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Mar 14, 2024

VisionOS code hints at Vision Pro coming soon to more countries

Posted by in category: futurism

Apple Vision Pro is currently available exclusively in the US. Although Apple has already said that the headset will come to more countries by the end of 2024, there are no details about which countries Apple has in mind to launch Vision Pro next. However, visionOS code gives us a hint of what to expect for the product’s international expansion.

Mar 14, 2024

Lumen Orbit emerges from stealth and raises $2.4M to put data centers in space

Posted by in categories: computing, engineering, internet, satellites

Bellevue, Wash.-based Lumen Orbit, a startup that’s only about three months old, says that it’s closed a $2.4 million pre-seed investment round to launch its plan to put hundreds of satellites in orbit, with the goal of processing data in space before it’s downlinked to customers on Earth.

The investors include Nebular, Caffeinated Capital, Plug & Play, Everywhere Ventures, Tiny.vc, Sterling Road, Pareto Holdings and Foreword Ventures. There are also more than 20 angel investors, including four Sequoia Scouts investing through the Sequoia Scout Fund. “The round was 3x oversubscribed,” Lumen CEO and co-founder Philip Johnston told GeekWire in an email.

Johnston is a former associate at McKinsey & Co. who also co-founded an e-commerce venture called Opontia. Lumen’s other co-founders are chief technology officer Ezra Feilden, whose resume includes engineering experience at Oxford Space Systems and Airbus Defense and Space; and chief engineer Adi Oltean, who worked as a principal software engineer at SpaceX’s Starlink facility in Redmond, Wash.

Mar 14, 2024

Mammals dream about the world they are entering even before birth

Posted by in category: futurism

A study finds that baby mammals dream about the world they are about to experience to prepare their senses.

Mar 14, 2024

Powerful Spectroscopy Tool Ushers In New Era of Quantum Materials Research

Posted by in categories: materials, quantum physics

A technique called time-and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (TR-ARPES) has emerged as a powerful tool, allowing researchers to explore the equilibrium and dynamical properties of quantum materials via light-matter interaction.

Mar 14, 2024

$100M universal basic income bill advances in state House committee

Posted by in categories: economics, finance

A universal basic income pilot program that would sprinkle $100 million across the state in the form of no less than $500 monthly cash payments to certain low-income Minnesotans — including illegal immigrants — advanced in a state House committee on Tuesday.

Rep. Athena Hollins, DFL-St. Paul, introduced HF2666 last year. The bill didn’t receive a hearing amidst a historic legislative session where Democrats spent down a $17.5 billion surplus and increased the state budget by more than 38 percent. But with news earlier this month that the state has a projected $3.7 billion surplus, Hollins’ bill received a hearing in the House Children and Families Committee.

Continue reading “$100M universal basic income bill advances in state House committee” »

Mar 14, 2024

Water found on asteroid surfaces

Posted by in category: space

The first detection of water molecules on the surface of asteroids has been confirmed, following spectral analysis of two large main‑belt objects.

Credit: Courtesy of NASA/Carla Thomas/SwRI

Using data from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) – a joint project of NASA and Germany’s space agency – scientists have, for the first time, discovered water molecules on the surface of an asteroid. A team of researchers looked at four silicate-rich asteroids using an instrument known as Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST), which isolated the mid-infrared spectral signatures indicating molecular water on two of them.

Mar 14, 2024

Humanoid robot can do chores and hold conversations

Posted by in categories: employment, robotics/AI

AI startup company Figure, which emerged from stealth last year, has unveiled the latest upgrades to its Figure 1 humanoid robot.

Founded in 2022 and publicly announced in March 2023, Figure is a California-based company with 80 employees that is building autonomous, general‑purpose humanoid robots. Its aim is to address labour shortages, fill jobs that are undesirable or unsafe for humans, and support a supply chain on a global scale.

Continue reading “Humanoid robot can do chores and hold conversations” »

Mar 14, 2024

[4K] Watch SpaceX launch Starship, LIVE up close and personal!

Posted by in category: space travel

[TIME SUBJECT TO CHANGE] This is the third fully integrated full stack test flight of Starship and the mighty Super Heavy booster, the largest and most powerful rocket to ever fly. It produces over twice as much thrust as the Saturn V that took humans to the moon.

The goal of the test is to get further along than IFT-2 in November, 2023, which didn’t see either the ship or the booster make it to reentry. If all goes well, Starship will re-enter in the Indian Ocean about 65 minutes after it lifts off from Starbase, TX, on a suborbital trajectory.

Continue reading “[4K] Watch SpaceX launch Starship, LIVE up close and personal!” »

Mar 14, 2024

SpaceX Launches Third Starship Flight Test

Posted by in category: space travel

SpaceX is targeting Thursday for the third flight of Starship. The license from the FAA was acquired. The flight will feature several upgrades to Booster and Ship, as well as a modification of the flight path to the Indian Ocean, instead of Hawaii. In space, SpaceX plans to demonstrate the payload dispenser door, and the capability to relight a Raptor in Space. Additionally, SpaceX wants to demonstrate the capability of in-space cryogenic propellant transfer.

The mission will attempt a soft splashdown of Booster 10 in the Gulf of Mexico, and a splashdown of Ship 28 in the Indian Ocean.

Continue reading “SpaceX Launches Third Starship Flight Test” »

Mar 14, 2024

Navigating AI’s Eco Impact

Posted by in categories: blockchains, business, cryptocurrencies, robotics/AI, transportation

The advent of AI has ushered in transformative advancements across countless industries. Yet for all its benefits, this technology also has a downside. One of the major challenges AI brings is the amount of energy required to power the GPUs that train large-scale AI models. Computing hardware needs significant maintenance and upkeep, as well as uninterruptible power supplies and cooling fans.

One study found that training some popular AI models can produce about 626,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, the rough equivalent of 300 cross-country flights in the U.S. A single data center can require enough electricity to power 50,000 homes. If this energy comes from fossil fuels, that can mean a huge carbon footprint. Already the carbon footprint of the cloud as a whole has surpassed that of the airline industry.

As the founder of an AI-driven company in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, I am acutely aware of the environmental impact of our business. Here are a few ways we are trying to reduce that effect.

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