Enlarge/ Apple last month put its “environmentally friendly” credentials at the center of its biggest annual product launch. (credit: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Apple faces scrutiny from European environmental and consumer groups over its claims that its latest devices are “carbon neutral,” a term that Brussels proposes to ban in corporate marketing because it is “misleading.”
The iPhone maker last month put its “environmentally friendly” credentials at the center of its biggest annual product launch. It called some Apple Watch models its “first-ever carbon neutral products,” part of a drive to extend the classification across all its devices by the end of the decade.
But the US tech giant’s decision to rely on credits to cancel out the 7-12 kg of greenhouse gas emissions behind each new Watch prompted a sharp reaction from consumer groups in the wake of a long-trailed clampdown by the EU on “greenwashing.”
Android 14 is already available for Pixel phone owners and is rolling out to other handsets as we speak—and while it doesn’t include a plethora of new features, there are some cool upgrades for your handset that are worth making use of. We’ve picked out 5 of our favorites that you should try out as soon as Android 14…
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CoinDesk: Chinese oil and gas company PetroChina (0857) has completed the first international crude oil trade using the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-CNY, China Daily reported on Saturday. PetroChina bought 1 million barrels of crude oil settled in e-CNY, or digital yuan, at the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange (SHPGX) on Oct. 18, according to the report by the Chinese Communist Party-owned newspaper. The SHPGX did not disclose the exact value of the deal nor the seller’s identity.
China’s government may wish to use the e-CNY as a tool for expanding the international use of its currency, also known as the renminbi, so using it to settle purchases of major global commodities like crude oil would be one way to underpin this expansion. While almost all the world’s major economies are at least looking at developing a CBDC, China’s is comfortably among the most advanced. Transactions using the currency hit 1.8 trillion yuan ($250 billion) as of the end of June, with e-CNY accounting for 0.16% of the cash in circulation.
Google has disabled live traffic updates for Israel and Gaza in Maps and Waze, a spokesperson has confirmed to Bloomberg. “As we have done previously in conflict situations and in response to the evolving situation in the region, we have temporarily disabled the ability to see live traffic conditions and busyness information out of consideration for the safety of local communities,” the spokesperson said. Israeli blog GeekTime reports that Apple has switched off the same feature in its Maps app, as well.
Google told The Hill that people can still use Maps and Waze to get route and ETA information that “take current traffic conditions into account.” They just won’t be able to see real-time traffic data in the apps like they could in the past. It’s unclear if Apple is also retaining some of its Maps’ navigation capabilities.
This move, made by both companies, comes just ahead of the Israeli military’s anticipated ground invasion into Gaza, wherein it reportedly plans to deploy tens of thousands of soldiers to capture the city. One of Bloomberg’s sources said Google disabled live traffic to comply with a request made by the Israel Defense Forces, likely because the feature could reveal its troops’ movements and tip off Hamas, which the US and the EU recognize as a terrorist organization. The Hill says Apple also removed live traffic in the region to comply with the IDF’s request.
Prior to this development, one of the most recent examples of Google disabling the ability to see live traffic conditions “in conflict situations” happened in 2022. The company deactivated Maps’ live traffic data in Ukraine back then, following Russia’s invasion of the country. It explained at the time that it implemented the change to protect the safety of locals, and that it came to the decision to do so after consulting with Ukranian authorities.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-and-google-disable-live-traffic-maps-in-israel-and-gaza-121502911.html?src=rss
While Apple, Meta and others continue to work with full-on headsets for augmented reality (AR), Nreal has been selling much smaller AR glasses since 2021. Now the company, which has rebranded to Xreal, just released a new version called the Xreal Air 2 in Europe and the US, after launching it in China last month. It offers improved displays and more comfort, and the company also unveiled the Xreal Air 2 Pro with electrochromic dimming, letting you select the level of immersion from zero to 100 percent.
Xreal (the X stands for extra, the company said) promises that the Air 2 glasses “turn whatever the wearer is viewing into a big screen experience, up to 330 inches.” To that end, it uses Sony’s latest 0.55-inch Micro-OLED display, up from the 0.68-inch Micro-OLED used before (Apple also uses Micro-OLED tech in its Vision Pro mixed reality headset). As before, it can display full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 per eye, with a refresh rate up to 120Hz. Along with the higher resolution, it features 500 nits of brightness, compared to 400 nits on the original Nreal Air.
