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Do aliens exist? Asteroid impact? NASA answers all the big questions

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Jan 4, 2022 12:06 AM CST

For all of 2021, NASA published short videos on its YouTube channel answering some of the most popular questions in science and space.

Do aliens exist? Asteroid impact? NASA answers all the big questions

The video series titled "We Asked a NASA Expert" is by far one of the best series' the space agency has done as it provides viewers with easily digestible valuable information from experts in their respective fields in a concise format. The series covers a range of questions to "When was the last time an asteroid hit Earth?", "Do aliens exist?", and "Will an asteroid ever hit Earth?".

So far, NASA has produced twenty of these "We Asked a NASA Expert" videos, and above, you will find a short video showcasing some of the biggest questions that have been answered. Below you will find several videos from the series that have been my personal favorites. Hopefully, NASA will continue these incredible videos throughout 2022 as they provide a wealth of knowledge to people that don't have a lot of time to pursue in-depth explanations.

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Here's how much Netflix executives will make in 2022

Derek Strickland | Business, Financial & Legal | Jan 3, 2022 6:09 PM CST

Netflix's latest SEC filings reveal full year pay structures for CEO Reed Hastings and other executives.

Here's how much Netflix executives will make in 2022

A new Form 8-K filing shows how much Netflix's top brass will make in 2022. Each exec will receive multi-million salaries with the exception of Reed Hastings, who takes a $650,000 annual salary and a hefty $35 million stock option. The payout plan has been approved by shareholder votes and the internal board of directors compensation committee.

Netflix is currently enjoying its strongest performance of all time. 2021 has been a boon year for the streaming titan as mega-popular series like Squid Game and the League of Legends-based animated show Arcane take hold. The company's 9-months revenues currently sit at $21.98 billion, almost as high as 2020's full-year earnings of $24.99 billion, and overall net income achieved an astronomical new record high of $4.5 billion.

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PC gamers vote: Here are Steam's best games of 2021

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jan 3, 2022 5:05 PM CST

PC gamers have spoken: The top Steam games include Resident Evil Village, It Takes Two, Deathloop, and Terraria. Here's the Steam Awards 2021 winners.

PC gamers vote: Here are Steam's best games of 2021

Shortly after The Game Awards, Valve recently held its own annual awards showcase to highlight the best PC games on the platform. The results aren't super surprising but are well-deserved nonetheless, with fantastic games like Resident Evil Village taking home Game of the Year (check out our official RE Village review to see why we love this game...and you should too).

After a year of controversy and mounting pressure, CD Projekt had a big win at the Steam Awards. Cyberpunk 2077 was recognized for its storytelling prowess just months after the game's Steam reviews became Mostly Positive.

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Ken Levine's next game is very far behind, doesn't have a name yet

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jan 3, 2022 3:57 PM CST

BioShock creator Ken Levine's new game is currently in development hell due to his fickle creative process.

Ken Levine's next game is very far behind, doesn't have a name yet

Ghost Story Games, Ken Levine's ne studio, was established in 2014 following BioShock Infinite's development. The last BioShock burned Levine out--and looking at his vastly complicated, volatile, and vacillating creative style it's no wonder--and he wanted a smaller-scale team to work on something special.

The problem is Levine's ambitions far outweigh the abilities of a small team. For the last 7 years, Ghost Story Games has quietly been working on a new project that's continually morphed and changed throughout the years. At one point the team was working on a mysterious Twilight Zone experience that was, predictably, cancelled.

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Continue reading: Ken Levine's next game is very far behind, doesn't have a name yet (full post)

One of the best Star Wars games ever is free for Amazon Prime users

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jan 3, 2022 11:40 AM CST

Amazon Prime Gaming's free lineup for January 2022 is really good, and includes one of the best Star Wars games of all time.

