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It doesn't take hugely expensive space telescopes like the Hubble and future James Webb Space Telescope to hunt for habitable exoplanets . NASA and the University of Arizona will launch a small telescope the size of a cereal box called the Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat, or SPARCS, in 2021. The aim is to find so-called M Dwarfs, stars 20 times dimmer than our sun, and see if they emit too much radiation to support life on other worlds. The telescope is just 9 centimeters, or 3.6-inchs in diameter, and equipped with a camera and two ultraviolet-sensitive detectors. Most stellar ultraviolet radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere, but the orbiting SPARCS, despite its small size, will have a clear view. "This is a mission to the borderland of astrophysics and astrobiology," Evgenya Shkolnik, principal investigator for the SPARCS mission, told ASU. "We're going to study the habitability and high-energy environment around stars that we call M ...

Silicon Valley is about to return for a fifth season, and as the new trailer shows, things in Pied Piper's world of startup tech are not running smoothly. There's no Erlich Bachman, for a start (although T.J Miller, who played Bachman, has tweeted his praise for the Erlich-free season), hapless CEO Richard Hendricks is struggling to get the new internet off the ground and Jian-Yang has embraced a new badass attitude. Also there's a dead pig for some reason. Startups, eh? Catch the new season on March 25 on HBO. Via: Tech Crunch via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2D2g1kp"

A new bug has been discovered on devices running macOS High Sierra that allows anyone to access your App Store system preferences. The bug was spotted by MacWorld , which also notes that it’s most likely the bug will be fixed in the next update as users running the 10.13.3 beta haven’t been able to reproduce it. To check if you’re affected by this bug, open system preferences on your Mac, click on App Store, then if the padlock on the window is unlocked, click on it to lock it. Then click on the padlock again to unlock it and a prompt should pop up where you can enter your username and password. If the bug exists on your computer, you can put in any password and the padlock will unlock regardless. An editor at The Verge tested this and... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2qTWPkb"

Between the flooded booths and convention center blackouts, CES 2018 has been kind of a disaster. But for me, at least, one little gadget saved the whole thing by reminding me why the show exists in the first place. Sony is rolling back the years with Aibo, the resurrection of the robot dog line that was one of its most iconic brands during its ‘90s and 2000s heyday. The new Aibo is quite simply adorable. It has touch sensors on its head, chin, and back so you can pet it. It responds to touch and voice, and 22 actuators enable more realistic movement than previous models. Its eyes are OLED panels. It has a camera on its nose to help it recognize family members and search for its bone — which is called Aibone — while a camera on its back... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2Dj1C1d"

Technology and innovation are amazing. It's why we do what we do here at Engadget every day. But it's all for naught if the electricity goes. There was no reminder of this more timely or apt than a huge power failure at CES on Wednesday. Exhibitors got angry, attendees got confused and companies got spicy on Twitter (oh, brands!). That didn't stop us checking out the best of the rest so far though. Enjoy. via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2mfZlf0"

DIY Weigh your options and make the right decision. To buy a smart television, you'll have to choose the perfect resolution, display technology, and of course the app platform. Confused? Follow our buying advice. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2CRcH8J"

In a move that's sent bitcoin spiralling, officials in South Korea have announced plans to ban cryptocurrency trading in the country. The plans come against a backdrop of concerns regarding tax evasion, as cryptocurrency trading in the country is highly speculative and similar to gambling. Many currencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum , are priced much higher in South Korea's exchanges than elsewhere in the world. Industry data provider CoinMarketCap has even begun excluding some South Korean exchanges in its calculations "due to extreme divergence in prices from the rest of the world". Earlier this week, police and tax agencies raided the country's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. A source at Coinone, a major exchange in South Korea, told CNBC that local police have been investigating the company since last year, adding that "they think what we do is gambling". "There are great concerns regarding virtual currencies and justice ministry is b...

Your personal computers will be less than 10 percent slower after you install the Spectre/Meltdown fix, Intel has revealed in a blog post . Intel has come to that conclusion after assessing the performance changes in computers using 6th, 7th and 8th Generation Intel core processors with Windows 10. Systems equipped with 8th generation (Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake) chips and SSDs will be the least affected, with the expected impact being less than 6 percent. Devices using the 7th Gen Kaby Lake-H mobile processors will be around 7 percent slower, while the performance impact on systems with the 6th Gen Skylake-S platform is approximately 8 percent. Depending on how you use your computer, you may not even notice a difference. Based on Intel's benchmark results , though, you will notice some slowdown if use browse the web and use applications, and it's safe to say that most people do. Obviously, if you use your computer for heavy applications, the slowdown will be more noticeable. A...