The Air 2 is also 10 percent thinner and 10 percent lighter (from 79 grams to 72 grams, which is actually 8.9 percent by my calculation), according to Xreal. It also comes with improved elastic temples, new “AirFit” nose pads and softer materials. All of that is designed to improve comfort and allowing for longer use when watching movies and other content, according to the company. As before, it connects to devices via USB-C with video (DisplayPort) output with no wireless option, so you’re effectively tethered to a device.
Xreal
Xreal also improved the audio speaker system by incorporating “spatial wrap-around auto delivery” via an open ear design targeted at the wearer. “This brings enhanced privacy and minimizes disruption to others when in public spaces,” the company said. It also improves voice and video calls, since the Xreal Air 2 can let you take audio from a smartphone or tablet.
The more desirable model is the Xreal Air 2 Pro. It introduces electrochromic dimming that lets you select three modes, including a transparent mode that blocks no light, letting you use the glasses while still seeing the outside world. “Productivity mode” blocks 35 percent of outside light, so you can focus better without shutting out your surroundings entirely, while immersive mode blocks all light for gaming, entertainment, etc.
Much like the original Nreal Air, the Xreal Air 2 seems mainly aimed at viewers for YouTube videos, light gaming, movies, etc. There are no cameras or motion sensors included, so it effectively acts as a personal projector, with the screen moving as you move your head (hello, nausea). However, you can buy an accessory called Xreal Beam ($119) which adds gyroscopic tracking and keeps the screen fixed in place when you move, while also allowing for additional wired connectivity options that apparently reduce latency. According to reviews on the device, it works in much the same way as the original Air, but is lighter and more comfortable.
Considering what it can’t do, the Xreal Air 2 is pretty expensive at $399 (in black or red), while the Air 2 Pro is $449. For full functionality, you need the Xreal Beam, which brings the price up to $518 and $568 respectively — more than the Meta Quest 3. Shipping is expected to start in the US and UK in November 2023, and elsewhere in Europe in December.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/xreals-399-air-2-augmented-reality-glasses-are-now-available-to-pre-order-120057648.html?src=rss
Enlarge/ The Moon rises over Tindari, Sicily. (credit: Dario Giannobile)
Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light; a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science. We’ll let other publications offer you a daily horoscope. At Ars Technica, we’re going to take a different route, finding inspiration from very real images of a universe that is filled with stars and wonder.
Good morning. It is October 24, and today’s image features an amazing shot of the Moon over a sanctuary in Sicily. It was captured by Dario Giannobile, a talented Italian astrophotographer.
This is a brilliant shot of the Moon, with the light from Earth shining on about 75 percent of the lunar surface and the remainder brightly lit by the Sun. The Moon is seen above the Santuario della Madonna Nera (Sanctuary of the Black Madonna) in Tindari, a small town on the northern coast of Sicily.
Tinder’s new feature is a new nightmare to me. Tinder Matchmaker allows users’ family and friends to recommend potential matches. Wannabe matchmakers do not need a Tinder profile to view or suggest possible pairings, so anyone you know could help you find the one. Or at least… another one.
The Tinder user will need to launch a “Tinder Matchmaker session” either from a profile card or within the app’s settings. You can share a unique link with up to 15 individuals in a 24-hour period. Once a matchmaker gets a link, they can log into Tinder or continue as a guest to swipe away. Don’t worry: They can’t send messages or actually swipe right on the profiles.
Both Hinge and Bumble have already tried matchmaking, although the former’s attempts didn’t last – the dedicated Hinge matchmaking app is no longer available.
– Mat Smith
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Netflix has dropped a trailer for the upcoming reality series Squid Game: The Challenge. It all kicks off with 456 contestants competing for the $4.56 million prize in events and games repackaged (minus the blood-spraying violence) from the hit scripted series. A fictional critique of modern capitalism’s exploitation of the financially desperate made into a reality TV spectacle that exploits the financially desperate? Yes. But watch the trailer.
