Sci-Tech

Chinese booster rocket makes uncontrolled return to Earth: US officials

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A Chinese booster rocket made an uncontrolled return to Earth on Saturday, US Defense Department officials said, as they chided Beijing for not sharing information on the potentially hazardous object’s descent. US Space Command “can confirm the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Long March 5B (CZ-5B) re-entered over the Indian Ocean at approx 10:45 am MDT on 7/30,” the US military unit said on Twitter, referring to China’s official […]

Instagram sidelines TikTok-like features following complaints

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Instagram will pause features that users have campaigned against and complained make the social network too much like TikTok, according to a report in the Platformer tech newsletter Thursday. Celebrity sisters Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner were some of the most vocal users to have posted messages on social media this week calling for the company to “make Instagram Instagram again” and stop trying to be like TikTok. The […]

String theory: NASA Mars rover discovers mystery object

Washington, United States | AFP Is it tumbleweed? A piece of fishing line? Spaghetti? A tangled object discovered by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has intrigued space watchers, leaving some musing tongue-in-cheek about the quality of Italian dining on the Red Planet. But the most plausible explanation is more prosaic: it’s likely remnants of a component used to lower the robotic explorer to the Martian surface in February 2021. “We have been discussing where it’s from, […]

Facebook tweaks app with eye on rival TikTok

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook has split the news feed in two on its app, a significant change that mimics the experience on its fiercest competitor, hugely-popular TikTok. One of the feeds unveiled Thursday is a chronological flow from the user’s connections and the other option includes algorithm-driven recommendations on anything that might interest them. The recommendations focus makes Facebook more similar to TikTok’s “For You” feed, where the booming video app’s algorithm […]

Ford to cut thousands of jobs in transition to electric: US media

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — US carmaker Ford is preparing to cut several thousand jobs to reduce costs and intensify its transition to electric vehicles, US media reported on Wednesday. The group is expected to announce the elimination of more than 4,000 jobs in the coming weeks, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people close to the matter. Factory workers are not expected to be affected, the report said. Bloomberg said as […]

Webb begins hunt for the first stars and habitable worlds

  by Issam Ahmed and Lucie Aubourg Agence France Presse The first stunning images from the James Webb Space Telescope were revealed this week, but its journey of cosmic discovery has only just begun. Here is a look at two early projects that will take advantage of the orbiting observatory’s powerful instruments. – The first stars and galaxies – One of the great promises of the telescope is its ability to study the earliest phase […]

ESA fully cuts Mars mission ties with Russia, angering Moscow

  PARIS, France (AFP) — The European Space Agency has officially terminated cooperation with Russia on a mission to put a rover on Mars, with Russia’s space chief furiously responding by banning cosmonauts on the ISS from using a Europe-made robotic arm. The ESA had previously suspended ties on the joint ExoMars mission, which had planned to use Russian rockets to put Europe’s Rosalind Franklin rover on the red planet to drill for signs of […]

Photos of deep space as revealed by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope

“The dawn of a new era in astronomy has begun as the world gets its first look at the full capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency),” NASA announced on July 12 as the telescope’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data were released. This was during a televised broadcast at 10:30 a.m. EDT (14:30 UTC) on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, from NASA’s Goddard […]

Cosmic cliffs and dancing galaxies: Webb begins era of discovery

by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse The cosmic cliffs of a stellar nursery and a quintet of galaxies bound in a celestial dance: NASA released the next wave of images from the James Webb Space Telescope Tuesday, heralding a new era of astronomy. “Every image is a new discovery,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “Each will give humanity a view of the universe that we’ve never seen before.” Released one by one starting from 10:30 […]

Tech firms unveil plan for ‘space-based’ 5G network

  PARIS, France (AFP) — Thales, Qualcomm and Ericsson unveiled Monday a plan to allow smartphones to communicate directly with satellites, a “space-based network” they hope will bring connectivity to the entire globe. The three firms envisage launching hundreds of satellites with 5G capabilities to bring coverage to “extreme geographies or remote areas across seas”. The plan would potentially cut out the base stations and antennas that current mobile networks need to send and receive […]

Twitter’s future uncertain as it faces messy breakup with Musk

  by Julie JAMMOT Agence France Presse Courted and then jilted by the world’s richest person, Twitter looks well positioned to win a court battle with Elon Musk over a $1 billion breakup fee and more — but the company will not emerge unscathed. The entire saga has left observers baffled by what Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described as “one of the craziest business stories ever.” “I think it starts off as a circus show […]

TikTok sued in US after girls die in ‘Blackout Challenge’

  SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Video-sharing sensation TikTok is being sued in California after children died while taking part in a “Blackout Challenge” that makes a sport of choking oneself until passing out. The lawsuit filed in state court in Los Angeles last week accuses TikTok software of “intentionally and repeatedly” pushing the Blackout Challenge that led to the deaths of an eight-year-old girl in Texas and a nine-year-old girl in Wisconsin last […]