The Independent Articles

Nasa’s audacious mission to grab a piece of an asteroid has been successful, the space agency said on Wednesday morning, as data show its Osiris-Rex spacecraft has managed to “tag” the object and may now commence its journey back to Earth.According to Nasa, the pinnacle of the operation came as the ancient but well-preserved asteroid, known as Bennu, was more than 321 million kilometres from our planet.Radio signals received from the spacecraft confirmed that it had touched the asteroid as planned, but scientists will still have an agonising wait for more signals to know if asteroid material was indeed picked up, and in the required quantity.Nonetheless, principal investigator from the University of Arizona Dante Lauretta told BBC News: “The team is exuberant; emotions are high; everyone is proud.””This was the key milestone of this mission. Now it’s a few days to figure out how much of this amazing sample we got that we’ve been thinking about for decades,” added Thomas Zurbuchen, Nasa’s associate administrator for science.The aim was to acquire at least 60g of material, but the probe has the capacity to grab around a kilo.Scientists believe that analysis of Bennu’s surface, consisting mostly of grit and dust, could provide insights into the formation of the Solar System more than 4.5 billion years ago.According to Nasa, if the spacecraft has fetched the right material in its “touch and go” (TAG) mission, it will commence its journey back to Earth in 2021. However, they will make another attempt in January if things don’t go the way they were planned.Either way, the spacecraft wouldn’t reach the surface of the Earth before 2023.The van-sized spacecraft was aiming for the relatively flat middle of a tennis court-sized crater named Nightingale – a spot comparable to a few parking places here on Earth. Boulders as big as buildings loom over the targeted touchdown zone.While Nasa has previously brought back comet dust and solar wind particles, it has never attempted to sample one of the nearly one million known asteroids lurking in our Solar System – until now.Japan, meanwhile, expects to get samples from asteroid Ryugu in December – in the milligrams at most – 10 years after bringing back specks from asteroid Itokawa.

Buildings will be the most difficult innovation challenge of the climate crisis, Bill Gates has said.The Microsoft founder made the prediction during a “fireside chat” at the GeekWire Summit last week. While he supports renewable energy projects like solar and wind and the shift to electric vehicles, it is in the construction of new buildings where Mr Gates believes there is a big hurdle to overcome:  Emissions from the manufacture of cement and steel.He said: “We don’t have a way of making cement that doesn’t involve substantial emissions.”Read moreIndustrial processes, like those used to make building materials, produce more than a fifth of global emissions. “Without innovation, there’s no way. Fortunately, innovation, although it’s hard to predict,  across about 10 different areas, if we have those innovations, we can do very well,” Mr Gates said.The billionaire was an early backer of Heliogen, a clean energy company looking at how solar power might achieve the high-temperatures needed to produce steel and cement.In his GatesNotes blog on Monday, Mr Gates announced the release of his new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, slated for February 2021.“It’s inspiring to see so much passion these days for dealing with climate change, and to know that the world has set some ambitious goals for solving it. What we need now are practical plans to reach those goals,” he wrote. The book will be a culmination of his 10 years of studying climate change with experts and investing in innovations, he wrote.“I hope to explain the science in a clear and compelling way,” he added.”I’ll also propose a plan for what we need to do over the next decade and beyond to build the tools that will help us eliminate greenhouse gas emissions while scaling up the powerful solutions we already have.“And I’ll suggest some concrete steps that individuals, governments, and companies can take to make it happen.”

