Latest News - Page 1071

Today Microsoft announced that Xbox is getting Discord voice chat integration before PlayStation...despite Sony's partnership and monetary investment into Discord.

Discord is coming to Xbox first, complete with streamlined in-game voice chatting. The feature is now being tested on the Xbox Insiders program:

"Discord Voice chat is coming to your Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles. You will be able to chat with anyone on Discord via voice channels or group calls directly from your console making it easy to connect with friends across mobile, Xbox, and PC."

An ongoing heat wave starting in June 2022 is leading to record temperatures and wildfires across Europe.

The United Kingdom's Met Office announced that the night of Monday, July 19th, saw temperatures fall no lower than 25°C (77°F), exceeding the previous highest minimum nighttime temperature of 23.9°C (75°F) that was set in 1990. The following day saw the Met Office announce that "for the first time ever, 40 Celsius has provisionally been exceeded in the UK," after it recorded the U.K.'s highest daytime temperature ever of 40.2°C (104.36°F), smashing the previous all-time high of 38.7°C (101.66°F) that was recorded in 2019.

The heatwave has caused the Met Office to issue a Red Extreme heat warning for parts of England for the first time. The heatwave spreading across Europe and the United Kingdom has also triggered wildfires in various countries, and the death of over 3,600 people has been attributed to the heat wave. The fires have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, with meteorologist Francois Gourand saying that fires in some areas of France "will be a heat apocalypse."

The class action lawsuit was filed against Mars, Incorporated, the parent company of the Wrigley Company, which produces Skittles.

The lawsuit was filed by U.S. citizens in California, claiming Mars has committed a fraud of omission by failing to warn consumers about the presence of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) in Skittles, which is "unfit for human consumption." TiO₂ is found in food items like confectionery and pastries as a white coloring agent, as well as in paints, paper, toothpaste, and more. However, it was recently banned as a food additive in Europe given concerns about its potential genotoxicity or its ability to cause damage to DNA, which can lead to cancer.

Mars asserts that it produces Skittles in alignment with regulations set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that require that "the quantity of titanium dioxide does not exceed 1 percent by weight of the food." Studies used by the European Food Safety Authority that led to Europe's banning of TiO₂ as a food additive were due to the findings that though most TiO₂ passed through the body after consumption, some was absorbed and could accumulate, potentially causing issues. However, the United Kingdom and Australia have yet to take definitive action against TiO₂'s inclusion in food products, citing inconclusive evidence.

A study on the city titled "Rabana-Merquly: a fortress in the kingdom of Adiabene in the Zagros Mountains" has been published in the journal Antiquity.

An international team of archaeologists has uncovered the ruins of what they believe to be the lost city of Natounia in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. The 2000-year-old stronghold known as Rabana-Merquly is believed to be the lost city of Natounia, based on intricate rock carvings depicting leaders found at the site. Also known as Natounissarokerta, the city has only been known to exist on depictions on coins dating back to the first century B.C.

The A5 transformer at the Hoover Dam suffered an explosion and caught fire at approximately 10 a.m. local time on July 19th, 2022.

The Reclamation/Hoover fire brigade managed to extinguish the blaze by about 10:30 a.m. before Boulder City Fire Department firefighters arrived on the scene. No employees or visitors were injured due to the incident, and the cause of the fire is still being investigated. The transformers on-site are responsible for changing the voltage of electricity at the hydroelectric plant.

The United States Bureau of Reclamation noted that there is no risk from the event posed to the power grid, and power generation was not interrupted. The federal government built the Hoover Dam in the 1930s during the Great Depression. It produces three terawatt-hours of electricity per year while holding back Lake Mead, the largest-capacity reservoir in the United States. The dam is a popular tourist attraction; around seven million tourists visit each year.

A study on the flies titled "Subsecond multichannel magnetic control of select neural circuits in freely moving flies" has been published in the journal Nature Materials.

Researchers from Rice University can now activate targeted neurons in the brain of fruit flies using magnetic signals, allowing them to control their bodies. Their new technology enabled the team to activate neural circuits roughly 50 times faster than the previous best demonstration of magnetic stimulation of specific neurons. The targeted neurons were genetically engineered to make them heat sensitive.

The neurons were responsible for causing the flies to spread their wings partially and were manipulated by the researchers by injecting the flies with magnetic nanoparticles that could be heated using an electromagnet. Constraining the flies to an enclosure above an electromagnet allowed the researchers to manipulate the magnetic field to heat the nanoparticles, activate the neurons, and cause the flies to spread their wings.

The newly constructed Luzhijiang Bridge in Yunnan province is now the world's longest suspension bridge with a single tower.

The bridge started a load test on July 11th and completed it a week later on July 18th, using trucks that carried 1,280 tonnes (1,411 tons) and continually drove back and forth across it. The bridge sits 300 meters (984 feet) above the ground, spans 800 meters (2,625 feet), and connects the cities of Yuxi and Chuxiong, reducing the travel time between them from about 90 minutes to only 2 minutes.

