Beyond Meat Signs Global Supply Deals With McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

U.S. plant-based protein company Beyond Meat has signed global supply deals with fast food firms McDonald’s and Yum! Brands, which includes KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and others. AgFunderNews reports: The three-year strategic agreement with McDonald’s will see Beyond Meat become the ‘preferred supplier’ of patties for the fast food chain’s new McPlant plant-based burger. Under their separate strategic partnership, Beyond…

Microsoft Launches Power Fx, a New Open Source Low-Code Language

Microsoft today announced Power Fx, a new low-code language that “will become the standard for writing logic customization across Microsoft’s own low-code Power Platform,” reports TechCrunch. “[S]ince the company is open-sourcing the language, Microsoft also hopes others will implement it as well and that it will become the de facto standard for these kinds of use cases.” From the report: Microsoft…

What is a quasar?

A quasar is an extremely bright and distant point-like source visible to radio telescopes. The source is a so-called Active Galactic Nucleus, fueled by a supermassive black hole. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-quasar…

US Drops Digital Tax Demand, Opening Door To Global Deal

The U.S. has dropped a key demand in negotiations over digital taxation of technology companies such as Alphabet’s Google and Facebook, lifting a barrier that had raised transatlantic trade tensions and prevented an international deal. From a report: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told her counterparts at a virtual meeting of Group of 20 finance officials that the U.S. is no longer…

Why an Animated Flying Cat With a Pop-Tart Body Sold for Almost $600,000

In the 10 years since Chris Torres created Nyan Cat, an animated flying cat with a Pop-Tart body leaving a rainbow trail, the meme has been viewed and shared across the web hundreds of millions of times. On Thursday, he put a one-of-a-kind version of it up for sale on Foundation, a website for buying and selling digital goods. In the…

Artemis: How ever-changing U.S. space policy may push back the next moon landing

Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan blasted off from the Taurus-Littrow valley on the moon in their lunar module Challenger on December 14 1972. Five days later, they splashed down safely in the Pacific, closing the Apollo 17 mission and becoming the last humans to visit the lunar surface or venture anywhere beyond low-Earth orbit. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-artemis-ever-changing-space-policy-moon.html…

Amazon Gives Code.org $15 Million To ‘Reimagine’ Advanced Placement CSA

theodp writes: Amazon on Wednesday announced it has lined up the support of Governors and State School Superintendents from five ‘key states’ for a pilot that aims to reimagine the Java-based Advanced Placement Computer Science A (AP CS A) course taken by high school students for college credit. By doing so, Amazon indicated it hopes to address “the diversity gaps in…

Titan’s atmosphere recreated in an Earth laboratory

Beyond Earth, the general scientific consensus is that the best place to search for evidence of extraterrestrial life is Mars. However, it is by no means the only place. Aside from the many extrasolar planets that have been designated as “potentially-habitable,” there are plenty of other candidates right here in our solar system. These include the many icy satellites that are…

Best observing targets for binoculars

What are the best solar system and deep-sky objects to view to get the most out of your binoculars? From moon-encircled worlds to starry knots in the Milky Way, our list makes the sky’s wonders easy to find. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/best-targets-for-binoculars-moon-planets-nebula-clusters…

Software Bug Keeping Hundreds Of Inmates In Arizona Prisons Beyond Release Dates

According to Arizona Department of Corrections whistleblowers, hundreds of incarcerated people who should be eligible for release are being held in prison because the inmate management software cannot interpret current sentencing laws. From a report: KJZZ is not naming the whistleblowers because they fear retaliation. The employees said they have been raising the issue internally for more than a year, but…