Planet-eating star shows the Solar System’s future
Some 300 light-years away, there’s a star that’s very similar to our own, and it shows that our sun could devour its planets that get a wee bit too close. A team of astronomers, who’ve been monitoring star HIP68468 for years, have revealed the star’s planet-ingesting past in a new study. What clued them in is HIP68468’s lithium content, which is four times what you’d expect from a star that’s six billion years old. Stars typically burn through their lithium content over time, so the element’s abundance coupled with the presence of heat-resistant metals commonly found in rocky worlds can only be explained by the consumption of planets.
“It’s as if we saw a cat sitting next to a bird cage,” Yale University professor Debra Fischer (who’s not involved with the study) said. “If there are yellow feathers sticking out of the cat’s mouth, it’s a good bet that the cat swallowed a canary.” The team saw enough lithium and rocky planet material on HIP68468 to form six Earths. That said, the scientists believe it still has at least a couple of planets left: one is a supersized Neptune, while the other is a super-Earth.
Since the star is very similar to our own, this discovery shows us how solar systems like ours could evolve over time. Before you panic, take note that we’re not getting sucked into an enormous ball of fire anytime soon. Based on the team’s computer simulations, it will take billions of years of gravitational tugs and pulls before our sun starts gobbling up its planets. Besides, Mercury and Venus are bound to go first.
Source: University of Chicago, Cornell University Library
‘Mr. Robot’ creator turns sci-fi legend ‘Metropolis’ into a series
Sam Esmail is apparently taking a very unusual strategy for his next big project beyond Mr. Robot: he’s tackling one of the earliest sci-fi epics. Hollywood Reporter sources say that Esmail is creating a miniseries based around Metropolis, Fritz Lang’s classic 1927 film about a dystopic society. The show is still very early (Esmail may need to finish Mr. Robot before devoting his full attention), but partner Universal Cable Productions is apparently willing to give it a budget fitting Metropolis’ pioneering visuals. Reportedly, the company would be willing to spend a whopping $10 million per episode, and is willing to shop it around to numerous providers, including streaming services.
UCP isn’t commenting on the report. Metropolis would be an appropriate fit for Esmail, though. The movie’s premise revolves around a class struggle between elite industrialists and oppressed workers, with a technological twist — in a way, isn’t that Mr. Robot in a nutshell? The challenge is paying tribute to Fritz Lang’s iconic work while bringing it into an era when robots are no longer mysterious. Given Esmail’s recent track record, it’s promising… the main catch is the likely years-long wait to see the finished product.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Data breach at LinkedIn’s Lynda.com affects 55,000 accounts
Microsoft is getting a little bit more than it bargained for now that its acquisition of LinkedIn is official. LinkedIn’s training site Lynda.com is notifying users of a database breach that includes the passwords of just under 55,000 accounts. All those passwords were “cryptographically salted and hashed” to prevent access the site says, but it’s resetting the logins just in case. Lynda.com is also alerting 9.5 million customers “out of an abundance of caution,” according to the email it’s sending to users.
This new breach pales in comparison to the 2012 LinkedIn password hack, which compromised roughly 117 million accounts. There’s also no indication that the two incidents are connected. All the same, it’s not going to be completely comforting to Microsoft — the tech giant likely didn’t want to start the LinkedIn era grappling with security issues, even if there’s no real damage to users.
Source: VentureBeat
After Math: Come undone
It’s been a hell of a week, folks. American intelligence confirmed that Russia conspired to hack of our election, Uber unleashed a pack of poorly trained autonomous automobiles upon the streets of San Francisco, Snapchat’s Spectacles went all medicinal and Super Mario Run debuted on iOS. Numbers, because how else are you going to know how many fingers are feeding you magic?
Ben Heck’s essentials series: Wireless communications
Karen is really wired, and this time we don’t just mean hyperactive. Ben, Karen and Felix get together to talk about the essentials of wireless technology. There are many different ways for electronics to communicate information, including WiFi, xBee, Bluetooth, mobile networks, RFID and NFC — and in this episode the team discusses them all. The gang appraises each technology, assessing the pros and cons, with an insight into their radio frequencies, as well as the bandwidth they use per FCC regulations. What projects or hardware do you wish were wireless? Or do you have an interest in Software Defined Radio or Amateur Ham? Let The Ben Heck Show team know over on the element14 Community.
Thermomix TM5 review – CNET
The Good The $1,300 Thermomix TM5 is a countertop multicooker that knows its way around a dozen common kitchen tasks, from cooking tomato soup to kneading bread dough. You can connect a magnetic dish to it to access a cookbook’s worth of easy-to-follow, adaptable recipes.
