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First time seeing Earth from the ISS was 'Meh', says NASA astronaut

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Feb 11, 2020 4:20 AM CST

If you are a fan of space, then it's most likely one of your dreams to be able to see Earth from space. You'd imagine that the first moment you gaze out at our blue planet would be incredible, right?

First time seeing Earth from the ISS was 'Meh', says NASA astronaut

Garret Reisman, a former NASA Astronaut and currently a Professor of Astronautical Engineering at USC and a Senior Advisor at SpaceX, sat down with Joe Rogan on his podcast to explain just what that's like. Reisman was asked by Joe, "the first day you actually got up there, was that the first time you have been in space? So your first view of the Earth from above? What is that like?" Reisman then began to describe what that was like, and what kind of experience it was to see everyone's home from space.

Here's what Reisman said, "Wow. Well, I didn't see it right away cause I was in the mid-deck the downstairs of the shuttle, and there's only one window down there, and it's in the corner, ok, so it's in the hatch and it's like the size of a dinner plate. You had a lot of work to do as soon as you get up there, so I'm working like crazy, and after about 30 minutes I see this pale blue glow coming from that window. I was like, "that's the Earth... I should have a look at that". I was super excited for this, ya know? So I wanted to be ready, so I paused, closed my eyes, meditated -- call it whatever you want, I just got ready."

Continue reading: First time seeing Earth from the ISS was 'Meh', says NASA astronaut (full post)

Earth's solar system position plays a major role in climate change

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Feb 11, 2020 3:56 AM CST

There's no doubt that humans have influenced the world's climate to at least some degree since we have been around, but how much of the now changing climate is our fault?

Earth's solar system position plays a major role in climate change

A new study has been released in the PNAS journal by scientists who have examined the global climate and carbon cycle that occurred millions of years ago. The scientists from Trinity College Dublin looked ancient mudstone deposits in Wales and discovered that the position of Earth's orbit played a major role in carbon-cycle and global climate as a whole throughout the Triassic-Jurassic Mass Extinction period around 201 million years ago.

The scientists found that volcanic activity in these periods of time played a big role in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that were present in both the ocean and atmosphere. This discovery revealed that both the global climate and carbon cycles were constantly changing. Dr. Micha Ruhl, Assistant Professor in Sedimentology at Trinity, said, "Periodic changes in the shape of Earth's orbit around the sun impacted on the amount of energy received by Earth from the sun, which in turn impacted climatic and environmental processes, as well as the carbon-cycle, on local, regional and global scales."

Continue reading: Earth's solar system position plays a major role in climate change (full post)

Amazon poaches former Hulu CEO to steer Prime Video

Jak Connor | Internet & Websites | Feb 11, 2020 3:25 AM CST

Amazon has a new point man to run their online video streaming department, and he was once the CEO of Disney's Hulu.

Amazon poaches former Hulu CEO to steer Prime Video

According to an article posted by The Wall Street Journal, Amazon has signed a new contact employing Mike Hopkins, former CEO of the Disney-owned streaming service Hulu. Hopkins will now be leading Amazon's Prime Video section and has quite a lot of experience behind him to back up his decisions. Before joining Hulu and running it as CEO for four years, Hopkins worked as the chairman for Sony Pictures Television and also was the head of 21st Century Fox's distribution strategy.

Hopkins has been hired by Amazon to run its Prime Video department in the absence of Jeff Blackburn. Hopkins will also report directly to the big man himself -- Jeff Bezos. Blackburn sent a note out to staffers saying the following, "Mike comes to us with over 20 years of industry experience at Fox, Hulu, and Sony. He has an extensive track record as a global business leader in media, film, and TV -- negotiating landmark content and distribution agreements, running marketing operations, leading product/tech teams, and overseeing production of breakthrough television content."

Continue reading: Amazon poaches former Hulu CEO to steer Prime Video (full post)

NASA astronaut explains how humans can be 'cooked' going to Mars

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Feb 11, 2020 2:51 AM CST

A former NASA and International Space Station astronaut has sat down with Joe Rogan revealing many facts about space travel and the eventuality of humans going to Mars.

