Long before Frank Herbert composed his masterful 1965 sci-fi novel, “Dune,” and even longer still before George Lucas envisioned his space opera saga, “Star Wars,” legendary author Isaac Asimov wrote his magnum opus called the “Foundation Trilogy.” This sprawling intergalactic narrative was published as a trio of Hugo Award-winning novels from 1951-1953 in the aftermath of World War II, after …
Dozens of starless ‘rogue’ alien planets possibly spotted, ,
Astronomers have spotted more strange “free-floating” planets that could roam deep space untethered to any star. While we might think that planets must need to orbit some kind of star, astronomers have detected such orphaned “rogues” before. And a new study uses data collected by NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope to identify other possible exoplanets roaming freely on their own. …
SecretLab’s Titan Evo chair claims to offer more comfort, features, and magnets, Cameron Faulkner
SecretLab’s new line of 2022 gaming chairs have a renewed focus on packing in more features without significantly boosting the price. It’s also making it easier to decide which one to buy. Instead of offering both the Titan and Omega chairs, it’s cramming the best aspects of each into a single model called the Titan Evo. SecretLab told The Verge …
Cryptocurrency traders struggle to sue Binance, Elizabeth Lopatto
One fun (?) thing about cryptocurrency is that it’s newer than regular money — or as the cryptocurrency enthusiasts call it, fiat — and for this reason it is less regulated. I am going to leave the case against regulation to the libertarians who are interested in making it; instead, let’s direct our attention to this Wall Street Journal story …
Microsoft did door-to-door router replacements to stop Trickbot malware, Adi Robertson
Microsoft says it’s gone door-to-door replacing routers compromised with the Trickbot malware in Brazil and Latin America, hoping to squash an international hacking group. The Daily Beast reported the detail in an article about the group, which is an ongoing target for US Cyber Command as well as information security companies like Microsoft. The Daily Beast reports that the hacking …
TikTok parent company ByteDance still holding off on launching IPO, Kim Lyons
TikTok parent company ByteDance is not planning an initial public offering anytime soon, and The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that such plans have been “indefinitely” shelved. The WSJ reported that ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming made the call to postpone IPO plans in March after meeting with regulators who suggested the company should focus on data security concerns. Beijing-based ByteDance …
How to use Apple’s Private Relay feature with iCloud Plus, Chaim Gartenberg
One of the more interesting new features available with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey is iCloud Plus, Apple’s upgraded iCloud subscription service that adds a few key privacy features. Chief among those features is Private Relay, a VPN-like service that’s designed to mask your internet traffic on your devices from anyone trying to snoop in. Here’s how to …
These are the best astronomy images of 2021, ,
The best astronomy photos of the year invite the eye upward and outward, bringing stunning views such as auroras above Earth and visions of a stellar nursery 554 light-years away. These images, from the finalists in the 13th annual Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, are a beautiful reminder of the size and age of the universe. …
Can we explain dark matter by adding more dimensions to the universe?, ,
Dark matter could be even weirder than anyone thought, say cosmologists who are suggesting this mysterious substance that accounts for more than 80% of the universe’s mass could interact with itself. “We live in an ocean of dark matter, yet we know very little about what it could be,” Flip Tanedo, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the …
Authenticated brand logos in Gmail will roll out over the coming weeks, Jay Peters
Authenticated brand logos in Gmail, a security feature that was first announced last July, will be rolling out over the coming weeks, Google announced on Monday. The feature is enabled by the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) standard, which Google joined the working group for in 2019. The idea is that an organization’s logo will show up in your …