Amazon announced Monday that its Fallout TV series will premiere on April 12, 2024 on Prime Video. The short teaser video was even styled like a Pip-Boy interface from the storied game franchise. The live-action series, from Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, will have an original (canonical) story set in the Fallout gaming universe. It will take place in 2077, beginning in Vault 33 in Los Angeles. As fans of the game know, it’s set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland following the events of “The Great War” on October 23, 2077, making yesterday the perfect day to announce the show.
The Department of Justice has expanded its investigation into Tesla. In an SEC filing, the company said the agency issued subpoenas for information related to “personal benefits, related parties, vehicle range and personnel decisions.” According to Reuters and Consumer Reports, Tesla vehicles didn’t hit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) range estimates in road tests. Its vehicles have already been penalized in other countries for failing to disclose that its EVs have shorter ranges in low temperatures, and the company reportedly formed a special team that sought to quash complaints about the distance its cars can travel on a single charge.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-tinders-latest-update-lets-your-family-play-virtual-matchmaker-115041564.html?src=rss
Amazon has revealed that Fallout — a live-action adaptation of Bethesda’s popular RPG video game franchise — will premiere on April 12th, 2024, exclusively via Prime Video. The Verge reports: The announcement was made on October 23rd, otherwise known to Fallout fans as “Fallout Day” — the in-game date that marks the beginning of the Great War that turns the world into an irradiated nuclear wasteland. Bethesda’s executive producer and game director Todd Howard is an executive producer on the series, which stars Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets), Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight), Aaron Moten (Emancipation), Moises Arias (The King of Staten Island), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks), and Sarita Choudhury (Homeland).
Alongside the premiere announcement itself (which was amusingly presented as an interactive Pip-Boy interface graphic), Amazon said in a press release that the show will be an original story set in a future, post-apocalyptic version of Los Angeles and will be considered a canonical addition to the existing game franchise. We do not currently know how many episodes will be in the series or what the release schedule will look like following the premiere.
From Hollywood strikes to digital portraits, AI’s potential to steal creatives’ work and how to stop it has dominated the tech conversation in 2023. The latest effort to protect artists and their creations is Nightshade, a tool allowing artists to add undetectable pixels into their work that could corrupt an AI’s training data, the MIT Technology Review reports. Nightshade’s creation comes as major companies like OpenAI and Meta face lawsuits for copyright infringement and stealing personal works without compensation.
University of Chicago professor Ben Zhao and his team created Nightshade, which is currently being peer reviewed, in an effort to put some of the power back in artists’ hands. They tested it on recent Stable Diffusion models and an AI they personally built from scratch.
Nightshade essentially works as a poison, altering how a machine-learning model produces content and what that finished product looks like. For example, it could make an AI system interpret a prompt for a handbag as a toaster or show an image of a cat instead of the requested dog (the same goes for similar prompts like puppy or wolf).
Professor Ben Zhao | University of Chicago
Nightshade follows Zhao and his team’s August release of a tool called Glaze, which also subtly alters a work of art’s pixels but it makes AI systems detect the initial image as entirely different than it is. An artist who wants to protect their work can upload it to Glaze and opt in to using Nightshade.
Damaging technology like Nightshade could go a long way towards encouraging AI’s major players to request and compensate artists’ work properly (it seems like a better alternative to having your system rewired). Companies looking to remove the poison would likely need to locate every piece of corrupt data, a challenging task. Zhao cautions that some individuals might attempt to use the tool for evil purposes but that any real damage would require thousands of corrupted works.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-tool-lets-artists-fight-ai-image-bots-by-hiding-corrupt-data-in-plain-sight-095519848.html?src=rss
GM has announced that it will pay $1,400 to owners of 2020-2022 Bolt EVs and EUVs who endured a recall that limited range to 80 percent for a significant period of time, Electrek has reported. It’s effectively an upfront payment to customers as part of an expected class action settlement.
“GM is announcing a compensation program for 2020-22 Bolt EV/EUV owners upon installation of the final advanced diagnostic software as part of the original battery recall,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement. “Owners are eligible to receive a $1,400 Visa eReward card upon installation. This applies to Bolt EV/EUV owners in the US only. We’re grateful to our customers for their patience and understanding.”
Owners must install a “software final remedy” by December 31, 2023 and sign a legal release — those who decline will have to wait for the class action lawsuit to play out. If the settlement ends up being more than $1,400, those who accept the payment will still receive the difference.
