Science

Uber is the most recent firm to launch home delivery of meals with robots.  The company, which has long claimed that automation is key to its future profitability, announced that it would launch two test programs to deliver Uber Eats in greater Los Angeles this month. One test will use four-wheeled robots that roll on sidewalks for short trips as well as self-driving cars for longer distances. Starting Monday, Uber Eats customers in West Hollywood will be able to get their meals delivered by a robot rather than a person. The Serve robot, which resembles a colorful cooler on wheels with a lid that flips open to reveal a delivery inside, has headlights that resemble eyes and resembles something out of a cartoon. Hyundai will begin testing self-driving technology from the company Mo...

Snap isn't walking away from its high-quality smart shades. The parent company of Snapchat, Snap Inc., recently announced Spectacles 3, an upgraded version of its video-recording sunglasses with new 3D effects and an eye-popping price tag. The device will ship in the fall but is available for preorder now; it retails at $380, more than double the cost of its previous version. In 2016, Snap Inc. launched a pair of video-recording glasses called Spectacles through vending machines. The glasses were a viral hit; people waited hours to get them. Some resellers listed them on eBay for more than $900. But the hype fizzled, and the company ultimately had to take a nearly $40 million writedown for excess inventory. Last year Snap (SNAP) brought back the Spectacles, which had a similar de...

Several of the very first gene-edited tomato plants (that boost the uptake of vitamin D by the human body) to be distributed in the United Kingdom will be none other than tomato paste. Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have created a new strain of wheat that can grow in very salty soil. The researchers turned off a specific molecule in the plants' genetic code, making them more tolerant to salt. A bill is to be introduced on Wednesday to allow commercial growing of gene-edited crops in England. The technique is currently not used for food production in the UK because of rules set by the EU but Brexit has enabled the UK to set its own rules.   A study published in Nature Plants found that one out of every six people in the United Kingdom is deficient in vitamin D, which ...