with big villain performances which can turn hard into hamminess. But Jinkx Monsoon manages to pitch Maestro as just big and flamboyant enough to steal every scene theyre in, but never too silly. Its also the right side of charming and magnetic, and while they dont have anywhere near enough time to properly face off against Ncuti Gatwas Doctor, its still a great match-up.
The problem of Susan Twist
As much as I dont want to get into the weeds here, its possible this stuff is going to come up later that I need to flag it. Doctor Who has been running for more than 60 years with a revolving door of creative figures who paid little-to-no attention to consistency. A convenient way to justify these is by suggesting time travel, by its very nature, would always mess up your personal history. But, in latter days, the show has often preferred to overlook the thornier parts of its backstory, like the existence of the Doctors granddaughter, Susan.
When the show started, the Doctor was joined on his adventures by Susan and a pair of teachers who followed her home one night. Long before any mention of Time Lords or Gallifrey, she was just the kid figure who often wound up needing rescuing. Then, in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, the Doctor exiles her to 22nd century Earth because she wants to kiss a boy. His goodbye speech has been long since de-contextualized and made to sound noble. But it is essentially him going yeah, youre interested in boys now, so you go make babies (eww babies) and stay here while I go off running around the universe. Yes, it is a bit yikes.
This ties in with a small body of writing about this trope in childrens literature about the way female characters are treated when reaching adulthood. In combination with a sexual awakening, this is often used as justification to dump them out of the narrative. Its even called The Problem of Susan, albeit named after Neil Gaimans rebuttal of what happens to Susan at the end of The Chronicles of Narnia. If youd like to learn more, you can read Elizabeth Sandifers essay on "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" which talks about this in some detail.
Why is this relevant? Because when Davies returned to Doctor Who, he cast the same actress in two different episodes. Susan Twist played Mrs. Merridew in "Wild Blue Yonder" and was seen again in "The Church on Ruby Road," whih sent keen-eyed fans into a frenzy. She pops up here as a tea lady and, on the roof of Abbey Road; the Doctor even talks about the fact another of his incarnations is living in Shoreditch in 1963 with his granddaughter. That the episode ends with a musical number called Theres always a Twist at the end with Ncuti Gatwa winking to camera is as big a neon sign as you could hope for.
Doctor Who fans never ones to not scour the text, metatext and paratext of each episode took Twists repeated casting as a signpost. They assumed, not unjustifiably, that this series would feature a twist about Susan, and that Davies was subtly signaling this to diehard fans. Given Twists appearance here, and that we get a song saying the quiet part out loud, seems to vindicate those theories. Unless, of course, its all a triple bluff, but Im not sure how anyone could game that successfully. The only question that remains, of course, is what Davies' plan is, and how exactly itll play out in the next six episodes.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doctor-who-the-devils-chord-review-is-this-madness-010056449.html?src=rss
The following includes spoilers for Space Babies.
You cant help but admire Russell T. Davies audacity. He plucks the rights to make Doctor Who from the BBC. He gets Disney+ to write an enormous check to bring the show to life in a way never before attempted. Then, with so much money at stake and a months-long promotional campaign, he opens season one and the door to new fans with this.
We kick off at the end of The Church on Ruby Road, with the Doctor's latest companion, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), entering the TARDIS for the first time. The Doctor introduces himself and offers a quick run-through of the premise for the folks at home. Theyre an alien, adopted by the Time Lords of Gallifrey who were then wiped out. That leaves the Doctor (once again) as the last of their kind; a quasi-immortal time traveler who can go anywhere in the universe.
To set the scene, the pair hop back to prehistoric Wyoming to gaze at a detailed vista of some CGI dinosaurs. This is the show boasting about what it can do even for a throwaway scene with its new bigger budget. And it helps banish the memories of some of the less successful attempts to do a dinosaur episode from way back when.
Ruby is already savvy to the conventions of the time-travel genre and asks about the risks to causality if she steps on a butterfly. The Doctor dismisses this idea out of hand before Ruby does and causes unutterable damage to the timeline. The butterfly is quickly revived and the Doctor nips back into the TARDIS to activate the Butterfly Compensator. Which is as close as this show gets to saying that it has never been a hard sci-fi show and it never will be.
