TLDR 2020-08-19

Google has applied a new color-mapping algorithmic technique to its satellite imagery to redesign the maps used in Google Maps. The new maps will make it easier to distinguish between natural features in the environment. Street features, such as roadways, sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian islands, will also be included in maps of select cities. The new maps will start rolling out this week to all 220 countries and territories currently supported by Google Maps.

Users might start seeing a 'Shuffle Play' button on the Netflix home screen. Netflix has been testing the feature since July. It will play a random movie or episode of a TV show. Netflix has previously tested a feature that shows a random episode of a specific TV series. The video streaming service tests features in different countries for different periods of time and only makes them broadly available if people find them useful.

A major challenge in connecting electronics to human tissue is that traditional materials cause scarring when implanted. A new material called Pedot can be implanted into human tissue without causing scarring while still being able to interface with electronic hardware. Pedot can also transform standard house bricks into energy-storing units. It can be used to monitor brain or nervous system disorders and theoretically could be made to attach to peptides, antibodies, and DNA.

Ten eggs were harvested from the last two remaining northern white rhinoceroses, potentially saving the species from extinction. Neither of the white rhinos can carry a baby to term, so the eggs will be fertilized with sperm from a northern white rhino bull and implanted into southern white rhinos. The last male northern white rhino died in 2018. Rhinoceros populations have plummeted due to widespread poaching.

The Language Interpretability Tool (LIT) is a visual and interactive model-understanding tool for Natural Language Processing models. It features salience maps, custom metrics, the ability to compare models, rich visualization of model predictions, and more. LIT is framework-agnostic and compatible with TensorFlow, PyTorch, and other frameworks.

handwritten.js converts typed text to realistic handwriting. It takes the path to a text file as input and outputs a pdf. An example of the output is available in the repository.

Tokyo has installed see-through bathroom facilities in two of the city's public parks. The bathrooms are made out of smart glass that turns opaque when the stalls are locked. The use of public toilets in Japan is limited due to negative stereotypes. The new bathrooms are part of a project to redesign Tokyo's public bathrooms so that they can be used by anyone. Video of the new bathrooms is available in the article.

A former Apple software engineer claims that the US government approached Apple to make a top-secret version of its fifth-generation iPod. The aim of the project was to build an iPod that could run custom hardware in a way that could not be detected. All communication on the project was done in-person to avoid a paper trail. While it is unknown what exactly was being created, the device was likely a stealth Geiger counter.