Do you have $600 burning an asteroid-sized hole in your pocket? If so, the new Buzz Lightyear robot might be for you. A collaboration between Pixar and smart toy company Robosen, the new Buzz is fully loaded with more than 3,000 tiny parts, 75 microchips, and 23 servo motors. It also features what Robosen calls […]

Evolution has turned out bizarre and baffling creatures, such as walking fish. It only gets weirder from there. Some of these fish not only walk on the seafloor, but use their leg-like appendages to taste for signs of prey that might be hiding. Most species of sea robins are bottom-dwellers that both swim and crawl around on “legs” that extend from their pectoral fins. An international team of researchers has now discovered that the legs of the northern sea robin, Prionotus carolinus, double as sensory organs. They are covered in bumps called papillae (similar to those on a human tongue) with taste receptors that detect chemical stimuli coming from buried prey. If they taste something appetizing, they will dig for their next meal. There is more to this fish than its extraordinary way of hunting. Analysis of P. carolinus genes found that a gene that may date back to the origin of animals controls the formation of both legs and sensory papillae, which hints at how they might have evolved. Read full article

Less than two months after Fluid Truck’s board ousted its sibling co-founders from their executive positions, the company has laid off 30% of its staff, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and found a potential buyer to take on the business, pending court approval, according to bankruptcy filings and information from a former employee.  Fluid […]

US District Judge Mark Walker had a blunt message for the Florida surgeon general in an order halting the government official's attempt to censor a political ad that opposes restrictions on abortion. "To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it's the First Amendment, stupid," Walker, an Obama appointee who is chief judge in US District Court for the Northern District of Florida, wrote yesterday in a ruling that granted a temporary restraining order. "Whether it's a woman's right to choose, or the right to talk about it, Plaintiff's position is the same—'don't tread on me,'" Walker wrote later in the ruling. "Under the facts of this case, the First Amendment prohibits the State of Florida from trampling on Plaintiff's free speech." Read full article

Acrew Capital has raised $700 million in fresh funds. The San Francisco-based venture capital firm announced in a blog post on Thursday that it raised $700 million to invest in companies building in data and security, healthcare, or fintech. This fundraise brings the firm’s assets under management to $1.7 billion. It’s unclear how much of […]