James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios
For their next trip, they travel into the far future, landing on a space station that grows babies for colony projects. The bowels of the vessel are being stalked by an eyeless, teeth-heavy monster while the upper deck is crewed by talking babies. Mere seconds after proving the show can do decent-looking dinosaurs, it overreaches and adds an appallingly creepy CGI mouth to a baby. Ive seen this done in movies, and commercials, and it never works, and please God stop trying.
The Doctor and Ruby encounter the crew, a bunch of babies with the minds of preschoolers and the mouths of adults, or something. Theyve been left to run the station, with pulleys and cables letting them control specific onboard functions, and smart strollers to carry them around. The only other presence on the ship is an AI, NAN-E, which acts as a comforting voice for the kids.
Rubys genre-savviness kicks in again here, and she notices theres almost a storybook quality to the situation. A bunch of kids being menaced by an unwelcome, bogeyman-esque presence below, and the need for a hero to step in and rescue them. The pair give the babies some much-needed cuddles and are then invited to another part of the station by NAN-E.
On the way, the pair discuss origin stories and how Ruby, following on from the events of The Church on Ruby Road, wants to use the TARDIS to find out who her parents are. While they talk, snow the same snow that fell when Ruby was left on the steps of the eponymous church starts to fall inside the corridor. Rubys memories and history are somehow seeping through into the present, or shes able to do something to alter the universe.
James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios
But they cant focus on that too much, since theyre interrupted by NAN-E, who turns out not to be an AI, but a person. Jocelyn Sancerre (Golda Rosheuvel) is the last adult crew member, who stayed on the station to care for the children when everyone else was ordered to leave. The government of the planet below pulled funding for the stations and ordered the adults to leave, abandoning the children in place. But, because the planet is also anti-abortion, they wouldnt terminate the as-yet unborn babies, preferring them to slowly die from external factors. Geez, do you think they might be talking about us?
Much as this will be framed as a post-Roe story by US audiences, its worth saying the UKs Conservative Party has taken a similar approach. In 2010, the Labour government had worked to greatly reduce child poverty and homelessness with a number of targeted programs. These were quickly unwound by the incoming Conservatives, not only undoing all of those gains but making the issue a lot worse. So much so that the UN the UN! of all people upbraided the nation.
The streak of saying the quiet part out loud continues when, while hatching a plan to save the babies, they opt to take them to another planet in the system. Its a world that takes in refugees, but you have to turn up on the planets doorstep to get any help, because it wont lift a finger to help rescue people in need from further afield. Again, this is a not-so oblique reference to the UKs monstrous policy of attempting to block refugees from reaching the country via sea. It is a point of enormous pride for the Prime Minister that he has boasted about his work to prevent boat crossings.
This is made all the more painful as, for a brief moment, the country was reconsidering its approach following the death of Alan Kurdi, a two-year-old boy who drowned while attempting passage to Europe from Syria. The image of his body became a harrowing and defining image of the day, but the press quickly worked to stifle any pro-migrant sentiment, enabling the country to engage in an enormous boondoggle by spending millions of pounds building a detention center in Rwanda to forcibly-relocate people seeking asylum in the UK as a deterrent.
James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios
The grown ups cant mull their problems for long as Eric, one of the babies (sorry, space babies) heads down to the lower level to tackle this bogeyman. Theres a telling moment where Ruby sprints out to rescue the child far ahead of the Doctor, continuing a thread from the Christmas special: Ruby Sunday is willing to throw herself head-first into the action ather than waiting for help, steel pipe in hand. Doctor Who has always thrived when the companions a name weve been saddled with since 1963 are active figures in the narrative. Every one of the shows sidekicks, bar one, has their ardent fans, but commanding figures like Sarah Jane and Ace are always the most beloved.
Once the baby is rescued by the other babies wielding a gas pipe as a flamethrower, theyre sent back upstairs while the Doctor and Ruby take on the bogeyman. Rubys assumptions are proved further right when it turns out the alien is actually a bogey-man, as in made of snot. The stations malfunctioning systems sought to build an appropriate environment for the kids, and used childrens literature as its template.
Jocelyn works out that she can force the bogeyman toward an airlock while keeping the Doctor and Ruby safe. She then exposes the monster to the void of space, but the Doctor cant be so cruel to another lonely, misunderstood figure. He makes his way into the airlock room and closes the door to seal them both in to save the bogeymans life.
