Access to clean water is literally a matter of life and death. People in arid regions and subtropical zones alike face major problems just finding potable water. Diseases like cholera are spread by contaminated water, and the minerals dissolved in deeply buried desert groundwater salt the earth when we use that water on croplands. Water catchment and desalination is possible in humid environments with abundant energy, but what of the places where it’s dry and power doesn’t come cheap? What of the places where there are no power lines at all? What is a farmer in arid regions to do?
It should be hard for Microsoft to make any more mistakes with its Windows 10 push, but it keeps finding new ways. After about upgrading, updating computers without asking, and , Microsoft has started on machines running the latest hardware. One developer has had enough, and is releasing a patch to help users get around this artificial blockade. The unofficial patch from a developer calling him or herself ‘Zeffy’ on GitHub targets those running very new CPUs on older versions of Windows. Windows 7 and 8 are still supported with updates, but Microsoft has started blocking non-security updates for systems that run Intel 7th-Generation Kaby Lake processors, AMD “Bristol Ridge” Rizen chips, or the Qualcomm 8996 (Snapdragon 820 and 821) SoC.
Over the past six weeks, and CPUs have been making Intel’s life a bit difficult. Chipzilla’s standard desktop lineup has been rattled by AMD’s new chips, which offer higher core counts and better performance in many workloads for significantly less money. Intel, of course, was never going to take this lying down — and new rumors suggest the company will accelerate the launch of its Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X CPUs, pulling them forward to a June Computex unveiling as opposed to the original August timeline. Meanwhile, Intel will reportedly launch its Coffee Lake refresh in August of this year rather than waiting until January 2018.
Ever since the iPhone 7 , there’s been talk about what might be ahead for Apple in 2017. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the iPhone — and, in a very real sense, the 10th anniversary of the modern smartphone market. Pick any given technology — touch interfaces, app support, or a (relatively) large screen, and there were companies that had offered these features before Apple did. What no one had done was offer them together, alongside a finger-based, multi-touch OS interface similar to what Android and iOS still use today. Rumors have been buzzing about what Apple might offer in a 10th Anniversary device, from curved screens to OLED displays.
Google Earth has been on autopilot for the last few years as busied itself with other things. Now, the product is getting its first major update since 2012 with staggeringly cool 3D maps, guided tours, and a whole lot more. You don’t even need to download anything special to check it out on your computer (as long as you use Chrome). Simply head over to . For Android users, there’s also a new version of the rolling out. One of the most fascinating things about Earth was simply scrolling around to see what the world looks like from above.
One of the fundamental strengths of the internet is its inter-connectivity. But certain regimes, when faced with political dissidents, protests, or even students possibly , have taken to shutting down internet access. The purpose is to deny their citizens access to tools like Google, Twitter, and Facebook, which can be used to document what’s happening and reach out to coordinate resistance. Now a governing body has declared that there should be no IP addresses awarded to governments that cut off internet access to their citizens. These infringing governments could find themselves refused new IP addresses, under a making its way through one of the five global IP allocation organizations.
In the far future, tricorders are invented and humanity spends many centuries prospering due in part to their widespread adoption. It’s too early to tell whether we’re on that timeline or a different one, but rest assured that one part of Gene Roddenberry’s quixotic vision for the future has indeed come to pass. Tricorders are coming to the mass market, courtesy of the just-awarded Tricorder XPrize. The $2.5 million first prize went to Final Frontier Medical Devices, a team of seven including four Trekkie siblings, for their DxtER diagnostic device (below). Dynamical Biomarkers Group took second place.
Glaciers hold about three percent of Earth’s water, which may not sound like a lot. However, it’s more than enough to cause widespread damage if it were all to melt. That’s become an increasingly real possibility as researchers continue to track the effects of . Scientists recently detected a new crack forming in one of the world’s largest glaciers, the Petermann Glacier in Greenland. Now, has captured the first aerial images of the fissure, and the news isn’t good. The new images , which has been flying over northwest Greenland for the last several days. Before this, all researchers had to go on was satellite data that was used to identify the formation of the new crack.
What a crazy path consumer-grade virtual reality has followed! In the last year or so, we’ve seen three major platforms launch, the release of dozens of new games, and that was just the beginning. Nearly every major tech company is investing in in some way, and average consumers are finally benefiting from the years of prototyping and research. Whether you’re looking to lay down a couple grand for a top-of-the-line VR rig or only willing to throw in for the price of a large pizza, there’s a VR setup out there to fit your needs. Splaks Google Cardboard kit
