Planet

Microsoft turned its sustainability report into a Minecraft map

Microsoft released its annual sustainability report today, and Minecraft developer Mojang decided to turn it into something interactive. Called simply “Sustainable City,” the new Minecraft map is available as a free download in the Minecraft marketplace, and it’s also been added to the game’s educational offshoot. The map features six included lessons, which Mojang says… Read more

Joe Biden made climate change a national security priority — what’s next?

President Joe Biden signed a sweeping executive order today that makes climate change a top US national security priority. He commissioned a “National Intelligence Estimate on the security implications of climate change.” He also directed the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to develop plans to adapt to a warming world. The environmental and… Read more

Renewable energy production beat fossil fuels in Europe

Renewable energy became the biggest source of electricity in the European Union in 2020, beating fossil fuels for the first time. Germany and Spain also hit that milestone individually last year — so did the UK, which officially left the EU in January 2020. Renewables powered 38 percent of electricity in the EU last year,… Read more

SpaceX launches record batch of satellites in first in-house rideshare mission

SpaceX launched a batch of 143 spacecraft to space from Florida on Sunday morning under the company’s new cost-cutting SmallSat Rideshare Program, breaking the record for the most satellites lofted into space on a single launch. The Transporter-1 mission kicks off a potentially lucrative business line for SpaceX, which unveiled in 2019 its SmallSat Rideshare… Read more

Samsung Galaxy S21

Our Verdict The S21 gives here and takes there, but ultimately strengthens the Galaxy reputation For Rich, smooth display Solid battery life Superb all-round camera Against No microSD slot, earbuds or charger Sony rival sounds better With flagship smartphones from the likes of Samsung and Apple reliably refreshed every year, it’s perhaps unrealistic to expect… Read more

“Cotton candy planet” WASP-107b with a surprisingly small core

The solid core of the “cotton candy planet” WASP – 107 b is obviously much lighter, than previously thought possible with such gas giants. This is the result of a group of astrophysicists who have analyzed the already known exoplanet in more detail. According to this, the celestial body is about as big as Jupiter,… Read more

Space travel: aim high in 2021

Nothing went as planned in the space sector either 2019. Like almost all sectors, space activities have been hit hard by the pandemic. Observers were particularly looking forward to the start of seven planned space missions, some things went great: SpaceX sent astronauts into space, China brought moon rocks back to Earth. But many other… Read more

Realme is the fastest growing phone brand in the world

The Chinese telephone company realme, also registered an exponential growth in 2020. The brand was the fastest to reach 50 millions of smartphones sold and concentrates its production also in the wearable market. by Lorenzo Tirotta published 19 January 2021 , at 17: 11 in the Telephony channel Realme The brand realme was born under… Read more

Why the risk of orbital collisions is skyrocketing

With each new satellite that reaches orbit, the space above our heads gets a little more congested. There are about 3,000 active satellites in use today, but that number is changing quickly, especially as companies like Starlink send up 60 small satellites in a single launch. Add the 20,000 or so bits of orbital debris… Read more

Car methanol from air CO2 by temperature difference alone: the Chinese study

A group of Chinese researchers showed in the laboratory the possibility of obtaining methanol, which can be used in cars as a fuel, starting from the CO2 in the air by exploiting simple temperature changes, using nanosurfaces of tungsten and bismuth perosvskite by Roberto Colombo published 18 January 2021 , at 11: 01 in the… Read more

Virgin Orbit manages to launch a rocket into space from its Boeing 747-400

Virgin Orbit managed to launch the its rocket, Launcher One, from Boeing 500 – 400 (codenamed Cosmic Girl) bringing into orbit ben 01 CubeSat belonging to 9 different missions, with the partnership of NASA. by Mattia Speroni published 18 January 2021 , at 08: 21 in the Science and Technology channel NASA Virgin Orbit Virgin… Read more

The 'mole' fails: NASA gives up measuring the internal temperature of Mars

NASA raises the white flag and gives up to measure the temperature of Mars. The “mole” that had to place a thermal probe 3 meters deep to measure the heat loss of the Red Planet did not go beyond 3 centimeters. by Manolo De Agostini published 17 January 2021 , at 08: 01 in the… Read more

Intel Kills Off All Optane-Only SSDs for Consumers, No Replacements Planned

Home News In a surprising move with little fanfare, Intel announced that it is discontinuing all of its Optane-only SSDs for the consumer market. Surprisingly, the company says those drives aren’t going to see Optane-only replacements, apparently marking the end of its enthusiast-geared Optane SSDs for desktop PCs. Intel discontinued the Optane Memory M10, 800P,… Read more

iDSD Diablo is iFi’s new flagship portable DAC/headphone amp

Home News (Image credit: iFi) iFi is kicking off 2021 with the self-proclaimed best battery-powered DAC/headphone amp it has ever produced – the iDSD Diablo. Engineered to sit proudly at the top of iFi’s range of mobile and transportable devices, the Diablo is, says the firm, built for purists. Similar in size to other amps… Read more

Mars drilling instrument HP³ does not get into the ground: researchers give up

NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are giving up their attempts to get the HP³ drilling instrument of the Insight probe further into the soil of Mars. Even after HP³ was last pushed under the surface with the help of the robot arm from Insight, 500 hammer blows had not brought any noticeable progress… Read more