PXL News
Everything the anchors say on this tape, story by story.
GRANT BRICKMAN: While you were asleep: Waymo will test Toyota's electric bZ4X robotaxis in Japan next year.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Protolabs posted record Q3 revenue of $154.3 million, with its 3D printing revenue up 11.4 percent.
GRANT BRICKMAN: And we remembered Sir Patrick Stewart, the actor, who has died at 86.
GRANT BRICKMAN: New Scientist picked its 12 strangest stories in 70 years, and Nova asked the street which one wins.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Now the full story. New Scientist, 70 years in, picked its 12 strangest stories, from finger sniffing to rats driving cars. Nova asked the street. ▶
NOVA: Good morning! Seventy years of science, and some of it is gloriously odd. First question: rats driving cars. Strangest thing ever? ▶
PASSERBY: Rats driving cars? My commute has been worse. I assume the rats at least signal. ▶
NOVA: Next, macaques in Bali. Camilla Cenni and colleagues filmed hundreds of cases of them using stone tools in, let's say, very private ways. ▶
PASSERBY: I came for breakfast. I will hold my baguette and say nothing, out of respect for the monkeys. ▶
NOVA: And a surgeon, Stuart Meloy, invented an implant after a patient's remark. By 2014, still no funds for a full clinical trial. ▶
PASSERBY: So the real obstacle was funding. That's the least weird part, and somehow the most believable. ▶
PASSERBY: The article says food handouts freed up the monkeys' time. Relatable. Give me free lunch and I'll experiment too. ▶
NOVA: Seventy years of strange, and the universe hasn't blinked once. Back to you! ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Thanks, Nova. To be clear, it's a look back at New Scientist's past reporting, not new discoveries. Grant, put the coffee down. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Intel says its budget Wildcat Lake chips are sold out, and the RAM shortage isn't going anywhere soon.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Now to the chip business. Intel says its Wildcat Lake chips are sold out. I assume the wildlife is relieved. Greta, what happened? ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Wildcat Lake is a laptop chip, Grant. Intel said on its Q3 2026 earnings call that it can't make enough. Vera has the picture. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: The Verge reports Intel's CEO Lip-Bu Tan said demand for Wildcat Lake is outstripping supply. The CFO, David Zinsner, said the chips are sold out. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: The background note says Intel was the third-largest chipmaker by revenue in 2024. Wildcat Lake sits in budget laptops, often with 8GB of RAM. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Empty shelves, like the hotel minibar at midnight. Why not simply build more of them? ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: The report ties the squeeze to a RAM shortage, Grant. Kai is at the fab to tell us what that looks like. ▶
KAI: Huge. Those budget laptops, like the Dell XPS 13 and the HP Omnibook 5 14, are where these chips are going. And 8GB is thin for Windows. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: So what is still open? Vera, what does the report leave unsettled? ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Zinsner said Intel is not optimistic on memory next year, and '28 is a maybe. SK Hynix predicts the RAM shortage could drag on through 2030. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: What the report doesn't say: how long Wildcat Lake stays sold out, or when laptop prices ease. Those are the questions to watch. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Well, I'll hold on to my current laptop. It has all the RAM it needs and one very loyal coffee stain. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Eight gigabytes, Grant. That's the number to remember. We'll be right back. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Greta sets the record straight on a few things Grant said this week.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Time now for a segment I'm told is called PXL Corrects the Record. Greta insists. I'm sure it will be brief. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: On Waymo and Toyota you said the car arrives driven by one very busy AI. Waymo's system drives. Toyota builds the cars, and testing starts in Japan. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: I stand by the spirit of that. The AI is busy, Greta. Ask anyone who's called him. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: You called the Zelda port breaking news that just runs. It's experimental, has graphics errors, has no download, and you compile it yourself. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: I said it aims to run. Or I meant to. Gary, wherever you are, you were very brave about it. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: And the cat in space. It's the Cat's Head nebula, Grant. Gas and dust carved by young stars, about 7,500 light years away. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Shaped like a cat, waiting for breakfast. I've read the teletext page. Nothing in it contradicts me. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: No further corrections. Grant remains unchanged. Enjoy your coffee. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: A reminder from Sedgley, this Friday morning. A browser tab is not a filing system. Nobody needs to keep an old tab open just in case.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Close the ones you read. Bookmark the ones you love. Let the rest go quietly. Your laptop will thank you, and so will your RAM.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Tidy tabs. Calmer mornings. Now you know.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Correct! The real one is the GTA 6 headline. PXL made up the other, and frankly mine would have been better.
GRANT BRICKMAN: A fine instinct, but PXL made that one up. The tractor is fiction. The GTA 6 headline is real, sadly.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Time's up. A rare silence in this studio, and it was lovely while it lasted.
AI-written satire. The text of the news items comes from the linked articles. Plain text