How TikTok Censors Videos That Do Not Please Beijing

According to leaked documents revealed by the Guardian, TikTok instructs its moderators to censor videos that mention Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, or the banned religious group Falun Gong. “The documents […] lay out how ByteDance, the Beijing-headquartered technology company that owns TikTok, is advancing Chinese foreign policy aims abroad through the app,” writes Alex Hern for the Guardian. From the report:…

Moon near Saturn on September 7 and 8

These next couple of nights – September 7 and 8, 2019 – use the waxing gibbous moon to find the planet Saturn. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-near-saturn-on-september-7-and-8…

Moon, Jupiter, Saturn September 5 to 7

These next few evenings – September 5, 6 and 7, 2019 – use the moon to find the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Have a telescope? Then use it to view Jupiter’s four major moons and Saturn’s glorious rings. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-jupiter-saturn-september-5-6-7…

Why the Amazon is burning: 4 reasons

Nearly 40,000 fires are incinerating Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. Apocalyptic as this sounds, science suggests it’s not too late to save the Amazon. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/amazon-rainforest-fires-burning-4-reasons-why…

Before dawn, Orion the Hunter

By late August and early September, the constellation Orion is rising in the hours after midnight and is well up by dawn. It’ll continue to rise earlier … and earlier. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/orion-well-up-before-dawn-in-september…

Russia’s Floating Nuclear Power Plant Begins 2,650-Mile Sea Voyage

An anonymous reader shared this article about the Akademik Lomonosov “powership” — Russia’s new 459-foot (140-meter) floating nuclear power station (with two 35-megawatt nuclear reactors). It’s begun a three-week, 2,650-mile voyage to the Arctic port town of Pevek — where it will be replacing another plant that’s being decommissioned.
The Russian project is the first floating nuclear power plant since the U.S….

Researchers Found World-Readable Database Used To Secure Buildings Around the Globe

Researchers said they have found a publicly accessible database containing almost 28 million records — including plain-text passwords, face photos, and personal information — that was used to secure buildings around the world. Ars Technica reports: Researchers from vpnMentor reported on Wednesday that the database was used by the Web-based Biostar 2 security system sold by South Korea-based Suprema. Biostar uses…

The Hottest Phones For the Next Billion Users Aren’t Smartphones

Millions of first-time internet consumers from the Ivory Coast to India and Indonesia are connecting to the web on smart feature phones that cost only about $25. “[T]hese hybrid phones, fueled by inexpensive mobile data, provide some basic apps and internet access in addition to calling and texting,” the Wall Street Journal reports. From the report: While global smartphone sales began…

Moon goes by Saturn night of July 15

As darkness falls on July 15, 2019, try finding the planet Saturn in the glare of tonight’s almost-full moon. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-goes-by-saturn-night-of-july-15-16…