List of All Articles with Tag 'tec'

(Reuters) -General Motors' robotaxi unit Cruise is planning to re-launch in one city, the company said on Wednesday. Cruise had

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS EU lawmakers agreed on Wednesday to draft rules requiring Alphabet's Google, Meta and

MILAN Italy's data protection authority has kicked-off a fact-finding investigation into the practice of gathering large amounts of

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has been unable to convince some market participants that it is

LONDON Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co will announce on Friday that it will build the electric versions of

By Aditya Soni Sam Altman's return as OpenAI's chief executive will strengthen his grip on the startup and

Nasa has received a signal from a spacecraft 10 million miles away. The message, delivered using a distant laser, could “transform” communications with spacecraft, the space agency has said. It represents a successful test of Nasa’s Deep Space Optical Communications or DSOC experiment. It is also the first time that data has been successfully relayed through a laser from further away than the Moon – and marks a rapid increase, at more than 40 times the distance from the lunar surface. At the moment, almost all communications with craft in deep space is achieved through radio signals, sent and received from vast antennas on Earth. They have proven reliable but their bandwidth is limited, meaning that it is slow or impossible to send large files such as high-definition photos and videos. Nasa’s work on DSOC is an attempt to use optical communications through lasers instead. The technology could improve data rates by as much as 100 times, the space agency says. The first attempt to test the technology beyond the Moon left the Earth on Nasa’s Psyche mission, which left Earth last month on a mission to study a distant asteroid. The spacecraft is carrying a laser transceiver than can both send and receive laser signals in near-infrared. Last week, that equipment locked onto a Nasa laser beacon in California. Nasa says that “first light” breakthrough is one part of a host of experiments that they hope will prove the laser technology can work. “Achieving first light is one of many critical DSOC milestones in the coming months, paving the way toward higher-data-rate communications capable of sending scientific information, high-definition imagery, and streaming video in support of humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars,” said Trudy Kortes, director of technology demonstrations for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at Nasa Headquarters in Washington. Nasa likens the precision pointing of the laser signal to trying to point a light at a coin from a mile away. What’s more, the laser and its target are constantly moving: in the 20 minutes it will take for the light to travel to Earth from Psyche’s furthest distance, both the planet and the spacecraft will have moved significantly. The team will now work to refine the systems that ensure the spacecraft is pointing its lasers in the right direction. When that happens, Nasa will try an experiment to demonstrate that the spacecraft is able to maintain high-bandwidth data transfer at different distances from Earth. It will do so by breaking the data into bits that can be encoded in the photons of light sent by the spacecraft. That light then arrives at the telescope on Earth and can be reassembled into images or other important data that will be sent by spacecraft – and perhaps humans – in the future. Read More SpaceX hints next Starship launch attempt could be soon SpaceX to launch world’s biggest rocket again after first attempt ended in explosion Nasa spots collection of shocking materials on distant planet

(Reuters) -Investors pulled about $956 million from crypto exchange Binance over the past 24 hours, data firm Nansen reported on

By Arriana McLymore NEW YORK Upstart online retailers Temu.com and Shein are drawing millions of window-shoppers to their

