The James Webb space telescope has captured data that could help us better understand how Earth formed billions of years ago. According to the new data, James Webb has detected water vapor in planet-forming disks, which adds more credence to a long-standing theory on how planets like Earth are formed.

Webb detected the water vapor in two different compact disks of gas and dust, which surround two different starts – both of which are between two and three million years old. That’s actually pretty young in the grand scheme of our universe’s timeline. The two disks are located within the Taurus star-forming region, which rests roughly 430 light-years away from Earth.

The discovery of water vapor within these disks has led scientists to further theorize that planets form as part of a system known as “pebble accretion.” Essentially, small chunks of rock that are coated in ice experience friction from the gas within planetary-forming disks. This friction robs the pebbles of orbital energy, causing them to migrate inward, eventually forming together.

A protoplanetary disk similar to the ones that James Webb observed. Image source: Mopic / Adobe

This discovery lends additional support to the idea that the Earth and other planets formed thanks to this pebble accretion, with tiny particles eventually coming together and amazing into the massive planets that we are now busy living on and exploring. The entire process relies heavily on the smaller pebbles joining together to create protoplanets, which then pull even more pebbles and pieces together thanks to their higher gravity.

Getting a keen understanding of how Earth formed, as well as how other worlds formed, has been an astronomical goal for decades, and while we have had multiple theories for how that has happened, including theories on how the Moon formed from a collision between Earth and another planet, we haven’t found much hard evidence until now.

The presence of water vapor within the two planetary disks that James Webb observed is a smoking gun, if you will, that helps give more credit to the theory of pebble accretion and could help us better understand how other worlds out there formed, too. It might also explain if Jupiter ate other planets to become so big.

The post James Webb discovery could help us understand how Earth formed appeared first on BGR.

Scientists have come one step closer to creating a synthetic yeast. For more than 15 years, researchers have worked tirelessly to build a complex cell with an entire genome from the ground up. And now they’ve hit a major milestone by managing to combine artificial versions of some of the 16 chromosomes in a single yeast cell successfully.

This feat is especially exciting because it reveals more information about the foundational processes within cells. It’s also a major step forward for the vision that some scientists have to create programmable cellular factories that can product medicines, materials, biofuels, and other things.

The creation of a synthetic yeast is a mammoth task in and of itself. In fact, Benjamin Blount, one of the co-authors on several new papers published on the topic in Cell and Cell Genomics this week, says that even creating one of these chromosomes is an astounding and difficult task. But then you have to combine all of that together in a way that doesn’t cause it to fall apart.

Image source: vchalup / Adobe

While genetic modification has come a long way in recent years, past attempts to edit things have only seen scientists modifying the individual genes, not the entire chromosomes, so this is a much more complicated process. While they haven’t entirely managed to combine all of them together into a single cell of synthetic yeast, the researchers have created artificial versions of all 16 chromosomes involved.

Now, they just need to find some way to bring them together without it falling apart. It’s a difficult task, but one that they will hopefully be able to pull off within the next few years. One step in this process means ensuring the artificial chromosomes are completely indistinguishable from the natural ones, Blount told Axios. 

So far, scientists have only managed to combine some of the synthetic yeast chromosomes into a single cell. That cell survived and reproduced, so now it’s just a matter of getting the other chromosomes introduced and stable.

The post Scientists created the first yeast with artificial DNA appeared first on BGR.

Airbus is testing a new type of experimental wing that the company hopes could revolutionize how airplanes fly. The new extra performance wing demonstrator took off for the first time on November 6, from the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France. The small Cessna Citation VII is part of Airbus’ new test for the wings, which it originally began working on in September 2021.

If the tests prove successful, Airbus could come up with a revolutionary way to enhance how airplanes use their wings, allowing them to cut down on fuel consumption. Airbus says the project is focused on “accelerating and validating technologies that will improve and optimize wing aerodynamics and performance for any future aircraft.”

Airbus equipped the Citation VII with the new experiment wing, which Airbus says is compatible with new engine solutions and configurations to help reduce the overall CO2 emissions of the company’s airplanes. Burning fossil fuels like those used in gasoline continues to help fuel the ongoing climate change our planet is experiencing, and Airbus is just one of many trying to take some steps to cut down on the emissions humanity’s different industries create.

