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Hubble discovers that dwarf planet Makemake has a moon

The Hubble telescope has spotted a shadowy moon with a charcoal black surface orbiting the dwarf planet Makemake. Astronomers first observed Makemake in 2005, but since it’s the second brightest icy dwarf planet after Pluto , it took some time to see a satellite that’s 1, 300 times fainter than the celestial body it’s orbiting. Also, it’s positively tiny with a diameter measuring 100 miles across, making it but a fraction of our own moon that has a diameter measuring 2, 159.2 miles. The Hubble team used the telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 and the same technique that found Pluto’s satellite’s in 2005, 2011 and 2012 to discover Makemake’s companion that has been christened “MK 2.” NASA says its presence can tell us more about the dwarf planet, including its density. “Makemake is in the class of rare Pluto-like objects, so finding a companion is important, ” Southwest Research Institute’s Alex Parker said. “The discovery of this moon has given us an opportunity to study Makemake in far greater detail than we ever would have been able to without the companion.” Astronomers plan to look more closely into the satellite to find out if it’s the “warm region” they’ve been seeing on Makemake’s surface, which is inconsistent with its icy shell. They also intend to observe its movements: a tight orbit means it’s the product of a collision, while a wide one means it was captured from the Kuiper belt. Either way, MK 2 — just like our Earth’s own satellite — has been orbiting Makemake for billions of years. Via: Space Source: Space Telescope Science Institute , NASA

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Hubble discovers that dwarf planet Makemake has a moon

This Futuristic Ion Thruster Will Take a Mission to Mercury

The very name of the T6 ion thruster sounds like something from sci-fi. But it’s very real, and this little engine will be one of four that take the European Space Agency’s BepiColombo spacecraft to Mercury. Read more…

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This Futuristic Ion Thruster Will Take a Mission to Mercury

Leaked image purportedly shows hand-off feature in Windows 10

Even before Windows 10 was released we heard about its first major update, codenamed ” Redstone .”‘ Today, a purported screenshot from a recent Redstone build suggests that Windows users will finally get a feature that OS X has enjoyed for two years now: the ability to transfer work progress from a mobile device to a computer or vice versa. According to a believable-looking screenshot posted on Reddit, nestled in the build’s settings is a specific toggle for users to “Let apps on your other devices launch apps and continue experiences” on your PC via Bluetooth. With this, you could finish emails or tasks on your PC that you started on your phone or device. This possible hand-off feature isn’t a total surprise: Microsoft introduced Project Rome back at its Build developer conference earlier this month, with early demos hinting that the tech will work much the same way as Apple Handoff. But Rome is expected to differ in several ways, like transferring data between a device and computer via WiFi in addition to Bluetooth. Like the Redstone screenshot above, Rome aims to “connect experiences, ” running apps on both devices that trigger certain activities: for example , posting a trivia question on your device after a certain point watching a film on your PC. Source: MS Power User

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Leaked image purportedly shows hand-off feature in Windows 10

New ‘Image Enhance’ Lets Satellites See 2-Inch Objects on Mars

Researchers have developed a new image enhancement technique that allows them to boost the resolution of satellite images, revealing unprecedented levels of detail. Read more…

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New ‘Image Enhance’ Lets Satellites See 2-Inch Objects on Mars

The Netflix effect: SNL to air fewer commercial breaks

Honchos at NBC have told Ad Age that Saturday Night Live is going to show fewer commercials from next season. The 42nd year of the long-running sketch show will lose two whole ad breaks compared to the current season. That time will be handed back to producer Lorne Michaels to fill with the stated intention of making it “easier to watch the show live.” In exchange, the channel will let six companies pay to create “branded original content, ” that harnesses SNL’s cadre of writers and performers. We’re not sure how much paid-for programming will change the show’s slightly subversive tone , but as long as Kate McKinnon’s free to be Kate McKinnon, we’re not sure we care. It’s not explicitly addressed by either NBC Universal’s Linda Yaccarino or Lorne Michaels, but we’re fairly sure what’s causing the about-face. After all, cord-cutters and ad-averse millennials may prefer to watch the individual SNL sketches the morning after on YouTube. That way, they’re free from the burden of having to sit through an endless parade of commercials that break the mood of the comedy. The sort of young viewers that SNL is often designed for are increasingly used to watching shows without commercial breaks at all, thanks to Netflix and Amazon Prime. Hulu, even, offers smaller ad breaks than broadcast TV (and none when you upgrade to the premium tier). Ad Age says that around six-and-a-half-million people watch SNL during its traditional broadcast slot, er, live on Saturday nights. A further 2.2 million people subscribe to the show’s YouTube page, and even a lukewarm sketch like the Julia Louis-Dreyfuss cold open earned 1.4 million views. Clips that go viral , meanwhile, can get views an order of magnitude higher than that. Obviously, NBC and its advertising partners would like to get those eyeballs in front of their TV for the actual broadcast, and so it’s going to have to adapt to the modern era. Of course, some might say that nothing’s going to increase SNL’s audience unless it either: airs earlier or its creators work out a better ways to end a ske Source: Ad Age