It seems like Chevy’s Bolt EVs (and larger EUVs that came along in 2021) have never not had problems with their batteries. The 2017-2019 models had serious defects that could cause fires, forcing GM to recall them and install special software, reducing maximum charge levels to 90 percent.
The 2020-2022 models affected by the lawsuit used new battery chemistry with a different issue that could also cause a fire when the car was fully, or nearly fully charged. GM issued a recall for those models as well, installing diagnostic software that would reduce maximum charging levels to 80 percent (cutting range from about 259 miles to 207 miles). The software will eventually either warn customers that their battery pack needs to be replaced, or automatically return the maximum charge to 100 percent.
The problem is, the vehicles needed to reach 6,200 miles of use before the final assessment. That could be years for some buyers, and GM mandated that owners complete the diagnostic by March 2025 in order to qualify for an extended warranty or replacement battery, if needed.
GM announced earlier this year that it was discontinuing the Bolt EV amid the company’s shift to the Ultium platform, possibly because it felt the name had been sullied by the battery issues. Following an outcry, though, it backtracked and said that a next-gen Bolt was in the works — showing that people still liked what the Bolt stood for (a practical, cheap EV with decent range) despite the recalls.
Presumably, any potential settlement would cover owners who effectively lost the full and expected use of their vehicle during the period. If you’re part of the recall, you should receive a letter soon with more information and a unique PIN to access their site — more information is available here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/chevy-offers-1400-to-bolt-ev-owners-who-endured-lower-charging-levels-091547025.html?src=rss
NASA has revealed that it has already processed 70.3 grams of rocks and dust collected by the OSIRIS-REx mission from asteroid Bennu. That means the mission has way exceeded its goal of bringing 60 grams of asteroid samples back to Earth — especially since NASA scientists have yet to open the primary sample container that made its way back to our planet in September. Apparently, they’re struggling to open the mission’s Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) and could not remove two of its 35 fasteners using the tools currently available to them.
The scientists are processing the samples inside a specialized glovebox (pictured above) with a flow of nitrogen in order to keep them from being exposed to our atmosphere and any contaminants. They can’t just use any implement to break the container’s fasteners open either: The tool must fit inside the glovebox, and it also must not compromise the samples’ integrity. NASA has sealed the primary container sample for now, while it’s developing the procedure to be able to open it over the next few weeks.
If you’re wondering where the 70.3 grams of rocks and dust came from, well, NASA collected part of it from the external sample receptacle but outside TAGSAM itself. It also includes a small portion of the samples inside TAGSAM, taken by holding down its mylar flap and reaching inside with tweezers or a scoop. NASA’s initial analysis of the material published earlier this month said it showed evidence of high carbon content and water, and further studies could help us understand how life on Earth began. The agency plans to continue analyzing and “characterizing” the rocks and dust it has already taken from the sample container, so we may hear more details about the samples even while TAGSAM remains sealed.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasas-osiris-rex-mission-collected-more-bennu-asteroid-samples-than-first-thought-083605172.html?src=rss
Sammy Gecsoyler reports via The Guardian: A research team in Finland, led by Robin Ras, from Aalto University, and aided by researchers from the University of Jyvaskyla, has developed a mechanism to make water droplets slip off surfaces with unprecedented efficacy. Cooking, transportation, optics and hundreds of other technologies are affected by how water sticks to surfaces or slides off them, and adoption of water-resistant surfaces in the future could improve many household and industrial technologies, such as plumbing, shipping and the auto industry. The research team created solid silicon surfaces with a “liquid-like” outer layer that repels water by making droplets slide off surfaces. The highly mobile topcoat acts as a lubricant between the product and the water droplets.
Sakari Lepikko, the lead author of the study, which was published in Nature Chemistry on Monday, said: “Our work is the first time that anyone has gone directly to the nanometer-level to create molecularly heterogeneous surfaces.” By carefully adjusting conditions, such as temperature and water content, inside a reactor, the team could fine-tune how much of the silicon surface the monolayer covered. Using the new method, the team ended up creating the slipperiest liquid surface in the world. According to Lepikko, the discovery promises to have implications wherever droplet-repellent surfaces are needed. This covers hundreds of examples from daily life to industrial environments.
