Marvel Studios has released the trailer for Infinity War, the next epic installment of The Avengers series. The film brings intergalactic villain Thanos to Earth in his quest to collect all six Infinity Stones. It also marries the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers worlds together, as both bands must unite to fight Thanos. That means it’s a huge cast of big names in the Marvel universe, including: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Loki, Hulk, Star Lord, Nebula, Groot, Black Widow, The Collector, and roughly everyone else, too.

Two professors from Purdue University have published a study (via Gizmodo) that suggests Pokémon GO has caused as many as 145,000 traffic accidents. The study, titled Death by Pokémon GO was based on statistics from one county in Indiana between March 1st, 2015, and November 30th, 2016. Pokémon GO was released in July of 2016, earning some 100 million downloads in its first month alone. The game was the breakout hit for augmented reality, and millions of fans scoured the city and countrysides looking for Pokémon to capture for fighting. The study found an increase in traffic accidents corresponding to the increase in players, as well as a corresponding decrease as the game waned. They specifically attributed a half million dollars in vehicle damage, 31 accidents, and two deaths in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, to the game. Scaling the data upwards to encompass the whole  professors offered “speculative” findings that the game led to more than 145,000 accidents, 29,000 injuries, and 256 deaths, and that was just in a five month period. Which is interesting considering that augmented reality is just getting going. Society has a long period of adjustment coming as we learn how to deal with both augmented and virtual realities being a daily part of our lives.

I came across the most awesome travel tripod I’ve ever seen, hands down. Unfortunately, it’s a Kickstarter project only halfway to its goal with just 15 days left. The MeVideo travel video tripod, called the Globetrotter, is well-made and durable, and yet it’s lightweight and compact. It collapses down to 21.9 inches. Then it extends out to 65.7 inches. The fluid video head supports cameras as heavy as 8.8 pounds. It will not, however, support a smartphone without an adapter. This tripod is meant for heavier videography equipment, but a standard tripod smartphone adapter will work just fine with it. The Globetrotter weighs from six to 6.6 pounds, depending on whether you get carbon fiber or aluminum legs. This tripod provides improved pan, tilt, and counterbalance performance compared to its closest competitors. It also features dust and dirt resistant metal/rubber twist locks rather than plastic flip latches. The edging is brushed metal and all knobs are metal. A split center column is perfect for those low-to-the-ground shots. Yes, a review of the MeVideo Globetrotter video travel tripod is forthcoming.

Check out The Moon from 1-Ring on Indiegogo. It’s a levitating smart camera. And while smart cameras don’t need to levitate to do their thing, this one can rotate while it’s levitating, and that means turning silently. It’s controllable from a smartphone app, and features night vision, motion detection, and notifications. It will also serve as a home automation hub for Philips Hue, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Homekit. It has integrated temperature, humidity, CO2 and light sensors. Oh, and it looks like a frickin’ Death Star! I haven’t tested one of these things, and I don’t know if they can do everything they say they can do, but the campaign raised more than $89,000 in no time. There’s a month left, and the original goal was just $45,000. As of this writing, there are funding levels of $209 that will get you one, but there aren’t many of those left. It’s supposed to ship in March of 2018.