One of the best Star Wars games ever is free for Amazon Prime users

From now until January 31, Amazon Prime subscribers can enjoy a handful of awesome free games including Respawn's beloved Star Wars adventure Jedi: Fallen Order (on EA's Origin client, not Steam). Another heavy-hitter offered in the free bundle chaotic RTS Total War: Warhmmer, and there's also Saber's popular World War Z shooter on the Epic Games Store.

The rest of the games lineup are launched natively within the Prime Gaming app on Windows, so there's no need to redeem keys or download another launcher like Origin or EGS. Respawn's next Star Wars game--a sequel to the popular Jedi: Fallen Order--may be revealed sometime this year with a release date in 2023 or 2024.

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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti flashed to RTX 3090: 110MH/s mining upgrade

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Jan 3, 2022 6:43 AM CST

NVIDIA gimped its GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with LHR (Lite Hash Rate) models that dropped ETH hash rate performance, but now that can be fully unlocked according to CryptoDonkeyMiner.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti flashed to RTX 3090: 110MH/s mining upgrade

In a new video, CryptoDonkeyMiner confirmed that his Inno3D GeForce RTX 3080 Ti iCHILL X3 graphics card was firmware flashed with the BIOS from the higher-end EVGA XC3 BIOS and had a huge boost in performance. He went from around 77MH/s to 90MH/s+ with the BIOS upgrade.

Beyond that, he was able to push up to a huge 110MH/s from the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti by flashing it with a DELL RTX 3090 BIOS... which is crazy. 100-110MH/s is what the higher-end GeForce RTX 3090 pumps away mining ETH, thanks to its faster GDDR6X memory.

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Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti flashed to RTX 3090: 110MH/s mining upgrade (full post)

Samsung asks for 'Age of Togetherness' with new Frame, Neo QLED TVs

Anthony Garreffa | Displays | Jan 3, 2022 6:31 AM CST

Samsung has unveiled its latest and greatest The Frame TV, which is an even sleeker, and even more expensive TV that looks like a piece of art in your room... if you can afford it.

Samsung asks for 'Age of Togetherness' with new Frame, Neo QLED TVs

The company lets you show off your own videos and photos, as well as show off customized metal and wooden frames so that it truly does look like a painting on your wall. The latest version of Samsung's The Frame TV has a new anti-reflective screen that will look more realistic than previous Frame TVs.

Samsung says that the new matte finish on The Frame 2022 TVs makes the screen have a "lifelike paper and canvas texture" that has been "engineered to maximise light scattering surface irregularities" even if they're in a bright room. I think you'd need to see the anti-reflective screen on the new Frame TV to really understand what Samsung has in its expensive boutique TVs.

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Samsung's new 2022 Neo QLED TVs let you buy, display NFTs on the TV

Anthony Garreffa | Cryptocurrency & Mining | Jan 3, 2022 4:20 AM CST

Samsung has unveiled its new 2022 series TVs with fresh new models in their Micro-LED, Neo QLED, and The Frame families of TVs but there's something that stands out.

Samsung's new 2022 Neo QLED TVs let you buy, display NFTs on the TV

The company has revealed that its new smart TVs have a new "NFT Aggregation Platform" that will let owners of the NFT-capable TVs buy NFTs (non-fungible tokens) directly from their TV, preview their new NFT art, and then have it displayed on their TV as digital artwork. The TV and its app will let people see other details including who made the art, as well as the required blockchain metadata.

If you already own NFTs or start building your collection of NFTs you'll be able to showcase them on the TV, while Samsung notes that it has "Smart Calibration" technology that adjusts the settings on your TV to match the specifications that the original creator envisioned, to ensure that you're getting the NFT rendered on the TV as faithfully to the original art as possible.

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Continue reading: Samsung's new 2022 Neo QLED TVs let you buy, display NFTs on the TV (full post)

Alienware Concept Nyx: kinda like a Plex server, but for your PC games

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jan 3, 2022 4:00 AM CST

Alienware has just teased its Concept Nyx, a new product that -- if made into a reality-- would act as a Plex server for your PC games and wirelessly stream them to devices in your house... no matter where you purchased the games from.