Security researchers have discovered a USB propagating “worm” developed by state-backed Russian hackers to infect Ukrainian targets, which they warn is now spreading globally. The LitterDrifter worm automatically spreads malware via a hidden file within USB drives, with a victim’s data then transmitted back to the attackers. Cyber security firm Check Point Software described the malware as “a unique player in the Russian espionage ecosystem”, designed to collect data and spy on communications. The method of its distribution via removable USB drives means it is difficult to contain the worm to just the intended targets, according to the researchers. “Due to the nature of the USB worm, we see indications of possible infection in various countries like the US, Vietnam, Chile, Poland and Germany,” Check Point researchers wrote in a blog post detailing the threat. “In addition, we’ve observed evidence of infections in Hong Kong. All this might indicate that much like other USB worms, LitterDrifter have spread beyond its intended targets.” The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said the campaign had been identified as originating from personnel within Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, the Ukrainian government has been under “near-constant digital attack”, according to Google’s Shane Huntley, who is a senior director at the tech giant’s threat analysis group. “Russian government-backed attackers have engaged in an aggressive, multi-pronged effort to gain a decisive wartime advantage in cyberspace, often with mixed results,” Mr Huntley wrote in a July post. Cyber attacks have also been perpetrated against Nato partners and Ukraine’s allies, witch such attacks increasing in 2023. Ukraine’s National Cybersecurity Coordination Center (NCSCC) recently revealed that Russian-backed hackers have been targeting European embassies. The latest discovery demonstrates how targeted attacks can easily spread globally when distributed in such a manner. “It leverages simple, yet effective techniques to ensure it can reach the widest possible set of targets in the region,” the Check Point researchers noted. “It’s clear that LitterDrifter was designed to support a large-scale collection operation.” Read More Tiny solar-powered van unveiled in Japan Democrats accuse Elon Musk and X of profiting from Hamas propaganda OpenAI reaches deal with Sam Altman to return as chief executive Tiny solar-powered van unveiled in Japan Democrats accuse Elon Musk and X of profiting from Hamas propaganda OpenAI reaches deal with Sam Altman to return as chief executive

We’re discovering new things about the Earth all the time – just like scientists recently found water is slowly leaking down there from the surface, and people only just realising that there’s a massive ocean hidden under the Earth’s crust. Now, experts have found that the Earth’s axis appears to be shifting for a reason no-one saw coming. Essentially, the Earth’s tilt is changing over time. A few years ago, scientists put this down to global warming and the melting of the polar ice caps. However, experts have published new research which suggests that groundwater extraction is also playing a bigger factor than previously thought. The Earth’s poles can move with the melting of ice sheets. However, the depletion of groundwater caused by irrigation can also force the same thing to happen. While things are moving at a slow rate, with the North Pole moving gradually in the direction of the UK, the phenomenon does have the capacity to change the Earth’s seasons over time in theory. The most concerning thing, though, is what the new study published in Geophysical Research Letters suggests about the way we’re consuming Earth’s natural resources – especially when it comes to salty water being used on dehydrated land. Ki-Weon Seo of National University is co-lead on the study. She said in a statement: "Earth's rotational pole actually changes a lot. Our study shows that among climate-related causes, the redistribution of groundwater actually has the largest impact on the drift of the rotational pole." It comes after scientists recently discovered water is slowly leaking down there from the surface. The liquid is dripping down descending tectonic plates, before eventually reaching the core after a 2,900 kilometre journey. And while the process is slow, it has over billions of years formed a new surface between the molten metal of the outer core and the outer mantle of the Earth. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel 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

A Japanese automaker has unveiled an electric van that uses rooftop solar panels to charge its battery. The Puzzle van, built by HW Electro, is designed to be disaster resilient, capable of functioning during periods of prolonged power outages, however its small size and limited power output means many everyday users could operate it without ever needing to plug it in. The pint-sized van comes with three photovoltaic panels, emergency outlets, an inbuilt first aid kit, WiFi internet connectivity, and a crowbar. HW Electro said the puzzle-inspired design allows its components to fit together in a cost-effective way, making it suitable for “emergencies and for daily convenience” alike. The Puzzle is a type of ‘kei car’, which are smaller and lighter than regular vehicles in order to attain tax and insurance benefits within Japanese regulations. For the first time, HW Electro will be selling a kei car in the US, with commercial sales set to begin in 2025. “The Puzzle launch marks HW Electro’s dedication to addressing environmental challenges and creating innovative eco-friendly solutions to the commercial vehicle market,” HW Electro President Hsiao Weicheng said at the van’s unveiling. “We are excited to officially showcase Puzzle today and we look forward to making it available in the US market.” HW Electro is yet to reveal details about the price or top speed, though its form and functionality could meet a growing demand in the US for small electric vehicles. Areas like Arizona and Florida are increasingly seeing families using electric golf carts as a “second car”, capable of making short trips within a town. Some states are even adapting laws to allow small electric vehicles with limited top speeds to be driven on public roads, according to Electrek. “As the trend continues to grow, it promises not just a transformation of our local communities, but also a greener and more sustainable future for all,” the publication noted in August.