Enjoy the full-looking moon in late January 2021, as this nocturnal sun brings some good cheer to the Northern Hemisphere’s long winter night. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/full-wolf-moon-in-late-january-2021…
Tag: rides
Lawsuits Filed Against Lyft Alleging Sexual Assaults By Drivers
Slashdot reader Charlotte Web quotes SiliconValley.com: Bay Area ride-hailing giant Lyft is accused in a series of new lawsuits of failing to protect female passengers from rape by drivers. One plaintiff claims she was 15 when her driver raped her and then forced her to take an anti-pregnancy pill. The December legal actions are part of a “mass tort” lawsuit initiated…
Wildfire Smoke Is Loaded With Microbes. Is That Dangerous?
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: If you’re unfortunate enough to breathe wildfire smoke, you’re getting a lungful of charred plant material, noxious gases, and — if the fire tore through human structures — incinerated synthetic materials. All across the board, it’s bad stuff, proven to be a severe detriment to human health, particularly for those with respiratory conditions…
Cruise Begins Driverless Testing In San Francisco
Cruise Automation, the autonomous vehicle subsidiary of GM that also has backing from SoftBank Vision Fund, Honda and T. Rowe Price & Associates, has started testing what it describes as fully driverless vehicles on public roads in San Francisco, the first milestone required to secure a permit to launch a shared, commercial service that can charge for rides. TechCrunch reports: The…
Schedar shines brightly at the Queen’s heart
Orange-hued Schedar is the brightest star in the distinctive W-shaped northern constellation Cassiopeia the Queen. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/schedar-short-life-of-burning-bright…
Didi To Deliver First BYD Electric Cars to Drivers Within Months
Didi Chuxing will begin rolling out an electric vehicle developed with BYD to its drivers in coming months, aiming to reduce costs throughout the world’s largest ride-hailing network. From a report: The D1, the first model to have been built with ride-hailing in mind, will ship to the startup’s leasing partners across several Chinese cities, according to Didi. Made by BYD,…
Uber Will Now Let Users Book Rides 30 Days In Advance and Pick a Favorite Driver
Uber is rolling out a new feature this week that will let users reserve rides up to 30 days in advance and pick their favorite driver for the trip as the ride-hailing company seeks new ways to attract customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. TechCrunch reports: The new option, called Uber Reserve, which will begin to show up on the app in…
Waymo Pulls Back the Curtain On 6.1 Million Miles of Self-Driving Car Data
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: In its first report on its autonomous vehicle operations in Phoenix, Arizona, Waymo said that it was involved in 18 crashes and 29 near-miss collisions during 2019 and the first nine months of 2020. These crashes included rear-enders, vehicle swipes, and even one incident when a Waymo vehicle was T-boned at an…
NASA to announce mysterious moon discovery on Monday
NASA’s upcoming news conference on October 26, 2020 promises “an exciting new discovery about the moon,” with references to the agency’s ambitious Artemis program, a plan to send the first woman and next man to the lunar surface in 2024. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-moon-announcement-monday-october-26-2020-sofia…
Waymo Starts To Open Driverless Ride-Hailing Service To the Public
Waymo, the Google self-driving-project-turned-Alphabet unit, is beginning to open up its driverless ride-hailing service to the public. From a report: The company said that starting today members of its Waymo One service will be able to take family and friends along on their fully driverless rides in the Phoenix area. Existing Waymo One members will have the first access to the…