The Bad It costs $1,300. The mixing bowl where the action takes place doesn’t have a pour spout. Dough and other food bits get easily caught in the multicooker’s blades. And, once again, it’s $1,300.
The Bottom Line The Thermomix TM5 is a luxury kitchen gadget worth pining for.
The Thermomix TM5 became available in the US in September, but has been on the international market for more than 40 years.
Chris Monroe/CNET
The Thermomix TM5 is a new addition to the American appliance scene that claims to tackle a dozen common kitchen tasks. The price of this souped-up blender/food processor/cooker/mixer is as lofty as its promises: $1,300 (it’s available in the UK for £925 and Australia for about AU$2,090). The Thermomix’s high cost and bold goals made me skeptical. Then I began to test it.
I used the Thermomix to whip egg whites, knead bread, steam vegetables, boil pasta, blend smoothies, and more. The gadget completed all of these tasks at a proficient level or above. The Thermomix was also easy to use, thanks in large part to an accompanying cookbook chip that you connect to the machine. And the hard copy of that cookbook outlines how to adapt your own recipes for the Thermomix.
I have a few qualms with the Thermomix’s design. The mixing bowl in which you put your food doesn’t have a pour spout. Dough and other gooey ingredients get caught in the Thermomix’s blades. And the Thermomix could make better use of its turn-wheel control.
Overall, the Thermomix lives up to its promises and exceeds expectations. But the price makes it an aspirational product in the same vein as a KitchenAid stand mixer or Viking range. You don’t need any of these products, and a lot of folks certainly can’t afford them. Yet the Thermomix, like other expensive appliances that have become status symbols, is worthy of a spot on your wishlists and Pinterest boards.
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Take a closer look at this German import
A German company called Vorwerk began to sell the Thermomix in France in 1971, and the product eventually spread worldwide. Vorwerk released the TM5 model in 2014, and the company began to make it available in the US in September. Picking up a Thermomix is more complicated than visiting a Target or ordering online, though. You have to contact a Thermomix consultant for an at-home or online demonstration of the appliance before you order it (similar to a Pampered Chef situation, but with only one product).
3 perfect apps for editing photos on the go
These are the apps to use for a quick photo edit.
Whether you’re showing off your trip abroad to friends on social media or sharing photos with family members in a shared Google Photos album, you’ll want to make sure the pictures you’re sending off are dressed for success. You can doll them up, crop them, tweak them, and give them new life with these easy-to-use apps for editing photos on the go.
Pixlr – Free Photo Editor
Developed by Autodesk, this is one of the easiest photo editing apps available for Android. The app features over two million combinations of effects, overlays, and filters. You can use it to quickly crop a photo, do minor editing, and add a little sparkle to an otherwise dull pose. Pixlr is always updated with themed frames, too, in case you forgot to send out holiday cards and you’re desperate for a way to send a quick email.
Pixlr – Free Photo Editor (Free)
VSCO
VSCO is what I use when I want to fit in with everyone else on Instagram — which is always, clearly, because I pretty much use this app exclusively for turning my boring social snaps into dynamic pieces of the past. TAG IT ALL THE THINGS.
In all seriousness, VSCO is good for adding some character to your photo and making your cheap phone look like it produces some artful masterpieces. Seriously, did you guys even notice I was shooting with a Moto G half the time? I used VSCO before posting to make it seem like the low-resolution quality was intentional. You can download and purchase a variety of punchy filter packs, or tweak the photo in your own manner with a plethora granular controls. When you’re finished, you can upload to VSCO’s own social network or save to share elsewhere.
As an added bonus, filter purchases are tied to your Google Play account, so you can easily switch devices without worry of losing your investment.
VSCO(Free)
Snapseed
For when Google Photos just isn’t enough, there’s Google’s own Snapseed. The app features a ton of essential tools you’d find on a desktop photo editing app, like an on-screen histogram, lens corrector, healing brush — which works remarkably well — and an HDR tuner. There are also real, grown up frames and filters you can use to show off your smartphone photo-taking prowess. And if you’re really on the go — like, say, in transit to your next destination — Snapseed has both JPEG and RAW support so you can make major edits to your big camera photography. Just be sure to bring a mobile card reader with you on your trip.
Snapseed (Free)
Got an app you like to use to edit your photos before sharing them online? Let us know!