The region is some of China's least developed territory. The Luzhijiang Bridge comprises part of a new 200-kilometer (124 miles) long expressway through Yunnan province as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative. The expressway will help connect China with nearby countries like Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos.

Russia has fined Google hundreds of millions of dollars for refusing to censor Ukraine war content on its platform.

A Russian court has ruled that Google will be fined $377 million for failing to remove content about the Ukraine war that Russia considers to be "fake" or "prohibited content". This isn't the first time Russia has fined Google for the content on its platform, as the nation fined Google in December 2021 for what it claimed to be a "systematic failure to remove banned content." Notably, Facebook and Instagram were also fined approximately $27 million.

According to Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor's press release regarding the fine, the Russian court pointed to YouTube being the platform where the "fake" news is being spread and how Google failed to stop the spread of misinformation or restrict access to the "prohibited content". At the moment, Google is available in Russia, but judging by the nation's past decisions to ban platforms that don't agree with Russian principles (Facebook was banned in March), it may not be long before Google is also banned.

Google has revealed that a few dozen "Googlers" and trusted testers will be using the company's new augmented reality glasses in the real-world.

Augmented reality (AR) is imposed computer-generated images onto the real-world, and is undoubtedly going to cause a tectonic shift in the technology industry once the development reaches a point where the mainstream adopts it. Google has now taken to its blog to reveal that a few select individuals will be wearing an "early AR prototype" in the real-world as the company wants to see how the device handles real-world scenarios such as a busy intersection while trying to provide navigation information to the user.

Google writes that the prototype glasses have only been tested within Google's labs and features an in-lens display, microphones, cameras, and more. Notably, Google states these prototypes will have "strict limitations" and won't support photography or videography. However, the glasses will be capable of using image data "to enable experiences like translating the menu in front of you or showing you directions to a nearby coffee shop."

A court has ruled in favor of Twitter for expediting the trial date for the social media company's lawsuit against Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk moved to terminate his merger agreement with Twitter, and in response, the world's second-largest social media company is taking Musk to court. Twitter filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery that claimed Musk must follow through with the merger agreement at the stated price of $54.20 a share, or $44 billion. Twitter's lawsuit also stated that the court should expedite the trial given its nature and how merger agreements being in limbo can impact the company negatively.

Musk fired back at Twitter with a filing that pushed for the court to reject Twitter's request to expedite the trial date, citing the need for a substantial amount of time to analyze and interpret the treasure trove of user data that Twitter provided Musk's team - to review the company's process for identifying bot/spam accounts. The filing requested that the trial get pushed back to on or after February 13, 2023. That request has now been denied by the Delaware Court of Chancery Judge Kathaleen McCormick.

NASA has taken to its blog to announce that Elon Musk's SpaceX has successfully transported thousands of pounds of new science experiments and crew supplies to the ISS.

SpaceX's Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) and was met by NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines, who both got to work on unloading the spacecraft's cargo. NASA explains that Hines and Watkins unloaded 5,800 pounds of science equipment and crew supplies on Saturday, with some of the experiments focusing on the human immune system, protein production, and cancer treatments.

Both NASA Flight Engineers transported "transferred time-critical research samples into the orbital lab to begin exploring a variety of space phenomena to benefit humans on and off the Earth". Hines and Watkins weren't the only ISS astronauts at work as NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren helped Watkins and Hines move science freezers, while European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti performed tests on computer connections within the European Physiology Module.

A poll has been conducted, and it found most Americans believe that the $10 billion spent on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was a good idea.

The poll was conducted by marketing and data analytics company YouGov, which took 1,000 Americans and asked them a couple of questions regarding NASA and its projects. The data analytics company asked participants if they have a favorable opinion of NASA, which garnered results of seven in ten Americans having a "somewhat favorable" opinion of the US space agency, with 13% viewing NASA unfavorably and 16% saying they aren't sure.

The company also asked participants what their thoughts were on several different NASA projects, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station, sending astronauts to the moon, the space shuttle program, and others. Participants were asked if they thought the investments made into each of these ventures had been a good or bad investment. The survey's results indicated that 3 in 5 Americans believe the JWST has been a good investment, with 33% saying they are unsure and 13% saying it's been a bad investment.

The race for the first commercial trip to the Red Planet is progressively getting more participants, with two companies recently announcing plans to arrive on Mars sometime in 2024.

Terran R rocket illustration.

Relativity Space, founded in 2015, and Impulse have announced a partnership to develop the Terran R rocket, a reusable 3D-printed rocket, and a Mars Cruise Vehicle, as well as a Mars Lander. Relativity Space has raised more than $1 billion for its metal 3D-printing technology, which is being used to develop rocket fuselages, engines, and more. Notably, Relativity Space claims that 3D-printing technology alleviates many of the struggles of manufacturing rocket parts.

