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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightRare Planet With Three Suns Has a Super Weird Orbit
Astronomers have confirmed the existence of a triple-star exoplanet located 1,800 light-years from Earth. Planets parked in multi-star systems are rare, but this object is particularly unusual owing to its inexplicably weird orbital alignment. The first trace of KOI-5Ab was spotted by NASA’s Kepler space telescope in 2009, but that was very early in the … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityParler Users Breached Deep Inside U.S. Capitol Building, GPS Data Shows
At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the horde of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata linked to videos posted to the platform the day of the insurrection in Washington. The … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsRazer’s Wild Gaming Chair and Smart Mask Are Concept Gadgets Designed to Battle the Woes of 2021
It just wouldn’t be CES (even a virtual one) without a couple far-out concept gadgets from Razer, and this year the company has dreamed up two devices designed to combat some of 2021’s biggest issues in the most Razer way possible. For people who have been largely stuck at home for the better part of … Continued
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Tech NewsGig Workers in California Petition Supreme Court to Overturn Prop 22
The fight to bring full employment protections to gig workers in California seemed all but doomed by November’s passage of Proposition 22—a historically expensive ballot measure funded by Uber, Lyft, and others, which rolled back hard-won rights for app workers in the state. Today, workers revealed they had one last Hail Mary left. A motley … Continued
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Tech NewsInternetAT&T TV Now Is Merging With AT&T TV—Wait, What?
AT&T appears to be killing its AT&T TV Now packages, directing new customers to its similarly titled AT&T TV product. Yes, those are two different things. As reported by Variety, the AT&T TV Now website now—which as recently as earlier this month still promoted live TV streaming packages—now splashes an ad for the company’s AT&T … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsNordicTrack Is Making Its Own Connected Fitness Mirror
At-home fitness is having a moment due to the global pandemic, and connected gym equipment makers are struggling to keep up with demand. While you probably know NordicTrack best for its treadmills, the company is launching one of a smart workout mirrors—sort of like the Lululemon-owned Mirror, but with a slight twist. The NordicTrack Vault … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsAsus Revealed a New 2-in-1 Gaming Laptop, and I’m Like Whoa
Asus’ ROG line of gaming laptops have always stood out thanks to their flashy RGB lighting and aggressive aesthetic. Asus isn’t afraid to try something new, either. Last year, it released the well-received ROG Zephyrus G14, one of the first ROG gaming laptops powered by an AMD processor, as well all the Zephyrus Duo 15, … Continued
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Tech NewsISP in Idaho Planned to Block Facebook and Twitter to Punish ‘Censorship’
Responding to the public backlash over Twitter and Facebook’s decision to boot President Trump from their platforms, an internet service provider in rural Idaho told customers that it would block the popular social media networks by default. But that decision sparked a separate mini-backlash, and the company is now reportedly only blocking the sites for … Continued
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io9GamesDungeons & Dragons‘ New Adventure Book Brings Fresh Voices to the Forgotten Realms
Typically, a Dungeons & Dragons adventure book is all about creating a world for your heroes to go on epic campaigns—detailing the vast settings of places like Eberron or Icewind Dale, or setting up cities like Waterdeep or even the Magic: The Gathering land of Ravnica. While its newest adventure revisits a classic D&D location, … Continued
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EartherClimate ChangeClimate Change Drove $75 Billion in Rainfall Damage Over the Past 30 Years
Extreme weather disasters are costing the country billions of dollars in damages each year. A new study from Stanford shows that over the past three decades, the U.S. has seen nearly $75 billion in damage from floods fueled by the climate crisis. The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsRazer’s Refreshed 15 and 17-inch Blades Are Getting New Screens and Faster GPUs for 2021
At first glance, Razer’s refreshed line of 15-inch Blade and 17-inch Blade Pro laptops might not look much different than last year’s models, but inside is a different story—this year we get faster displays and GPUs, along with a subtly revamped design. Starting with the 15-inch Blade and Blade Advanced, Razer is looking to give … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsThe Revamped m17 R4 Is Alienware’s First Laptop with a 360Hz Display
While Alienware hasn’t given its gaming laptops a full overhaul for 2021, like other gaming laptop makers the company is kicking off the year by refreshing its 15 and 17-inch notebooks with new Nvidia RTX 30-series GPUs. The larger m17 R4 is also getting a huge display upgrade that could make it the laptop for … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsAcer’s Refreshed Predator Triton 300 SE Looks So Damn Good
Acer given most of its laptop lineup a major refresh at CES 2021 and there seems to be something for every budget, from entry-level machines like the Acer Aspire 5 that cost just $550, to the high-end Predator Triton 300 SE, which costs a surprisingly reasonable $1,400. It also appears to have been totally re-imagined … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsNvidia’s Ray Tracing 30-Series GPUs Are Coming to Laptops
Like clockwork, Nvidia announced this morning that its wildly fast discrete desktop graphics will be coming to laptops everywhere in the months ahead. This probably surprised no one, as Nvidia always has the same GPUs on laptops, but if the popular reception of its RTX 30-series desktop cards were any indication, these are the graphics … Continued
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ScienceBiologyTasmanian Tigers and Wolves Evolved Uncannily Similar Skulls
The extinct thylacine had the stripes of a tiger, the body of a canid, and the pouch of a kangaroo. These ill-fated, predatory marsupials are a classic example of convergent evolution, in which species independently evolve the same traits, and a new study breaks down just how remarkably similar Tasmanian tigers’ skulls were to those … Continued
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io9Neil Gaiman’s Explanation Why Media Left American Gods Is Ridiculous
Rather straightforward as the plot of Neil Gaiman’s originalAmerican Gods was, Starz’s adaptation of the novel has ended up being somewhat more complicated in part because of the numerous changes to the cast that had to be made in response to stars like Orlando Jones (Mr. Nancy,) Kristin Chenowith’s (Easter,) and Gillian Anderson (Media) suddenly … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsAMD’s Excellent Ryzen 5000 Series Is Coming to Laptops
AMD’s Ryzen series of CPUs seem to be getting better with every iteration, and the Ryzen 5000 series launched in the fall of 2020 was perhaps the most impressive series yet. And now it’s coming to laptops. At the very weird all-digital CES, AMD CEO Lisa Su announced a new portfolio of Ryzen 5000 mobile … Continued
Alex Cranz & Joanna Nelius
