culture – Page 38 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

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

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

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

Australian researchers developed a blood test for Parkinson’s

By the time Parkinson’s disease makes itself known in humans, it’s already too late for treatment. But La Trobe University in Australia has developed a test that detects a biomarker present in blood cells in folks with the disease. The school describes the test as a means of detecting problems within cell mitochondria that cause an energy-and-stress-sensing protein, dubbed AMPK, to permanently activate and start damaging cells. The research is being bankrolled in part by Parkinson’s perhaps highest-profile patient, Michael J. Fox. Well, his foundation dedicated to further research on the debilitating malady , that is. The downside is that even with Fox’s Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and the Shake It Up Australia Foundation’s $640, 000 grant to La Trobe, more money is still needed for the test to be ready for the public. And beyond that, it’d still take five years to hit the market with additional funding. For now, the school is increasing the amount of testing it’s doing, going from a group of 38 people to 70. According to The Guardian , the ultimate goal is to do a longitudinal study with “thousands” of people in their 40s prior to them being at risk for the disease and before they start showing physical symptoms. From there, the researchers could test beyond Parkinson’s and see if the same method could be used to diagnose other neurological disorders, like Alzheimer’s, as well. Via: Popular Science Source: La Trobe University

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Australian researchers developed a blood test for Parkinson’s

‘Hearthstone’ update brings drastic changes to the card game

Hearthstone is undergoing some changes in the interest of keeping the digital-trading-card game fresh. But in introducing the “Whispers of the Old Gods” — expansion out on the 26th — developer Blizzard is tweaking a bunch of cards and, based on the 5, 000-plus comment Reddit thread , this isn’t exactly for the better. Fan favorite cards like Molten Giant have gotten a casting cost increase up to 25 from 20, while the Knife Juggler card has had its attack decreased by a point. Polygon breaks the changes down on a card-by-card basis incredibly well. Blizzard says that “careful consideration” went into these choices, and that it was based on both the company’s own ideas and checking out community feedback. So, chances are that the developer is listening to what you have to say regarding the new expansion. Just remember to keep polite when airing your thoughts, okay? You can grab the expansion from the in-game store across all platforms next Tuesday. Via: Polygon Source: Blizzard (1) , (2)

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‘Hearthstone’ update brings drastic changes to the card game

Firefighter mask offers hands-free thermal imaging

When firefighters tackle a dangerous blaze, thermal imaging can be their greatest ally. It’s usually integrated in a small handheld camera, helping team members to quickly locate civilians, peak through walls and identify safe passageways. Tyco’s Scott Safety has now developed a face mask which includes an integrated thermal camera and display, called “Scott Sight.” A small image is shown inside the mask — similar to how Google Glass ‘ would appear in your peripheral vision — at nine frames per second, for up to four hours. The user can also switch between four different interfaces, as well as ambient and max temperature settings. The combination should allow firefighters to keep their hands free. Whether they’re guiding people to safety, or using specialized equipment, Scott Sight should help firefighters to be more effective and tackle blazes faster. The only downside is that each crew member will need their own mask to see the world through thermal vision — a handheld camera, in comparison, can be easily viewed and shared between multiple people. Nevertheless, Scott Sight feels like a logical step forward. It sets the foundation for a more advanced overlay, similar to Microsoft’s HoloLens , which firefighters could enable on the fly. Such a system would remove the need to constantly peer at a tiny screen, keeping the wearer’s gaze front and center — a behavior that’s paramount in a fire-fuelled situation, where potential dangers could present themselves at any moment. Via: Gizmodo Source: Tyco , Scott Safety

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Firefighter mask offers hands-free thermal imaging

San Francisco mandates rooftop solar panels starting in 2017

San Francisco has been pushing toward 100 percent of its energy to come from renewable resources for a while now. And to further that, the city recently passed legislation that would require new construction to install solar panels on building roofs — an extension of existing legislation that stated 15 percent of a rooftop be reserved for solar use. The city says this is the first mandate of its kind, and that new buildings 10-stories tall or shorter will have to install photovoltaic panels or solar water heaters. The law won’t go into effect until January 1st next year. However, this could just be seen as political grandstanding. The number of sub-10-floor buildings going up in San Francisco is pretty low, especially in terms of residential construction. More than that, buildings are already up against strong opposition from residents for blocking sunlight, so having anything blocking power sources could cause similar situations. We’ve reached out to the San Francisco Planning Department and the city’s Department of Building Inspection for comment and will update this post should either respond. Via: Business Insider Source: Scott Weiner (Medium)