The episode ends with the Doctor realizing that the station can eject its six full years worth of soiled diapers to propel it towards the refugee planet. Its entirely fair game to resolve a crisis precipitated by rogue bodily fluids with a poop joke.
Crisis averted, he and Ruby walk back to the TARDIS where he gives her a key and welcomes her to the team, before adding that, as much as she may want to, he cant take her back to the moment she was abandoned. He covertly begins scanning Ruby to work out what exactly is her deal, and why shes capable of bending the universe. (And yes, there are shades of the Impossible Girl arc in how this is playing out.)
The TARDIS lands back at Rubys home, smashing up the kitchen and the Christmas dinner therein.
James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios
I imagine it wont be long after the episode airs that the usual corners of the internet will scream culture war. Davies was always a political writer and feels a duty to be unapologetic about his viewpoint on current-day matters. His original tenure on the show was rooted at the tail-end of the Blair and Brown years, fueled by righteous fury around the invasion of Iraq. This is, again, all the more surprising given its being broadcast on Disney+, the model of conservative restraint.
During his first tenure, Davies would begin the production of every episode with a tone meeting which outlined how each episode would maintain a consistent feeling in the writing, acting and direction. By comparison, Space Babies lurches wildly: Poop and fart jokes in one scene, unsettling horror in the next, weighty examinations of human morality between. The scenes of Jocelyns adult dialog being run through the nanny filter is a good source of comedy, its just odd that theyre juxtaposed with high drama.
But thats more or less what makes Doctor Who one of the best shows on TV its ability to do anything it damn well pleases. If the weirdness of what youve just seen appeals then youve just become a Doctor Who fan. If it didnt, then you might find the next episode will serve up what you were looking for.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doctor-who-space-babies-review-bet-you-didnt-expect-that-000030277.html?src=rss
Apple will reportedly focus its first round of generative AI enhancements on beefing up Siris conversational chops. Sources speaking with The New York Times say company executives realized early last year that ChatGPT made Siri look antiquated. The company allegedly decided that the large language model (LLM) principles behind OpenAIs chatbot could give the iPhones virtual assistant a much-needed shot in the arm. So Apple will reportedly roll out a new version of Siri powered by generative AI at its WWDC keynote on June 10.
Apple Senior Vice Presidents Craig Federighi and John Giannandrea reportedly tested ChatGPT for weeks before the company realized that Siri looked outdated. (I would argue that the epiphany came about a decade late.) What followed was what The NYT describes as Apples most significant reorganization in more than a decade.
The company sees generative AI as a once-in-a-decade tentpole area worth shifting heaps of resources to address. You may recall the company canceled its $10 billion Apple Car project earlier this year. Apple reportedly reassigned many of those engineers to work on generative AI.
Apple executives allegedly fear AI models could eventually replace established software like iOS, turning the iPhone into a dumb brick by comparison. The clunky, awkward and overall unconvincing first wave of dedicated AI gadgets weve reviewed, like the Human AI Pin and Rabbit R1, arent good enough to pose a threat. But that could change as software evolves, other smartphone makers incorporate more AI into their operating systems and other hardware makers have a chance to innovate.
So, at least for now, it appears Apple isnt launching direct competitors to generative AI stalwarts like ChatGPT (words), Midjourney (images) or ElevenLabs (voices). Instead, it will start with a new Siri and updated iPhone models with expanded memory to better handle local processing. In addition, the company will reportedly add a text-summarizing feature to the Messages app.
Apples M4 chip (shown next to VP John Ternus) could help process local Siri requests.Apple
Apples first foray into generative AI, if The NYTs sources are correct, sounds like less of an immediate threat to creators than some had imagined. At its May iPad event, the company ran a video plugging the new iPad Pro that showed various creative tools crushed by a hydraulic press. The clip accidentally served as the perfect metaphor for the (legitimate) fears of artists, musicians and other creators, whose work AI models have trained on and who stand to be replaced by those same tools as they become more normalized for content creation.
On Thursday, Apple apologized for the ad and said it canceled plans to run it on TV.