Stray is now available for the PC and PlayStation 5, with the third-person cat adventure game being a smash hit for Annapurna Interactive and BlueTwelve Studios.

Stray launched today on both the PC and PS5, where on Steam it has a purrfect 60,000+ concurrent players on launch. Industry analyst Benji Sales tweeted: "Now over 60,000+ Concurrent Players for Stray on Steam. I absolutely cannot over emphasize how incredible these numbers are for an indie title. These numbers are much closer to what a successful AAA titles reach. HUGE hit for Annapurna Interactive and BlueTwelve Studio".

He followed up with another tweet, adding: "Stray has shattered the concurrent players record for any Annapurna Interactive game on Steam easily becoming its biggest PC launch ever". 60,000+ concurrent players on Steam on launch day is mighty impressive, but this success must feel SO good for the developer... listening to their fans, and themselves as cat lovers (as am I).

GUNNIR is the first out of the gate with an Intel Arc A380 graphics card, officially releasing its new GUNNIR Intel Arc A380 Photon 6G OC graphics card... at least in China.

The new custom GUNNIR Intel Arc A380 Photon 6G OC graphics card isn't something that you'll want to run out and buy right now, it's just too late, and too slow against many other competitors from AMD and NVIDIA that you could not just buy right now, but months ago... years ago.

If you're in China, you can secure yourself a custom GUNNIR Intel Arc A380 Photon 6G OC graphics card for 1299 RMB which works out to around $192 USD. Intel isn't sending any of the GUNNIR Intel Arc A380 graphics cards out to reviewers, as it seems ex-reviewer and now Intel GPU marketing guy Ryan Shrout, is about the only one with hands-on with it.

Elon Musk is once again tweeting about the world not being overpopulated, with the SpaceX and Tesla CEO tweeting: "Earth is basically empty of humans".

In a reply to a tweet from Tim Urban, which explains: "Population density thread because you and I both know you have nothing better to do. Let's start with this cool way to visualize population density, by @undertheraedar. The height of each spike displays the population density in that location".

Musk replied, tweeting: "Earth is basically empty of humans".

NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 4090 has been in the headlines this week with teases of 66% more performance in synthetic 3DMark benchmarks, but now we're hearing rumors of the "full-fat AD102 GPU" and some truly brute performance.

In a new tweet, the "hunter of fake leaks" aka @XpeaGPU teased: "Got first in game score. Full AD102 at "high power draw" (whatever does it mean, maybe OC?) in Control Ultra 4K RT + DLSS reaches 160+fps. Don't know which CPU, RAM, GPU clock, but it looks very high to me. What a 3090Ti does in this bench?"

Now, if we compare this against NVIDIA's second-top Ampere-based GeForce RTX 3090, which can run Control at 4K with RT + DLSS at around 72FPS average (thanks Hassan @ Wccftech) which means the new full-fat AD102 GPU with "high power draw" absolutely destroys the GA102-based RTX 3090 with a huge 160FPS+.

Corsair has just announced two new members of its XENEON gaming monitor family, with the introduction of the XENEON 32UHD144 and XENEON 32QHD240 gaming monitors.

First up, the Corsair XENEON 32UHD144 is a new flagship 32-inch 4K IPS LED monitor with a super-smooth 144Hz refresh rate, with the monitor's "vivid colors and realism made possible by Quantum Dot technology". Corsair is using an ultra-slim design on the new XENEON gaming monitors, with the Corsair XENEON 32UHD144 packing 2 x HDMI 2.1 ports, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 port, and USB Type-C connectivity.

Corsair even includes a USB 3.1 hub into the XENEON 32UHD144 that helps keep your cables nice and neat, through their in-house RapidRoute cable management system built into the stand of the gaming monitor.

Netflix reports its second quarter of subscriber losses in a row for its Q2 period.

Netflix subscriber losses have more than quadrupled over Q1, new earnings reports have confirmed. The streaming giant lost 969,000 subscribers in its Q2 period, its largest reduction in subscribers to date. From January - June 2022, Netflix subscribers have dropped by over 1.1 million across the globe.

The company also says that its ad-based plans may be years away, and that it will continue experimenting with its paid sharing plans which require users to pay an extra fee to share their Netflix subscriptions with users in other households.

Blizzard Albany, who used to be known as Vicarious Visions, is now the second Activision-Blizzard studio to unionize.

The second Activision-Blizzard QA (quality assurance) team has organized to form a union. QA workers at Blizzard Albany, originally Vicarious Visions (Diablo 2 Resurrected, Tony Hawk remasters) before it was absorbed into Blizzard, want fair pay and a reduction of brutal overworking conditions as well as solutions to other issues.

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) union pledges to help Blizzard Albany become formally recognized as a union. Activision-Blizzard says that it will "publicly and formally" respond to the NLRB, which ensures a vote from the National Labor Relations Board.