Interstellar visitor photographed, revealing a 100,000 mile-long tail

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Dec 3, 2019 3:43 AM CST

A comet called 2I/Borisov entered our solar system from a distant realm, and as it makes its way through our neighborhood astronomers have snapped some good photos of it.

Interstellar visitor photographed, revealing a 100,000 mile-long tail

A team of astronomers from Yale University located in Connecticut managed to capture some photos of Comet 2I/Borisov on Sunday, November 24. These photos were taken with the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and revealed to onlookers that the comet's tail measured in at about 100,000 miles long. To put this distance into perspective, that same distance is more than 40% the distance to the moon.

With a tail being that long, you'd imagine the size of the comet to be substantially large -- alas it isn't. Astronomers estimate 2I/Borisov's nucleus (center) to be just 1 mile in diameter. On December 8th, 2I/Borisov will make its closest pass to our Sun, then three weeks after that it will safely glide past Earth. Yale astronomy professor Greg Laughlin said, "Astronomers are taking advantage of Borisov's visit, using telescopes such as Keck to obtain information about the building blocks of planets in systems other than our own".

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Starship Troopers receives its own real-time strategy game adaptation

Jak Connor | Gaming | Dec 3, 2019 3:17 AM CST

Remember 1997's Starship Troopers? Well, that movie concept is being converted into a real-time strategy game that you can enjoy.

Starship Troopers receives its own real-time strategy game adaptation

The culture classic movie Starship Troopers is receiving its very own real-time strategy game adaptation, players will be able to assume the role of the humans and slaughter billions of bugs. Judging from the above trailer, the game appears to be a lot like Earth Defence Force spliced with Command and Conquer aspects.

The developers of this coming title are The Aristocrats and judging by the titles Steam Store listing says, players will be involved within planetary campaigns that will pit them against the bugs. Campaigns will be "dynamically generated"and will be take players through a storyline where missions will change depending on the hard choices that will be presented to them. The Steam page also mentions that there will be dozens of unique unit types and abilities, extensive technology tree, heroics, explosions, gore and of course bugs. It has a "out in 2020" release date.

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Marvel Studios' first Black Widow official teaser trailer released

Jak Connor | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Dec 3, 2019 2:29 AM CST

Marvel Studios has just released the very first teaser trailer for the upcoming Marvel movie focusing around Black Widow.

Marvel Studios' first Black Widow official teaser trailer released

Above we have the official teaser trailer, it begins with a voice-over from Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), and she explains that she "used to have nothing, and then I got this job, this family. But nothing lasts forever". We are then presented with some flashbacks of what can be assumed to be Natasha's young life. We also see glimpses of her early training.

The trailer also shows Natasha encountering Stranger Things star, David Harbour (Red Guardian), Midsommar's, Florence Pugh, Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz, and more great actors. Cate Shortland directed the film and screenplay was done by Ned Benson and Jac Shaeffer. According to the trailer's description, Black Widow is expected to hit cinemas on May 1st, 2020.

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Marvel's Spider-Man PS4 sequel maybe arriving 'sooner than you think'

Jak Connor | Gaming | Dec 3, 2019 2:09 AM CST

Since Sony own Insomniac Games, and the fact that Marvel's Spider-Man was an overwhelming success selling over 13 million copies, fans can expect there will be some kind of sequel.

Marvel's Spider-Man PS4 sequel maybe arriving 'sooner than you think'

There is no doubt that Sony and Insomniac Games are cooking up some form of sequel behind the scenes, and according to former Games Informer news editor, Imran Khan, they already are. Khan said during the latest Kind Funny Gamescast video that "I know too much about [Marvel's Spider-Man 2], so I can't speculate too much".

Imran continues and says that while players of the first Spider-Man might think that it will still be some time before they receive a sequel, "I think a Spider-Man 2 will come sooner than we think". This is promising news for Spider-Man fans are a sequel is definitely most welcomed. What won't be appreciated though is if Sony and Insomniac re-skin the first Spider-Man and just sell it back to fans as Spider-Man 2 with no new improvements. The sequel will have to feel new, more mechanics, more suits, new enemies etc.

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There should be a big 'twist' in Rick and Morty Season 4 episode 4/5

Jak Connor | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Dec 3, 2019 1:39 AM CST

We are currently waiting for Rick and Morty Season 4, episode 4, and during this small holiday break, theories have been formed together that point towards the next couple of episodes containing a massive twist.

There should be a big 'twist' in Rick and Morty Season 4 episode 4/5

Firstly, if you haven't seen the third episode of season 4, this article will contain spoilers as it will be linking to some events that were shown in that episode. At the end of the third episode, Rick, Morty and Mr. Poopybutthole are on top of Rick's house having a drink, Mr. Poopybutthole says, "owweeee big storm coming", Rick then replies, "could be a twister". Its believed that this "big twister" is not in reference to an actual storm, but instead to the show's storyline, and here's why.