Amazon, the biggest e-commerce website in most countries, now supports passkeys. That gives users access to the new login solution that’s considered more secure than passwords, allowing them to access their account using the biometrics or PIN they use to unlock their devices. The company started rolling out the capability a few days ago but has only just announced the feature, which is now available on browsers and is gradually making its way to all users accessing Amazon through its iOS app. Passkey support is also “coming soon” to Amazon’s Android application.
Passkeys are resistant to phishing, the effects of data leaks or social engineering, because there are no passwords to steal or give away. Instead, the technology uses cryptographic pairs, one of which is a public key saved on a particular service’s servers, while the other one remains private and is securely saved to a user’s device. These pairs are unique for every service, and they must match for someone to be able to log in. It’s also a lot less involved than two-factor authentication, though for some reason, Amazon will not automatically switch it off for those who turn on passkey support.
In its FAQs, Amazon says that those who have two-factor switched on will still need to verify their identities with a one-time code even after they activate the new login option. It’s unclear if users will no longer have to key in two-factor codes after their initial login with a passkey, but upon trying it out, we weren’t asked for one the next time we signed in. To switch on passkey login, users only need to go to Login & Security under Your Account on Amazon and then choose “Set up” next to the new Passkeys option.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-now-supports-passkey-logins-on-browsers-and-ios-devices-050129183.html?src=rss
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: A new tool lets artists add invisible changes to the pixels in their art before they upload it online so that if it’s scraped into an AI training set, it can cause the resulting model to break in chaotic and unpredictable ways. The tool, called Nightshade, is intended as a way to fight back against AI companies that use artists’ work to train their models without the creator’s permission. Using it to “poison” this training data could damage future iterations of image-generating AI models, such as DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, by rendering some of their outputs useless — dogs become cats, cars become cows, and so forth. MIT Technology Review got an exclusive preview of the research, which has been submitted for peer review at computer security conference Usenix.
AI companies such as OpenAI, Meta, Google, and Stability AI are facing a slew of lawsuits from artists who claim that their copyrighted material and personal information was scraped without consent or compensation. Ben Zhao, a professor at the University of Chicago, who led the team that created Nightshade, says the hope is that it will help tip the power balance back from AI companies towards artists, by creating a powerful deterrent against disrespecting artists’ copyright and intellectual property.
Zhao’s team also developed Glaze, a tool that allows artists to “mask” their own personal style to prevent it from being scraped by AI companies. It works in a similar way to Nightshade: by changing the pixels of images in subtle ways that are invisible to the human eye but manipulate machine-learning models to interpret the image as something different from what it actually shows. The team intends to integrate Nightshade into Glaze, and artists can choose whether they want to use the data-poisoning tool or not. The team is also making Nightshade open source, which would allow others to tinker with it and make their own versions. The more people use it and make their own versions of it, the more powerful the tool becomes, Zhao says. The data sets for large AI models can consist of billions of images, so the more poisoned images can be scraped into the model, the more damage the technique will cause.
Nightshade exploits a security vulnerability in generative AI models, one arising from the fact that they are trained on vast amounts of data — in this case, images that have been hoovered from the internet. Nightshade messes with those images. Artists who want to upload their work online but don’t want their images to be scraped by AI companies can upload them to Glaze and choose to mask it with an art style different from theirs. They can then also opt to use Nightshade. Once AI developers scrape the internet to get more data to tweak an existing AI model or build a new one, these poisoned samples make their way into the model’s data set and cause it to malfunction. Poisoned data samples can manipulate models into learning, for example, that images of hats are cakes, and images of handbags are toasters. The poisoned data is very difficult to remove, as it requires tech companies to painstakingly find and delete each corrupted sample. Nightshade is going to make AI companies think twice, “because they have the possibility of destroying their entire model by taking our work without our consent,” says Eva Toorenent, an illustrator and artist who has used Glaze.
“I’m just really grateful that we have a tool that can help return the power back to the artists for their own work,” added Autumn Beverly, another artist.
Paul Kunert reports via The Register: A gaggle of MPs are calling for government to put together a timetable for the replacement of millions upon millions of smart meters that will be defunct when 2G and 3G mobile networks are switched off. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) comprised of cross-party MPs penned a report to update the rollout of the smart meters, with multiple deadlines missed along the way of the $17 billion billion project. The report echoes an earlier one by the National Audit Office (NAO), which found that as of March 2023, energy companies had rolled out the devices to just 57 percent (roughly 32.4 million out of a potential install base of 57.1 million) homes and businesses. Of these devices, around 9 percent were not functioning properly.