A new lawsuit – the biggest antitrust case since a crackdown on Microsoft more than 20 years ago – says that the company has used its dominance over online search and advertising to stifle competition and harm consumers.The case was hailed by lawmakers, who desired the company as a “behemoth”. “It has maintained its monopoly power through exclusionary practices that are harmful to competition,” said US deputy attorney general Jeff Rosen.But Google hit back against the case, calling the US government’s accusations wrong.“Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed,” the company wrote in a tweet.”People use Google because they choose to – not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.”Read moreLawmakers and consumer advocates have long accused Google, whose corporate parent Alphabet has a market value just over $1 trillion, of abusing its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and boost its profits. Critics contend that multibillion-dollar fines and mandated changes in Google’s practices imposed by European regulators in recent years weren’t severe enough and that structural changes are needed for Google to change its conduct.The Justice Department isn’t seeking specific changes in Google’s structure or other remedies at this point, but isn’t ruling out seeking additional relief, officials said.Google responded immediately via tweet: “Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed. People use Google because they choose to – not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.”The case was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. It alleges that Google uses billions of dollars collected from advertisers to pay phone manufacturers to ensure Google is the default search engine on browsers. Eleven states, all with Republican attorneys general, joined the federal government in the lawsuit.But several other states demurred. The attorneys general of New York, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah released a statement Monday saying they have not concluded their investigation into Google and would want to consolidate their case with the DOJ’s if they decided to file.”It’s a bipartisan statement,” said spokesman Fabien Levy of the New York State attorney general’s office. “There’s things that still need to be fleshed out, basically.”President Donald Trump’s administration has long had Google in its sights. One of Trump’s top economic advisers said two years ago that the White House was considering whether Google searches should be subject to government regulation. Trump has often criticized Google, recycling unfounded claims by conservatives that the search giant is biased against conservatives and suppresses their viewpoints, interferes with U.S. elections and prefers working with the Chinese military over the Pentagon.Rosen told reporters that allegations of anti-conservative bias are “a totally separate set of concerns” from the issue of competition.Google controls about 90% of global web searches. The company has been bracing for the government’s action and is expected to fiercely oppose any attempt to force it to spin off its services into separate businesses.The company, based in Mountain View, California, has long denied the claims of unfair competition. Google argues that although its businesses are large, they are useful and beneficial to consumers. It maintains that its services face ample competition and have unleashed innovations that help people manage their lives.Most of Google’s services are offered for free in exchange for personal information that helps it sell its ads. Google insists that it holds no special power forcing people to use its free services or preventing them from going elsewhere.Additional reporting by agencies

The test of the Starship prototype, known as SN8 or Serial Number 8, takes it one step closer towards a 15 kilometer test flight that is set to happen later this month or in early November.The test took place at 3:13am local time in South Texas, and although the company did not immediately confirm the results it appeared successful.While SpaceX has conducted a number of Static Fire tests with these prototypes, it is the first time three Raptors have been fired together.They produced a large fireball, indicative of a ‘preburner’ ignition test, Teslarati reports.Read moreThe Raptor relies on a ‘full-flow staged combustion’ cycle (FFSC). The benefits of these cycles are that the turbines run cooler and at a lower pressure, which means the engines have a longer lifespan and a higher reliability.However, it is more complex to engineer two preburners compared to a single-shaft combustion cycle.The Raptor’s combustion needs to ignite oxygen and methane in the combustion chamber, with challenges coming from turning the liquid methane and oxygen into hot gas immediately.This means that SpaceX has usually tested each engine’s preburner separately before the engine ignition test; this new test is SpaceX’s first multi-engine ignition event for the Raptors.Moreover, its use of liquid oxygen and methane propellant means, should it reach a future Mars mission, it would be able to use resources from the Red Planet to return to Earth or continue further into space, Inverse reports.The vehicle will have six Raptor engines when it is completed; three optomised for thrust at sea-level, and three more with bigger nozzles which are designed to move the craft through the vacuum of space, according to Ars Technica.Work is now continuing to develop the SN8 so that it would be capable for a higher flight. SpaceX needs to add a nose cone and flaps to the tank system, making the vehicle look closer to its final form.Eventually it should be able to reach altitudes of 20 kilometers.In September, SpaceX also tested SN6 and SN5 prototypes. The SN6 lifted off from a launchpad and flew 150 metres before landing on a separate pad at SpaceX’s Boca Chica facility.“Starship SN6 flew a similar hop to SN5, but it was a much smoother and faster operation,” Musk tweeted at the time. “Turns out you can make anything fly haha.”The spacecraft will eventually be able to carry up to 100 people and will be used to ferry astronauts and cargo around the Solar System, according to Musk.Musk has also claimed that the ship could land on the Moon as early as 2024, which is when Nasa’s Artemis mission is set to put the first woman on the moon. 

