SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 19, 2023--

India has successfully landed on the Moon – for less than the cost of the film Interstellar. The Indian space agency announced on Wednesday that it had completed a “soft landing” on the lunar surface, near its southern pole. It becomes the first ever to land there, and just the fourth country to successfully send a mission to the Moon at all. And it did so on a very restrictive budget. The Chandrayaan-3 cost was sent to the Moon at a cost of about 6.15 billion rupees, or $75 million, according to Reuters. That is less than the cost of most blockbuster space films. Gravity cost $100 million, The Martian cost $108 million – and it was less than half the cost of Interstellar, which was filmed on a budget of $165 million. It even costs less than some houses. The UK’s most expensive house, for instance, went on sale at £200 million, or nearly three-and-a-half missions to the Moon. The budget is even less than India allocated to Chandrayaan-2, the previous attempt to land on the Moon in 2019, which ended in failure when the lander crashed. That cost around 8 billion rupees, or about 30 per cent more than the latest successful mission, though engineers have made clear that many of the learnings from that earlier launch had been integrated into the latest one. India has looked to build a reputation for cost-effective but still successful missions to space. It comes as the country encourages investment in the private space industry and businesses focused on satellites. The price of the whole Indian mission is similar to that charged by SpaceX for one Falcon 9 launch. That is charged at $67 million, according to its website. Read More AI can detect Parkinson’s up to seven years before symptoms appear, study finds Justin Trudeau slams Facebook for blocking news stories about wildfires

Researchers have come up with a new form of glass-infused paint that they claim can reduce vast amounts of electricity used by air-conditioning units. The E-Coating paint, invented by Hoi Fung Ronaldo Chan and Can Jovial Xiao, uses recycled waste glass to create a reflective cooling cover that can be applied to roofs and walls to reflect the Sun’s rays. The innovation was among the 2023 James Dyson Award global winners, announced on Wednesday, which grants £30,000 to support the next stages of its development. “We invented E-Coating with a desire to help tackle the serious environmental problems our planet is facing,” said inventor Ronaldo Chan. “The prize money will allow us to further our research and development goals and start a company to take our invention to the next level.” Mr Chan and his fellow inventors plan to use the money to improve the E-Coating’s adhesion and ease of application, as well as investigate new formulas for indoor use. “Ronaldo and Can Jovial Xiao have come up with a clever way to turn waste into something much more valuable,” said James Dyson. “It is a dual solution that is good for the environment and saves money.” Other winners of the awards include a hands-free IV device that allows medics in disaster zones to transport patients without having to hold up IV packs, as well as a ‘Life Chariot’ that serves as an off-road trailer that can be used for medical evacuations. The success of the E-Coating comes just one week after scientists demonstrated a new ultra-white ceramic material that can reflect 99.6 per cent of sunlight – a record high. An experiment with the material on a house roof was able to reduce electricity consumption for cooling by more than 20 per cent. The development of the ceramic is still in the experimental stages, with a study published in the journal Science on 9 November, however the researchers claim it could be easily mass produced using common materials. Read More Scientists invent device to keep brain alive while severed from the body

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2023--

The Department of Energy announced Friday it is awarding up to $1.2 billion to two projects that promise to remove carbon dioxide from the air in what officials said was the largest investment in “engineered carbon removal” in history

David Risher had a rocky first week at his job.

Google has agreed to shell out $8 million to Texas over deceptive ads it made

SEOUL South Korea's largest telco SK Telecom said it will invest $100 million in U.S. artificial intelligence firm

SAN BRUNO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2023--

Astronomers believe they might have found the source of the brightest explosion ever in space. The record-breaking explosion recorded in October 2022 was the most powerful ever seen, leaving equipment and instruments struggling to measure it as it pointed directly at planet Earth. The bright gamma-ray burst is officially called GRB 221009A and when it first went off, scientists were left scrabbling to point telescopes in its direction to record it. The explosion has affectionately been nicknamed BOAT, standing for “brightest of all time”, and was caused by the death of a large star located 2.4 billion light-years away – relatively close in terms of space activity. The star collapsed into a black hole after ejecting its outer envelope, causing this huge, bright explosion comprised of gamma rays, producing not only a narrow structured jet but with an additional outflow of gas. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter This “exceptionally rare event” surprised astronomers, who had not predicted the existence of gas, and certainly provides plenty of new information around the question of how black holes form. The study’s lead author and astronomer from George Washington University, Brendan O'Connor, explained: “GRB 221009A represents a massive step forward in our understanding of gamma-ray bursts, and demonstrates that the most extreme explosions do not obey the standard physics assumed for garden variety gamma-ray bursts.” He continued: “GRB 221009A might be the equivalent Rosetta stone of long GRBs, forcing us to revise our standard theories of how relativistic outflows are formed in collapsing massive stars.” The huge and long-lasting blast measured up to 18 teraelectronvolts which is a staggering record for a gamma-ray burst, leaving scientists to hypothesise that it was a supernova. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Faced with mounting pressure over planet-heating pollution, Gulf Arab energy giants are turning to humble tech start-ups as they search for ways to remove...

