Author: Tecstify

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Science

Virgin Orbit’s first satellite mission after SPAC merger

 

After Virgin Orbit’s merger with Sir Richard Branson’s space-focused company, Virgin Galactic, earlier this year, the aerospace startup has just launched its first commercial satellite mission after months of preparation, and it looks like the spacecraft was well worth the wait. This is a real game-changer in terms of what Virgin Orbit can do, with many more such projects likely on the horizon. Stay tuned to the company’s social media accounts to see what they come up with next!

 Virgin Orbit and The Spaceship Company announce merger

Virgin Orbit has announced that it has reached an agreement to merge with The Spaceship Company (TSC). This is a positive move for Virgin Orbit, giving them more operational and financial resources for long-term growth. As part of a larger Virgin group, Virgin Orbit will have access to TSC’s technical know-how and advanced technologies developed by The Spaceship Company.

Virgin Orbit’s first satellite launch

Virgin Orbit successfully launched its LauncherOne rocket, an air-launched rocket designed to place small satellites into orbit. Virgin has plans to launch hundreds of microsatellites for companies and government agencies that can’t afford their own rockets. This week’s success came a few months after it was announced that Virgin is merging with The Spaceship Company (formerly part of Virgin Galactic) and OneWeb, a provider of internet service using low-orbit satellites. The name SPAC comes from combining Space and Pace, highlighting how merging these two powerful forces in aerospace technology will enhance innovation in spaceflight.

A closer look at the LauncherOne system

LauncherOne is a single-stage launch vehicle system that can deliver satellites weighing up to approximately 500 pounds (230 kg) into Low Earth orbit (LEO). Based on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo technology, LauncherOne will make use of modified SpaceShipTwo rocket motor casing, which acts as both airframe and propulsion for LauncherOne. The system will make use of a carrier aircraft based out of Mojave Air and Spaceport in California called Cosmic Girl. After Cosmic Girl flies to altitude at a specified location, it will release LauncherOne which then fires its rocket engine and delivers its payload into orbit.

Final Thoughts

Virgin’s New Space company is now taking on its new name, Virgin Orbit. It’s a name well-suited to the company’s growing ambitions in space. The company has made much of its presence at Spaceport America in New Mexico, home to Virgin Galactic and a host of other start-ups.
The merger will see both companies combine their resources as they continue to grow as an aerospace company to serve commercial customers worldwide
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Reviews

Review : Google Pixel 6 – The Best Phone To Buy Right Now

The Google Pixel 6 is the best phone you can buy right now, period. It runs the latest Android operating system, offers more features than any other phone on the market, and has an amazing camera. The Pixel 6 also provides an excellent user experience and has some of the best AI capabilities on the market today. Let’s take a closer look at what this phone has to offer…

Google Tensor

What’s Inside? : The Tensor CPU comes with its own chipset that features machine learning software designed by Google. According to Google, it has been designed to provide high-performance computing without being power hungry. This is achieved via a neural processing unit (NPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU). One of many advantages of using a Tensor Chip is that it saves battery life, as well as time while performing tasks such as voice recognition, image identification and translation. Plus, since most tasks are performed faster, you can get them done on your own schedule. So you won’t have to rush around in order to perform these tasks during off-peak hours or at night when demand for electricity is low.

RAM : 8GB

Google has knocked it out of the park with its new Android phone, Google Pixel 6. One of its best features is that it has a whopping 8GB of RAM and more than enough storage space (128GB). It also offers wireless charging, which is always convenient if you hate plugging in your phone.

Storage : 128GB or 256GB

In terms of storage, you have a choice between 128GB and 256GB. Both phones have microSD card slots that support up to 2TB, so there’s virtually no limit to how much music, movies and photos you can store. However, if you’re a heavy cloud user or are always in areas with good Wi-Fi coverage, 256GB might be excessive for your needs. In such cases, save yourself some money by going with 128GB instead.

Display : 6.4 inch AMOLED

You won’t be able to find a better display on any other phone. Period. Full stop. End of story. But what makes it so good? One reason is resolution—this screen packs a whopping 1080 x 2400 pixels in that massive 6.4 inches, which puts its pixel density at an astounding 411 ppi!