Alienware Concept Nyx: kinda like a Plex server, but for your PC games

The Alienware Concept Nyx would let you tap a single button similar to pressing the Chromecast button on your smart device when a Google Chromecast-capable device (Chromecast, NVIDIA Shield, Smart TVs, etc) is on your Wi-Fi network. Alienware's new Concept Nyx would allow up to 4 games being streamed at once, with repurposed Concept UFO controllers from CES 2020 spotted with Concept Nyx.

You'll need a beefy PC to handle it all, as well as some wicked-fast networking -- most high-end motherboards have 2.5GbE, 5GbE, and even 10GbE networking now -- but wired GbE ethernet should suffice. I'm sure we'll see Alienware release a specific device for it -- with enough grunt to handle it all -- as well as a paid service, but this is all in the air as it's a concept device right now.

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Continue reading: Alienware Concept Nyx: kinda like a Plex server, but for your PC games (full post)

Elon Musk agrees Tesla Bot's future may be a 'friend' in the household

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Jan 3, 2022 3:02 AM CST

Elon Musk has sat down with Lex Fridman to discuss the future of Tesla and the Tesla Bot, with the CEO agreeing it could enter the household sometime in the future.

Elon Musk agrees Tesla Bot's future may be a 'friend' in the household

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sat down with Lex Fridman for a two-and-a-half-hour podcast that covers a variety of different topics that Musk is involved in. One of the many questions asked was about the future of the Tesla Bot, and if it's possible that one day in the future that the Tesla Bot could act as a human companion.

Musk answered by saying that the Telsa Bot hasn't been initially designed for human companionship and is targeted towards alleviating jobs from people who wouldn't do if they weren't paid (for example, washing dishes), allowing them to do something they would prefer instead. However, Elon Musk agrees that the Tesla Bot could be a great "buddy" as the artificial intelligence would map the behavior of its human companion down to the subtle imperfections that every human bares.

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Continue reading: Elon Musk agrees Tesla Bot's future may be a 'friend' in the household (full post)

NASA drops update on James Webb Space Telescope unfolding

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Jan 3, 2022 2:32 AM CST

NASA recently launched the extremely fragile and expensive James Webb Space Telescope, and now the agency has given an update on the timeline for its unfolding process.

NASA drops update on James Webb Space Telescope unfolding

NASA has taken to its blog on its website as well as its social media to announce that the team behind Webb has decided to focus on optimizing Webb's power systems and developing a deeper understanding of how the new observatory operates in space.

According to NASA, the Webb team will begin the sun shield tension activities no earlier than Monday, January 3, as this new timeline will ensure that the space telescope has the highest possible chance of a smooth next step in its unfolding process. NASA explains that it's taking a very simple approach towards the extremely complex unfolding system, and that is keeping mission operations "focused on as few activities as necessary at a time".

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NFTs hit with rocky week as theft, adoption and Eminem surface

Jak Connor | Cryptocurrency & Mining | Jan 3, 2022 2:04 AM CST

Over the New Year holidays, the NFT space has been hit with ups and downs as millions of dollars worth of digital collections have been stolen while celebrities continue their adoption.

NFTs hit with rocky week as theft, adoption and Eminem surface

According to a report from Decrypt, Ozzy Osbourne has announced via his official Twitter account that he is releasing his own collection of NFTs. The singer, songwriter, and television personality announced the launch of "CryptoBatz" which will include 9,666 unique bats that are designed by Osbourne. Along with the NFT announcement, Osbourne directed everyone to the new CryptoBatz Discord server, where interested buyers will be able to get into the pre-sale.

In some not-so-positive NFT news, NFT collector Todd Kramer tweeted that 15 Bored Ape and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs had been stolen from him by a hacker worth around $2.2 million. Kramer described the realization of what had happened as "arguably the worst night of my life".

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All of these tiny dots aren't glittering stars, they're something else

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Jan 3, 2022 1:35 AM CST

Astronomers have created a map that showcases thousands of tiny dots that appear to be normal stars, but they aren't.

