Help scientists search for aliens with a customized exoplanet telescope

Why it matters to you

The ExoLife Finder could be the key to discovering alien life.

A team of astronomers and a number of outer space enthusiasts have joined forces to investigate whether we’re alone in the universe. As part of the PLANETS Foundation, these scientists are working to create a revolutionary exoplanet telescope designed specifically to search for nearby planets and scan them for signs of life.

In April, the team sought funding for the first of three phases of the telescope, and raised more than double its goal of $20,000 to implement features like advanced polishing and ultra-thin mirrors. Now, the team is seeking funding for its second phase, the ExoLife Finder.

PLANETS is short for Polarized Light from Atmospheres of Nearby Extraterrestrial Systems. Designed from the ground up, the new ExoLife Finder will be capable of seeing exoplanets some 24 light years (120 trillion miles) away.

“This is the world’s first telescope designed for direct exoplanet imaging,” Jeff Kuhn, an astronomer from the University of Hawaii who is leading the project, told Digital Trends. “It’s the only telescope with the power to map the surface of the nearest habitable zone exoplanet.”

Kuhn and his team have developed a unique algorithm designed specifically to identify continents, oceans, and perhaps even lifeforms on nearby exoplanets. In the process, it will search for important molecules like water, oxygen, and methane — vital to life as we know it — while looking out for large colonies of photosynthetic organisms. It may even spot massive landfills, a signal of an advanced civilization.

Assuming the team reaches its funding goal of $35,000 (they’ve raised nearly $23,000 with twelve days to go at the time this article was published) its first target will be Proxima Centauri b, an exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of the closest star to Earth. The discovery of Proxima b was just announced in August 2016. Although this year it was shown that the planet can’t maintain an Earth-like atmosphere, the relative newness of exoplanet discoveries has made this exoplanet and others a hot topic.

“Our generation is the first to find planets around other stars, and the next generation will be the first to discover and study life around these stars,” Kuhn said. “With this program we can transition the philosophical problems of the origins of life to truly scientific, and even experimental questions.”

Rewards for supporting the campaign include posters, pins, shirts, and “Cosmic Lights,” which are LED gifts featuring lifeforms found on Earth that may be capable of withstanding extreme conditions of outer space.

These are the 8 thinnest cases we could find for Galaxy S8

What’s the thinnest Galaxy S8 case?

You wanna protect your Galaxy S8 a bit, but cases make it look a li’l plump. Here are the thinnest cases we could find!

1. Impossibly thin

Impossible? Yeah! “Air Skin”? Like pudding skin? Sure, we’ll bite. You can find it for around $10.

2. Awwww mSnap!

Give your S8 a “Maxboost” (see what I did there?) with this thin’un. Only $10.

3. Thinness out the Ying yang

“Crystal” might be pushing it as far as clarity’s considered, but this one’s about as thin as they come and only $7.

4. Straight from the horse’s mouth

At 0.8mm thick, Samsung knows what’s up for thin cases for its phone. Check these out starting at $10.

5. Yihailu: Go ahead, we’ll wait while you try to pronounce it too

Yee… High loo? Meh. Thin case is *thin and $12.

6. Because nudity rules!

When it comes to phones. Put your pants back on, Steve. Check these out for around $30.

7. Highway to the Geekzone

That girl in the photo is crying tears of joy. Don’t worry; be happy. These are only $5!

8. Looking for thin cases? We have the Anccer for only $12!

GET IT? ANCCER???!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Love me.

Find anything thinner?

Sound off in the comments below!

Updated September 2017: Added pricing. These are still the thinnest cases you can get for Galaxy S8.

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The best Daydream apps for watching movies

There are many ways of watching movies on the daydream, here are our favorites.

There are 3 main styles when you watch a movie in VR, Full 360 video, 3D video, and regular movie format. When watching regular movies you really need something surrounding the video or you are just floating in space with a screen in front of you. This can get really disconcerting so most apps try to create a space for you to enjoy.

I haven’t mentioned video quality here as almost all the apps require an internet connection to stream and will dynamically alter the resolution as they go. However due to the nature of VR even low resolution videos look good as they are so close to your face.