Dual Rear Cameras’: 50 MP and 12MP

One of my favorite new features on Google’s new Pixel phone is its dual rear cameras. The standard one is a 50 MP wide-angle lens that takes stunningly detailed photos, and there’s another 12 MP lens with an ultra-wide-angle function, so you can really capture your surroundings. We took it out for a spin at a concert last weekend, and you can really get a lot of people in each photo without taking too much away from your subject.

8MP Front Camera

Selfies look great on Google Pixel 6’s 8MP front camera. Even low-light photos and selfies with flash turn out detailed and smooth. 2160p 30fps, 1080p 60fps video recording ensures you never miss a moment in life’s finest details.

All Day Battery Life

With its 4614 mAh battery and light software, Google’s newest phone has a 2-day battery life. It also comes with fast charging, which allows you to get up to 7 hours of use after only 10 minutes of charging. On top of that, you can set your home screen icons to grey out at 50% battery life in order to remind yourself when it’s time to charge. All day battery + fast charging = no more worrying about dying phones!

Android 12

This was one of the first phones to come with Android 12 pre-installed, and it remains one of our favorites. Not only does it have a sleek and modern design, but it’s also affordable compared to some competitors. If you’re looking for a great all-around phone at an affordable price, look no further than Google Pixel 6.
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Tech

5G is Coming, Here’s What You Need to Know

2G, 3G, 4G…what’s next? If you’re not quite sure what the next generation of wireless technology looks like, you’re not alone. 5G has been in development for years, but its roll-out has been slow and rife with uncertainty surrounding what it means and how it will impact our lives. With big names like AT&T, Dish Network, and T-Mobile racing to make the first 5G launch later this year, we should have more clarity soon. Here’s what you need to know about 5G and why it matters.

How fast will 5G be?

With speeds in excess of 100 megabits per second (Mbps), 5G will be 100x faster than today’s average 4G LTE connections. And while we won’t be able to take advantage of 5G right away, that speed means big things for consumers and business. For example, a file that takes 10 minutes to download on 4G LTE would take about two seconds with 5G—that means you could download an entire HD movie in just 30 seconds! And with technologies like self-driving cars and smart cities relying on high-speed networks in order to function optimally, it’s no wonder network companies are spending billions on more spectrum so they can keep up with increased traffic.

Where will it work?

5G works best in densely populated areas where there are lots of people using data-heavy applications and services. Right now, most of these locations are cities. 5G is expected to provide much faster wireless speeds than previous generations of wireless technology but it’s not expected to do so everywhere—at least not right away. Because 5G works better in dense areas with high numbers of connected devices and because it requires upgrades to cell towers, carriers that have access to densely populated cities will likely be first out of the gate with 5G service. In particular, AT&T and Verizon own a lot of valuable spectrum that they’ll use for early deployments.
Each carrier is working on 5G deployment at its own pace. Verizon says it will launch 5G in select cities later in 2018, AT&T has said it plans to do so in 2019 and Sprint has yet to announce a firm timeline for when it will offer 5G service. T-Mobile plans on having all of its 4G network converted into a combination of LTE Advanced and 5G technology by 2020—which means consumers who currently have T-Mobile coverage may see some benefits from 5G even though not every device or area will support it right away.

When will it be available?

5G networks are still a ways off. AT&T and T-Mobile both said their networks will be in place by 2020. Until then, it might be a good idea to make sure you can take advantage of 4G LTE as much as possible. Downloading an app like Onavo Count helps you track how much data you use on your smartphone so that when a 5G network arrives near you, it won’t catch you off guard. Besides AT&T and T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless also announced plans to roll out its 5G network in some parts of 2018—in other words we’ll have to wait just a little bit longer for next-generation wireless connectivity.

Will my phone need an upgrade?

