Science and technology

Few days ago, I came across a YouTube video. There was this man, a Pakistani in New York City hailing the courtesy of Amazon of introducing the first ever fully automated store. The guy gave his viewers a decent tour of how everyone can easily be picked and charged by the artificial intelligence savvy surveillance system. One would simply take out a bottle of Coke and would be charged from the bank card inside his wallet without even taking out. Back then Amazon was aiming to diminish the traditional grocery store cashier system. Everyone on the internet commended the retail giant. It was a revolutionizing step taken in hope to change the entire grocery shopping ecosystem by turning it into a faster and convenient experience for the customers. The idea probably kick-started in 2017 when Amazon acquired Whole Foods grocery store chain for $13.7 billion. Everything seemed perfect for Amazon until a few years later they discovered that it wasn’t. Turns out, the aspect Amazon was aim

TikTok, the leading destination for short videos, has announced the launch of text posts, an innovative new format designed to empower creators and provide exciting opportunities for self-expression. With text posts, TikTok is expanding the boundaries of content creation, offering its vibrant community another innovative way to showcase their stories, poems, recipes, and other written content. TikTok is always looking to empower its creators and community with innovative tools that inspire self-expression. TikTok’s commitment to nurturing creativity in all its forms has led to a diverse array of content formats, including videos, photos, Duets, and Stitch. The introduction of text posts adds yet another dimension to the content options, enabling creators to effortlessly share their written brilliance and making it even easier to inspire and captivate audiences. Seamless publishing experience Creating and sharing text-based content has never been simpler. On the Camera page, users

A giant, glowing X marks the San Francisco spot where Elon Musk says he plans to keep his company, the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. But city officials and some residents are unhappy with the display. On Friday, the company erected an “X” logo on the roof of its Market Street headquarters, to the chagrin of neighbors who complained about intrusive lights, and San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection which said it is investigating the structure. The move followed a post from Musk, the enigmatic billionaire who acquired the company in October for $44 billion, announcing the newly named firm would remain in San Francisco despite what he termed the city’s recent “doom spiral, with one company after another left or leaving.” Musk, who also is CEO of electric car maker Tesla (TSLA.O), moved that company’s headquarters from California to Texas in 2021. Keeping X in San Francisco could be a good sign for a city that has struggled to bounce back from tourism and

OceanGate, the manufacturer of the Titan submersible that imploded in the Atlantic Ocean last month, has announced to build a colony on Venus and send 1,000 humans to Venus by the year 2050. Venus, known as Earth’s sister planet, has a dense, poisonous atmosphere consisting mainly of carbon dioxide. The planet is enveloped in thick yellowish clouds made of sulfuric acid, resulting in extreme heat with surface temperatures reaching up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 degrees Celsius). This ambitious project has been named “Humans 2 Venus”. The colony that the OceanGate company is preparing to build will be a “floating colony”. The project is headed by Guillermo Sohnlein, co-founder of the OceanGate company. Read more: Oceangate to continue Titanic wreckage expeditions despite tragedy According to Business Insider’s report, Guillermo Sohnlein has said that “there is no flaw in his plan”. “My project is not as ambitious as to settle one million people on Mars by 2050,” he said. Guill

A tech-savvy Whatsapp user has revealed a simple trick to boost the quality of images and videos sent on the messaging app in a video he posted on TikTok under the name @.lachief. The messaging app usually compresses the images and videos when they are saved and sent on the platform for making it easier for the device to send. However, convenience sacrifices the quality of the images for speed. The file will still be compressed to a smaller sizer if a video or photo has been taken in 4k. The WhatsApp user @.lachief shared the easy trick to get the best quality images and videos in his 19-second video on TikTok. @.lachief insane whatsapp hacks you need, if you have a whatsapp you need to try this whatsapp tips  #whatsappstatus #whatsapp #whatsapp_status #whatsapptips #whatsappchat #whatsapphacks ♬ original sound – 𝗟𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 Here are the steps: Tap on the ‘Settings’ button in the bottom right corner of the app. Tap on ‘Storage and Data’ and then scroll down to the

Meta platforms executives are heavily focused on boosting retention on their new Twitter rival Threads after the app lost more than half of its users in the weeks following its buzzy launch, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday. Retention of users on the text-based app was better than executives had expected, though it was “not perfect,” said Zuckerberg, speaking at an internal company town hall, the audio of which was heard by Reuters. “Obviously, if you have more than 100 million people sign up, ideally it would be awesome if all of them or even half of them stuck around. We’re not there yet,” he said. Zuckerberg said he considered the drop-off “normal” and expected retention to grow as the company adds more features to the app, including a desktop version and search functionality. Meta is looking at adding more “retention-driving hooks” to entice users to return to the app, like “making sure people who are on the Instagram app can see important Threads,” said Chief Pr

The Meta-owned platform WhatsApp announced a new video messaging feature, after which the users will now record and send video clips directly in the messaging app. The new instant video messages feature will be similar to sending a voice message on the platform but will only be limited to one minute long, and protected with end-to-end encryption service. In a blog post on the company’s websites indicated that this new feature will be available to everyone in the coming weeks. Earlier this year, WhatsApp launched “channels” in Singapore and Colombia and expanded its feature to other countries for users with the latest version of WhatsApp for iOS, Android, and Desktop. In a tweet from an official Twitter account, WhatsApp declared that channels are now available in more countries including Egypt, Chile, Malaysia, Morocco, Ukraine, Kenya, and Peru. In order to check if this feature is available, the user has to update the application. WABefaInfo wrote on its website: “If you resid