Here are some of the best apps to watch standard movies on.

Read more at VRHeads

Verizon’s Wear24 Android Wear smartwatch is dead after just 4 months

Just 4 months after its initial release, Verizon has already killed its Wear24 smartwatch.

No matter how big of a Google fan you are, we can all admit that Android Wear isn’t in the prettiest of places at the moment. Mainstream releases like the LG Watch Sport and Huawei Watch 2 never truly cultivated much of a following at all, and aside from these two entries, the rest of the space has been essentially dominated by fashion brands.

Verizon’s Wear24 made a debut in February as a new Android Wear option to take advantage of the carrier’s 4G LTE network, but after being released in May, the watch is already dead.

It was discovered yesterday that the product page for the Wear24 had been replaced by its support page, and after Android Police reached out to Verizon for comment on this, a representative replied by simply saying “Yes wear24 has been discontinued.” No more, no less.

Well, that didn’t last very long.

When it was announced, the Wear24 offered an interesting proposition. The 1.39-inch AMOLED display, 450 mAh battery, IP67 rating, built-in GPS, and LTE connectivity packed into a fairly clean body sounded like a nice offering, but the price of $300 with a two-year contract and $349 outright likely kept most buyers at bay. I mean, obviously, it did if the thing’s already been discontinued.

Even though Android Wear as a whole is going through some serious growing pains, Verizon’s random axing of the Wear24 after just 4 months of being on the market is still pretty insane.

Software updates and customer support for the Wear24 will likely be ending soon after the halt of sales, but considering that Verizon probably sold about … 24 of these things, this shouldn’t impact many people.

How to set up Samsung Pay on your Galaxy Note 8

Samsung Pay is the most robust mobile payments solution available today.

Samsung Pay is one of the easiest ways to pay with your phone at thousands of retail stores. The service supports both NFC (Near Field Communication) and MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission), which means it’ll work with NFC-enabled payment systems as well as older card readers. MST effectively mimics a card swipe action, allowing you to use Samsung Pay anywhere.

Setting up Samsung Pay is easy, and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes of your time.

• How to install Samsung Pay on the Galaxy Note 8
• How to add your credit or debit cards to Samsung Pay

How to install Samsung Pay on the Galaxy Note 8

Open Samsung Pay from the app drawer.
Tap Install to download and install Samsung Pay on your phone. The installation takes up 101MB.

At the installation confirmation window, tap Install.

How to add your credit or debit cards to Samsung Pay

Once Samsung Pay is installed, you’ll see a short intro video highlighting its features. The service needs a Samsung account to work, so if you didn’t log in to your Samsung account while setting up your Note 8, you will be asked to do so here. And if you don’t have a Samsung account, you can register for one.

Once you log in to your Samsung account, you can start setting up Samsung Pay and registering your cards.

Tap Start to set up Samsung Pay on your Note 8.
Select the Verification method. You can choose from four options: iris and fingerprint, iris only, fingerprint only, or just a PIN.

Once you’ve selected the verification method, tap Next.

If you’ve selected iris + fingerprint, you’ll be asked to verify the iris and fingerprints you’ve registered on your Note 8.

Once you’ve authenticated your fingerprints and irises, you can add your credit or debit card. Tap Add card to continue.

Give Samsung Pay access to take photos and record video. You can add your card details manually, or use the Note 8’s camera to scan the card number (screenshots aren’t available for this part, but it’s very straightforward).
You can also add cards from the Samsung Pay home screen. Select the Credit/debit button to add your cards.

If you’ve previously added cards to Samsung Pay, they will be listed in the cards page. You’ll have to authorize them once again on the Note 8 before you can use them.

You can verify a card by either a text message or a call.

How do you use Samsung Pay?

Samsung Pay’s ability to work with both NFC and MST gives it a distinct advantage over the likes of Android Pay. The service is now live in 19 countries, and is making its way to more and more markets.

How was your experience with Samsung Pay on the Galaxy Note 8? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Emogi for Gboard brings thousands of animated stickers to Android

Thousands of new animated stickers are now at your disposal with Emogi for Gboard.