The company hasn’t shared exactly what is new about the experimental wings, or how much it will dent the company’s carbon footprint if they are indeed successful and utilized further. However, this is just one of many projects that Airbus has been working on to try to reduce the emissions from airplanes and make them more fuel-efficient.

While we don’t know the details of the new wing experiment, it is comforting to see companies looking for better ways to cut the amount of fuel usage on massive vehicles like aircraft, and while it is no doubt heavily pushed by the need to cut the cost of fuel, it still plays out nicely for climate change, too.

The post Airbus is testing a new wing design that could revolutionize flight appeared first on BGR.

Confession time: I’ve read the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley, at this point, too many times to count. I also thought director Edgar Wright’s 2010 live-action adaptation of the story was an absolute blast (obviously!). So you can only imagine how excited I am to return to Toronto to get re-acquainted with Scott, Wallace Wells, Ramona Flowers, Sex Bob-Omb, and the league of evil ex-boyfriends when a new eight-episode anime adaptation of the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels joins all the other brand new Netflix releases next week.

And it’s not just because I’m such a fan of the story. It really does feel like it’s been forever since we’ve had something this unapologetically fun to binge on the streaming giant. Based on the screener episodes that I’ve already started watching, I can confirm this anime treatment is an absolute delight for fans of the books — while, at the same time, there are also plenty of surprises packed into the story.

That’s because this isn’t a straightforward adaptation of the books; the story goes to some unexpected places, including a shock death of [SPOILER] at the end of the first episode that I didn’t see coming.

Image source: Netflix

Image source: Netflix

Of course, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off isn’t the only new title coming to the streamer over the next several days. In addition to Netflix’s animated romp about the bass-playing, lovelorn slacker who fights Ramona’s ex-boyfriends in video game-style fights, next week’s Netflix releases also include new episodes of The Crown, a documentary about gangsters, a new live Netflix sports event, and much more.

Once I finish watching the final showdown between Scott Pilgrim and Gideon Graves — the most evil of Ramona’s evil ex-boyfriends — I’ll be streaming the Netflix releases that you can read more about below (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, by the way, debuts on Nov. 17).

The Crown: Season 6, Part 1 (Nov. 16)

This coming week, among other things, marks the beginning of the end of one of Netflix’s biggest original releases of all time. The Crown, from creator Peter Morgan, did so much to supercharge the streamer’s ambitions around original prestige — and its peeling back the curtain around the British Royal Family brought in viewers by the tens of millions.

Given that it wants to squeeze every last bit of viewership it can out of the sixth and final season of the show as possible, Netflix has chopped up the final season into two parts. With 10 episodes in total, the first four episodes drop on Nov. 16, with the final six coming on Dec. 14.

Plot-wise, the new season deals (among other things) with Princess Diana’s and Dodi Fayed’s fateful car journey, during which they were relentlessly pursued by the paparazzi. Continues Netflix about the new season: “Prince William tries to integrate back into life at Eton in the wake of his mother’s death as the monarchy has to ride the wave of public opinion. As she reaches her Golden Jubilee, the Queen reflects on the future of the monarchy with the marriage of Charles and Camilla and the beginnings of a new Royal fairytale in William and Kate.”

Suburræterna (Nov. 14)

By way of setting up this next title of the coming week’s Netflix releases, one easy point of comparison is HBO’s Gomorrah. Which is to say: If, like me, you loved that one, this continuation of the Suburra saga should appeal to you, as well.

Mind you, I’m not saying Suburræterna is as good as Gomorrah — but, then again, nothing is. Also, this new series is not too far below it in terms of quality, so that’s saying something.

Netflix’s three-season crime drama Suburra: Blood on Rome was a bloody-yet-addictive saga set in Italy’s capital that shows how the Church, state, organized crime, and real estate developers collude and collide in a never-ending quest for power. Suburræterna is an eight-episode continuation of that story. New players, for example, are upsetting the power dynamic in Rome, and revolution is spreading from City Hall to the shores of Ostia.

Continues Netflix: “Spadino (Giacomo Ferrara) must return home to avoid his own family being eradicated along with it and will have to make new allies, even among people he would’ve never thought could join forces … But war is war, and the control of Rome is once again at stake.”