During Comic-Con this year, all of the main voice actors sat down, and one of the questions that they were asked was "What are you most excited for fans to see?". The replies indicated that within the first five episodes of the season, there would be a big moment during a post-credit scene of one of the episodes that would be a huge teaser for season 5. Justin Roiland says, "We have a tag in season 4 that's going to tease some sh*t up for season 5". So what could this "twist" be?

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World's 1st AI cameras that detect drivers using phones hit Australia

Jak Connor | Artificial Intelligence | Dec 3, 2019 1:10 AM CST

A state in Australia has rolled out the world's first AI cameras that are designed to detect drivers who are using their mobile phones.

World's 1st AI cameras that detect drivers using phones hit Australia

New South Wales (NSW), a state in Australia has said that these new cameras use artificial intelligence to determine whether some is or isn't using their phone while operating a moving vehicle. The system will flag a driver if they are suspected as using a phone, and then the images will be reviewed by a human before fines are issued out. NSW police assistant commissioner, Michael Corboy, told Australian media that "It's a system to change the culture."

At the moment, the plans for these cameras include forty-five of them to roll out across the state over the next three years. The Australian law is giving drivers a small grace period, as for the first three months if a driver is caught by one of these cameras they will be issued an official warning -- after the three months fines of $344 AUD ($233 US) will be sent out as well as penalty points. The NSW government has said that having these cameras on the roads could prevent 100 fatal crashes across a five year period.

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New Facebook data tool lets users bulk transfer media to Google Photos

Jak Connor | Internet & Websites | Dec 3, 2019 12:30 AM CST

Facebook will soon be rolling out a new feature that will allow users to transfer bulk media to another platform. This saves users having to save and re-upload content individually.

New Facebook data tool lets users bulk transfer media to Google Photos

This new tool is apart of the Data Transfer Project which is a lodged agreement between Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter. This agreement between companies is to make it much easier for users on each platform to share content to other platforms.

The new feature will be first released in Ireland and then rolled out to the rest of the world within the first half of 2020. At the moment, Facebook users will only be able to export the media attached to their account to Google Photos. Eventually, Facebook and other social media platforms should allow users to export/import media to all different services, or at least that is what the goal is.

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PlayStation turns 25 today, PlayStation 5 is just 1 year away

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Dec 2, 2019 9:25 PM CST

Can you believe it? Sony launched the original PlayStation console 25 years ago, first touching down in Japan on December 3, 1994. Now look at where we are, 100s of millions of PlayStation consoles launched in that time and the most hyped of them all -- the PlayStation 5, launches this time next year.

PlayStation turns 25 today, PlayStation 5 is just 1 year away

Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan wrote on the official PlayStation Blog to celebrate the occasion, reiterating that the original PS1 sold 100,000 units on its first day on sale -- the original PlayStation was the first console in history to sell over 100 million units.

It didn't take Sony long to pass that, as the PlayStation 2 came along and became the best-selling console of all time, racking up an insane 155 million sales.

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New Battlefront II re-release includes tons of skins and content

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Dec 2, 2019 8:40 PM CST

Battlefront II is getting re-released just in time for Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker.

New Battlefront II re-release includes tons of skins and content

Apparently Battlefront II will get a big game of the year-style re-release on December 5, complete with tons of free cosmetic skins for heroes and troops, as well as extra content. The game will include all of Battlefront II's DLC content on-disc and grants access to new hero skins lifted right from Rise of Skywalker.

This move is fairly common for live games, especially ones that've been around for a while. No Man's Sky saw a similar re-release on Xbox One that included all content on the disc. It's a way to strategically re-engage a core audience of players who want to continue their Star Wars experiences right after seeing Episode IX, as well as fold new players into the service-based pay ecosystem and sell a new full-price game to boot.

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Halo: Reach PC launch times: No midnight release

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Dec 2, 2019 7:34 PM CST

Halo: Reach is finally coming to PC tomorrow, but it won't have a midnight launch on Steam or the Windows Store. You'll actually have to wait until the next day to play.

Halo: Reach PC launch times: No midnight release

343 Industries confirms Halo: Reach will go live on on PC on Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at 10AM PST / 1PM EST. It's also simultaneously launching on Xbox One. There's no pre-loading either, so you'll want to use Steam's remote download feature

This is disappointing news to anyone like me who's looking to jump right into the fray with a classic midnight launch on the digital platforms. We should also probably expect insane volume to knock the servers down or cause some performance hiccups, especially since Reach will be on three different platforms on PC: Game Pass, Steam, and the Windows Store.

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