Virtual keyboards have come a long way since the days of mourning over the loss of their physical counterparts, and one of the best ones on the market is Google’s Gboard. There’s already no shortage of emojis or GIFs to choose from within Gboard by default, but a new addition from Emogi is now adding thousands of animated stickers for you to annoyingly send to your friends.

Google added the ability to use stickers in Gboard at the beginning of this month, and while Emogi isn’t the first sticker pack to be added, it does seem like an easy contender for one of the better ones we’ve seen so far.

The animated nature of Emogi’s stickers makes them considerably more interesting than static sticker packs, and although Emogi hasn’t said exactly how many are included, there are supposedly “thousands” to choose from.

Once you download Emogi for Gboard, open up Gboard, tap on the smiley face icon, and then the Sticker tab. From here, you’ll be able to scroll through the most popular Emogi stickers or search for specific ones that you’re looking for. Emogi says that its stickers are updated daily and come from “your favorite entertainers, brands, and cultural moments.” I was able to search “Harambe” and find an animated sticker of our late prince, so I can confirm that Emogi truly is staying on top of trends that are definitely not old or outdated.

Per Emogi’s CEO and Founder, Travis Montaque —

Google’s decision to integrate stickers into Gboard solidifies the keyboard as one of the smartest and expressive tools people use to message today. Starting today, Emogi is sharing its library of original sticker content with Gboard users. Emogi’s content enriches conversations – we’re here to help Gboard users express themselves better when text isn’t enough. We are excited to join Google in partnership.

Emogi for Gboard is free to download from the Google Play Store now.

Google Assistant gains a search bar for easier app searching

There are a lot of apps available for the Google Assistant, and a new search bar makes searching for them easier than ever before.

The Google Assistant is easily one of my favorite virtual assistants to date, and while I already call upon it to do a variety of things, finding new services/apps to take advantage of hasn’t always been very easy. That is, until now.

In a new update to the Google Assistant, a search bar has been added to the top of the Explore page to help you find specific apps that you’re looking for. For example, searching “lights” will show a list of apps that allow you control smart lights and previews of commands that you’d use for said services. Tapping on one of the results will take you to a page with more information on what it does, example commands that work with it, and a link for setting up the service with the Assistant.

You’ve previously been able to search through first and third party apps to download for Google Assistant, but before the search bar was added, you were forced to scroll through predefined lists that categorized apps by their main function. You can still search through apps in this manner if you prefer to do so, but the addition of the search bar is nice for hunting down a specific service that you’d like to use.

To access the Explore page and its new search bar, you have a couple options at your disposal. With the first method, you can hold down on your home button to bring up the Google Assistant and then tap the blue circle in the top right corner. Additionally, you can open up the Google Home app and tap on the Explore tab in the hamburger menu on the left.

This isn’t a drastic new addition to Google Assistant, but it’s one that should make navigating through its many functions considerably easier.

Rocket Lab’s second test launch will deliver a payload to orbit

Small satellite launcher Rocket Lab’s first test flight in May was mostly a success, and now it’s ready for a second round. The New Zealand-based startup will begin the final tests on its Electron launch vehicle next month. The launch window will open soon after these tests are scheduled for completion, the company said.

This won’t just be any test run, though. The Electron rocket will have a payload; Rocket Labs tweeted both Planet and Spire will have small satellites aboard the launch vehicle. Planet is has a huge network of small satellites which continually scan and image the Earth; it will send two of its Dove nanosats to orbit. Spire will send its weather-mapping and ship-tracking Lemur-2 satellites up as well.

Second test flight #StillTesting confirmed to fly payloads for @planetlabs and @SpireGlobal

— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) September 25, 2017

The first Rocket Lab launch was considered a success, but the rocket didn’t reach orbit. An in-depth post-flight analysis determined that it was caused by misconfigured telemetry equipment, which caused the launch center to lose communication with the rocket temporarily. When that happened, the flight was terminated, as per standard procedure. But the problem has been fixed, and Rocket Lab is confident that this second test will go more smoothly.