NASA astronaut explains how humans can be 'cooked' going to Mars

On the Joe Rogan Podcast, former NASA astronaut and now Professor of Astronautical Engineering at USC and Senior Advisor at SpaceX, Garret Reisman deep-dived into how humans will eventually make it to Mars and the precautions we will need to take. At about an hour into the podcast, Joe asks Reisman how long does he think it will be before humans can go to another planet?

Reisman says, "going to Mars is something we could do in a decade if we really, really wanted to. It's not a question of technology, the big missing piece I think in understanding about what that would be like [travelling to Mars] is the effect of radiation on the human body." Reisman then continues to explain that there are currently solutions to this problem in the works to mitigating against deadly radiation.

Continue reading: NASA astronaut explains how humans can be 'cooked' going to Mars (full post)

35% of Americans think the Hummer EV is a threat to the Cybertruck

Jak Connor | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Feb 11, 2020 2:19 AM CST

Since the announcement of Tesla's Cybertruck, competitors have scrambled to announce their own version of an electric truck. But how will these newly announced affect Tesla's Cybertruck, and what does the public think?

35% of Americans think the Hummer EV is a threat to the Cybertruck

During this year's Super Bowl, we saw GM's Hummer EV advertisement that featured LeBron James. Since that advertisement went live, there has been some talk about how GM's Hummer EV will be a threat to Tesla's Cybertruck that was announced late last year. According to a nationwide survey of 20,264 Americans that was conducted by Piplsay, 35% of those who did the survey believe that the Hummer EV will be a "threat" to Tesla's Cybertruck.

The survey also found that 47% of men think that the Hummer EV will challenge the Cybertruck, as compared to 29% of women. While this survey and these statistics don't predict the exact future of how the sales of each of these vehicles will end up, it does give us some insight on what Americans are thinking about both of these vehicles coming to market. It should also be noted that the sample size for this survey is extremely small, but can still be looked at as somewhat relevant.

Continue reading: 35% of Americans think the Hummer EV is a threat to the Cybertruck (full post)

SpaceX's first passenger launch could happen sooner than you think

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Feb 11, 2020 1:06 AM CST

At the end of last month, SpaceX successfully completed their escape test of Crew Dragon. Now rumors are flying about when their next demo flight will be.

SpaceX's first passenger launch could happen sooner than you think

According to Ars Technica's Senior Space Editor, Eric Berger, who took to Twitter this past Monday and said that SpaceX's Demo-2 mission is scheduled for May 7th. Berger also states in his tweet that Dragon is "in good shape" and that the specific launch date is "fluid" due to a "number of variables not hardware-related". Berger also mentions that the launch date may move into late April or push into early May, hence the May 7th date.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that you can expect that the first crewed mission will take place sometime throughout the second quarter of 2020. This means that it will happen sometime in either April, May or June, which coincides with what Berger is talking about. I wouldn't be surprised if SpaceX pushes the launch date back into the middle of May, just to make sure everything is right for a successful launch.

Continue reading: SpaceX's first passenger launch could happen sooner than you think (full post)

Trump to hunt down more billions for NASA's Mars and Moon missions

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Feb 11, 2020 12:32 AM CST

The Trump administration is moving full steam ahead with their plan to put Americans back on the Moon and eventually on Mars in the coming years.

Trump to hunt down more billions for NASA's Mars and Moon missions

In its annual budget request, which was released just this past Monday, the White House has requested that Congress increase NASA's funding to more than $25 billion in the 2021 fiscal year. The report also states that $12.4 billion will be allocated for the coming 'Artemis' Moon landing program that is scheduled to happen in 2024.

It isn't set in stone that Congress will approve the request, but what we do know is that the White House's recent proposal gives Congress a more detailed evaluation of where the money will be spent and when. An example of this is that $3.4 billion is being asked to be laid aside for the construction of a lunar Human Landing System, "the first directed funding for such a system since Apollo". There are critics of the Artemis program, and if you'd like to read up on that, check out this link here.

Continue reading: Trump to hunt down more billions for NASA's Mars and Moon missions (full post)

Motorola foldable Razr arrives in gold this spring

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Feb 10, 2020 11:59 PM CST

Motorola's new foldable Razr is officially on the market, but what if you didn't want it in its all-black affair? Well, you're in luck as the new Razr is being made in gold.