The latest Instagram update will allow companies to chat with users through direct messages, the photo sharing app has announced.The Facebook-owned app will add support to allow brands and businesses to connect with users through live customer service representatives, with Adidas, H&M and Michael Kors among those who have already signed up.The feature had already been introduced to the Facebook Messenger app and Instagram’s system operates on the same platform.“The new API features enable businesses to integrate Instagram messaging with their preferred business applications and workflows, helping drive more meaningful conversations, increase customer satisfaction and grow sales,” Marion Boiteux, product manager at Messenger, wrote in a post introducing the tool.“Instagram is a place for emerging culture and trend creation, and discovering new brands is a valuable part of this experience.”Read moreConversations between businesses and users of Instagram and Messenger have grown by over 40 per cent over the last year, according to Facebook’s own figures.It marks a steady shift away from the user-led experience that saw it explode in popularity in its early years.When Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, the app had no way of making money but has since morphed into a revenue juggernaut raking in billions through advertising and partnerships.Brands have capitalised on the monetisation opportunities afforded to them in recent years and the latest update will further solidify their presence and dependence on Facebook-owned apps.“Instagram is a platform for community building, and we’ve long approached it as a way for us to connect with our customers in a place where they are already spending a lot of their time,” a spokesperson for Michael Kors’ marketing department said.“With the newly launched Messenger API support for Instagram, we are now able to increase efficiency, drive even stronger user engagement, and easily maintain a two-way dialogue with our followers.”

The annual Orionid meteor shower is set to peak on Wednesday night, giving sky gazers in the UK an opportunity to watch the celestial spectacle throughout the week.The event will bring “prolonged explosions of light”, according to Nasa, with up to 20 “shooting stars” illuminating the sky each hour.Scattered cloud and rain in many parts of the UK on Wednseday mean that the best chance to see the Orionids could be on Thursday, when weather conditions appear more favourable.The UK Met Office forecasts “heavy and persistent rain” for periods on Tuesday and Wednesday, but a “mainly dry Thursday”.Despite peaking this week, the Orionid meteor shower will continue to be visible until 7 November, having first appeared on 2 October.Read moreThe best way to view them is to look up to an area of the sky near the upraised club of the Orion constellation, which is best observed just before dawn.Meteors will shoot out in all directions but will emanate from just above Orion – best known for its three-star belt.Named after a hunter from Greek mythology, Orion is one of the most prominent and recognizable constellations, and is located in the southwestern sky in the Northern Hemisphere.There are various free and premium smartphone apps for both Android and iOS devices that can be used to locate Orion using a phone’s in-built gyroscope.

The US Justice Department is filing a lawsuit against Google, accusing it of abusing its size to harm consumers.The company is accused of abusing its dominance of search and online services to stop competition to help itself.The landmark case – likely to be the biggest since legal action against Microsoft more than 20 years ago – could be the beginning of a range of actions against tech companies, with others such as Facebook, Apple and Amazon all facing questions over their size and dominance.Coming just days before the US presidential election, the filing’s timing could be seen as a political gesture since it fulfills a promise made by President Donald Trump to his supporters to hold certain companies to account for allegedly stifling conservative voices.Republican Senator Josh Hawley, a vociferous Google critic, accused the company of keeping power through “illegal means” and called the lawsuit “the most important antitrust case in a generation.”Read moreLawmakers and consumer advocates have long accused Google, whose corporate parent Alphabet Inc. has a market value just over $1 trillion, of abusing its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and boost its profits. Critics contend that multibillion-dollar fines and mandated changes in Google’s practices imposed by European regulators in recent years weren’t severe enough and that structural changes are needed for Google to change its conduct.The case is expected to be filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., and will allege Google has been abusing its dominance in online search to stifle competition and harm consumers, the person familiar with the matter told the AP. It will also allege that Google uses billions of dollars collected from advertisers to pay phone manufacturers to ensure Google is the default search engine on browsers, the person said. The person could not discuss the matter publicly before a formal announcement expected later Tuesday morning and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.The Trump administration has long had Google in its sights. A top economic adviser to President Donald Trump said two years ago that the White House was considering whether Google searches should be subject to government regulation. Trump has often criticized Google, recycling unfounded claims by conservatives that the search giant is biased against conservatives and suppresses their viewpoints, interferes with U.S. elections and prefers working with the Chinese military over the Pentagon.Google controls about 90% of global web searches. The company has been bracing for the government’s action and is expected to fiercely oppose any attempt to force it to spin off its services into separate businesses.The company, based in Mountain View, California, has long denied the claims of unfair competition. Google argues that although its businesses are large, they are useful and beneficial to consumers. It maintains that its services face ample competition and have unleashed innovations that help people manage their lives.Most of Google’s services are offered for free in exchange for personal information that helps it sell its ads. Google insists that it holds no special power forcing people to use its free services or preventing them from going elsewhere.A recent report from a House Judiciary subcommittee, following a year-long investigation into Big Tech’s market dominance, concluded that Google has monopoly power in the market for search. It said the company established its position in several markets through acquisition, snapping up successful technologies that other businesses had developed — buying an estimated 260 companies in 20 years.The argument for reining in Google has gathered force as the company stretched far beyond its 1998 roots as a search engine governed by the motto “Don’t Be Evil.” It’s since grown into a diversified goliath with online tentacles that scoop up personal data from billions of people via services ranging from search, video and maps to smartphone software. That data helps feed the advertising machine that has turned Google into a behemoth.The company owns the leading web browser in Chrome, the world’s largest smartphone operating system in Android, the top video site in YouTube and the most popular digital mapping system. Some critics have singled out YouTube and Android as among Google businesses that should be considered for divestiture.With only two weeks to Election Day, the Trump Justice Department is taking bold legal action against Google on an issue of rare bipartisan agreement. Republicans and Democrats have accelerated their criticism of Big Tech in recent months, although sometimes for different reasons. It’s unclear what the status of the government’s suit against Google would be if a Joe Biden administration were to take over next year.The Justice Department sought support for its suit from states across the country that share concerns about Google’s conduct. A bipartisan coalition of 50 U.S. states and territories, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, announced a year ago they were investigating Google’s business practices, citing “potential monopolistic behavior.”Additional reporting by agencies