Samsung and Google have already loaded their flagship phones with various generative AI features that go far beyond improving their virtual assistants. These include tools for editing photos, generating text and enhancing transcription (among other things). These features typically rely on cloud-based servers for processing, whereas Apples approach will allegedly prioritize privacy and handle requests locally. So Apple will apparently start with a more streamlined approach that sticks to improving whats already there, as well as keeping most or all processing on-device.
The New York Times sources add that Apples culture of internal secrecy and privacy-focused marketing have stunted its AI progress. Former Siri engineer John Burkey told the paper that the companys tendency to silo off the information various divisions share with each other has been another primary culprit in Siris inability to evolve far past where the assistant was when it launched a day before Steve Jobs died in 2011.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-big-ai-rollout-at-wwdc-will-reportedly-focus-on-making-siri-suck-less-203035673.html?src=rss
Samsungs HW-Q990C was the best overall soundbar I tested last year, mostly due to its stellar audio and the fact that a subwoofer and rear speakers came with it. The company didnt change much for the 2024 version, the HW-Q990D, but one tweak delivers a feature last years model shouldve had: HDMI 2.1. There are some new audio modes too, but you can find those on other Samsung soundbars. The Q990D is as powerful as ever, but its still pricey at $2,000. If you already bought a Q990C, the company hasnt given you a reason to upgrade just yet.
Whats new on the Samsung Q990D?
The biggest addition on the Q990D is HDMI 2.1. With this, Samsung addressed my main criticism of the Q990C, which debuted last year at a time when much of the competition had already adopted the standard. HDMI 2.1 delivers 4K passthrough at 120 frames per second, which will improve the visuals if you connect your PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X directly to the soundbar.
The Q990D also arrives with new audio modes. Private Listening turns off all of the front-firing drivers and uses only the rear satellite speakers. Its basically an expanded version of the night mode a lot of companies offer on soundbars, aimed at reducing boomy bass when family or roommates might be asleep. My house has an open floor plan and my TV faces towards the hallway to the bedrooms, which means any soundbar will beam noise in that direction. Private Listening sends the audio the opposite way, and while you have to sacrifice some overall quality, its good enough for all the times you need to be quieter.
Theres also a new Party Play mode that provides more balanced sound between the soundbar and rear speakers for a better experience when youre hosting a rager. When this is active, you get the full audio range rather than just the channels specifically programmed for the speakers behind you. I actually turned the speakers around and faced them out of the living room to project the re-tuned audio into other communal spaces. This makes a bigger difference for movies and TV because music already plays from the rear speakers with more balanced levels.
These two modes arent unique to the Q990D; the rest of the 2024 Q-series lineup will be able to use them too. This is the first time Ive tested them though, and its notable that they actually work well on Samsungs most expensive soundbar.
Whats good
Billy Steele for Engadget
The combination of a driver-packed soundbar, large subwoofer and more-robust rear speakers produces immersive sound that envelops my living room. Whether youre listening to music or the soundscape of Dune, the Q990D retains the sonic prowess of its predecessor. Dolby Atmos content from Disney+ is as immersive as ever. I could hear the finer details of Knowhere in the opening scenes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, including the life-like reverb of Radioheads Creep playing over a loudspeaker. The directional sounds of the town, including the hustle and bustle of people moving around, make it seem like youre standing right there.
For music, theres deep, boomy bass when a track calls for it, and that crisp detail that I heard in movies is here too. Justices Hyperdrama shows off the Q990Ds range, with driving low-end tone on songs like Neverender accompanied by textured synths. Quieter genres like jazz are a blanket of sound too, with albums like Miles Davis Kind of Blue offering subtleties that make you feel like youre in the studio.
The thing I like most about the Q990D is that everything you need for a complete surround sound setup is included in the box. The subwoofer and rear speakers come with the soundbar and dont require an additional purchase. Those satellite speakers also house up-firing and side-firing drivers, which isnt always the case on comparable accessories from the competition. And the setup is as easy as plugging everything in because pairing with the rest of the system happens automatically.
Whats bad
Billy Steele for Engadget
An all-in-one setup is great, but that also means the Q990D is expensive. At $2,000, this is a considerable investment even if youre getting everything you need in the package. The Q990D is currently on sale for $1,750, but we dont know how long that discount will last. For comparison, Sonys upcoming Bravia Bar 9 is $1,400. The cheapest subwoofer and rear speakers you can get for it are $400 and $350 respectively, which puts your total cost at $2,150. Of course, with Sony you have two options for subs and rears, and you dont have to buy all of them. LG offers some respite if you want to go that route, with its S95TR coming in at $1,500 and including the subwoofer and rear speakers with up-firing drivers.