Motorola foldable Razr arrives in gold this spring

Motorola has just announced that a new "Blush Gold" version of the foldable Razr, but there will be no other changes. It's just a new style of the Razr, for those who aren't happy with the black style of the original style of the stock Razr. The new "Blush Gold" design is only on the bottom half of the phone and the ring around the rear-facing camera, as well as the bottom wedge of the Razr when it's opened up.

The new "Blush Gold" edition of the Motorola Razr smartphone will be available in spring, but between now and then you should check out the Motorola Razr teardown and JerryRigEverything's total annihilation of the Razr using a real-life razor, sand, and even fire on it to destroy it.

Continue reading: Motorola foldable Razr arrives in gold this spring (full post)

Motorola foldable Razr gets glorious teardown treatment

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Feb 10, 2020 11:39 PM CST

Now that Motorola's new foldable Razr smartphone is out in the wild, it has received the JerryRigEverything torture tests with a razor, sand and even fire -- as well as a teardown treatment by PBKreviews.

Motorola foldable Razr gets glorious teardown treatment

Getting inside of the new Motorola Razr requires heating the back of the phone up to get the glue on the rear of the Razr loose, and then you can open it up with plastic implements before you can touch any of the internals. There are a bunch of screws and cables you'll need to move around, but you will need to be very careful given it's a foldable display versus a traditional smartphone.

In the end, PBKreviews says that the Motorola Razr teardown was not easy and they would "probably even go as far as saying [that the phone isn't] repairable at all by most people".

Continue reading: Motorola foldable Razr gets glorious teardown treatment (full post)

Sony joins the growing list pulling out of MWC over coronavirus fears

Anthony Garreffa | Trade Shows | Feb 10, 2020 11:18 PM CST

Sony has joined an ever-growing list of companies pulling out or reducing their presence at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain over concerns of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sony joins the growing list pulling out of MWC over coronavirus fears

The company joins Amazon, Ericsson, LG, NVIDIA, Samsung, and ZTE in pulling out of MWC 2020, which is still going ahead according to organizers GSMA. At this point, I don't know why... with virtually all major tech companies pulling out of MWC because of the coronavirus, so I expect big things to change in the coming week or so as MWC 2020 kicks off on February 24-27.

In a press release, Sony said: "As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. Sony would like to thank everyone for their understanding and ongoing support during these challenging times".

Continue reading: Sony joins the growing list pulling out of MWC over coronavirus fears (full post)

Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip foldable teased with Thom Browne Edition

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Feb 10, 2020 11:03 PM CST

Samsung will fully debut its new Galaxy S20 family of smartphones on February 11 at its Unpacked event, but it'll also debut the new foldable Galaxy Z Flip handset -- now teased with a new Thom Browne Edition.

Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip foldable teased with Thom Browne Edition

The new Galaxy Z Flip Thom Browne Edition comes in stripey goodness, with its iconic red/white/blue style on all of its included products. In the box you'll get the Galaxy Z Flip Thom Browne Edition smartphone itself, but you'll also get gorgeous Galaxy Buds+ and a Galaxy Watch Active 2 smartwatch, too.

Samsung is expected to price its regular Galaxy Z Flip from $1250-$1400 according to various reports, but the new Thom Browne Edition should cost a bunch extra -- we could expect a $1000 premium knocking it up to $2500 for the entire package. But hey, if you want this style then you're going to pay for it -- but how many of them will be made, or sold? I doubt it'll be much at all.

Continue reading: Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip foldable teased with Thom Browne Edition (full post)

Amazon pulls out of MWC 2020 over coronavirus fears

Anthony Garreffa | Trade Shows | Feb 10, 2020 10:43 PM CST

Amazon has now joined mobile industry giants in LG, NVIDIA, Samsung and ZTE in pulling out of Mobile World Congress this year over coronavirus fears.

Amazon pulls out of MWC 2020 over coronavirus fears

Amazon pulling out of MWC 2020 is a big deal as it's one of the largest companies in the world, and a gigantic presence at any trade show. The company told TechCrunch: "due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020, scheduled for Feb. 24-27 in Barcelona, Spain".

Amazon wasn't the first and most likely won't be the last to pull out of Mobbile World Congress, with Sony announcing shortly after Amazon that it would not be attending the mobile-focused event in Barcelona, Spain over the same concerns over coronavirus.