Competitor Vector launched a prototype of its rocket, the Vector-R, last month in a suborbital flight, and it was also carrying a customer payload. It’s clear the small satellite space race is on; we’ll see if Rocket Labs will be the first of the two to make it to orbit.

Source: CNBC, Rocket Lab

Uber vows to leave Quebec over tougher regulations

Uber appears to be making its second big exit in as many weeks. The ridesharing company intends to shut down operations in the Canadian province of Quebec if stricter rules are implemented for the October 14th renewal of a pilot project that lets Uber run in the region. Quebec wants drivers to go through the same 35 hours of training as a conventional taxi driver, get background checks from police (not private companies as they do today) and go through vehicle inspections once every year. Uber had already threatened to leave if it was regulated like taxis, so it’s clearly willing to follow through on this promise.

It’s possible that Uber is using the withdrawal as a bargaining chip, hoping that it’ll see a repeat of its Austin situation where legislators reverse the regulation. When we asked Uber for comment, it focused on its core argument, contending that the new regulations would be “onerous” and that its service was proven “safe and reliable” through the first phase of the pilot. You can read the full statement below. No matter the reasoning, it’s notable that Uber isn’t choosing to stay and fight, and doesn’t have a way of circumventing the rules — it’s packing up and leaving if its terms aren’t met.

If there’s no last-minute agreement, it could be costly for Uber. Quebec has a population of roughly 8.2 million at last check, or roughly a quarter of the total Canadian population. That’s not the hugest loss for Uber on an international level, but it’s akin to losing a very large city in one fell swoop. Clearly, Uber would rather take that hit than risk setting a precedent where other governments can demand tougher regulations.

“The Ministry of Transportation has proposed new regulations that will considerably impact the lives of thousands of driver partners who wish to work on their own schedule and which will, if implemented, prevent Uber from continuing operations in Quebec as early as October 14.

Over the past year, Uber has been operating in Québec under a government pilot project, which was a huge success. Hundreds of thousands of riders have taken millions of safe rides thanks to the incredible community of driver partners and the technology that makes the Uber app such a safe and reliable way for Quebecers to get around their communities.

Given the success of the pilot project, we were disappointed that the government now wants to add new rules that rely on old administrative practices rather than renewing the project in full and supporting technology and consumer choice. Among other things, the proposed rules would impose onerous training obligations developed for a different industry on ridesharing drivers, without taking into account the benefits that come with new technology such as in-app safety features, GPS tracking of every trip, a two-way rating system, and 24/7 support.”

Source: CBC

The DHS plans to monitor immigrants’ social media accounts

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently posted a new rule in the Federal Register set to go into effect next month. The update is largely to note that certain government electronic documents are also part of immigrants’ official records as the DHS “moves to conducting more immigrant actions in an electronic environment.” However, the DHS is also adding new categories to official records including “social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results.” And the collection of social media information isn’t limited to new immigrants but will apply to all immigrants including permanent residents and naturalized citizens.

This move is certainly not out of the blue — incorporating social media information into immigrant records in one way or another has been a topic of conversation for a while. In 2015, the DHS began working on a plan to add social media searches into visa application protocol and in 2016 it proposed and implemented a new section in the travel form for foreign visitors coming to the US under the visa waiver program that asks for social media handles. In February, the DHS announced that it was planning to start asking visitors from Trump’s travel ban list of countries for not only their social account names, but their passwords as well. And in March reports came out that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ordered social media checks on all visa applicants who had visited ISIS-controlled regions. Additionally, after proposing the plan in May, the Trump administration introduced an expanded visa applicant questionnaire in June that asks for all social media handles used in the last five years.

In regards to the new DHS rule, Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Adam Schwartz told BuzzFeed, “There’s a growing trend at the Department of Homeland Security to be snooping on the social media of immigrants and foreigners and we think it’s an invasion of privacy and deters freedom of speech.”

The new rule is open for public comment until October 18th when it will officially be implemented.

Via: ThinkProgress

Source: Federal Register, BuzzFeed