The overall size of the soundbar is something else youll need to consider. The Q990D houses 11 front-facing speakers, two up-firing drivers and a subwoofer. All of those components need space, and accommodating them means this soundbar ends up being quite large at 48.5 inches wide. While thats not a deal-breaker per se, it does require some planning, so just know youll need ample room.
Like soundbars from other companies, the Q990D has some handy features that are reserved for Samsung TVs. For example, Q-Symphony, which uses your TV speakers in addition to the soundbar to expand the audio capabilities, requires a compatible 2020-2024 Samsung TV. The Q990D sounds great without this, but just know youre not getting the full bg of tricks unless you also have a supported TV.
Wrap-up
Unless you care for the latest HDMI standards, the Q990D doesnt offer a huge upgrade over last years model. Their design and features lists are nearly identical, except for two new sound modes and 4K/120 passthrough. And some of those additions are available on more-affordable Samsung soundbars. So if you already sprang for last years Q990C, theres probably not enough reason to make another sizable investment. If you dont already own a Samsung flagship soundbar, the Q990D offers boomy, immersive sound in an all-in-one package that now has all the modern conveniences it should.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-hw-q990d-soundbar-review-a-small-but-significant-update-180022782.html?src=rss
Climate protestors in Germany broke through police barricades on Friday, amid clashes between activists and law enforcement. The protestors either made it onto (according to protestors) or near (according to local police) the grounds of a Tesla gigafactory in Grünheide, Germany, near Berlin. Its part of a planned five-day demonstration ahead of a local government vote next week to determine whether Teslas plant can expand.
Wired flagged social media videos showing activists, many of whom have been camping out in treehouses in nearby forest encampments, running toward a Tesla building on the site. In addition, the German newspaper Welt said at least one person participating was injured. Police reportedly police used pepper spray and batons to try to thwart the crowd, and there were at least some arrests.
A spokesperson for one of the groups participating in the protests told Wired that they broke the police barriers and stormed the Tesla grounds. Eight hundred people have entered the premises of the gigafactory, Lucia Mende of Disrupt Tesla said. However, local police posted on X (Musks social media platform) that the activists only reached a field facing the site. We have been able to prevent them from entering so far, they posted.
Axel Schmidt via Getty Images
At least at first glance, its easy to wonder why activists are pouring so much energy into fighting Tesla. After all, despite Musks increasingly unhinged right-wing conspiracy-mongering and Nazi-catering on X, other automakers pushing gas-guzzling cars seem like more appropriate targets (not to mention the fossil fuel companies spending big bucks on anti-climate-reform disinformation). However, several factors make the issues at the heart of the protests less simplistic.
A (nonbinding) vote in February showed Grünheide residents opposed the expansion by almost a two-to-one ratio. If for no other reason, the local government having a chance to brush aside the overwhelming will of the voters in the name of capitalism is enough to raise the eyebrows of anyone who balks at minority rule.
Wired notes the area is also one of the most water-scarce in Germany, and residents worry the gigafactory will drain the resource, leaving much less for the humans who live there. The plant could also pollute local water supplies.
Those fears appear to have merit: The plant is licensed to use 1.4 million cubic meters of water annually, and a separate Wired report from Tuesday noted thats enough to supply for a large town. As for the contamination fears, Tesla was fined in 2019 by the EPA for several hazardous waste violations at a California factory. The company paid a grand total of $31,000 to settle. (Tesla had a market cap of almost $76 billion in 2019.)
But some of the groups protesting have concerns that go much farther than those more immediate issues affecting the locals, instead taking issue with the entire electric vehicle movement. Companies like Tesla are there to save the car industry, theyre not there to save the climate, Esther Kamm, spokesperson for Turn Off the Tap on Tesla told Wired.
Another activist, who only gave Wired the name Mara, described the factory as the result of green capitalism. She views the EV movement as little more than a theatrical performance in the name of profit. This has been completely thought up by such companies to have more growth, even in times of an environmental crisis, she said.
