New battery concept could charge in seconds, last for days

Scientists at University of Central Florida (UCF) have developed a supercapacitor battery prototype that lasts 20 times longer than a conventional lithium-ion cell. It charges in seconds.“If they were to replace the batteries with these supercapacitors, you could charge your mobile phone in a few seconds and you wouldn’t need to charge it again for over a week,” said Nitin Choudhary

Better still, the battery doesn’t degrade. After around 18 months, the typical lithium-ion battery cell starts a slow process of degradation where each charge cycle leads to fractionally smaller amounts of overall capacity. The prototype doesn’t experience the same levels of degradation and still works like new after being recharged 30,000 times.

Supercapacitors charge quickly due to the way they store energy: statically, on the surface of a material. Batteries, on the other hand, rely on chemical reactions to store and discharge energy. Using graphene, researchers created a large surface area to hold more electrons and increase a battery’s life span.It’s early, but the research is promising.If successful, supercapacitor research could lead to weeks-long battery life for mobile devices, an increase in range for electric vehicles, and better storage capacity for power derived from alternative energy sources.

Google isn't happy about how some Android phones do fast charging

In the race for the fastest-charging battery in the Android world, Google just declared its own role in the competition: It will be the one to set the rules and control the playing field.The latest version of Google's Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD), which outlines the requirements hardware makers must follow to keep devices compatible with Android OS, included some interesting new language . David Ruddock of Android Police was the first to note the final bullet point of the section regarding USB peripheral mode, which is buried on page 70 of the 85 page report:  While the first all-capped suggestion that sticking to the default levels of voltage are "STRONGLY RECOMMENDED" really jumps off the page, the real news comes with the insinuation made by the second one and what exactly it means to "REQUIRE."

Essentially, this means that Google is declaring the definitive voltage level and manner of delivery for the charging of Android devices. If a manufacturer dares to go beyond that threshold in pursuit of speedier charge times, like those promised by proprietary tech like Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0, they'd better think twice — or they might be locked out of the OS entirely. If that's the case, the fast-acting chips and chargers would go from an added perk to the handset to a death sentence. 

The defaults and methods Google references are set by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) in order to better standardize "all of the functional benefits of USB that form the basis for this most popular of computing device interconnects." Importantly, this move is made for greater uniformity, not over any concerns of unstable batteries and over-powering. This is not what caused Samsung Galaxy Note7 battery woes. Instead, look at this as Google tightening its grip on Android and telling manufacturers that they're free to innovate with their hardware... just as long as they do it in the Google way.

Google Allo now predicts which emoji you want to use

Google is making it even easier to share emoji and stickers on its messaging app Allo.

The app is now applying its AI-powered text prediction skills to emoji and stickers to make chatting even smoother. Called "Smart Smiley," the feature works just like Allo's Smart Replies, which suggest words and phrases based on your conversations. As you type, the app will now suggest emoji and stickers based on what you're saying.

"So if you’re planning dinner with a friend, you may see 🍔, 🍕, or 🍤. Or if you type “see you later” we’ll offer to complete that thought with 🐊.," Google explains in a blog post.

While other apps — like iMessage — include keyword-based emoji suggestions, Google says its version of the feature is a little smarter than most. Google takes into account both keywords and the sentiment of what you're saying when predicting emoji. In other words, the app should be able to differentiate between when it should suggest happy or sad emoji based on the tone of your conversation, even if you aren't using words like "sad" or "upset."

The company also notes that their early testing of the feature helped people share a wider variety of stickers and emoji so if you feel like you've been in an emoji rut lately, Smart Smiley may be able to help out.

How to improve your Facebook feed, so we see the next Trump coming

What would've happened if America had seen this coming?

For a large mass of the world, the election of Donald Trump was unfathomable mere hours before it happened. Helping that along were a slew of polls along with nonstop commentary—from experts, entertainers and laymen—indicating Hillary Clinton as a superior candidate, on course for a cake-walk of a win.They were wrong, to an almost universal degree. And the fact that so few could anticipate Trump's victory calls into question how America gets our information—what were we missing, and why? 

It's a question that inevitably leads us to Facebook.

Facebook certainly isn't our only source of news, but no single platform reaches as many people: roughly 170 million daily active users in the U.S.—tens of millions more than who voted. It's been argued, convincingly, that Facebook isn't doing enough to combat blatantly untrue news articles that appear in the news feed, and that it hasn't lived up to (or even worse, has actively shirked) its responsibilities as a distributor of content to do so.