It’s here: for the second time in two years, we’ve had a whole-number jump in iPhones – no iPhone 11S in between as might have been expected. With Apple, that indicates that we should expect both a completely new design and significant upgrades to the phone’s internals.For the first time, this launch sees four iPhone 12 models, more iPhones than ever before: two are available this Friday, 23 October, with two more coming in November.In all, there are the little iPhone 12 mini (5.4in display) and huge iPhone 12 Pro Max (6.7in display), both landing next month.This week, though, the first arrivals are the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, each with the same size screen, 6.1in. That screen size makes these two phones the Goldilocks phones, just right for most people.There’s much that ties all four of these phones together: they have the same super-fast A14 Bionic processor, matching industrial design in terms of a flatter shape, and the Ceramic Shield on the front which Apple says is four times better at surviving a drop than before and is tougher than the glass on any other smartphone. I haven’t deliberately tested this, though certainly the screen hasn’t suffered any damage in the smallish drops I’ve accidentally let happen.Where the iPhone 11 had rounded edges and a pillowed display – every edge and surface was curvaceous – this time there are flat edges and a flat display front and back. Only the corners are rounded. These right-angled edges are noticeable, though not uncomfortable, as you hold it. We don’t yet know if it will be as comfortable in the larger iPhone 12 Pro Max, but here it’s a snug and easy fit in the hand.And all four phones are 5G-capable – unlike any iPhone before.The thing is, 5G is very big for the iPhone, but the iPhone is even bigger for 5G. Expect networks to build out their 5G masts much more aggressively now that the iPhone can benefit from the lightning-fast connections and almost-imperceptible latency that 5G offers.Anyway, on to the differences between the two phones. The iPhone 12 has a glossy back with a matte panel for its two rear cameras. The 12 Pro reverses the sheen with a matte back and glossy panel, while adding an extra camera which works as a telephoto, and a LiDAR scanner, a small circular sensor which is great at quickly grabbing depth information as you shoot.The rear of the iPhone is the purest-looking yet from Apple. Aside from the camera panel, there’s just a shining Apple logo, centrally placed. There isn’t even the CE marking found on the iPhone 11. That’s been moved to the edge (a side-benefit of having a flat design).