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The Netflix effect: SNL to air fewer commercial breaks

Solar Impulse 2 completes its flight across the Pacific

After months of delays and days of flying , Solar Impulse 2 has finished crossing the Pacific . The sunlight-powered aircraft arrived in San Francisco Bay on the night of April 23rd, with an expected touchdown at Moffett Field (as of this writing) around 3AM Eastern on the 24th. This isn’t the toughest stint to date (that honor goes to the 5, 061-mile trip from Japan to Hawaii), but it was no mean feat. Pilot Bertrand Piccard had to travel 2, 717 miles between Hawaii and San Francisco, with only short naps allowed during the 3-day expedition. As daunting as this and the eight previous legs of the trip have been, the tough part isn’t over yet. While flying over the US will be a relative cakewalk (Solar Impulse 2 should reach New York by early June), the aircraft will then have to travel 3, 566 miles to Europe. That’s a straight 5 days in the air, folks. After that, the plane will complete its around-the-world mission by heading to Abu Dhabi. This hasn’t been the quickest adventure given that the aircraft took off back in March 2015. However, speed isn’t really the point. Solar Impulse 2 and its namesake technology are meant to show that green energy can accomplish as spectacular a feat as flying across the planet. If the flight encourages anyone to embrace clean power, it accomplishes its goal. Source: Solar Impulse , YouTube

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Solar Impulse 2 completes its flight across the Pacific

Facebook was the victim of a backdoor hack

Even a tech giant like Facebook isn’t immune to significant security breaches. Devcore’s Orange Tsai recently discovered that someone had installed a backdoor on one of Facebook’s corporate servers (that is, not the social network itself) in a bid to swipe workers’ login details. While it’s not clear how successful the script-based exploit was, Tsai noted that the file transfer app hosted on the server had several vulnerabilities that effectively gave any intruder free rein. The attacker could have checked employee email, for instance, or even connected to Facebook’s virtual private network to get access to the company’s inner workings. Thankfully, this is all past tense. You’re only hearing about this now because Tsai reported the bugs to Facebook (to get a bounty, naturally), and waited until the firm completed its investigation before disclosing the flaws. That backdoor isn’t there anymore, folks. All the same, the incident is bound to humble Facebook a bit — it’s proof that the company is a prime target for hackers, and that it can’t assume it’s always on top of every possible security flaw. Via: Hacker News Source: Devcore

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Facebook was the victim of a backdoor hack

Here are some great improvements that should be in iOS 10

 Let’s be honest, most concept videos suck. They show you an imaginary device that looks nothing like the final product and defy the laws of physics. But some software concept videos tick all the right boxes, like this one from MacStories. Federico Viticci and Sam Beckett teamed up to create the following iOS 10 concept video. It’s a beautified wish list for the upcoming release of iOS. Read More

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Here are some great improvements that should be in iOS 10

Acer unveils a liquid-cooled laptop, simplified UI tablet for “super-seniors”

(credit: Valentina Palladino) NEW YORK—Acer has been busy, and the company showed off some of its latest work at an event in New York City today. Acer announced a slew of new laptops and PCs, many of which build upon some of its other recently released products. The Switch Alpha 12 laptop is the juiced-up version of its Aspire Switch 12 S that was announced back at CES. Instead of the Switch 12 S’s Core M processor, the Alpha 12 supports sixth-generation Core i3U, i5, and i7 processors. But Acer is pushing this device as an efficient and cool laptop above anything else. Engineers built the Switch Alpha 12 with a liquid cooling system and a fanless design. The heat created from the device powers the cooling system, keeping temperatures down. And since it lacks a fan all together, operating sounds are kept quiet. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Acer unveils a liquid-cooled laptop, simplified UI tablet for “super-seniors”