Month: July 2020

Enlarge / This promo clip for Duo is exactly what you think it is—green puppet is a classical musician who declares his superior taste, and blue puppet "can spot a good song when he hears it." (credit: Spotify)

Today, Spotify announced that it is expanding its Duo plan to 55 markets, including the United States. In a nutshell, Spotify Duo is a dual plan for couples—who must reside at the same physical address—without a family.

If you want Spotify Premium service, the appeal of a family account is obvious—individual Spotify Premium accounts go for $9.99/mo apiece, while a family account that covers up to six people goes for $14.99/mo. Duo sits in between the two at $12.99/mo—for the most part, it's simply Family without the family, offering fewer total accounts and no parental controls.

The new Duo plan also comes with a feature called Duo Mix, intended to provide mutually enjoyable playlists based on the preferences of both partners on a Duo plan. The mix is automatically generated, and its overall tempo can be changed by tapping "chill" or "upbeat" icons on a mobile device.

Enlarge / Huawei sign displayed at CES 2020 in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

Small Internet service providers are "stunned" that the Federal Communications Commission is enforcing a ban on Huawei and ZTE network gear during the ongoing pandemic.

The FCC already voted unanimously in November 2019 to ban Huawei and ZTE equipment in projects paid for by the commission's Universal Service Fund (USF). But the ban, inspired by fears that the Chinese vendors' equipment poses national security risks, is just now coming into effect, with the FCC announcing yesterday that USF money "may no longer be used to purchase, obtain, maintain, improve, modify, or otherwise support any equipment or services produced or provided by these suppliers."

The Rural Wireless Association (RWA), a trade group that represents ISPs that serve fewer than 100,000 subscribers each, said yesterday it is "stunned by [the] FCC's decision to immediately bar use of USF funds on Huawei and ZTE equipment and services during a time when it is critical to keep rural Americans connected."

Enlarge / Artist's depiction of Ankylosaurus magniventris having a bad day. (credit: Fabio Manucci)

The mass extinction event that ended the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago has long generated a lively back-and-forth debate among geologists. Wild episodes of volcanism line up with earlier mass extinctions, and the end-Cretaceous saw the Deccan Traps eruptions, which covered much of what is now India in lava. The asteroid impact that formed the Chicxulub crater quite obviously goes in the “bad things for life” category, too. But the Deccan eruptions can’t be ignored, so debates on the relative contributions of these events have been unavoidable.

In the last few years, more precise dating techniques have made the timing of the eruptions clearer. It’s obvious where the asteroid impact fits into the timeline, as a layer of dust and soot appears in the rocks around the world, but tying in the eruptions has been more difficult. And the fossil evidence and climate indicators have also left some room for interpretation about the effects of the volcanism.

A new study led by Alessandro Chiarenza at Imperial College London and Alexander Farnsworth at the University of Bristol tries to get some answers through a slightly different approach—creating a dinosaur habitat model.

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson vs Disney)

One share of Tesla stock traded for more than $1,130 on Wednesday, pushing the company's market capitalization to nearly $210 billion. That sent Tesla's market cap past Toyota, which is worth either $170 billion or $203 billion, depending on how you count it. Tesla is now the world's most valuable car company.

It's a remarkable milestone for a company that sells far fewer cars than its leading rivals. Toyota and its subsidiaries sold 10.7 million vehicles in 2019, while Volkswagen and its subsidiaries sold almost 11 million vehicles. Tesla sold a comparatively tiny 367,500 vehicles last year.

But Wall Street is apparently very optimistic about Tesla's prospects for future growth and profits. Many experts expect a global shift to battery electric vehicles over the next decade or two, and Tesla is leading that revolution. Tesla's Model 3 was by far the most popular battery electric vehicle in 2019. It sold 300,000 vehicles, almost triple the sales of the next most popular model: the EU series from Chinese automaker BAIC Group. The Model 3 sold four times as many vehicles as the Nissan Leaf, the most popular battery electric vehicle not made by Tesla or a Chinese company.