New space toilet reaches the final frontier

A robotic Cygnus spacecraft successfully blasted off from Virginia today (Oct. 1) carrying nearly 4 tons of gear, including a new space toilet, to the International Space Station. Source: https://www.livescience.com/nasa-space-toilet-launches-on-antares.html

Apple’s Battle With Epic Over Fortnite Could Reach Jury Trial Next July

Apple and Epic met in a virtual court hearing on Monday to debate whether Fortnite should be allowed to remain in Apple’s App Store while the two fight an even bigger battle over whether Apple is violating federal antitrust law. From a report: California Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said didn’t issue any update to her previous ruling, which upheld Apple’s ban…

The Best Chrome Extensions To Prevent Creepy Web Tracking

Wired has highlighted several browser extensions that “are a simple first step in improving your online privacy.” Other steps to take include adding a privacy-first browser and VPN to further mask your web activity. An anonymous reader shares the report: Privacy Badger is one of the best options for blocking online tracking in your current browser. For a start, it’s created…

Spin clean-up method brings practical quantum computers closer to reality

Quantum computers are the new frontier in advanced research technology, with potential applications such as performing critical calculations, protecting financial assets, or predicting molecular behavior in pharmaceuticals. Researchers from Osaka City University have now solved a major problem hindering large-scale quantum computers from practical use: precise and accurate predictions of atomic and molecular behavior. …

What is a galaxy?

We live in a galaxy called the Milky Way. But there is so much more to know about these grand and glorious star islands in space! Click in here, and prepare to have your mind expanded. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-galaxy…

Facebook Will Release Its First AR Glasses in 2021

During Facebook Connect — the replacement for the AR/VR event previously known as Oculus Connect — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today that the company is planning to release its first pair of augmented reality glasses in 2021. From a report: While the company’s Oculus unit has become a leading provider of VR headsets, Facebook has touted AR as the next…

Remembering Laika: ‘Space Dogs’ Documentary Explores Moscow Through a Stray’s Eyes

Space.com reports:
Laika, a stray dog scooped off the streets of Moscow, launched on the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 2 mission in November 1957, just a month after Sputnik 1’s liftoff opened the space age. The 11-lb. (5 kilograms) mixed-breed quickly died of overheating and circled Earth as a corpse until April 1958, when Sputnik 2 fell back into the atmosphere and burned…

Are there more rogue planets than stars in our galaxy?

A new study suggests there are more rogue, free-floating planets – unconnected to any star – than stars in our Milky Way galaxy. NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is expected to begin finding hundreds of them. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/rogue-planets-milky-way-roman-space-telescope…

NASA Juno takes first images of jovian moon Ganymede’s north pole

On its way inbound for a Dec. 26, 2019, flyby of Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew in the proximity of the north pole of the ninth-largest object in the solar system, the moon Ganymede. The infrared imagery collected by the spacecraft’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument provides the first infrared mapping of the massive moon’s northern frontier. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-07-nasa-juno-images-jovian-moon.html…

Deepfake Used To Attack Activist Couple Shows New Disinformation Frontier

An anonymous reader shares a report: Oliver Taylor, a student at England’s University of Birmingham, is a twenty-something with brown eyes, light stubble, and a slightly stiff smile. Online profiles describe him as a coffee lover and politics junkie who was raised in a traditional Jewish home. His half dozen freelance editorials and blog posts reveal an active interest in anti-Semitism…