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China wants to put a solar farm in space by 2025
Humanity uses a lot of energy, and while solar power here on Earth is doing a reasonable job of contributing to the electricity mix, scientists have long hypothesized that gathering the sun's energy from space would be a lot more effective. And now China says it's going to be the first to do exactly that, announcing plans to build an interstellar power station that will orbit the Earth at 36,000 kilometers.
The 'Link's Awakening' remake could be the start of something special
I never beat The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, but not for lack of trying. It's one of my favorite entries in the Zelda series, and I played it over and over as a kid. I got stuck on the same bit every time, one puzzle I couldn't get past. It vexed me for years, but eventually I forgot about it. But now, more than 20 years later, I get another shot at it: Yesterday, Nintendo went deep into its back catalog to show off a remake of Link's Awakening for the Switch. The 1993 title debuted on the Game Boy and changed what we thought Nintendo's humble handheld console was capable of. Indeed, the game was nearly as deep and vast as A Link to the Past on the Super NES.
NASA admits the Mars Opportunity rover is dead
If you're a fan of Mars exploration, you're probably in mourning right now. NASA's Opportunity rover has effectively been declared dead after the agency's last attempt to contact the storm-struck rover was met with silence. Officials held a press conference at 2PM ET to discuss the outcome, and as expected NASA confirmed that it is saying goodbye to Opportunity. The machine doesn't stand a chance if it doesn't have power -- Martian winter is coming, and Opportunity needs working heaters to survive the chilly conditions.
IBM AI fails to beat human debating champion
After suffering defeat to AI at Go and Dota 2, the battle between man and machine was starting to look a little one-sided. But a human has finally notched up a win against our future robot overlords. Champion debater Harish Natarajan triumphed in a live showdown against IBM's Miss Debater AI at the company's Think Conference in San Francisco on Monday. The 2012 European Debate winner and IBM's black monolith exchanged quick retorts on pre-school subsidies for 25 minutes before the crowd hailed Natarajan the victor. You can watch the debate in full below.
Mars One is dead
The company that aimed to put humanity on the red planet has met an unfortunate, but wholly-expected end. Mars One Ventures, the for-profit arm of the Mars One mission was declared bankrupt back in January, but wasn't reported until a keen-eyed Redditor (and a Swiss newspaper) found the listing. It was the brainchild of Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, previously the founder of green energy company Ampyx Power. Lansdorp's aim was to start a company that could colonize one of our nearest neighbors.
Elon Musk shares footage of SpaceX's latest Mars rocket test
Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to celebrate the first-test fire of the SpaceX Raptor flight engine, which will be used on its next-gen rocket. The company's head honcho shared footage of the thunderous, two-second test conducted at its McGregor, Texas facility, the site where the Raptor was first put through its paces back in September, 2016. SpaceX followed up with an Instagram post confirming that the Raptor performed the "highest thrust ever" from a SpaceX engine, despite operating at 60 percent power.
'Captain Marvel' will be the first Disney movie exclusive to Disney+
Disney is pushing through with its plan to stop offering superhero flicks on Netflix after Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp. In fact, the next entry to Marvel's Cinematic Universe will mark the end of Disney's relationship with the streaming platform and the beginning of a new era. Company chief Bob Iger has confirmed that Captain Marvel will be the media giant's first title that won't be available on Netflix -- and that's because it's earmarked for Disney+ that's launching later this year.
Chrome can tell you if your passwords have been compromised
Given the frequency of hacks and data leaks these days, chances are good that at least one of your passwords has been released to the wild. A new Chrome extension released by Google today makes it a little easier to stay on top of that: Once installed, Password Checkup will simply sit in your Chrome browser and alert you if you enter a username / password combination that Google "knows to be unsafe." The company says it has a database of 4 billion credentials that have been compromised in various data breaches that it can check against.
Samsung's Galaxy S10 phones will support next-generation WiFi
Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S10 phones are set to support next-generation WiFi amid a broader expansion of WiFi 6 (802.11ax) availability this year. Three versions of the phone, including an S10+ and cheaper S10E, should be compatible with the standard, according to FCC filings Droid Life unearthed.
Samsung develops the first 1TB storage chip for phones
In the future, Samsung's phones will have a whopping one terabyte storage capacity... and that time might come sooner than you expect. The tech giant has started mass producing what it says is the industry's first one terabyte embedded Universal Flash Storage (eUFS) technology for smartphones. It will give the company's mobile devices PC-like storage without the need for large-capacity micoSD cards. It'll be incredibly useful if you use your phone to take tons of photos and HD videos -- Samsung says it's enough to store 260 10-minute videos in 4K UHD.