Continue reading: Amazon pulls out of MWC 2020 over coronavirus fears (full post)

Xbox studio using AI to upscale low-res textures in real-time

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Feb 10, 2020 10:20 PM CST

Microsoft might have a magic ace up its sleeve, with the ability to upscale low-res textures in real-time using AI. This could become a big thing for Microsoft headed into the next-gen console battle between the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

Xbox studio using AI to upscale low-res textures in real-time

The work is coming from Playfab, a company that Microsoft acquired back in early 2018, that worked on making tools for back-end games support in the cloud. Playfab founder James Gwertzman is working at the company as the GM, using the power of Microsoft's huge Azure network and has recently talked with GamesBeat on some of the things he and his team are working on.

Gwertzman teases: "One of the studios inside Microsoft has been experimenting with using ML models for asset generation. It's working scarily well. To the point where we're looking at shipping really low-res textures and having ML models uprez the textures in real-time. You can't tell the difference between the hand-authored high-res texture and the machine-scaled-up low-res texture, to the point that you may as well ship the low-res texture and let the machine do it".

Continue reading: Xbox studio using AI to upscale low-res textures in real-time (full post)

Nikola Motors hybrid fuel-cell concept truck to battle Cybertruck

Anthony Garreffa | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Feb 10, 2020 9:55 PM CST

The world is well aware of Tesla's all-electric Cybertruck, but now more and more car companies will get on the electric truck hype train with Nikola Motors joining in on the fun with its new electric pick up truck dubbed Badger.

Nikola Motors hybrid fuel-cell concept truck to battle Cybertruck

Nikola Motors' new Badger will be offered as both a fully battery-electric vehicle, as well as an electric/fuel-cell hybrid that will have some serious horsepower. The hybrid powertrain of the Nikola Motors Badger will have a maximum range of 600 miles, while the battery-powered model taps out at 300 miles.

The company claims the electric truck will have towing power of up to 8000 pounds, and will go from 0-60 miles per hour in just 2.9 seconds. Nikola Motors will be getting very close to Tesla Cybertruck territory if it can meet these claims, which would not be too bad at all. But when can we expect the Badger? The company will fully detail its new Badger truck at the Nikola World 2020 event in September, where it will then accept limited reservations.

Continue reading: Nikola Motors hybrid fuel-cell concept truck to battle Cybertruck (full post)

LG V60 smartphone: huge 5000mAh battery, return of headphone jack

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Feb 10, 2020 9:22 PM CST

LG might have pulled out of Mobile World Congress this year over coronavirus concerns, but the company is still hard at work on its new flagship smartphone -- something that might eventuate into the V60.

According to notorious leaker Evan 'evleaks' Blass, LG is working on the V60 ThinQ smartphone which might rock some flagship tech inside including Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 865 processor with 5G connectivity. Not only that, but we are told to expect the return of the 3.5mm headphone jack and a gigantic 5000mAh battery, too.

LG is expected to have not one, two, or three cameras -- but four cameras on its new V60 smartphone. The display will fall somewhere between 6.7 and 6.9 inches, while there will be a selfie camera on the front of the V60 with a small notch. We should expect LG to better detail its V60 smartphone later this month after MWC 2020.

Continue reading: LG V60 smartphone: huge 5000mAh battery, return of headphone jack (full post)

Samsung expects to sell 2.5 million Galaxy Z Flip foldable smartphones

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Feb 10, 2020 8:22 PM CST

Samsung outed its foldable Galaxy Z Flip smartphone during an Oscars 2020 ad, but will fully detail it at its Unpacked 2020 event on February 11 -- but what about sales expectations?

Samsung expects to sell 2.5 million Galaxy Z Flip foldable smartphones

The company is reportedly aiming for around 2.5 million units according to a new report from The Korea Herald, which have called on industry sources to say that Samsung is preparing an initial 500,000 units of the Galaxy Z Fold. After that, Samsung expects a total of 2.5 million Galaxy Z Flip foldable smartphone sales by the end of 2020.

Samsung will be selling the new Galaxy Z Flip for around $1400, with reports saying the new foldable will start from around $1260 in South Korea. Inside, it'll rock modest but not flagship specs with Qualcomm's second-best Snapdragon 855+ (the Snapdragon 865 is the new flagship), 8GB of RAM (the Galaxy Fold ships with 12GB, and the Galaxy S20 Ultra rocks 16GB), while a dual-camera rig is on the back of the Galaxy Z Flip.

