Latest News - Page 1210

A new study published in AGU Advances highlights the discovery.

Scientists previously believed that any flowing water on the surface of Mars evaporated around 3 billion years ago. Now, with the data gathered from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) over the last fifteen years, scientists believe water was flowing as recently as between 2 and 2.5 billion years ago.

Using the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) instrument aboard the MRO allowed the researchers to find chloride salts mineral evidence of water left over after it would have evaporated. The Context Camera and High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard the MRO allow the Mars terrain to be mapped, using the number of craters in an area to determine the age of a given surface. Analysis of the terrain allowed the team to date the salt deposits and tell when water was flowing in different areas.

Aboard the module is the Light Microscopy Module (LMM), and material from the InSPACE-4 and cell signaling in microgravity experiments.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on December 22nd, 2021, with a scheduled for undocking on January 22nd, 2021, followed by a splashdown on Earth the next day. The mission, CRS-24, was a resupply mission to the ISS and has brought back with it some scientific hardware and material from various experiments.

The Light Microscopy Module (LMM) is a powerful light imaging microscope launched to the ISS in 2009, which is now being retired, returning to Earth aboard the Dragon craft. It contributed to many experiments, which you can read about on NASA's website.

Researchers from the University of Stirling have published the new study in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

The researchers found that animals closer to the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl had more genetic mutations than those located further away. Analyzing freshwater crustaceans, Daphnia pulex, they found higher doses of radiation created greater genetic diversity in their populations.

A new study using artificial intelligence has revealed the potential for more meteorite discoveries.

Almost two-thirds of all meteorites on Earth are found in Antarctica, where their dark color allows them to stick out amidst the snowy, barren landscape. Over time, they can become buried by snow, burying them in ice sheets that can help preserve them on land, or may flow toward the ocean and dump them in the water.

Some meteorites become exposed in areas of blue ice if factors such as wind are optimal, and most meteorites recovered in Antarctica have been found in these areas. This new study uses artificial intelligence to analyze the surface of Antarctica uses optical, thermal, and radar data to determine likely zones in which to find meteorites.

The remains of the rocket are from a Falcon 9 that launched in February 2015.

The rocket launched to deliver a NASA satellite, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), into orbit. Instead of returning to Earth, the rocket's second stage had flown far enough away that it entered into a chaotic orbit. It is estimated that it will crash into the far side of the moon on March 4th, 2022.

Intel's new Arc Alchemist discrete GPUs have been spotted again, with the new DG2-384 GPU spotted with 6 memory modules labeled as "Samsung K4ZAF325BM-HC16".

We should expect each of these GDDR6 memory modules to be 2GB a pop, clocked at 16Gbps -- which means with the 384 EU variant of the Arc Alchemist packing 12GB of GDDR6 @ 16Gbps on a 192-bit memory bus -- resulting in around 384GB/sec of memory bandwidth.

This is the second Arc Alchemist GPU, aka "SKU2" or the 384 EU variant -- packing 12GB GDDR6 @ 16Gbps -- while the flagship "SKU1" or the 512 EU variant, packs 16GB of GDDR6 (8 x 2GB modules) at 16Gbps on a 256-bit memory bus for up to 512GB/sec of memory bandwidth.

Facebook, I mean Horizons, I mean LifeLog, I mean Meta have announced that the social networking -- and VR giant -- is putting the finishing touches on the world's fastest AI supercomputer.

The new AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) is already being built and expected to be online by mid-2022, where it is already being used to train huge models in natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision for research -- Meta's aim with RSC -- is that it will one-day train models with trillions and trillions of parameters.

RSC will help super-fuel Meta's AI researchers that will be capable of being fed trillions of examples, where it will use AI to work through hundreds of languages across the planet, seamlessly analyze text, images, and videos together, develop new augmented reality (AR) tools, and so much more.

