🎬 The Wookie’s cookie is a little Chewie: “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” drops on Disney+ on Dec. 3. Set during the same era as “The Mandalorian” and “Ahsoka,” the series follows a group of kids who discover a spaceship and embark on an adventure. It stars Jude Law as a Jedi and looks like a 1980s Steven Spielberg movie. Check out the trailer.
Ready to play (again)?
Netflix dropped an early Christmas gift — the trailer for “Squid Game” season 2. The first season was the most-watched series of all time on the platform. I liked it, despite all the blood. New season drops Dec. 26. How festive.
Boston Dynamics' Atlas goes hands-on
Atlas doesn’t need lunch breaks: Boston Dynamics just dropped new footage of its humanoid robot Atlas. The bot does factory work, like moving engine covers between supplier containers and a mobile sequencing dolly — complete with full-motion bending and turning. The big deal is that no human needs to tell the bot what to do after training.
'Mind-reading' headphones track user's brain signals
Jedi mind tricks: Neurable is creating mind-reading headphones. The sensors pick up tiny electrical impulses from your skull, which you can view in an app to see how intensely you’re focusing. Telepathy might be next. In one of their gamified exercises, the more you focus, the faster you make a rocket accelerate.
George Carlin on airlines and flying
✈️ Get back in line: American Airlines is considering new boarding tech that sounds a really loud beep when you try to cut the line and board without your group. It’s being tested now in Albuquerque, Tucson and Washington, D.C. I’ll spare you a plane joke (it won’t take off), but if you need a laugh, watch George Carlin talk about the boarding process. So funny.
Passengers in an Arizona Waymo autonomous vehicle get a scare
🧘 Coping skills needed: An Arizona mom and daughter thought the self-driving Waymo vehicle they were in might crash while crossing multiple lanes. They made it through, with mom panicking and her daughter cracking up in the backseat. Waymo’s response? The vehicle kept a “safe distance.” Watch the video and see what you think.
'Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery' trailer
💸 Is the mystery solved? A new HBO documentary, “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” claims Canadian developer Peter Todd is the mystery man behind bitcoin. Todd, of course, has denied he’s the real Satoshi Nakamoto, and he’s now in hiding. If it’s true, though, he holds the keys to over a trillion dollars in crypto. Watch the trailer — it’s so good!
LaserWeeder: AI-powered robotic weed control
🚜 Agricultural revamp: Carbon Robotics just raised $70 million for AI-powered robots that help farmers blast weeds with lasers. The LaserWeeder attaches to a tractor and uses AI to detect and zap weeds without disturbing the soil microbiology. Bonus? It could reduce the need for harmful herbicides. No word on the cost yet, but the video sure looks cool.
Tropicana Las Vegas implosion
The site of the former 23-story, 917,400-square-foot hotel is becoming a Major League Baseball stadium for the Oakland A’s, who are relocating to Las Vegas. The controlled demolition used 22,000 lineal feet of detonating cord, dang.
WOW! Watch SpaceX catch a starship booster in air
🚀 Touchdown complete: SpaceX nailed the upright landing of one of its massive Starship rockets. As it fell from the sky, thrusters slowed it down before it was caught by two “chopstick” arms attached to a giant metal tower. Why’s this a big deal? It’s a step toward reusable rockets. The video is incredible.
Introducing: Bolt & Bolt-M
Tesla: 'We, Robot' event livestream
I know you’ve seen it all over the news: Elon Musk recently took to the stage at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank to spotlight what he says is the future of transportation — and show off his army of cowboy hat-wearing robots. Will any of this make it to production and into our driveways? Well, we’ll see.
Introducing 'Dookie Demastered'
Green Day is going all out: To celebrate their “Dookie” album’s 30th anniversary, the California punk rock band has released “demastered” versions of their songs played on some hilariously inconvenient formats, including “Pulling Teeth” on a toothbrush, “Chump” on a Teddy Ruxpin and “Welcome to Paradise” on a Game Boy cartridge.
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'My heart was gone': Second person to receive a titanium heart shares experience
💖 IRL Tony Stark: A 35-year-old man just became the second person with a titanium heart transplant. With severe heart failure and fluid in his lungs, doctors used a magnet-powered artificial heart as a last resort. The result? Normal circulation, blood flow and blood pressure. The only downside is he says it feels a little “heavier.” This could be the solution to the organ shortage.
Dolphins 'smile' to signal play
New research shows bottlenose dolphins “smile” at each other to signal playtime. In science speak, it’s a “prolonged open-mouth expression,” and it only happens when their friends are in view — never in other contexts. The video is adorable.
'Juror #2' trailer (2024) feat. Nicholas Hoult, Clint Eastwood
Sellers, beware of this new eBay scam
People are buying high-ticket items on eBay, filing returns, then sending back thank-you cards instead of the product. Sellers are reporting the scam (with proof the return label is on a tiny envelope) but get stuck in an endless appeals process. Good luck getting eBay on the phone to help. I’d steer clear for now.
Stranger travels 1,500 miles to return lost stuffed animal to 9-year-old
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!