All of these tiny dots aren't glittering stars, they're something else

The above image isn't of the typical night sky you see when you walk out into your backyard; it's actually an image that showcases thousands of active supermassive black holes devouring all material that comes close to them. Astronomers have created the most detailed map of black holes at low radio frequencies, which is a result of years of hard work processing incredibly difficult data.

The data was captured by the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) that's located in Europe and consists of an interferometric network of around 20,000 radio antennas that are positioned across 52 locations around Europe. The above image only covers four percent of the Northern sky, and is the first of the network's plan to image the entire Northern sky in ultra-low frequencies. If you are interested in reading more about this story, check out this link here.

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Elon Musk gives a time frame for when humans will walk on Mars

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Jan 3, 2022 1:03 AM CST

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has returned to the Lex Fridman podcast to answer several questions about the future of space travel and Tesla.

Elon Musk gives a time frame for when humans will walk on Mars

Musk sat down with Fridman for a 2.5-hour podcast that touches on several topics that Musk is working on - from SpaceX launch vehicles to Tesla vehicles and artificial intelligence. During the interview, Fridman asked Musk when he thinks SpaceX will land a human being on Mars (27.25 minutes). Musk paused for several seconds before answering the question and said that the best-case scenario would be five years, and the worst-case scenario would be ten years.

Fridman followed up by asking Musk what the determining factors are that impact the timeline of getting a human on Mars, to which Musk said that the engineering of the vehicle is fundamentally the main bottleneck. Musk explains that SpaceX's newest launch vehicle, Starship, is fundamentally optimized to minimize cost per ton to orbit and cost per ton to the surface of Mars.

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Scientists photograph monstrous supermassive black hole feeding

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Jan 3, 2022 12:45 AM CST

Astronomers have captured the emissions from a monstrous black hole located 12 million light-years away from Earth at the center of a galaxy.

Scientists photograph monstrous supermassive black hole feeding

While black holes are quite difficult to detect, researchers have a few tactics that allow them to locate these phenomena. One way researchers detect black holes is to observe regions of space in different wavelengths of light, and while black holes engulf everything that is close to them, including light, some black holes glow with emissions coming from the event horizons.

An example of this is a supermassive black hole located at the center of the galaxy Centaurus A. This black hole is currently sucking in large amounts of gas, which results in material being ejected out of the black hole at high speeds. This material causes "radio bubbles", which can then be detected by researchers. The above image is the most comprehensive image of radio emissions from the nearest actively feeding supermassive black hole, according to Icrar.org.

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Mars orbiter photographs 'powdered sugar on a rich velvet cake'

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Jan 3, 2022 12:31 AM CST

A new image posted by the European Space Agency (ESA) has revealed the incredible colors of the surface of Mars.

Mars orbiter photographs 'powdered sugar on a rich velvet cake'

Red velvet Mars.

The above image showcases a Martian crater that the ESA writes looks "like a sprinkle of powdered sugar on a rich red velvet cake." The image was taken by the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter that is typically used to measure gases in Mars' atmosphere. However, the Trace Orbiter is also used to take images of the Red Planet's surface as well as act as a communication link between rovers on the surface and Earth.

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Continue reading: Mars orbiter photographs 'powdered sugar on a rich velvet cake' (full post)

Samsung's new TV remote recharges battery from your Wi-Fi radio waves

Anthony Garreffa | Displays | Jan 3, 2022 12:12 AM CST

Samsung has just unveiled its new 2022 series TVs and they come with new Eco Remotes that are capable of drawing power from not just the sun... but from radio waves.

Samsung's new TV remote recharges battery from your Wi-Fi radio waves

Yeah, the new Samsung Eco Remotes will actually draw power from the radio waves near your house -- including your Wi-Fi router -- and other devices. Samsung says that the RF harvesting would let your TV emote control be fully charged whether you're watching TV all day and night and click the remote 5 trillion times I guess... because I replace the batteries in my remote, like, every YEAR.