Two more can’t-miss Netflix releases

In addition to those Netflix releases, meanwhile, here’s a brief snapshot of what else is coming to the steamer over the next few days — including a first-of-its-kind Netflix live event.

• How to Become a Mob Boss: In this 6-episode docuseries, coming on Nov. 14, Peter Dinklage’s narration guides viewers through a “darkly satirical how-to guide that explores the rise and fall of history’s most notorious mob bosses — from Al Capone to Pablo Escobar — and their tactics for success.”
• The Netflix Cup: Swing to Survive: Netflix has experimented in fits and starts so far with live events (examples: Its Chris Rock special, and baby animal cam). On Nov. 14, Netflix will stream its first-ever live sporting event — The Netflix Cup, featuring athletes from its series Formula 1: Drive to Survive and Full Swing. “The drivers and golfers will pair up to compete in a match play tournament at Wynn Golf Club at Wynn Las Vegas, the only 18-hole, championship golf course on the Las Vegas Strip, to kick off the week of the inaugural Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix.”

The post Netflix new releases: Five of the biggest titles coming next week appeared first on BGR.

A new study has revealed that Greenland glaciers are retreating twice as fast this century as the last. The revelation came after scientists compared new aerial photographs of the region with those taken during the Second World War. 

Greenland is currently home to roughly 20,000 peripheral glaciers. These glaciers are located within mountain valleys, on plateaus, and are separate from the country’s massive ice sheet. Many of these glaciers are melting faster than the sheet itself, alongside glaciers worldwide, helping to account for one-fifth of the sea level rise over the past century.

Laura Larocca and a team of researchers compared photographs taken between 1943 and 1987. Using those photographs, they located the front edge of 821 different glaciers and then tried to locate the moraine – a small ridge of rocks and sediment that shows the full extent of the glaciers during a period known as the Little Ice Age.

By comparing this data, the researchers discovered that the Greenland glaciers had receded roughly 7.7 meters a year on average between 1890 and 1999. In the last two decades, though, the glaciers appear to have receded 14.8 meters on average per year. That’s a huge increase compared to the past century, showcasing how global warming affects these important glaciers.

The increase in the glacier’s retreatment means that the rising temperatures around the world – which many believe are fueled by human-driven climate change, are outweighing the increased snowfall expected within some of the areas where Greenland’s glaciers exist. This accelerated retreat is happening everywhere across Greenland despite the diversity of the climate zones found throughout the region.

Of course, glaciers always react much quicker to climate change than ice sheets do. But the concern here is that these glaciers melting is an early warning system that the ice sheet could soon see such catastrophic receding. And if the various ice sheets worldwide were to melt, we could see a terrifying 20-foot increase in the current sea level, devastating coastlines around the globe.

Further, this study isn’t even looking at the volume of changes that this melting is causing. It’s just looking at the area the changes are affecting. Understanding the

The post New study claims Greenland glaciers are retreating twice as fast this century appeared first on BGR.

Noise-canceling headphones have come a long way with their transparency modes, allowing users to hear real-world noise even when listening to something on their headphones. However, they don’t let you control what you hear. Now, researchers have created a set of AI noise-canceling headphones that will let you select what noises you want to hear so you can filter out unnecessary sounds but still keep an ear out for important things.

The new headphones use a system that the researchers call “semantic hearing,” it allows the headphones to stream captured audio to a connected smartphone, letting it cancel out any environmental sounds that the user doesn’t want to let through.

The system works through both voice commands and the smartphone app, and allows the wearer to select between 20 different classes of sounds that they want to let through the filters. These classes include sounds such as sirens, baby cries, speech, vacuum cleaners, and even bird chirps. A video detailing the system is embedded below.

The team presented its findings for the AI noise-canceling headphones during UIS ‘23 in San Francisco. The researchers say that they hope to release a commercialized version of the headphones down the line, allowing everyday users to take advantage of it.

Being able to let certain sounds through noise-canceling filters is important, especially if you wear your headphones out in public. Through the use of AI, these headphones let you control what you hear so that you can still cut yourself off from the world, but you’ll also be able to hear sounds that might indicate danger approaching or other important noises, like babies crying.