TechPowerUp has released the latest version of GPU-Z with GPU-Z v2.44.0 supporting a bunch of new chips -- including new designs from AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA.

GPU-Z 2.44.0 has support built-in for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, RTX 3080 12 GB, RTX 3070 Ti Mobile, RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (GA106), RTX 2060 12 GB, GT 1010, MX550, GTX 1650 Mobile (TU117-B), RTX A2000 (GA106-B), RTX A4500, A10G, A100 80 GB PCIe, CMP170HX, and the CMP70HX... and that's just NVIDIA.

Moving onto AMD, GPU-Z v2.44.0 supports the Navi 24-based Radeon RX 6500 XT, RX 6400, RX 6300M, RX 6500M, PRO W6300M, PRO W6500M, and PRO W660M. Intel has new support with GPU-Z v2.44.0 with its new 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" non-K processors, Alder Lake mobile processors, and Xeon processors based on the Rocket Lake CPU architecture are now supported.

Dying Light 2 will be supplied with new content until at least 2027.

Techland is going all out with Dying Light 2. Just like the first game, which had new content launching five years after release, the developers are prepared to support Dying Light 2 with new content for multiple years.

"It all starts on release, but it's just the beginning! We're planning to keep enhancing the game with DLCs, challenges, stories, events, and more for at least 5 years, and that's a minimum! You sure won't be bored!" Techland said on Twitter, revealing its new timeline roadmap for post-launch Dying Light 2 content.

Activision-Blizzard refuses to formally recognize the Game Workers Alliance, the proposed union of Raven Software's QA team, forcing a National Labor Relations Board election process.

Days ago, 34 people at Raven Software's QA team formally asked Activision-Blizzard to recognize their newly-formed union. The Game Workers Alliance, the QA testers became collectively known, would be the first video games union in the United States.

Raven's QA team ended their weeks-long work stoppage after the intent to unionize became known. The strike affected critical testing in Call of Duty Warzone, one of Activision-Blizzard's most lucrative video games.

Halo Infinite could get crossover content from the Halo TV show, possibly new weapons, vehicles, and cosmetic armor sets.

Today 343 Industries revealed a ton of new info about the upcoming Halo TV show, which is set to premiere on Paramount+ sometime soon. The post mentions a lot of interesting points like confirming the SPARTAN-II programs grisly, dark origins will be a part of the show, and also touches on the show's new divergent timeline.

The Halo TV show takes place in the "Silver" timeline, which is a separate and parallel timeline that exists outside of the base Halo canon. (Silver is also the name of the show's fireteam--Chief was part of Blue Team in the original canon). This gives 343i lots of room to bend and manipulate timelines and events to make things more show-friendly.

AT&T added over 13 million subscribers to HBO Max and HBO throughout 2021, close to Netflix's adds.

AT&T just reported its Q4 and full-year financials that outline revenue and subscription growth across the company. Throughout its WarnerMedia entertainment branch the company added a combined 13.1 million subscribers across HBO and HBO Max--the largest surge in paid premium subscribers in the history of the service.

"We also surpassed our high-end guidance for global HBO Max and HBO subscribers, adding 13.1 million subscribers in 2021, more than any year in HBO's history. HBO Max and HBO now reaches a base of 73.8 million subscribers globally. WarnerMedia is well positioned as a dynamic global business," AT&T John Stankey said in the Q4 earnings call.

Valve's Steam Deck hasn't been delayed again, and will start shipping to buyers and the very end of February.

Today Valve announced Steam Deck reservations will start redemption on February 25. Users who pre-ordered a first wave Steam Deck will have 3 days to complete the purchase. If you don't pay for your reservation it will be passed down to the next person.

The first wave of Steam Deck handheld PCs will start shipping out on February 28, 2022 and open up a new dimension of PC gaming on-the-go experiences powered by a custom AMD Zen 2 + RDNA 2 SoC capable of serious handheld performance and compatibility with practically every Steam game on the market.

