Discovery
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Snapchat will offer European users exclusive Olympics content
Snap is clearly hungry for original and exclusive web content for Snapchat's Discover platform. Yesterday, the company announced it was forming a studio in partnership with NBCUniversal. Then, this morning, Snap revealed that it's partnering with Eurosport, which is owned by Discovery Communications, to bring exclusive behind-the-scenes content from the Olympics Winter Games, which will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea, in 2018. This content appears to be limited to Snapchat's European users.
GSK will use supercomputers to develop new drugs
Developing a new drug is a long, complicated and expensive process that takes years before you get to the human trial. There's a hope that computers will be able to simulate the majority of the process, greatly reducing the cost and time involved. That's why GlaxoSmithKline is throwing $43 million in the direction of Scottish AI company Exscientia, which promises to use deep learning to find new drugs.
Land Rover's Project Hero SUV launches a drone to aid rescue workers
It's no secret that drones are useful for surveying situations where it might be too dangerous for a human to tread. This includes tough terrain that search and rescue teams encounter and Jaguar Land Rover built a vehicle to lend a hand. The company's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) unit designed and built a unique version of its Discovery SUV for use by the Austrian Red Cross. Officially called Project Hero, the vehicle features a roof-mounted drone landing system.
'MythBusters' revival gets its new hosts
The original MythBusters show ended with a bang, but Discovery was quick to plan a reboot and launch a reality show competition (Science Channel's MythBusters: The Search) to find replacements for lead presenters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman. And at last, the network has its winners: meet Jonathan Lung and Brian Louden, the new MythBusters' hosts. They're not your typical show leads (Lung is a product designer by trade, Louden is a pilot and rescue diver), but then this isn't your typical show. On top of being personable, they had to demonstrate a knack for building machines to test commonly held beliefs.
Facebook's friend-based Recommendations come to the UK
We've all been there. It's late and you're wandering around town, aimlessly looking for a place to grab dinner. Where do you turn for suggestions? Foursquare? Google? Maybe Facebook? The social network is a popular choice, given you know the people who will be commenting on your post (and therefore trust their advice). Now, the company is making it easier to crowdsource information with a new Recommendations tool. Write a status update and Facebook will "convert" it automatically, giving your friends a chance to chime in. All of their comments will be saved in a simple list, with a complimentary map to show you how close they are.
Discovery's channels stay on Sky thanks to last-minute deal
Discovery's 12 channels are staying put on Sky, with the pair having agreed a new multi-year carriage deal at the eleventh hour. Negotiations had all but imploded last week, and Discovery threatened to pull its factual and sports programming from both Sky and its Now TV service. The channels would've gone dark today, but thanks to a last-minute handshake the stand-off has ended rather anticlimactically, given how candidly both companies spoke out about their strained relationship.
Discovery likely to pull its TV channels from Sky next month
Discovery's 12 UK channels are likely to disappear from Sky and its Now TV service at the beginning of next month, as negotiations between the two for a new carriage deal have broken down. Discovery has threatened to pull all programming, including its two Eurosport channels, if Sky isn't willing to meet the financial terms of its offer before the end of January. Similar situations arise in the US from time to time, but are relatively rare in the UK. And what's even more uncommon is how publicly the dispute is playing out.
NASA announces two new missions to study the early solar system
Right behind yesterday's Explorer mission announcement, NASA has just announced two new Discovery missions to study the very early history of our solar system -- the period about 10 million years after the hydrogen and helium in the sun burst into life. Known as Lucy and Psyche, the two missions will peer back in time by analyzing several metallic asteroids floating in the main asteroid belt and further out in Jupiter's orbit.
AngelList buys tech discovery site Product Hunt
Product Hunt's discovery site for genuinely useful technology has been bought by AngelList. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed, however Recode is putting the number at around $20 million. The acquisition involves a mixture of cash and stock, and will see ProductHunt "remain an independent platform," according to its CEO Ryan Hoover. "We'll continue to use excessive emojis, drink Philz, and build in public with our community," he wrote on Medium. ProductHunt launched in 2013 with a simple premise: surface the hottest startups and services. It's since become a Silicon Valley darling, expanding into games, books and other categories.
'Star Trek: Discovery' casts Michelle Yeoh
Nicholas Meyer has let it slip that Michelle Yeoh has joined the cast of the upcoming CBS show Star Trek: Discovery. The show's consulting producer dropped the bombshell while talking to ComingSoon about the Blu-ray of his classic movie, Time After Time. While Meyer wouldn't confirm what role Yeoh had taken, it's entirely plausible that she's going to be the shows star, the as-yet unnamed "Number One."
Spotify's Daily Mixes use your listening habits to make playlists
Spotify has been keen on adding new discovery features to its service for a while now. Today, the streaming option announced yet another tool that keeps your playlists fresh. The new feature is called Daily Mixes and it compiles six different playlists that are constantly updated based on your listening habits. Each mix contains over a dozen songs and more tracks load as you listen so you don't have to worry about running out of material.