The PAC says in its latest report: “A fifth more (an estimated seven million) will lose functionality when the 2G and 3G mobile communications networks are closed if they do not receive costly hardware upgrades (the cost of which will ultimately be borne by the billpayers).” UK comms regulator Ofcom announced last month that UK mobile operators do not intend to provide 2G and 3G mobile networks past 2033. “The switch-off will affect customers using older mobile devices and services.” The PAC wants to know what the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), as well as energy regulator Ofgem, are doing to plan the smooth running of a replacement scheme.
It asks both to set out “what they will do to ensure suppliers assign more importance than at present to replacing those smart meters not functioning properly” and “a timetable for replacing the communication hub element of smart meters that will lose functionality when the 2G and 3G mobile networks are switched off.” […] The PAC also want DESNZ and Ofgem to outline “measures to ensure that suppliers use future-proofed technology — for example, by excluding 2G or 3G connectivity — in all new smart meter installations.” And it wants the department and the energy watchdog to detail program costs to Parliament on an annual basis to inform decisions about the rollout.
Lawrence Abrams reports via BleepingComputer: 1Password, a popular password management platform used by over 100,000 businesses, suffered a security breach after hackers gained access to its Okta ID management tenant. “We detected suspicious activity on our Okta instance related to their Support System incident. After a thorough investigation, we concluded that no 1Password user data was accessed,” reads a very brief security incident notification from 1Password CTO Pedro Canahuati. “On September 29, we detected suspicious activity on our Okta instance that we use to manage our employee-facing apps. We immediately terminated the activity, investigated, and found no compromise of user data or other sensitive systems, either employee-facing or user-facing.”
On Friday, Okta disclosed that threat actors breached its support case management system using stolen credentials. As part of these support cases, Okta routinely asks customers to upload HTTP Archive (HAR) files to troubleshoot customer problems. However, these HAR files contain sensitive data, including authentication cookies and session tokens that can be used to impersonate a valid Okta customer. Okta first learned of the breach from BeyondTrust, who shared forensics data with Okta, showing that their support organization was compromised. However, it took Okta over two weeks to confirm the breach.
Bitcoin has surged past $33,000 per coin on Monday, rising nearly 11% in 24 hours. According to CoinGecko, the coin is up more than 17% in the past seven days. Decrypt reports: Bulls have flooded the space as talk about a spot Bitcoin ETF has investors hopeful that the long-awaited crypto product will soon get approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A Monday CoinShares report showed that institutional investors are pouring money into the space; JPMorgan analysts said last week that a spot Bitcoin ETF could be approved by Christmas.
High-profile investment firms that have applied to the SEC for a spot ETF are fine tuning their applications in the hope that the regulator will give them the green light. Investors have been hungry for a spot Bitcoin ETF for the best part of a decade but Wall Street’s biggest regulator experts say has denied applications for such a product, mostly citing the potential for market manipulation as one of the main reasons.
But analysts are now more optimistic than ever before: BlackRock, world’s biggest fund manager, applied for a Bitcoin ETF of its own. Not long after, manager Grayscale scored a victory against the SEC when a federal judge sided with the firm over its application to convert its flagship Bitcoin fund into an ETF.
The Moon’s crater-covered countenance was previously thought to be a youthful 4.42 billion years old, give or take about 10 million years. But now, samples of crystals taken from the rocky satellite half a century ago indicate that the Moon is about 40 million years older than we knew.
Forty-six years in deep space have taken their toll on NASA’s twin Voyager spacecraft. Their antiquated computers sometimes do puzzling things, their thrusters are wearing out, and their fuel lines are becoming clogged. Around half of their science instruments no longer return data, and their power levels are declining.
Still, the lean team of engineers and scientists working on the Voyager program at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are taking steps to eke out every bit of life from the only two spacecraft flying in interstellar space, the vast volume of dilute gas outside the influence of the Sun’s solar wind.
“These are measures that we’re trying to take to extend the life of the mission,” said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager at JPL, in an interview with Ars.