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San Francisco mandates rooftop solar panels starting in 2017

Netflix details its HDR streaming lineup for this year

Netflix recently revealed it had rolled out support for high dynamic range video , starting with the first season of Marco Polo . This was the initial step in the company’s plan to go all in on that technology , which it believes is the perfect complement to 4K — something it’s been pushing since 2014 . By the end of 2016, the streaming service will have more than 150 hours of original programming in HDR, Netflix confirmed to Engadget. Of those, over 100 hours are expected to hit the platform in August, a figure that won’t be easy for competitors such as Amazon to match. While Marco Polo is the only show taking advantage of HDR (Dolby Vision, HDR10) right now, more content is going to follow suit in the next few months. That includes existing series like Bloodline , Daredevil , Jessica Jones and Chef’s Table , as well as The Ridiculous Six movie. Netflix will also feature HDR in the upcoming Luke Cage and The Defenders shows, plus The Do-Over film starring Adam Sandler and more. Here’s the full list, according to Netflix: A Series of Unfortunate Events Bloodline Chef’s Table Hibana Knights of Sidonia Marvel’s Daredevil Marvel’s Iron Fist Marvel’s Jessica Jones Marvel’s Luke Cage Marvel’s The Defenders The Do-Over The Ridiculous Six Unfortunately, there are no firm details on when these are scheduled to arrive. “Timing varies depending on the title, as we are in the process of remastering any existing TV shows and movies, ” a Netflix spokesperson said to Engadget. “It is also dependent on the title’s launch date. We don’t have any dates to confirm at this point in time.” But hey, at least you can be excited about all the HDR stuff that’s coming in the near future.

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Netflix details its HDR streaming lineup for this year

Intel’s Apollo Lake chips promise slimmer, beefier budget PCs

Intel’s Atom-based processors have gotten much better at delivering a lot of bang for the buck , but there’s still little doubt that you’re using a low-cost system. PCs like HP’s Stream series still tend to be thick, carry a meager amount of RAM and rule out intensive tasks like 4K video. You might not have to make quite so many sacrifices going forward, though: Intel has offered a peek at Apollo Lake, a next-generation system-on-a-chip that promises to inject some life into the budget category. It’s not only more compact, but efficient enough that PC makers can afford to slim things down without as many compromises — they can use smaller batteries without hurting battery life, for instance. The more inclusive design (should also save several dollars (around $5-7) in parts that can be rolled into more RAM, better displays and similar upgrades. There’s more than size and cost savings, of course. Apollo Lake borrows the graphics technology from Intel’s Skylake architecture, which brings full hardware-based 4K video playback and an overall boost to visual performance. It’ll also help drag lower-cost computers into the modern era with richer support for technologies like USB-C . Intel isn’t yet revealing clock speeds, pricing and a few other key details for its new platform, but it’s promising Celeron- and Pentium-branded processors in the second half of 2016. They won’t make you forget about higher-end Core CPUs when they ship, but they might just raise the bar for computing — that starter laptop or tablet won’t be as likely to choke on basic duties. Via: AnandTech Source: Intel

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Intel’s Apollo Lake chips promise slimmer, beefier budget PCs

Homeland Security urges you to uninstall QuickTime on Windows

The Department of Homeland Security is echoing Trend Micro’s advice to uninstall QuickTime if you have it on your Windows computer. While the multimedia program’s working just fine, the security firm has discovered two new critical vulnerabilities lurking within it that could allow remote attackers to take over your system. Unfortunately, they might never be patched up: Trend Micro says Apple will no longer release security updates for the Windows version of the software, hence the call to jettison it completely. The good news is that Trend Micro hasn’t spotted any active attacks targeting those specific vulnerabilities yet. But both the firm and Homeland Security stress that because Apple has abandoned the program, the only way to protect yourself from potential threats is to dump it — Windows has a lot of safer alternatives you can use anyway. These flaws don’t affect QuickTime for Mac in any way, though, so OS X users can carry on. Source: Reuters , Department of Homeland Security , Trend Micro