There's a potentially habitable planet just one star over
Locating potentially habitable planets outside of our own solar system is pretty difficult -- and when we do find them, they're usually unfathomably far away. Today, one isn't. Astronomers have discovered a new exoplanet in the habitable zone of Earth's nearest neighboring solar system. For now, it's called Proxima b, and it's just over four light years away.
'Star Trek: Discovery' is set 10 years before the original
It was Bryan Fuller's turn to take the stage at the Television Critics Association press tour and spill the beans about his vision for Star Trek. The producer has revealed that Star Trek: Discovery will be set roughly a decade before the original Trek and will be set in the prime universe. Fuller has also explained that the sets and uniforms will be closer to 1966's primary-colored hues than the gunmetal grey and denim of Enterprise. In addition, the series will be 13 episodes long and serialized, with each episode a chapter, although each episode will have a satisfying resolution for HBO-phobic fans.
HBO and Discovery make major investment in virtual reality
Virtual reality isn't just seeing a revival when it comes to gaming, immersive content is taking root in journalism, movies and television as well. In fact, two networks made an investment in a virtual and augmented reality company to help drive future production projects. OTOY, a company that makes cloud-based graphics software covering the capture, rendering and streaming of VR and AR content announced today that both HBO and Discovery are backing it "to create universal publishing platform for TV, movies and original holographic content." While holograms are mentioned throughout the press release, VR and AR factor heavily into the networks' plans.
EFF scores a blow against the government's domestic spying
Before we knew that the National Security Agency was getting its jollies by spying via Prism, there was Jewel vs. NSA. That case, filed by Electronic Frontier Foundation, has gotten a boost from California judge Jeffrey White who's has granted discovery to the EFF -- something the EFF says it's been barred from since 2008. Not up on your legalese? Don't worry. Discovery is the step in a court case that allows all parties involved to go into trial with as much information as possible, without either party being able to keep secrets from one another. Unless said information would result in self-incrimination, it's a fact-finding stage.
BBC to retain Olympics coverage until at least 2024
The BBC has broadcast coverage of the Olympic Games for countless decades, but that legacy was put under threat last summer. While the BBC already had the 2016, 2018 and 2020 Olympics locked up, Discovery (which owns Eurosport) stumped up the best part of £1 billion to secure exclusive European rights up to and including the 2024 Summer Games. Both parties have just announced a mutually beneficial deal, however, that will see the BBC continue to provide free coverage across both the 2022 and 2024 Olympics.
Facebook 'Music Stories' preview Apple Music and Spotify tracks
In its on-going quest to make the sharing of things easier, Facebook has a new way to tell others what your listening to. The new feature, or post format, is called Music Stories. Instead of posting a link to the song or album you're listening to, Music Stories offer a 30-second clip from either Apple Music or Spotify. There's an option to continue listening via the streaming service the song or album was shared from, too. And you'll have the choice of making a purchase from iTunes (for Apple Music) or saving the tracks for listening later as well. While only two streaming options are supported right now, Facebook says its looking to add more services in the future. Based on rumblings about the social network's audio aspirations, we surmise this is only the start of having more music in your News Feed. Music Stories are only available on the Facebook iPhone app starting today, and there's no word on when/if they'll arrive on Android and other versions of the software.
'Mythbusters' plans to 'go out with a bang' in 2016
Mythbusters will go off the air at the end of its 14th season in 2016, Entertainment Weekly reports. Mythbusters is Discovery's quirky, science-centric show starring special-effects and physics superstars Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman. Each episode tackles a few weird science myths and laws, such as curving a bullet, whether a bullet dropped hits the ground at the same time as a bullet fired, the phrase "you can't polish a turd," if a stick of dynamite can clean the inside of a cement truck, and all manner of other (usually explosive) legends. They even filmed a few episodes in 360-degree VR. Hyneman and Savage were able to plan a special goodbye episode, which Savage describes as follows: "Our finale will go out with a bang, as everyone would expect." [Image credit: DCL]
BBC iPlayer now offers personalised suggestions after each programme
Across its TV, radio and online operations, the BBC produces a ton of new content every day. Making sense of it all on iPlayer and ultimately finding something to watch can, therefore, be a little daunting if you have specific tastes and interests. Thankfully, the BBC seems to have noticed and is now rolling out recommendations on iPlayer. So if you're signed in with a BBC ID, you'll see a carousel at the end of each programme filled with suggestions based on your iPlayer history. It's a small change, but one that should increase the amount of time people spend on iPlayer -- always handy for the BBC as it defends the licence fee -- and also help some of its niche content to find a larger audience.
NASA reveals potential low-cost missions for the Discovery program
NASA has announced the five new project concepts it's considering for the Discovery program, which focuses on low-cost space missions. It's the same program we have to thank for the Dawn spacecraft that recently captured a sunlit Ceres, the Messenger probe that crashed into Mercury after it ran out of power in April and the Mars InSight lander that's currently heading for the red planet. Two of those five concepts want to take a closer look at the second planet from the sun: the first one is called Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging or DAVINCI. Its spacecraft will study the chemical composition of Venus' atmosphere during its descent and will investigate whether there are still active volcanoes on the planet.