The South Korean giant is making the new Eco Remote with a "recycled material design" -- so don't worry, the environment is being looked after -- while power is being harvested through your body, to your remote. The new remote will have a minimalistic design, pack a built-in microphone for voice control, and the usual shortcuts for apps and services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Samsung TV Plus.

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AMD Athlon Gold PRO 4150GE APU: 4 CPU cores, Vega GPU, 35W TDP

Anthony Garreffa | Processors | Jan 2, 2022 11:56 PM CST

AMD is readying a new Athlon CPU for the Asian Pacific market, with the introduction of the new Athlon Gold PRO 4150GE APU.

AMD Athlon Gold PRO 4150GE APU: 4 CPU cores, Vega GPU, 35W TDP

The new AMD Athlon Gold PRO 4150GE APU packs Zen 2 cores for its 4C processor, since it's an entry-level processor and not a higher-end Ryzen CPU. There is no HT here so it's just a 4C/4T processor with a base CPU clock of 3.3GHz, and boost CPU clock of up to 3.7GHz. There's 4MB of L2 cache, and a 35W TDP.

AMD is making use of its 3rd Gen Vega GPU cores, packing in 5 Compute Units (320 cores) with the GPU clocking in at up to 1.5GHz. This is a big upgrade over the previous-gen Athlon Gold PRO 3150GE processor, with 3 CUs and GPU clocks of up to 1.1GHz.

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Continue reading: AMD Athlon Gold PRO 4150GE APU: 4 CPU cores, Vega GPU, 35W TDP (full post)

Samsung announces world's first 4K 144Hz TV for next-gen PC gaming

Anthony Garreffa | Displays | Jan 2, 2022 11:45 PM CST

Samsung has just announced its next-gen 2022 Neo QLED TVs which are available in regular, and ridiculous sizes -- as well as in both 4K and 8K variants -- offering up to 4K 144Hz on a TV.

Samsung announces world's first 4K 144Hz TV for next-gen PC gaming

Samsung has unveiled the "world's first 4K 144Hz TV" using their in-house Mini-LED display technology, with the additional of Shape Adaptive Light Control that reportedly reduces stray illumination by analyzing on-screen objects and shaping the light to match them. Samsung is also using Object Depth Enhancer, which uses more processing to work out which objects are from the background.

The big deal here is the ability to offer 4K 144Hz right out of the box for PC gamers, and up to 4K 120Hz for the next-gen Microsoft Xbox Series X/S and Sony PlayStation 5 consoles. Samsung is the first with a 4K 144Hz gaming TV, all done through HDMI 2.1 connectivity to the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series and AMD Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs -- as well as all GPUs coming this year, and in the future -- all ready for 4K 120/144Hz.

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MSI's new Gaming, Creator laptops pack Intel + NVIDIA's latest chips

Anthony Garreffa | Laptops | Jan 2, 2022 11:35 PM CST

MSI has just unveiled its new Creator and Gaming series laptops, which include Intel's new 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" CPUs and NVIDIA's about-to-be-announced GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU.

MSI's new Gaming, Creator laptops pack Intel + NVIDIA's latest chips

The new MSI Gaming series laptop offers a "significant performance improvement over previous models" thanks to a huge 30-45% increase in CPU performance with Intel's new Alder Lake CPUs. MSI is changing things up with a new thermal solution: the new Phase Change Liquid Metal Pad. MSI says that its in-house cooling will help "fully release the power of the new 12th Gen Intel processors. It provides a solution that is as efficient as liquid metal, but safer and more reliable".

MSI is providing both NVIDIA's new flagship GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU which packs 16GB of GDDR6 memory -- the fastest GDDR6 memory inside of a laptop. MSI notes that the new RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU has "higher performance than the desktop TITAN RTX". The company also has NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU on offer, which is up to 70% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER.

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Continue reading: MSI's new Gaming, Creator laptops pack Intel + NVIDIA's latest chips (full post)

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