Samsung says its new 8K TV chips will eliminate bezels
A simple chip could help bring 8K TVs into the mainstream and make them more awesome at the same time. Samsung has unveiled a single display driver IC chip with enough bandwidth (4 Gbps) to allow true 8K images to be transmitted to 8K display panels without the need for other components. That will eliminate the need for a bezel (where electronics are normally hidden), allowing for true all-display TV sets.
Apple may be working on a game subscription service
Apple could be joining the likes of Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and EA in launching its own games subscription service. It opened talks with developers over the last few months about such an option, according to Cheddar.
Samsung Galaxy S10+ leak shows off its dual 'hole-punch' camera
Samsung's Galaxy S10 smartphones have leaked again before their official February 20th unveiling, and this time, we're getting a good look at the dual front cameras on the Galaxy S10+. A leak from the site All About Samsung clearly shows the Galaxy S10 and S10+ from the front and back, showing the "Infinity-O" display, with next to no bezel other than a tiny chin, a USB-C port and (yay) a headphone jack.
Xiaomi's flexible phone concept folds on both sides
Xiaomi truly is working on a foldable phone, company president and co-founder Lin Bin has confirmed in a teaser he posted on Weibo. In the video, you'll see the executive using a tablet-sized gadget -- until he folds its sides and uses it like you would any phone. Its UI even automatically resizes itself to occupy just the middle part of the screen, so you won't have to flip the device to look at the folded parts of the display.
The Pixel 3 and Galaxy Note 9 top DxOMark's new selfie camera scores
We use the selfie camera on our smartphones up to 40 percent of the time, yet most testing puts the emphasis on the rear camera. To address that issue, DxOMark has introduced scoring for front-facing smartphone cameras based on criteria like skin tone and color accuracy, sharpness, contrast, exposure and more. A number of cameras have already been tested, and the models on top, by a wide margin, are Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 and the Google Pixel 3, both with overall scores of 92. Rounding out the top five were Xiaomi's Mi Mix 3, the Apple iPhone XS Max and Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, with scores of 84, 82 and 81 respectively.
Motorola's next RAZR revival could be a $1,500 foldable phone
Motorola's RAZR flip-phone is reportedly set for a $1,500 foldable makeover. The new handset could arrive exclusively through Verizon as soon as next month, per The Wall Street Journal's sources. You can blame that massive price tag on the expensive components required to build a foldable phone (just ask Samsung, which apparently has its own $1,500 flexible handset slated for a February 20th reveal).
US judge rules that feds can't force fingerprint or face phone unlocks
Authorities can't force people to unlock devices with their faces, fingers or irises, a magistrate judge from California has ruled. Forbes has uncovered a nine-page order denying the search warrant for an investigation looking into a Facebook extortion crime. While the judge admits that investigators were able to establish probable cause for the warrant, she called their request to unlock any phone on the premises with biometrics "overbroad." The request wasn't limited to a particular person or device, and authorities would've been able to get everyone in the house to open their devices.
'Game of Thrones' teaser trailer hypes up the final season
Following some subtle teasers and brief clips, HBO has at least revealed the release date and a substantial teaser for Games of Thrones' final season. The minute-and-a-half long clip shows the remaining Stark children meeting up in the family crypt and receiving ghostly council from Ned Stark and other deceased family members. The description states that "Game of Thrones returns for its final season on April 14."
China's Chang'e-4 touches down on the far side of the moon (update: first pics)
Chinese media announced that the nation's Chang'e-4 lunar lander has successfully reached the far side of the moon, making it the first spacecraft to do so. This is China's recent lunar mission, following Jade Rabbit in 2013, but by touching the side of the moon that's always facing away from the Earth, it has notched a first in the space race.
Tesla slashes EV prices by $2,000 to offset reduced tax credits
Now that Tesla's federal EV tax credit has been cut in half, it's determined to keep sales humming with a price cut. The automaker has slashed the price of the Model 3, Model S and Model X by $2,000 in the US to soften the blow of the reduced tax incentive. You still won't save as much as you would if you'd snagged the full $7,500 credit, but it could make the financial hit easier to bear. As it stands, Tesla may need this price drop -- its deliveries didn't meet market expectations.