First off, know that if you have a 4G phone from any of these companies—or even if you’re using one from an older carrier—your phone will get an upgrade. Also, it’s important to note that these 5G networks won’t be open for every consumer. It could be years before we see widespread adoption of 5G technology across all carriers. So why are companies investing so much in 5G right now? The answer: competition. And it makes sense—just look at how quickly AT&T and Verizon moved on 4G when they saw T-Mobile moving quickly on their heels.
As of now, T-Mobile’s 5G service will only be available in four cities—but it doesn’t matter; their competitors know that T-Mobile has already pulled ahead and they want a chance to catch up. Whether or not you live in one of these cities shouldn’t keep you from being excited about 5G. This is a major advancement for telecommunications technology.

How much will it cost?

5G prices will depend on your carrier, but you can expect to pay more for a faster service. T-Mobile CEO John Legere has been hinting at two types of 5G plans: an unlimited plan that costs $70 per month and an unlimited plan with 5GB of high-speed data that costs $50 per month. Verizon has said it won’t offer an unlimited plan with its initial launch of 5G; instead, there will be three plans starting at $50 per month. AT&T hasn’t revealed pricing for its service yet but says it’ll be priced similarly to 4G LTE plans. And Sprint says it’ll offer both unlimited and tiered data options when it launches its 5G network in May—but doesn’t have details on pricing just yet.
5G will cost more than 4G LTE. The carriers are all charging $10–$20 per month extra for 5G service
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Gaming

Nvidia’s Artificial Intelligence Powered Scaling Makes Old Games Look Better

Without making any major changes to your hardware, Nvidia’s latest technology allows you to play older games at higher resolutions and smoother frame rates. Starting in January 2019, all GTX 10-series GPUs can be used to improve the visual quality of games without affecting performance — and newer GPUs will have more features as they become available. With this AI-powered scaling, Nvidia wants to make it easier than ever to stay up-to-date with your PC games, especially when you already own the hardware needed to run them.

How it works

The magic happens using a deep neural network—this is a type of artificial intelligence that Nvidia has been working on for years. Essentially, it breaks down an image and tries to figure out how to make it look as good as possible without adding any additional processing overhead. This might seem easy, but even simple image recognition is tough for computers because there are so many variables at play—you need a powerful GPU to make sense of all that data, or you can use AI. GPUs are much better at handling these high-dimensional problems than traditional CPUs, which means they’re often used in AI applications such as facial recognition software. They’ve also become increasingly important in machine learning research. All told, Nvidia’s new technology doesn’t change anything about your game or add new features—it just makes it look great while also making sure your hardware works efficiently. As a result, you’ll get smooth frame rates with fancy AA and AF settings enabled rather than choppy performance with little benefit over turning those options off. In other words: You can have your cake and eat it too! Even if you don’t upgrade to a GTX 1080 (or whatever NV’s top tier GPU will be by then), GeForce Experience’s algorithms should help improve game quality across older hardware.

Should you get an RTX card?

Your graphics card plays a big role in your computer’s performance, but you might be able to make it perform better with a few simple upgrades. One way is through artificial intelligence (AI). Nvidia announced its new RTX line of graphics cards at CES 2019 earlier in January. The highlight feature is Real-Time Ray Tracing (RTX), an AI technology that uses ray tracing for high-quality shadows, reflections and lighting effects—basically, turning every pixel on your screen into a miniature light source. This generates incredibly realistic images that look like they were captured by cameras instead of rendered by computers. Sadly, not all games support RTX features yet. Most only support old games made using DirectX 9 or 10. But those games will still benefit from Turing’s massive improvements over previous generation GPUs: more than double the graphical processing power per second. If you want great visual quality without making huge performance compromises, these are definitely worth considering. But should you upgrade? It depends on what kind of PC gaming you do right now; if it looks good enough to suit your needs now then there isn’t much reason to invest in an RTX card unless you plan on playing newer titles as well down the road when they’re available with real-time ray tracing support too.

