Month: July 2020

Flying snakes can glide as far as 78 feet (24 meters) without tumbling out of control because they undulate their bodies mid-flight, as if they were swimming through the air. This seems to be a specialized strategy to stabilize their flight rather than an evolutionary remnant of general snake behavior, according to a new paper in the journal Nature Physics. The work could eventually lead to a new, improved control template for dynamic flying robots.

Co-author Jake Socha of Virginia Tech has been studying these fascinating creatures for about 20 years. The peculiar gliding ability of these snakes—there are five known species, including Chrysopelea pelias and Chrysopelea paradisi—was first noted by a British scientist in the late 1800s, who observed one gliding through his tea garden in southeast Asia one day. But scientists had paid little attention to determining the precise physics and biomechanics at play until Socha published a 2002 paper outlining his preliminary findings on the fundamental aerodynamics.

Socha found that the snake will push its ridge scales against the tree trunk, using the rough surface to maneuver up to a branch. Then it dangles its body off the end of the branch and contracts sharply like a spring to launch itself into the air. The initial angle of inclination as the snake is hanging determines the flight path. To ensure maximum gliding distance, the snake will suck in its stomach and flatten its body, curving inward like a Frisbee to create lift, undulating its body in an S-shaped motion, which serves to increase the air pressure underneath.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Bonilla1879)

The US House of Representatives yesterday approved $100 billion worth of broadband funding as part of a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill.

The broadband portion is modeled on the Democrats' "universal fiber" plan we wrote about last week. The plan includes $80 billion in fiscal year 2021, money that the Federal Communications Commission would use to fund high-speed broadband projects in unserved and underserved areas. Funded projects would have to provide 100Mbps download and upload speeds, along with low latencies, conditions that would spur fiber-to-the-home development.

The bill has additional money for broadband-deployment loans, grants for states to pursue digital-inclusion projects, Wi-Fi on school buses, and network equipment for schools and libraries. It also includes a $9 billion Broadband Connectivity Fund to provide $50 monthly discounts for low-income broadband users, and $75 monthly discounts for low-income households in Tribal lands. The broadband portions of the infrastructure bill are in this set of amendments.

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  The Mac Pro. [credit: Samuel Axon ]

Apple has added a new GPU configuration option for its Mac Pro desktop tower: AMD's Radeon Pro 5500X. It's a mid-range pick amid the other configurations available on this machine.

The W5500X adds $200 over the base config (which has the Radeon Pro 580X, the same found in some high-end iMacs) and comes with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. Other options include the Radeon Pro W5700X ($600 more than the base config), the Radeon Pro Vega II ($2,400), and the Radeon Pro Vega II Duo ($5,200), as well as dual-GPU variants of the W5700X, Radeon Pro Vega II, and Radeon Pro Vega II Duo configurations.

This is the copy Apple provides to explain the W5500X to potential buyers:

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  The Pixel 3A XL. [credit: Ron Amadeo ]

Google is no longer selling cheap phones. At least, that's the temporary situation the company is in now, thanks to the (probably planned) discontinuation of the Pixel 3a and the (definitely unplanned) delays of its successor, the Pixel 4a. 9to5Google first noticed that the phone was pulled from the Google Store yesterday, and Google confirmed to several outlets that the phone is officially no longer for sale.

Google was supposed to have a replacement by now. Google's new cheap phone, the Pixel 4a, was expected to be announced at Google I/O 2020, the same show that launched the Pixel 3a. That would have happened in May, and while the coronavirus pandemic put a stop to Google I/O and every other public gathering, that still doesn't quite explain why it's July now and the Pixel 4a is still missing in action. It's possible that Google is having COVID-related supply issues, but other manufacturers like HTC, Motorola, and Huawei have had launches lately.

The Pixel 3a launched in May 2019 and was a real crowd-pleaser. After killing the Nexus line and only selling expensive Pixel phones for years, Google returned to the budget market with the $400 device. The cheaper phone had the same great camera as the more expensive Pixel 3, and the same great Google-Android build with a three-year update plan. There were only small budget concessions like a slightly slower SoC and a plastic body, but neither of those were a major downside. Google's cheap phone was maybe a little too good (or maybe the expensive phones were not good enough): there wasn't much reason to pick a more expensive Pixel 3 or 4 over a Pixel 3a.

Enlarge / Artist's conception of consumer reactions to NBA 2K21's $70 asking price.

A new generation of video game consoles may come with a new standard price point for big-budget games. That's the impression 2K Games is giving, at least, with today's announcement that the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions of NBA 2K21 will come in at an MSRP of $69.99.

That price point is $10 higher than the $59.99 asking price for the Xbox One and PS4 versions of the same game, which are due to launch September 4. And an NBA 2K spokesperson confirmed to Ars Technica that the premium pricing is based on what it sees as the increased value represented by the power of new consoles.

"We believe our suggested retail price for NBA 2K21 on next-generation platforms fairly represents the value of what's being offered: power, speed, and technology that is only possible on new hardware," the representative told Ars Technica. "While we are confident that NBA 2K21 will be a monumental leap forward for the franchise and a standout visual showcase on next-generation consoles, we recognize that it's our responsibility to prove this value to our fans and NBA 2K players."