Apple’s new solar-powered campus, and more in the week that was
As the founder of Tesla, Elon Musk is a proponent of clean technology and renewable energy. That’s why it’s so surprising that Donald Trump has selected Musk to serve as a strategic advisor — here’s hoping Musk can convince the President-elect to take climate change seriously. In other news, Chevrolet just delivered its first batch of Bolt EVs to customers in the San Francisco Bay Area, beating Tesla’s Model 3 to the punch. Steven Hawking is working with NASA to launch a self-healing starship that will search for habitable planets in Alpha Centauri. And Japan Airlines has developed a way to transform old clothing into jet fuel.
The fight against climate change is in jeopardy as Donald Trump’s cabinet picks roll in, but Bill Gates is stepping up to the task by launching a $1 billion clean energy fund. Meanwhile, America’s first offshore wind farm just switched online for the first time, and it’s producing enough energy to power 17,000 homes. Denmark is well ahead of the clean energy game — it currently sources over half of its electricity from renewable sources, and that figure is set to rise to 100 percent by 2035. And researchers invented a new solar sidewalk made from recycled plastic that snaps together like LEGO bricks.
One of the world’s most anticipated buildings is nearly finished: Drone footage shows that Apple’s massive solar-powered “spaceship” campus is set to be completed by the end of the year. In other design and technology news, Carlo Ratti Associati launched plans for a floating gym that uses people power to cruise through Paris. Japan successfully launched an orbiting satellite that will trap space junk with a giant net. And the world’s best dad created an incredible Star Wars AT-ACT playhouse just in time for the debut of Rogue One.
VW to pour $200 million more into an anti-pollution fund
Believe it or not, Volkswagen still isn’t done paying for its diesel emissions scandal. Reuters understands that the car maker has agreed to pay over $200 million extra into a US Environmental Protection Agency fund devoted to reducing pollution created by VW’s diesel emissions cheating. The company had already agreed to spend $2.7 billion over three years, but the extra money will cover the 80,000 3-liter diesels that violated emissions limits — previously, it was only accounting for 2-liter vehicles. Barring surprises, the deal could be made official as soon as the 19th.
It’s not certain what will happen to the cars themselves, although a judge has given a December 19th deadline. VW may end up buying back 20,000 of the 3-liter cars and fixing the emissions of the remaining 60,000.
These vehicles (which include Audi and Porsche models) don’t violate American emissions laws quite so egregiously as the 2-liter models. They “only” exceed the limits by up to nine times versus 40 times on the 2-liter machines. However, it’s clear that regulators want to account for every instance of emissions abuse, not just the most obvious examples.
Source: Reuters
OLED iPhone 8 to Feature Curved Display and New Touch-Sensitive Technology
Apple’s high-end OLED iPhone 8 will use a curved display rather than a flat panel and could potentially feature new touch-sensitive technology, according to a report published on Sunday.
Multiple sources have claimed Apple is planning a 5.5-inch “premium” version of its 2017 iPhone with an OLED screen alongside new models with traditional LCD displays, but today’s report underlines Apple’s intention to use a curved screen similar to that found in Samsung’s Galaxy S7, which has been described as having the best smartphone display on the market.
“The OLED version of the new iPhone will all be curved as Apple ordered all plastic OLED — not glass — from Samsung Display. Samsung is capable of supplying a little less than 100 million units of curved OLED displays to Apple,” a source familiar with the matter told The Korea Herald.
Previous rumors outlining Apple’s intention to launch multiple iPhone models have been dogged by suggestions that it could delay adoption of OLED technology entirely due to supply constraints. Samsung is Apple’s sole supplier of OLED displays in 2017, with LG and Sharp among the companies tapped to ramp up production for 2018, but the latest report indicates that limited supply may indeed shape differentiation in next year’s 10th anniversary iPhone line-up.
According to the Herald, Samsung’s curved OLED capacity for Apple is estimated at around 70 million to 100 million units. That’s in line with previous estimates, but it’s less than half of Apple’s annual sales of the iPhone series, which stand at around 200 million units a year.
The paper’s source goes on to state that next year’s iPhone won’t be foldable, but in order to set it apart from Samsung’s phones it could feature new sensing technology which “enables the phone to respond when users touch any side of the device”. No further details are forthcoming, but the source notes that Apple may ultimately choose not to adopt the technology.
Other rumors suggest Apple’s major iPhone redesign could include wireless charging and a glass body, no physical Home button, and an edge-to-edge, bezel-free display with embedded Touch ID fingerprint sensor and camera.
Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
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