Apple is about to launch its first new platform in almost a decade, and what could be its most decisive product since the iPhone. A new mixed reality headset is due to be launched during its Worldwide Developers Conference event on Monday, though it might not arrive then. When it is revealed, it could decide the future of Apple, its users and the devices that everyone uses. Here’s everything we know about the headset, ahead of Monday’s likely big reveal. Price One thing has been discussed at length about the headset: how much exactly it will cost. And most of that discussion has agreed that the answer will be a lot. Rumours have pointed at $3,000 for the first version of the headset, which would make it very expensive even among the otherwise expensive Apple products. That high price is likely to be a result of the high-end components that are required to power the headset, which is rumoured to have significantly higher performance than its competitors. Apple is said to be expecting far fewer people to buy the headset than would buy its other products. As such, the high price might not translate to high revenues, and Apple might not be expecting it to. There is some chance, however, that all of those rumours are wrong; when the iPad was released, everyone though it would cost $999, and Steve Jobs took great joy in delighting in having proven the “pundits” wrong when he unveiled it at $499. It’s helpful for Apple if people think that it will cost more and they can then reveal that it’s actually just quite expensive, rather than very expensive. Release date Monday is almost certain to be the day the headset is revealed. But it would be very surprising indeed if it went on sale any time after that. Recent rumours have suggested that it will not actually be on shelves – or however it is sold – until much later in the year. It’s likely that Apple will want it ready for the important holiday period, which would mean getting it on sale in October or November. Apple, under Tim Cook, has developed a much-envied knack for announcing products and having them ready to go soon after, even when they are sold in such vast quantities as the iPhone. But it has still left big gaps between the announcement and the introduction of a product in the past, especially when they represent a whole new platform. The Apple Watch was announced during the September release event for the iPhone 6, but it did not actually arrive until the end of the following April. The move to Apple Silicon for Macs was announced in June 2020, at WWDC, but the first computers using it did not actually arrive until the following November. Those delays meant that Apple could be prepared, ensuring that it could have enough of the hardware made in time and not have to worry about the design or other details leaking. But waiting also meant that developers could be prepared, too, and ensure that their apps and other software were ready for the new platform. Spec Apple is said to be very focused on ensuring that the headset brings a high-quality experience. That means a much more luxurious specification than existing headsets at this kind of price point. That includes very detailed and powerful displays. Reports have suggested that it could offer up to 5,000 nits of brightness – enough for HDR – and a total 8K resolution from two Micro OLED displays that should allow for rich detail and fast response times. It is set to be powered by equally high-level hardware. It will have two chips that ensure it is able to work on its own without a companion device, reports have indicated, and provide stable and quick output. Design Leaked designs have suggested that the headset will look something like the AirPods Max combined with an Apple Watch: the same unapologetic aluminium used on both of those devices, and the soft material that it is combined with to make them actually wearable. That would certainly make sense, since Apple has always been focused on ensuring that its products do not just look nice on their own but sit well together, too. And it will no doubt have learned plenty from its earlier work in wearable devices, including headphones and watches. But little has leaked about what the headset will actually look like. Apple could opt to go for some other look entirely. Sensors VR headsets need sensors both to know where they are and to know what their user is doing. The headset is expected to include a strong array of them. It will use 3D sensors to know where users hands are, as well as any other objects. They are likely to be similar to the LiDAR tools that are in the iPhone and iPad, and can already be used for mapping rooms, for instance. It wil also have tools to detect more about the person wearing it, too. Reports suggest that it will be able to see people’s facial expressions, as well as including microphones for voice control through Siri. It is also expected to include more standard cameras, that will allow users to see the real world and overlay virtual objects on it. That will be controlled using a dial similar to the one on the Apple Watch and AirPods, which can be used to add more or less of the real world, reports have indicated. The headset is also likely to be able to connect to the iPhone for some uses, such as text input. And it will probably be able to use other earphones, such as the AirPods – Apple has already been working hard on “spatial audio” features for them, which would slot in nicely with virtual reality. Software Apple is said to be working on a new AR/VR operating system for the headset, with rumours suggesting that it could be called xrOS or realityOS. But there has been little reported about how exactly that software will work. It will probably be based on Apple’s other platforms – which all have a fairly consistent look – tailored so that users can see it in 3D space. Apple has been rumoured to be working on augmented reality versions of its own apps, such as FaceTime. And part of the reason for launching at WWDC is probably so that it can help developers start working on their apps, too. But one of the key unanswered questions is how the will all work, both individually and within that broader operating system. Problems? No major platform of this kind could be without problems. But numerous reports have suggested that the new headset could have a few more than most. Throughout its development, some both within and outside Apple have argued that the product is either not a good fit or is not ready yet in its current form. At the same time, others have pressed on, arguing that it is better to get some version of the headset out into the world and develop it from there. Even in recent days, as the release of the headset nears, reports have suggested issues. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that even in current testing the headset appears to be getting hot, for instance. Another headset? The mixed reality goggles, due to be released at WWDC, are thought to be just one part of Apple’s big plan for augmented and virtual reality. Apple is also said to be working on a separate headset that could be released at a later date, and for a lower price. Eventually, too, Apple might want to take some of the technology from the goggles and integrate them into glasses that allow people to see the world normally but with virtual objects imposed on top. Rumours have long suggested that is the eventual aim – but it might never come. Read More Apple is about to update all its products – and release a very big new one Mark Zuckerberg reveals new VR headset ahead of Apple Apple gives update on the App Store ahead of expected headset reveal Major leak reveals details of Apple’s VR headset days before unveiling Apple is going to reveal something else alongside its headset, rumours suggest Trust and ethics considerations ‘have come too late’ on AI technology