Google has quietly bought a UK startup named Redux that uses vibrations to turn phone and tablet displays into speakers, reports Bloomberg . It’s not clear when the purchase was made, or for how much the company was bought, but the acquisition happened in August last year according to Crunchbase . Redux developed a number of technologies involving sound and touch in mobile devices, but never placed them in any major consumer products. The Verge had some hands-on time with the company’s tech last year, trying out a tablet which vibrated its screen to function as a speaker, as well as a number of displays that used haptic feedback to mimic the feel of buttons, sliders, and dials. The results in both cases were impressive. The sound quality... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2mkDZwW"

Make sure you check an app's name before you download it: Telegram, for instance, had an evil twin on Google Play named "Teligram." According to Symantec , which discovered its existence, its profile and description on the store mirrored the authentic app's, with the only difference being the slightly altered logo. It was also branded as "New version updated" in an effort to fool users into thinking it's the new version of Telegram. And it probably could've fooled people, too, since it actually works as a messaging platform. Teligram (with the "i") served ads within the chat list and also showed full-screen advertisements. While it didn't seem to have malicious content, it's still good to know that Google Play has already pulled it down. Symantec has discovered another fake Telegram app that can install malware into your system, though. That one was built using the real app's open source code and is being distributed on third...

ASUS didn't have many brand new computers to show off at CES 2018 , since it seemed to focus on unveiling unconventional routers instead. But it did release a new gaming tower via its Republic of Gamers sub-brand, which features a few updates. The ROG Strix GL 12 now comes with an overclockable eighth-generation Intel Core i7 CPU, NVIDIA GTX 1080 graphics and an easily swappable SSD tray that ASUS says is "eSports-ready". I'm not an eSports player myself, but during my time with the GL 12, I found it easy to pull out and insert the 2.5-inch SSD tray, which sits under a magnetic cover on the front of the tower. I don't know why eSports players would want to switch out SSDs quickly, since it doesn't seem like an integral part of competitive gaming, but if they need to they definitely can. If you want to make more in-depth upgrades to your system, you can remove the GL 12's transparent side panel, which has been reorganized to look neater. ASUS said it...

Fat Month Belly flab is like a storage unit for the rest of your body. If cells were personified, fat cells would be an overbearing grandparent who hoards. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2qUMILR"

It's no surprise that many companies are touting Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos in products announced at CES. You're making a safe bet if you assume that's an annual occurrence. However, there's always something unique about the devices that carry Dolby's visual and audio tech, and this year is no different. Here's a quick rundown of what was announced in Vegas and what Dolby has in store for 2018. For the first time, Dolby Vision is available in a PC -- thanks to Lenovo's Thinkpad X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga . Windows 10 already includes support for Dolby Atmos, so the new Thinkpad now completes the pair. Speaking of Atmos, a number of companies rolled out audio gear that featured the tech, including Sony. Sony typically announces new Atmos home theater gear at CES and this year one of those was the HT‑Z9F soundbar. During our time at the Dolby Showroom, we listened watched sports, movies and a TV show with Atmos simulated surround sound just from the soundb...

It’s easy to feel jaded at an event like CES where there are countless of tech companies claiming to have the smartest and most innovative products that are, in reality, expensive and useless eye candy. So it’s heartwarming when we came across a robotic toy duck designed to help children diagnosed with cancer cope through their treatments. The toy is a partnership between Aflac and robotics toy company Sproutel. It’s called My Special Aflac Duck , and it has five touch sensors along its cheeks, under the wings, and back. Kids can pet and snuggle with it, and the duck will cuddle back or cheerfully quack in response. It also comes with an accessory bag full of RFID tags. Kids can tap any one of the emoji discs to the duck’s chest to... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2qSLgcS"

My favorite robot at CES this year has legs , but my second favorite robot is designed to minimize my own leg usage. Segway’s Loomo bot has a straightforward value proposition: you ride it like a hoverboard to the store, and then you hop off, load it up with cargo, and have it follow you home. After watching 90Fun’s new Segway-inspired robotic suitcase fall repeatedly , I was a little worried about stepping onto Loomo, but I shouldn’t have been. Rideables are Segway’s bread and butter, and while I’ve never actually been on a mall cop-style Segway, I found Loomo vastly easier than any hoverboard I’ve attempted. Like a hoverboard, you lean forward to go fast, lean back to slow down, but unlike a hoverboard, you turn with your knees instead... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2mryJse"

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn has been a vocal defender of net neutrality and even helped author the Open Internet Order in 2015. She was on the ground and Las Vegas for CES and was nice enough to make time to swing by the Engadget stage. She sat down to talk about the importance of net neutrality and her quest to protect it for future generations as well as how current policies are putting at risk those most vulnerable . Unfortunately, there were some technical problems with our audio during the interview, so we've included a slightly abridged transcript after the break. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018. Terrence O'Brien : Hello, internet, and welcome back to CES. I am Managing Editor Terrence O'Brien, live from the Engadget stage from the floor at the insanely crowded and loud Las Vegas Convention Center, and we have a really special treat for you this morning. We have Commissioner Mignon Clyburn from the FCC. You've been there since 2009. Y...