But do Facebook's users bear some of that responsibility, too? The site's algorithm is complex, and inherently adaptive; it serves up content based on your behavior—after all, its only mission is keeping you on Facebook. If you like and engage inflammatory articles from the alt-right, you'll probably end up seeing commentary from National Review. Likewise, if you share John Oliver's latest diatribe, you'll probably be more likely to see Samantha Bee's next monologue in your feed.

This is how "filter bubbles" are made. The term entered the lexicon after a 2011 TED Talk from Eli Pariser, who warned against immersing ourselves in content that's only—or at least predominantly—agreeable. Filter bubbles are fueled by confirmation bias (or: our inherent tendency to engage with ideas we already agree with, and dismiss the ones we don't).

We're now seeing the large-scale effect of a nationwide filter bubble, and it's not healthy. Whether or not Facebook actually had a role in the outcome of the election is debatable, but there's no question it was a primary mover in the conversation. Only now it looks like there were actually two conversations going one, with little discourse between them.

It doesn't have to be that way, though. Facebook's algorithm isn't inherently biased, and you can even make it work against your confirmation bias, if you try. Here are a few straightforward ways you can get a news feed with a more diverse point of view, and pop that filter bubble.

Google's new drawing game is fun even if you can't draw

Back in the Stone Age, before we were all completely plugged in and focused on our gadgets at all times (you know, like, 2002), people would get ... bored. Of course, everyone still finds themselves bogged down by dull moments throughout the day, even with the brightly-lit screens of their devices jockeying for attention. Google, one of the biggest boredom fighters known to man, just dropped a brand new distraction to keep us all occupied. And it's based on one of the all-time classic time-killing activities: doodling. 

Quick, Draw!, which is just one of the features in Google's new A.I. Experiments initiative, gives players a favorite new mindless activity in exchange for training its machine-learning tech systems. It's a win-win for everyone involved.The concept is simple and akin Draw Something with AI. After entering the portal, the computer prompts players to sketch an object on a 20-second clock using the mouse or touchscreen. While the player doodles, the neural network throws out its best guesses of the subject, stopping mid-sketch if it's correct. 

I gave it a try on a desktop and my iPhone. It's a fun time. But I have to admit, I'm not very good at it. 

This cheap, folding helmet is exactly what bike-sharing programs need

                                            

This folding helmet might be the ultimate accessory for bike-sharing programs. It's made of paper, lightweight, collapsible (and thus easy to carry) and cheap to produce. 

Paper isn't exactly known for being protective, but the EcoHelmet hopes to challenge that perception with this helmet's design. As recipients of the 2016 award, the product has officially made believers out of British tech giant, Dyson. The helmet, which received the top prize in Dyson's 2016 design contest, unfolds to stretch out the "honeycomb" lattice, which makes is sturdy enough to protect your precious noggin. It's made from recycled paper, which both justifies the "eco" part of its name and keeps production costs so low that the helmet could be sold for less than $5 apiece.

Contrary to skepticism about durability, designer Isis Shiffer says she put the helmet through the ringer and it's surprisingly shock-absorbent. It's important to note that the helmet will only stand up to a limited number of uses, weakening over time (and it's probably useless in the rain). Users will have to replace them fairly regularly; luckily, that's a pretty low-cost solution.Shiffer hopes to debut the helmet in New York this spring. The biggest challenge: Selling people on the idea that paper will keep them safe.

Look how huge the new 15-inch MacBook Pro's trackpad is

That didn't take long: Days after iFixit tore down the 13-inch version of Apple's new, Touch Bar-equipped MacBook Pro, the 15-inch variant got the same treatment.

Unsurprisingly, the 15-inch MacBook Pro is pretty much a bigger version of its little brother. And it's similarly tough to repair. It scored a one on iFixit Repairability Score, meaning pretty much no one except professionals should ever open this thing. With the processor, RAM and flash memory soldered onto the logic board, and the battery glued to the case, there's very few things a user can replace on her own.
That said, the teardown reveals some interesting details about the biggest, thinnest, newest MacBook Pro.
For example, just look at this comparison between the Pro's force feedback-equipped trackpad and an iPad mini 4. It's huge!.

Also interesting are Apple's brand new fans (photo on top), which come in pairs on the Touch Bar MacBook Pro and keep the device cool. Apple says the fans' asymmetric new blades have better performance than regular ones and produce less noise.