Why AI-scaled graphics are better than native 4K

When you play a game on your PC, you usually have to make a choice between better graphics and better performance. In other words, you can either choose higher resolution or smoother framerates, but not both. Nvidia’s new AI-powered scaling is changing that: it makes games look great at any resolution without significantly impacting performance. So if your goal is just to play older games (not buy new ones), in 2019 AI-scaled graphics are a good way to go. It even works with VR! Right now there are only two titles with support for what’s officially called Dynamic Super Resolution+, but expect more developers to integrate this feature as time goes on. That means players will be able to enjoy 1080p gameplay at 3K resolutions using only a GTX 1060 GPU and still maintain 60 FPS—or 60 fps at 1440p while playing Battlefield 1. And remember, DLSS doesn’t require extra hardware like RT cores found in AMD’s Vega cards. A Pascal GPU will do just fine.

 

What can I expect from my current PC

To put it bluntly, not much. While you may have a good enough gaming PC, you don’t need to be a professional benchmarker to know that hardware has advanced significantly since your rig was built. To get decent frame rates in modern games, you can expect around 40 frames per second for entry-level gaming PCs (but likely less for AAA titles), and 60fps is considered high-quality play at 1920×1080 resolution on medium settings. Anything above 60fps will get you truly smooth performance with everything maxed out. If even these modest goals seem unrealistic with your current setup, then I wouldn’t recommend trying to retrofit an older game—the performance hit may not be worth it in terms of fun versus frustration.
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Science

Should We Design Clean Energy Tech for Recycling?

As clean energy becomes more and more important, companies are devising creative ways to make electricity using sustainable sources like solar power and wind turbines. In the process, they’re creating products that need to be reused, recycled or repurposed as much as possible – but most of them don’t consider how these systems can be easily taken apart and put back together when it’s time to dispose of them. To recycle clean energy tech effectively, use these three tips from experts in the field.

 1) Develop designs for easy disassembly  

It’s no secret that clean energy tech is becoming more popular, but there’s a big problem: Not only do companies need to develop renewable technology, they also need to build it with recycling in mind. That means making it easy to disassemble so that people can take parts out and recycle them rather than letting them go into landfills. After all, it only makes sense: The less junk we throw away, the cleaner our environment will be. But not everyone is convinced. Some experts have argued that building clean tech requires an entirely new mindset—and that designing tech for modularity could make things too complicated; maybe, then, it’s better to just design stuff to last until its end of life? What are your thoughts on sustainable tech design? Does it need to be designed for both durability and ease of disassembly or modularity? Why? Why not? Or does sustainability boil down to something simpler altogether? Let us know what you think!

2) Include a cradle-to-cradle life cycle in design

When designing new clean energy technologies, we need to take into account how these products will be recycled once they’ve outlived their usefulness. In fact, there are a number of compelling reasons why any piece of technology should be designed with recycling in mind from day one. First, it would eliminate an entire category of waste that builds up on our planet and poses serious environmental concerns; second, it would create a secondary market for clean tech components that could help bring down costs.
So what does it mean to design something for recycling? Ideally, products would have a cradle-to-cradle life cycle. For example, a wind turbine might only last 10 years, but its components could be easily disassembled and re-used elsewhere. This is an admittedly difficult task given that there are so many different pieces of clean tech out there and no clear definition of how they should be recycled. Still, we need to start thinking about these issues now if we want future generations to enjoy a cleaner world.

3) Use materials with low toxicity

Many clean energy sources, such as solar panels and wind turbines, use rare-earth elements to increase efficiency. However, recycling these materials is difficult; they’re not designed to be disassembled and need highly toxic chemicals to separate them from other materials. Instead of using these materials to improve efficiency—or even simply making sure our technology uses fewer rare-earth elements—should we instead design clean energy tech for recyclability so that we can easily reuse it in future technologies? What do you think? Share your thoughts on Twitter using #BuiltToRecycle. For more details about recycling high-tech components, read our past post: Could This Material Make Solar Power Twice As Efficient? Using recycled material is key to fighting climate change : All those scientists have found a way to safely store radioactive waste inside diamonds! How cool is that? Here’s some important questions that come with developing new ways to utilize existing material and helping out with global warming. First, what if you could develop a better phone without generating new material…would you do it?
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