Ducati’s first electric motorcycle is designed for MotoE racing

Ducati has unveiled not just its first electric motorcycle but a key piece in the 2023 season of MotoE e-motocycle racing, it announced. The V21L prototype has that classic Ducati look but is swathed in carbon fiber and packs a 150HP electric motor with a 18kWh battery. As detailed in an announcement last year, Ducati will be the exclusive supplier of all 18 bikes used for FIM MotoE World Cup racing from 2023-2026.

It weighs in at 225 kilograms (496 pounds), with just under half the weight for the battery — very heavy for a racing bike (143 pounds more than ICE models), but still 26 pounds under the MotoE specification for 2023. It’s also 35 kg (77 pounds) less than the Energica e-motocycles currently used in MotoE racing. 

The V21L can be charged to 80 percent in just 45 minutes and has enough range to complete the required seven laps of key GP tracks. It has reportedly hit speeds of up to 171 MPH at the Mugello MotoGP Circuit in Tuscany. 

The e-motorbike is quite a bet by (and on) Ducati considering it’s never done one before, but the company said it used its extensive racing experience to design the model. At the same time, it’ll take racing lessons learned back to its consumer models. 

“At this moment, the most important challenges in this field remain those related to the size, weight, autonomy of the batteries and the availability of the charging networks,” said Ducati R&D director Vincenzo De Silva in a statement. “Helping the company’s internal expertise to grow is already essential today to be ready when the time comes to put the first street electric Ducati into production.”

Meta allows select creators to post their NFTs on Facebook

Non-fungible tokens have arrived on Facebook. Meta has confirmed to TechCrunch that it has started giving select creators in the US the power to post digital collectibles on their profiles. While it’s unclear if and when the feature will make its way to more users — Meta called the release a “slow rollout” — company CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously said that Meta was going to test NFT support on the social network. Meta Product Manager Navdeep Singh has posted photos on Twitter of what NFT integration would look like on Facebook’s, and similar to Instagram’s implementation, creators will have a digital collectibles tab on their profile where they can show off their NFTs.

Creators will be able to post their collectibles as status updates that people can comment on and react to, and clicking on them shows information on the artwork. According to Decrypt, Facebook will allow users to link their compatible digital wallets with the website, similar to how they can do so on Instagram. At the moment, Facebook supports NFTs minted on Ethereum and Polygon, though it will soon support Solana and Flow NFTs, as well. 

Meta started testing NFT integration on Instagram in May, promising additional related features, such as allowing users to display their pieces as augmented reality stickers in Stories. NFTs are perhaps a more fitting addition to Instagram than Facebook, based on the platforms’ userbase, but Meta is determined to make them a part of its products. Zuckerberg wrote in the post announcing the arrival of digital collectibles on Instagram: “We’re starting building for NFTs, not just in our metaverse and Reality Labs work, but also across our family of apps.”

Anova’s Precision Cooker Nano drops to $99 at Amazon

If you’re looking to experiment more in the kitchen, sous vide cooking could be a way to do that. Anova makes a couple of WiFi-connected sous vide machines that we like, and our favorite, the Precision Cooker Nano, is back on sale for $99. That’s 34 percent off and one of the best prices we’ve seen it, making it a good time to grab the entry-level device.

Buy Precision Cooker Nano at Amazon – $99

You’ll need a couple of things to give sous vide a try, but the one that you probably don’t already have at home is a machine like the Nano. This method of cooking involves putting food in a sealable bag and then cooking it in a water bath. Devices like the Nano constantly circulate that water while keeping it at a precise temperature so your food comes out perfectly done, not over- or undercooked.

Anova’s Precision Cooker Nano earned a spot on our list of favorite kitchen gadgets because it combines affordability and precision in a compact device. Normally priced at $149, the Nano comes in at only 1.7 pounds and its small enough to fit in your kitchen’s utensil drawer. It uses 750 watts of power to heat water for up to 3,000 hours before you’ll need to recharge it, so you’ll be able to conduct a number of sous vide tests before it needs more juice.

The Nano has onboard controls that you can use to adjust temperature and timing, or you can connect it via Bluetooth to your phone and do so via its companion mobile app. Unlike more expensive Anova machines, the Nano doesn’t connect via WiFi, and it also has a fixed clamp that attaches to your cooking pot, rather than an adjustable one. Aside from those features, the biggest differences between the Nano and Anova’s standard Precision Cooker lie in wattage and size. But we think the Nano is a great option for all home cooks, and sous vide newbies will find it especially easy to use.

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NVIDIA’s new Shield update can stop late-night movies waking up the entire house

NVIDIA has rolled out Experience Upgrade v9.1 for all Shield TV and TV Pro units, and one of the features it brings will make watching action movies without earphones more feasible for night owls. The new Night Listening mode can optimize sounds when it’s switched on so that loud explosions are subdued while quiet dialogue gets emphasized even while the volume is on low. “Enjoy watching movies or playing games at night without disturbing your family,” the company said in its announcement. To note, the new model is available while using HDMI audio only. 

In addition to Night Listening, the latest update also enables Shield TVs to automatically switch to low latency game mode on all supported television and display models. So long as a display has Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM), the streaming media device will be able to ensure that it’s activated while a user is playing, whether it’s a local game or something from the GeForce NOW cloud gaming service. By reducing latency, ALLM reduces lag and allows a smoother, more responsive gaming experience. Upgrade 9.1 comes with a few more features that include the ability to disable displaying HDR/Dolby Vision content and to get notifications when the microphone is turned on. 

Shield TV’s previous update brought Android 11 to all models and added access to a new Google Keyboard with support for voice searches. It also fixed a a vulnerability that allowed remote attackers to cause a permanent denial of service. While 9.1 doesn’t come with a big security fix, it does include a bunch of bug fixes for both Shield TV app and devices.

The Morning After: Major League Baseball wants to deploy strike zone robo-umpires in 2024

Major League Baseball will “likely” introduce an Automated Strike Zone System starting in 2024, commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN. These robot umpires may call all balls and strikes then relay the information to a plate umpire, or be part of a replay …