Continue reading: Samsung expects to sell 2.5 million Galaxy Z Flip foldable smartphones (full post)

Intel Xe GPU: up to 500W teased, beats Big Navi and GeForce RTX 3080?

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Feb 10, 2020 7:32 PM CST

Intel is hard at work on its Xe GPU architecture, but a new rumor teases a tile-based architecture approach will be an interesting path as a new report suggests the datacenter variant of Xe could ramp up to 500W of power.

Intel Xe GPU: up to 500W teased, beats Big Navi and GeForce RTX 3080?

We now have more of an idea on the power consumption across the tile-design approach, where the 1-tile 'DG1' would come in with 96 execution units, 768 cores, and up to 75W TDP -- this is the entry-level Xe GPU. Up from there is the 128 execution unit / 1024 core version with up to 150W of power in the mid-range Xe.

The 2-tile GPU will have the same 128 EUs per tile but since there are two tiles we have 256 total EUs and up to 2048 cores with a TDP of 300W. This will be the high-end gaming card that we should see in 2021 or so, while the 4-tile 'Arctic Sound' is the beast with 4 tiles adding up to a huge 512 EUs, up to 4096 cores, and a huge 400-500W of power -- this is for the datacenter, and not gamers.

Continue reading: Intel Xe GPU: up to 500W teased, beats Big Navi and GeForce RTX 3080? (full post)

Nintendo explains why the Switch isn't very powerful

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 10, 2020 6:30 PM CST

The Switch isn't very powerful, but it doesn't need to be. It's versatility, utility, and mobility has sparked tremendous hardware and software sales while also pushing many of gaming's biggest publishers to squeeze their AAA games onto the limited-power platform. Now Nintendo talks about the idea behind compromising with a low-spec system.

Nintendo explains why the Switch isn't very powerful

In a recent Fiscal Year Q3'19 Q&A session with investors, Nintendo executives discussed key points about the Switch business. One of the more interesting tidbits sees the company arguing against a higher-end 4K-ready Switch Pro upgrade by emphasizing creativity, innovation, and uniqueness over raw performance and hardware specs.

Nintendo execs say the Switch simply wouldn't exist if the company put more importance on power. As the natural combined evolution of the 3DS and the Wii U, it's only logical for Nintendo to focus more on adequately joining the two platforms in any way possible, even it meant compromises in hardware performance.

Continue reading: Nintendo explains why the Switch isn't very powerful (full post)

Modern Warfare's season 2: Ghost, Rust map, new modes, and new guns

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 10, 2020 5:43 PM CST

Activision makes good on its promise with content blowouts in Modern Warfare, revealing an absolute metric ton of new goodies coming to the game.

Modern Warfare's season 2: Ghost, Rust map, new modes, and new guns

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's season 2 content is pretty robust. Most notably we see Ghost returning to the game as a playable operator as well as the classic Rust map, complemented by a slew of new guns, modes, and maps across various gametypes.

There's a marked discrepancy between the free and paid battle passes though, and you'll have to spend 2400 CP ($19.99) on the premium battle pass to unlock Ghost. Other operators are coming to the game too via the Call of Duty Store.

Continue reading: Modern Warfare's season 2: Ghost, Rust map, new modes, and new guns (full post)

Sony paid $229 million for Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 10, 2020 3:19 PM CST

Back in August, Sony bought Insomniac and all of its associated IPs for an undisclosed sum. Now thanks to a recent company SEC filing, we know how much the PlayStation titan shelled out.

Sony paid $229 million for Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games

Sony Interactive Entertainment spent roughly $229 million to acquire Insomniac Games in 2019, new SEC filings confirm. The buyout was mostly paid in cash, and could change slightly by March 2020. This may sound like a lot, but Sony's gaming branch made $5.6 billion in the Holiday 2019 quarter, and routinely pulls in billions every three months. The acquisition cost will pay for itself over time via new system-selling Insomniac titles.

"The consideration for this acquisition of 24,895 million yen (229 million U.S. dollars) was mainly paid in cash. The amount may be adjusted by the end of fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, based on the final closing date financial statements of Insomniac Games. As a result of this acquisition, Insomniac Games has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony," reads the filing.

Continue reading: Sony paid $229 million for Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games (full post)

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