It's happening... it's finally happening -- Crytek is making a next-gen Crytek game, right in the middle of a pandemic-fueled GPU shortage.

Crytek announced Crysis 4 out of nowhere, saying: "It's something you have been asking us for a long time, so it's now finally time to confirm - yes, the next Crysis game is happening! We are so pleased and excited to bring this news to you, and we really can't wait to reveal more details about what lies ahead".

The developer continues: "Right now the game is in the early stages of development so it will be a while yet, but we wanted to bring you the news at this time as we are so hyped for the future, and to let you know that we will be listening to our community".

A new study describing the link was published in the journal Genome Research.

The genes that could extend the lifespan of small organisms, such as fruit flies living ten percent longer, have now been found by the University College London (UCL) researchers to demonstrate a similar effect in humans. The genes are related to the creation of proteins in our cells and appear to be an example of antagonistic pleiotropy, where genes that help us in early life and through to child-bearing are selected for by evolution, despite ultimately shortening our lives.

The fetus was found inside the "Mysterious Lady" mummy from the Warsaw Mummy Project.

The fetus was discovered last year using a CT scanner, with the research team's findings being published in Journal of Archaeological Science, with a follow-up study now being published as well. The mummy was a member of the Theban community and was estimated to have died between 20 and 30 years of age while pregnant with a fetus between 26 and 30 weeks old. It is the only case ever found of an embalmed pregnant mummy.

The mummy was originally moved out of Egypt in 1826, but its true origins are unknown. The researchers found the mother did not die in childbirth. The fetus was remarkably well preserved but was not immediately found using X-rays during prior research, as its bones had mineralized. The mummification techniques used resulted in dropping blood pH levels, making the blood in the fetus more acidic, which led to the mineralization of the bones.

Canada has had a federal carbon tax since early 2019.

According to many politicians, economists, and activists, taxing corporations and consumers on their carbon emissions can effectively tackle climate change. Implementing these policies doesn't come without controversy, however, leading to revenue from the tax often being relayed to citizens in the form of income-tax credits or rebates.

Published in Nature Climate Change are the findings of a new survey of citizens of Canada, where these carbon-tax credits are issued. 17% of those surveyed across Ontario and Saskatchewan, and between 33 and 36 percent in B.C. and Quebec were unaware if they'd received any rebates. The rebates won't affect the perception of the carbon tax policies if it isn't apparent to the public they are receiving any benefits.

A new study published in the journal AVS Quantum Science describes the necessary conditions.

The research team created a tool to determine how big a quantum computer needs to be to solve two different problems: breaking the encryption of Bitcoin and simulating the molecule responsible for biological nitrogen fixation. Such a quantum computer would also need to be error-corrected, allowing for longer algorithms to be run at the cost of requiring more physical qubits.

A new report from the United Nations (UN) analyses the E-waste situation in Latin America.

The report found that across 13 Latin American countries, electronic waste rose by 49% between 2010 and 2019, roughly equivalent to the world average, but only 3% of it was collected and safely managed compared to the 17.4% global average. In 2019, 206 million citizens in the 13 countries generated 1.3 megatonnes of e-waste, with roughly 30% coming from plastic.

GPU shortages have been around for so long now that it feels like they'll never end, but it looks like there might be some silicon light at the end of the tunnel according to new reports out of DigiTimes.

The site reports that industry leaders are expecting a big shift in the GPU market in the summer of 2022, after some supply issues are worked out in between. Ajinomoto Fine-Techno Company is one of the key companies in the middle of the shortage chain, where they make Ajinomoto build-up films substrates -- or AFB substrates -- which is used on most GPUs, CPUs, chips, automotive processors, and so much more.

Once the company was completely flooded with orders, they couldn't make enough and it became a gigantic thorn in the side of many of the largest tech companies on the planet. Now we have AMD and Intel both promising that we can expect the companies to move into other ways of having this not happen again, and expand what they have on the market for consumers.