The first space hurricane ever was spotted in August 2014, consisting of “an eddy of plasma, a type of superhot, charged gas found throughout the solar system,” reports Business Insider. “And instead of rain, this storm brought showers of electrons.” From the report: In August 2014, satellites observed a swirling mass with a quiet center more than 125 miles above the…
Tag: computer
US Issues Warning After Microsoft Says China Hacked Its Mail Server Program
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: The U.S. has issued an emergency warning after Microsoft said it caught China hacking into its mail and calendar server program, called Exchange. The perpetrator, Microsoft said in a blog post, is a hacker group that the company has “high confidence” is working for the Chinese government and primarily spies on American…
How a 10-Second Video Clip Sold For $6.6 Million
In October 2020, Miami-based art collector Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile spent almost $67,000 on a 10-second video artwork that he could have watched for free online. Last week, he sold it for $6.6 million. Reuters reports: The video by digital artist Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, was authenticated by blockchain, which serves as a digital signature to certify who owns it…
The First AI-written Play Isn’t Shakespeare – but It Has Its Moments
Science magazine describes what happens when a robot writes a play: The 60-minute production — AI: When a Robot Writes a Play — tells the journey of a character (this time a robot), who goes out into the world to learn about society, human emotions, and even death. The script was created by a widely available artificial intelligence (AI) system called…
AI learns how to play old platform games
New computer algorithms designed to beat old 80s platformers could help robots navigate your home. Intelligent computer algorithms capable of playing … Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/344270/ai-learns-how-to-play-old-platform-games…
Can ‘Ready’ Crowdfund a Raspberry Pi Cyberdeck Enclosure for Cyberpunk Enthusiasts?
There’s 29 hours left in a Kickstarter campaign to fund “an open source, Linux-based, highly modular, customizable portable computer kit that accommodates anything from a Raspberry Pi to a Ryzen x86 4×4 single-board computer and more,” writes READY!100: Reminiscent of 1980s executive portable computers, the READY! 100 is fully modern with 12 input output ports and 4 antenna ports. Perfect for…
Brave Privacy Bug Exposed Tor Onion URLs To Your DNS Provider
Brave Browser had a privacy issue that leaked the Tor onion URL addresses you visited to your locally configured DNS server, “exposing the dark web websites you visit…”, writes Bleeping Computer. Long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo quotes their report: To access Tor onion URLs, Brave added a “Private Window with Tor” mode that acts as a proxy to the Tor network. When…
Quantum Computer Solves Decades-Old Problem Three Million Times Faster Than a Classical Computer
ZDNet reports: Scientists from quantum computing company D-Wave have demonstrated that, using a method called quantum annealing, they could simulate some materials up to three million times faster than it would take with corresponding classical methods. Together with researchers from Google, the scientists set out to measure the speed of simulation in one of D-Wave’s quantum annealing processors, and found that…
FCC Approves $50 Monthly Internet Subsidies for Low-Income Households During Pandemic
The Federal Communications Commission has approved final rules for a new broadband subsidy program that could help struggling families pay for internet service during the pandemic. From a report: The agency’s $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit Program provides eligible low-income households with up to a $50 per month credit on their internet bills through their provider until the end of the…
Water worlds may be abundant in our galaxy
A new study suggests that our Milky Way galaxy is filled with planets like Earth, containing continents and oceans. If so, life might be common in the Mlilky Way. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/water-common-on-planets-pebble-accretion-milky-way…