Samsung is considering Austin, Texas, as the site for a new $17 billion chip plant that the South Korean firm said could create 1,800 jobs, according to documents filed with Texas state officials. Reuters reports: The documents say the project would involve building out 7 million square feet (650,000 square meters) of new space on a 640-acre (259-hectare) site that the…
Tag: square
What’s the weather like on Titan?
Most of the planets in our solar system have some sort of atmosphere and many have dynamic weather systems. But only one moon in the solar system, Saturn’s large moon Titan, can say the same. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/titan-saturns-moon-weather-seasons-methane-rain-storms…
2020 Was Second-Hottest Year On Record, NOAA Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: Data released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, showed that 2020 now ranks as the second-hottest year, with average temperatures hitting 58.77 degrees Fahrenheit — a mere 0.04 degrees cooler than 2016, which holds the record. The Northern Hemisphere experienced its hottest year on record, surpassing the 20th…
The Case Against Section 230: ‘The 1996 Law That Ruined the Internet’
Writing in the Atlantic, programmer/economics commentator Steve Randy Waldman explains “Why I changed my mind” about the Communication Decency Act’s Section 230: In the United States, you are free to speak, but you are not free of responsibility for what you say. If your speech is defamatory, you can be sued. If you are a publisher, you can be sued for…
The long decline of Arctic sea ice
Forty years of satellite data show that 2020 was just the latest in a decades-long decline of Arctic sea ice. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/decline-of-arctic-sea-ice-1979-2019…
Epic Games Buys a Huge Mall
Epic Games is buying an old shopping mall — with nearly one million square feet of space — and plans to convert it into its new global headquarters by 2024. From a report: The deal gives Epic the 980,000 square foot Cary Towne Center for $95 million. Cary Towne Center is about 2 miles from Epic’s current HQ. Epic Games has…
How The Band Phish Played Chess Against Its Fans on New Year’s Eve
An anonymous reader writes: So on New Year’s Eve, the “jam” rock band Phish re-broadcast their legendary 1995 performance on New Year’s Eve — while playing a game of chess against the audience. (Just as they’d done in 1995 — although during that tour they’d made two just moves during each show.) In a video promoting this year’s event, a chess…
New Train Hall Opens at Penn Station, Echoing Building’s Former Glory
The Moynihan Train Hall, with glass skylights and 92-foot-high ceilings, will open Jan. 1 as an area for Amtrak and Long Island Railroad riders. The New York Times: For more than half a century, New Yorkers have trudged through the crammed platforms, dark hallways and oppressively low ceilings of Pennsylvania Station, the busiest and perhaps most miserable train hub in North…
Bitcoin Surges 50% in Just One Month. CNN Ponders ‘Insane’ Record Run
The price of Bitcoin increased 50% — in the last four weeks. Now priced at $26,579, “Bitcoin is crashing — upward,” quips CNN Business: The digital currency has a market value north of $500 billion. Think Bitcoin is just a fad? It’s worth more than Visa or Mastercard. Or Walmart… Its rapid rise has been remarkable — or insane, depending on…
Are Tech Companies Censoring Their Users For Access to China’s Market?
This week MSNBC published an opinion piece from a researcher on China (who works on internet censorship and freedom of expression issues) from the advocacy group Human Rights Watch. It examines specific exchanges between a China-based Zoom executive and employees at the company’s California headquarters (taken from the 47-page complaint filed by America’s Justice Department) showing how Zoom disrupted video meetings…