Advocacy group asks Meta to add Facebook relationship options for non-monogamists

An advocacy group is calling on Meta to allow Facebook users to list more than one romantic partner in their profiles. In a letter the Organization for Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy (OPEN) sent to the social media giant on Thursday, it said the cu…

FBI warns crypto fraud on LinkedIn is a ‘significant threat’

If you have a tendency to talk to people you don’t know on LinkedIn, you may want to take extra care. According to a CNBC report, the company has acknowledged a “recent uptick of fraud on its platform,” and this time the scams involve persuading users …

Bill Nye’s return to TV debuts August 25th on Peacock

After more than a year, Peacock is finally close to bringing Bill Nye back to TV screens. The NBCUniversal service has revealed that The End is Nye will premiere on August 25th. The six-episode series will have Nye explore disasters (natural and otherwise) while showing how science can help prevent and survive these calamities.

Nye serves as an executive producer in addition to hosting. The production team will seem very familiar if you’re a fan of science documentaries or sci-fi. Brannon Braga (of Cosmos, The Orville and Star Trek fame) serves as director and showrunner, while Seth MacFarlane (also from Cosmos and The Orville) is both making cameo appearances and producing through his Fuzzy Door outfit.

The series comes roughly five years after Netflix’s Bill Nye Saves the World, and follows a similar template. It’s an effort to restore optimism about science, not to mention counter myths and otherwise push for a society where evidence and objectivity matter. This might not recapture the vibe of Bill’s Science Guy days, but it might not have to if it gets the message across.

Epic Games Store will randomly ask users to rate games to prevent review bombing

Epic Games has added a long-awaited feature to its store: user ratings. The company says that only those who have played a game for at least two hours will be able to rate it on a five-star scale. Not everyone will be able to rate a game either. Epic w…

Engadget Podcast: Google’s AI isn’t sentient but we must examine the ethics

This week, Devindra and Cherlynn dig into the story around Google engineer Blake Lemoine’s interview with the Washington Post and his belief that the company’s LaMDA language model is alive. What does it mean for AI (or anything else) to have consciousness? Do people understand AI, and what other areas of concern should we as a society consider as machines become more sophisticated and human-like? Then, we recap some of the biggest gaming news this week, as well as some wacky gadget announcements.

Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

  • No, Google’s LaMDA AI isn’t sentient – 1:40

  • First look at gameplay from Bethesda’s Starfield RPG at Summer Games Fest – 25:39

  • Capcom announces Street Fighter 6 with a gorgeous trailer – 29:22

  • Hideo Kojima’s next game will be for Xbox – 32:55

  • Overwatch 2 early access coming on October 4th – 33:43

  • US proposes legislation to ban sale of location data – 34:14

  • Sony released a $3,700 Walkman – 38:42

  • Working on – 43:13

  • Pop culture picks – 44:34

Video livestream

Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Producer: Ben Ellman
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos, Luke Brooks
Graphics artists: Luke Brooks, Brian Oh
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien

Pew confirms what we already knew: People like to retweet political hot takes

While it’s no secret that social media shapes our political discourse, a new study by the Pew Research Center reveals to what extent. Nearly one in three tweets posted by American adults are political in nature, according to Pew’s analysis of a sample …

The Morning After: First look at the transparent Nothing phone

As suspected, the first phone from Nothing — Carl Pei’s new company — is going all in on the transparent gadget look. This seems to be Nothing’s design aesthetic, matching its wireless ear(1) headphones from last year.According to snippets of video fr…

女子高校生らと「乱交パーティー」開いた疑い　中学教諭ら９人逮捕：朝日新聞デジタル

東京都港区のホテルで高校3年の女子生徒（当時17歳）を含む10人で「乱交パーティー」を開き、動画で撮影したなどとして、神奈川県警は16日、児童福祉法違反（児童淫行など）や児童買春・児童ポルノ禁止法違反（児童ポルノ製造など）の容疑で、主催者の自営業高橋亮太容疑者（31）=住所不定=と、参加した8容疑者を逮捕し…

女子高校生らと「乱交パーティー」開いた疑い　中学教諭ら9人逮捕：朝日新聞デジタル

東京都港区のホテルで高校3年の女子生徒（当時17）を含む10人で「乱交パーティー」を開き、動画で撮影したなどとして、神奈川県警は16日、児童福祉法違反（児童淫行など）や児童買春・児童ポルノ禁止法違反（児童ポルノ製造など）の容疑で、主催者の自営業高橋亮太容疑者（31）=住所不定=と、参加した8容疑者を逮捕した…