Новости за 16.11.2021

Christmas shopping is guaranteed to unleash my inner Grinch. The urgency, the icy temperatures, the emptying shelves, and the crowds — sweet Santa, the crowds! They turn my Yuletide glee into deep holiday blues. This year, however, Google Maps is delivering some festive help. The app has gift-wrapped a bundle of new features to help shoppers survive the holiday rush. First up is Area Busyness, which analyzes geographical data to show when a neighborhood is crowded. Open up Google Maps, and the app will show you the locations to avoid. Читать дальше...

Ultra-hot Jupiters — named as such because of their physical similarities to the planet Jupiter — are exoplanets that orbit stars other than the sun with temperatures so high that the molecules in their atmospheres are completely torn apart. They are among the most extreme environments in our galaxy. They also whip around their parent stars in orbits that only last a few days, and astronomers still aren’t sure how it’s possible for them to form. While these harsh conditions might sound like they’re as extreme as it gets... Читать дальше...

A boom in new technologies is revolutionizing the field of mental health in terms of understanding and treating mental disorders like phobias, eating disorders, or psychosis. Among these innovations, virtual reality (VR) is a powerful tool that provides individuals with new learning experiences, increasing their psychological well-being. Immersive VR creates interactive computer-generated worlds that expose users to sensory perceptions that mimic those experienced in the “real” world. People have... Читать дальше...

Space just got a lot messier — and more dangerous. Russia has sparked outrage by shooting down one of its satellites in a missile test on Monday. The move has created an enormous quantity of orbital debris, jeopardized the safety of astronauts, and reignited fears about an arms race in space. Russia’s Defense Ministry has downplayed the risks of the operation, but there are good reasons to be concerned. Here are three of them: 1. The ISS crew had to shelter in capsules The missile blew apart a defunct... Читать дальше...

When cryptocurrencies first began as a way to create decentralized digital currencies, they were primarily used by techies and finance experts — individuals who understood the intricacies of crypto and how they could build up a sizable stash of digital currency. Fast-forward to today, and things have changed drastically. Hundreds of millions of people around the globe use cryptocurrencies, with nations such as Nigeria seeing adoption rates as high as 32 percent. There are many factors that have played a role in this trend... Читать дальше...

TLDR: The Spade Mini Smart Ear Wax Remover connects via WiFi and offers crystal clear video for cleaning your ears the right way. It’s time we all had an important talk about ear wax. That’s a sentence you probably never thought you would read. But when an audiologist pops a “chicken nugget” of ear wax out of a guy’s ear, it’s time to make sure we’re all on the same page. Your hearing is important. And in case it was unclear, cotton swabs and — gasp — bobby pins(!) are no way to remove earwax on your own. Читать дальше...

If you asked a bunch of founders what the number one thing they look for in a startup hub is, you’d probably get a few different answers. The one thing they’d agree on is the need for the right people. Whether that’s investors, employees, customers, or partners. It’s one of the reasons we see founders flocking to locations like Silicon Valley, New York, and Shenzhen. But the overwhelming concentration of startups in these areas has also resulted in fierce competition for funding, customers, and an... Читать дальше...

I’ve used Microsoft’s Edge browser almost exclusively for a couple of years now. I’ve written about how I prefer it to Chome, and I often recommend naysayers give it a try because it does a lot of things better than the alternatives. But Microsoft’s hostile attitude towards allowing people to use third-party browsers is making me second guess that choice. I’m not just trying to be high and mighty about browser ethics here; I think it genuinely bodes poorly for the future of the browser. Someone at... Читать дальше...

The AGI hype train has hit some heavy traffic. While futurists and fundraisers used to make bullish predictions about artificial general intelligence, they’ve become quieter lately. Peter Thiel — the tech billionaire and rumored vampire — says Silicon Valley big brains have lost enthusiasm for AGI. “Elon’s not talking about it anymore and Larry [Page] is off to Fiji and doesn’t seem to be working on it quite as hard,” Thiel said at a recent event. Thiel described Musk as “a weathervane for the zeitgeist,”... Читать дальше...

IBM might have just changed the computing game in a major way. Nobody’s seen a research paper yet, but Big Blue’s quantum department is claiming that its mysterious “Eagle” processor has achieved quantum supremacy. Eureka? IBM CEO Arvind Krishna gave Axios on HBO the exclusive. According to them, the Eagle processor is capable of doing things no supercomputer can do. In fact, per the interview, Krishna says there’s no other system on the planet, classical or quantum, that can do what Eagle can do... Читать дальше...