Shell structures in our Milky Way are evidence of a huge collision between it and another dwarf galaxy, astronomers have found.The crash happened nearly 3 billion years ago, when the dwarf galaxy fell into the middle the Milky Way and was torn apart by the collision.But the merger has left behind evidence in the shape of formations, the first such “shell structures” ever found in the Milky Way, that shed more light on the collision as well as potentially explaining other phenomena.The research not only sheds light on the history of the vast crash known as the Virgo Radial Merger, but also the “Gaia Sausage”, a clump fosters that is thought to have arrived in the Milky Way following a merger with another dwarf galaxy.Hints of the new breakthrough first emerged around 20 years ago, when researchers discovered the “Virgo Overdensity”. That is made up of an unusually high density of stars in one part of space.As astronomers examined more about those stars, they found that some of us are moving towards us, while others move away. Usually, a cluster of stars of that kind would move together – and so astronomers proposed that the unusual behaviour was the result of a radial merger, where another galaxy had crashed into our galaxy side on.”When we put it together, it was an ‘aha’ moment,” said Heidi Jo Newberg, Rensselaer professor of physics, applied physics, and astronomy, and lead author of the The Astrophysical Journal paper detailing the discovery.”This group of stars had a whole bunch of different velocities, which was very strange. But now that we see their motion as a whole, we understand why the velocities are different, and why they are moving the way that they are.”Astronomers now say that the same merger left behind the shell structures that appear to have been formed as the dwarf galaxy was torn apart and bounced up and down through the Milky Way as it was sucked into our galaxy.The collision left behind planes of stars that are curved over: as the stars race past the centre of the galaxy, they are pulled back by its gravity and snap back like an elastic band, forming new shells every time they do so. Researchers can use simulations to understand how many of those cycles the dwarf galaxy has been put through, and using that work out when the original crash happened.They found that the dwarf galaxy appears to have first passed through the centre of the Milky Way 2.7 billion years ago.Researchers had originally assumed that the galaxy had arrived through a “tidal merger”, pulled in like the tidal forces on Earth, and leaving behind a string of stars that move together – a far more common process throughout the universe. That meant they were not expecting to discover that it was in fact the result of a much more violent and dramatic “radial merger”, where the galaxies crash rather than assimilate.”There are other galaxies, typically more spherical galaxies, that have a very pronounced shell structure, so you know that these things happen, but we’ve looked in the Milky Way and hadn’t seen really obvious, gigantic shells,” said Thomas Donlon II, the first author of the paper and a graduate student at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.As the team continued to work through the possibilities, they realised that our Milky Way’s shells could be the result of a radial merger – just one that looks a little different from normal.”And then we realized that it’s the same type of merger that causes these big shells. It just looks different because, for one thing, we’re inside the Milky Way, so we have a different perspective, and also this is a disk galaxy and we don’t have as many examples of shell structures in disk galaxies.”The research suggests there is also more to be understood about the Gaia Sausage, another formation of stars in the Milky Way, which is thought to have come about after a merger with a dwarf galaxy some 8 to 11 billion years ago. Researchers had previously thought that the two clumps results from the same event – but the fact that the Virgo Radial Merger is much younger suggests either they are actually separate, or that the Gaia Sausage also happened much more recently than expected.That in turn could change our understanding of the history of our galaxy more broadly. The Gaia Sausage is thought to have brought about the thick disc of the Milky Way – but if it were younger than expected, it would not have been around to do so.

The iPhone 12 has seen twice the pre-orders of the iPhone 11, according to an expert analyst – and the iPhone 12 Pro is proving unexpectedly popular.Pre-orders for the new phones opened on Friday, 16 October, with the phones actually going on sale this Friday.That process has already revealed that the phone is selling twice what its predecessor did in the same period, according to Ming-chi Kuo, an analyst with a strong track record of monitoring Apple’s supply chain.Far more of those orders are coming for the iPhone 12 Pro than had been expected, he indicated.“The ‌iPhone 12 Pro‌ pre-order beat our expectation because of Apple core fans’ initial preference for high-end models, the strong demand in the Chinese market, and the coming peak season demand in the US and Europe,” he said, in a research note revealed by Macrumors.Watch moreThe difference between the normal iPhone 12 and the Pro model is smaller than it was between their predecessors. The Pro model has a different finish, more RAM, an extra camera lens and a LiDAR sensor, but is otherwise very similar to its cheaper sibling.Mr Kuo also suggested that the iPhone 12 Mini could see less demand than expected. He suggested that there could be weaker demand for such a small phone in the Chinese market.Overall, pre-orders for the iPhone 12 were more than twice those seen for the iPhone 11, Mr Kuo said. He estimated that some 1.7 to 2 million phones had been sold in the first 24 hours, compared with 500,000 to 800,000 orders of the iPhone 11.While that is a big increase over the year, some had suggested that the redesign of the phone and the inclusion of 5G could push the phone into a “super-cycle” of many more upgrades than usual, as happened when the iPhone 6 brought new larger displays. That does not yet appear to have happened, he noted, with the first day of demand around half that of the iPhone 6.Some of those pre-orders may be held back because Apple is only releasing half of the iPhones this week, however. The two more unusual sizes – the iPhone 12 Mini and the iPhone 12 Pro Max – will not be released until November.When all of those models are available, Mr Kuo predicted that the iPhone 12 Mini would represent 10-15 per cent of sales; the iPhone 12 some 30-35 per cent, with the iPhone 12 Pro making up 30-35 per cent and the iPhone 12 Pro Max the remaining 15-20 per cent.