The team tested the headphones in multiple types of environments and found that the semantic hearing system works well, and that 22 participants even rated the target sound as being high quality compared to the original recording. In some cases, the system did struggle to distinguish between vocal music and human speech, but the researchers hope that more real-world data will help iron out those kinks and improve the outcomes.

The post AI-powered noise-canceling headphones let wearers decide what they hear appeared first on BGR.

If you’ve been waiting to see someone other than Sony show off the PlayStation 5 Slim or the PlayStation Portal, you’re in luck. While the two products aren’t available to buy just yet, reviewers have started to get their hands on both devices for our viewing pleasure.

First, let’s check out the PS5 Slim. Ahead of its official release later this month, The Verge has gotten their hands on the console. According to their first impressions, the new console is definitely smaller, but even though its volume shrank by “more than 30 percent,” it is still a “big boi!” They also describe its removable disc drive as a “strange growth” coming out of the side of the console.

Image source: The Verge

That said, the PS5 Slim has plenty going for it. Not only is it smaller, but its storage has been upgraded to the full 1TB rather than the 825GB that was previously available to users of the original version. The front of the console now also features two USB-C ports instead of one USB-C and one USB-A port. The removable disc drive, even if it does look like a “strange growth,” is a nice feature for those who buy a digital version and then decide to get back into Blu-ray in the future.

Next, let’s jump over to the PlayStation Portal. The Portal is set to release on November 15th, but ahead of its debut, technology Youtuber UrAvgConsumer got his hands on the new gaming handheld as well as the PlayStation Pulse Explore earbuds that go with them. While he didn’t turn the Portal on (I imagine that he’s not technically allowed to yet per Sony and the beloved embargo), you can get a sense of the size and comfort of the handheld.

You can watch Judnar’s video showing off the hardware on his YouTube channel below:

The Portal is still the device that really confuses me the most. From not supporting PlayStation’s cloud services to not supporting Bluetooth headphones and forcing you to buy the company’s $200 earbuds, it feels like an incomplete product. That said, for the diehard PS5 fan who wants to play some games in bed, it’s going to be exactly what they are looking for.

The PlayStation 5 Slim models will launch later this month, and the PlayStation Portal will launch on November 15th. The PlayStation Pulse Explore earbuds and Pulse Elite headphones will launch on December 6th.

The post PS5 Slim and PlayStation Portal hands-on impressions start popping up online appeared first on BGR.

Earlier this year, Qualcomm announced a partnership with satellite connectivity provider Iridium to create Snapdragon Satellite, a proprietary technology to connect smartphones to satellites in order to provide emergency and other services. Ten months after the plan was announced, the companies are already calling it off.

As reported by CNBC, Qualcomm blames phone makers for the death of the feature, saying that there wasn’t much interest from brands to include the proprietary feature. While the company says that they “successfully developed and demonstrated the technology,” phone makers just “have not included the technology in their devices.”

Due to the lack of interest, Qualcomm has ended its partnership with Iridium. The company says that the market is moving towards a standards-based solution rather than a proprietary one, so that will be where their focus goes in support of satellite connectivity going forward.

Qualcomm said in a statement smartphone makers have “indicated a preference towards standards-based solutions” for satellite-to-phone connectivity….We expect to continue to collaborate with Iridium on standards-based solutions while discontinuing efforts on the proprietary solution that was introduced earlier this year,” the company said.

Iridium CEO Matt Desch said in a statement, “While I’m disappointed that this partnership didn’t bear immediate fruit, we believe the direction of the industry is clear toward increased satellite connectivity in consumer devices.” It’s interesting to see Qualcomm abandon a proprietary solution since Samsung announced something similar earlier this year.

Image source: Starlink

The feature would have competed with Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite feature, which the company originally launched on the iPhone 14 lineup. With it, users are able to contact emergency services — even if they don’t have a cellular connection. So far, Apple’s is the only widely available service for smartphone customers.

While Qualcomm has abandoned its current plan, other companies like SpaceX are moving forward with their own. Starlink’s satellite communication service is set to launch next year. Eventually, the company wants to provide satellite connectivity in the form of text, phone, and even data to phones without the need for any special hardware.