I wouldnt exactly say flipping the bird to the EV movement is a workable solution to the very real and pressing climate crisis. Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, the world needs to move quickly to fend off climate changes most ravaging effects, and the scientific consensus is that the planned shift to EVs will need to play a central role.
Tesla reportedly told its employees at the factory to work from home on Friday, shutting down the plants for the planned protests. As for Fridays protests, Welt reports that the situation had calmed by afternoon at least for now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/climate-protestors-clash-with-police-outside-teslas-german-gigafactory-175726961.html?src=rs
Swiss start-up Climeworks has done it again. The company just opened the worlds largest carbon capture plant in Iceland, dwarfing its own record of how much CO2 it can pull from the air. The companys previous record-holding carbon capture plant, Orca, sucks around 4,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year, but the new plant can handle nearly ten times that, as reported by The Washington Post.
The plants called Mammoth and boasts 72 industrial fans that can pull 36,000 tons of CO2 from the air each year. Just like with Orca, the CO2 isnt recycled. Its stored underground and eventually trapped in stone, permanently (within reason) removing it from the environment. The plants actually located on a dormant volcano, so itll make a great hideout for a James Bond villain should it ever cease operations.
The location was chosen for its proximity to the Hellisheidi geothermal energy plant, which is used to power the facility's fans and heat chemical filters to extract CO2 with water vapor. After extraction, the CO2 is separated from the steam, compressed and dissolved in water. Finally, its pumped 2,300 feet underground into volcanic basalt. This compound reacts with the magnesium, calcium and iron in the rock to form crystals, which become solid reservoirs of CO2. Its pretty nifty technology.
However, its not the end-all solution to climate change. Its barely a blip. For the world to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2050, "we should be removing something like six to 16 billion tons of CO2 per year from the air," said Climeworks founder Jan Wurzbacher, according to reporting by CBS News.
Therein lies the problem. This facility, the largest of its kind by a wide margin, can capture up to 36,000 tons of CO2 from the air each year, but thats just 0.0006 percent of whats needed to meet the minimum annual removal threshold as indicated by Wurzbacher. There are other plants, of course, but all of them combined dont make a serious dent in whats required to pull us from the brink.
To that end, Wurzbacher has pleaded with other companies to take up the cause. He says that Climeworks has a goal of surpassing millions of tons captured per year by 2030 and a billion by 2050. The companys chief technology officer, Carlos Haertel, told 60 Minutes that scaling up the process globally is possible, but requires political will to rally behind the initiative.
The Biden administration recently committed $4 billion to jumpstart the industry here in the states and earmarked $1.2 billion for a pair of large-scale projects. The US Department of Energy also started a program called Carbon Negative Shot, with a goal of fostering the development of budget-friendly carbon capture technology.
Today, we're officially launching a new portfolio offering to expand our carbon removal service beyond direct air capture and fast-track the industry's scale-up. We're thrilled to finally reveal Climeworks Solutions! https://t.co/0CDAQLObEU pic.twitter.com/f8ojbF3ZLo Climeworks (@Climeworks) April 17, 2024
The method of carbon capture deployed by Climeworks is just one of many approaches. These processes range from stacks of limestone blocks that absorb CO2 like a sponge to giant hot air balloons that freeze and trap the chemical compound. Restoring forests is another option, which is something companies like Apple and Goldman Sachs have experimented with. Which one is best? All of them together deployed at global scale. Whatever it takes. Climate change isnt fooling around.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-worlds-largest-direct-carbon-capture-plant-just-went-online-172447811.html?src=rss
The new iPad Pro and iPad Air and the internet's reaction to how they've been advertised may have been the big Apple news of the week, but we're turning our attention to AirPods for our latest deals roundup. More specifically, all four models in Apple's wireless headphone lineup are currently on sale. The noise-canceling AirPods Pro and third-gen AirPods back down to lows of $180 and $140, respectively, while the entry-level earbuds and top-end AirPods Max are both cheaper than usual at $80 and $450. Beyond that, we've also found noteworthy discounts on Amazon's Kindle, LG's C3 OLED TV, Keychron's budget-friendly C3 Pro keyboard and annual Paramount+ with Showtime subscriptions, among others. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-entire-airpods-lineup-is-discounted-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-164320939.html?src=rss