The post Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Satellite SOS for Android plan is dead appeared first on BGR.

It looks like Hollywood is wasting no time after the release of the Walter Isaacson biography on Elon Musk. As reported by Puck, a biopic film about the richest man in the world is already being optioned, and some interesting people are potentially attached to the project.

According to the report, the film would be based on the biography written by Isaacson. This isn’t surprising, especially since his biography on Steve Jobs was also used when screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director Danny Boyle made the 2015 Steve Jobs film. That film earned Michael Fassbender an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of the late Apple founder.

A24 is apparently the studio that may produce the film and Darren Aronofsky is reportedly attached to direct. This also makes a heck of a lot of sense since both the studio and director worked together recently on The Whale, the 2022 drama that starred Brendan Fraser. His performance in the film earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Elon Musk attends Heidi Klum’s 2022 Halloween Party at Sake No Hana at Moxy LES on October 31, 2022, in New York City. Image source: Taylor Hill/Getty Images

Other details of the film are still unknown, such as who may star as Musk or when the film may be released. The project is in the very early stages, so we’ll likely need to wait a bit before we start to hear more information. The project, of course, could also get scrapped, but that seems less likely — especially as Hollywood has been leaning more into biopics lately. Just last year, Baz Luhrmann released the anticipated Elvis biographical drama starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.

While the film could obviously be very interesting, this seems like an odd time to do it. Musk is obviously still in the middle of his career, so I’m curious why Hollywood would choose to make this film now when we are still unsure where the billionaire and his companies (Tesla, SpaceX, and X) will end up in the long run.

Of course, Musk is obviously a controversial and well-known character on the world stage right now, so perhaps that is all Hollywood needs to push the project forward.

The post An Elon Musk biopic is in the works appeared first on BGR.

Fourteen years after Facebook withdrew operations from China, the company is heading back into the market. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the company has reached a preliminary deal with Chinese gaming giant Tencent that will bring the company back to Chinese customers.

While the company is re-entering China, it doesn’t appear that it will be doing so with Facebook — at least at first. According to the report, the first product that Meta will offer to customers in China will be a new low-cost version of its Quest headset.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

While details about the headset are unclear, there are rumors that it will pack a lower resolution display when compared to the Quest 3 but come with a more powerful GPU than the last generation Quest 2. The report says that sales of the low-cost headset will begin in “late 2024” but we don’t yet know what pricing will look like.

The agreement with Tencent Holdings will make the world’s largest videogame company the exclusive seller of Meta’s headsets in China, people familiar with the matter said, offering the U.S. technology giant a major new market as it looks to boost tepid global demand for its niche gear. Tencent will start selling the headset beginning late 2024, with the two companies reaching a deal after about a year of negotiations.

The announcement comes as Meta recently launched its new Quest 3 mixed reality headset. The Quest 3 is a big update compared to the Quest 2, especially since it can achieve full color passthrough mixed reality. It features a 40% slimmer optic profile and, while it is slightly heavier than the previous generation, is supposed to still be more comfortable to wear due to its better weight distribution. The headset features a display of 2064 x 2208 pixels per eye, a bump compared to the Quest 2’s resolution of 1832 x 1920 pixels. It also packs new built-in speakers.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The Quest 3 comes packed with the second generation of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 processor, which the company says is twice as performant as the second-generation headset which uses the first-gen XR2. It is expected to achieve between two to three hours of battery life, features removable batteries in the redesigned controllers, and can also pair with the company’s new optional charging dock.

While I’m interested to see what Meta can accomplish with a lower-cost headset in China and other markets, I’m personally okay with the price the company has set for the Meta Quest 3. It’s an impressive headset and a big upgrade over the Quest 2 which I also owned. It is also astonishingly seven times cheaper than Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro headset — making it by far the best value in VR and AR.

The Meta Quest 3 launched on October 10th and starts at $499 for the 128GB configuration or $649 for the 512GB configuration. We’ll have to see what the low-cost model costs in China and the “other markets” that Meta plans to sell it as we get into next year. Perhaps we’ll have another Quest announcement at Meta’s Connect event in September 2024!

The post Meta is heading back to China with a cheaper new Quest VR headset appeared first on BGR.