NEW YORK: Meta Platforms executives are heavily focused on boosting retention on their new Twitter rival Threads, after the app lost more than half of its users in the weeks following its buzzy launch, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday. Retention of users on the text-based app was better than executives had expected, though it was “not perfect,” said Zuckerberg, speaking at an internal company town hall, the audio of which was heard by Reuters. “Obviously, if you have more than 100 million people sign up, ideally it would be awesome if all of them or even half of them stuck around. We’re not there yet,” he said. Zuckerberg said he considered the drop-off “normal” and expected retention to grow as the company adds more features to the app, including a desktop version and search functionality. Meta is looking at adding more “retention-driving hooks” to entice users to return to the app, like “making sure people who are on the Instagram app can see important Threads,” sa

Scientists said on Friday they have genetically engineered female fruit flies that can have offspring without needing a male, marking the first time “virgin birth” has been induced in an animal. The offspring of the flies were also able to give birth without mating, showing that the trait could be passed down generations, in another first revealed in a study in the journal Current Biology. Virgin birth, also called parthenogenesis, is rare but not unheard of in the animal kingdom. The females of some egg-laying animals — such as lizards and birds — are capable of giving birth without mating, usually later in life when no males are available. “For the first time, scientists have managed to induce virgin birth in an animal that usually reproduces sexually: the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster,” Cambridge University said. Scientists revealed last month that a female crocodile in a Costa Rican zoo who had never been near a male laid an egg containing a fully formed foetus, the first

NEW YORK: Meta Platforms (META.O) executives are heavily focused on boosting retention on their new Twitter rival Threads, after the app lost more than half of its users in the weeks following its buzzy launch, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday. Retention of users on the text-based app was better than executives had expected, though it was “not perfect,” said Zuckerberg, speaking at an internal company town hall, the audio of which was heard by Reuters. “Obviously, if you have more than 100 million people sign up, ideally it would be awesome if all of them or even half of them stuck around. We’re not there yet,” he said. Zuckerberg said he considered the drop-off “normal” and expected retention to grow as the company adds more features to the app, including a desktop version and search functionality. Meta is looking at adding more “retention-driving hooks” to entice users to return to the app, like “making sure people who are on the Instagram app can see important Thr

Sony Group has sold more than 40 million PlayStation 5 consoles, its gaming division said on Thursday, citing the easing of supply chain problems.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by PlayStation (@playstation) “It took months for supply chains to normalise so we could have the inventory to keep up with demand,” Sony Interactive CEO Jim Ryan wrote in a blog post. “Now PS5 supply is well-stocked and we are seeing that pent up demand finally being met.” The Japanese tech and entertainment conglomerate has said it expects to sell 25 million PS5 units this year, which would be a record for any PlayStation device. Sony’s latest console is closing the gap with the PS4 console, said Piers Harding-Rolls, analyst at Ampere Analysis. from Science and Technology News - Latest science and technology news https://ift.tt/XG7yYRI

The factory that fills the self-injection pens for booming weight-loss drug Wegovy has repeatedly breached US sterile-safety rules in recent years and staff have failed to perform required quality checks, a Reuters review of regulatory documents shows. The breaches at Catalent, the Wegovy pen filler, were found by inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration who visited the plant in Brussels in October 2021 and August 2022 to check on its compliance with manufacturing regulations, according to detailed FDA reports on the inspections, obtained by Reuters under freedom of information laws. There is no evidence that Catalent’s compliance failures resulted in harm to users of Wegovy. However, the inspectors said the lapses at the plant – which fills syringes for pharmaceutical clients – represented the most serious form of violations, according to the reports, which show Catalent shut the facility down twice between the two inspections. In November 2022, the FDA published a fin

The surface ocean temperature in and around the Florida Keys soared to typical hot tub levels this week, amid recent warnings from global weather monitors about the dangerous impact of warming waters on ecosystems and extreme weather events. A water temperature buoy located inside the Everglades National Park in the waters of Manatee Bay hit a high of 101.19 degrees Fahrenheit (38.44 Celsius) late Monday afternoon, U.S. government data showed, while other buoys nearby topped 100F (38C) and the upper 90s (32C). Normal water temperatures for the area this time of year should be between 73F and 88F (23C and 31C), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which published the findings from the National Data Buoy Center. The readings add to previous warnings over Florida’s warming waters in the southeastern United States as prolonged heat continued to bake  other parts of the country. The growing frequency and intensity of severe weather – both on land

Merck and Moderna on Wednesday announced the initiation of the late-stage trial evaluating V940 (mRNA-4157), an investigational individualized neoantigen therapy (INT), in combination with KEYTRUDA, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, as a vaccine for cancer. Global recruitment in V940-001 has begun, and the first patients are now enrolling in Australia. “As we continue our efforts to advance novel treatment options for patients with high-risk Stage IIB-IV melanoma, the initiation of the V940-001 Phase 3 trial represents an important step forward in these efforts and our study of individualized neoantigen therapy,” said Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of late-stage oncology, global clinical development, Merck Research Laboratories. “We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Moderna to evaluate this promising new approach with V940 (mRNA-4157), while also building on a standard of care laid by KEYTRUDA.” “The initiation of the V940-001 Phase 3 trial is an exciting

After launching “channels” in Singapore and Colombia, WhatsApp has expanded its feature to other countries for users with the latest version of WhatsApp for iOS, Android, and Desktop. In a tweet from an official Twitter account, WhatsApp declared that channels are now available in more countries including Egypt, Chile, Malaysia, Morocco, Ukraine, Kenya, and Peru. In order to check if this feature is available, the user has to update the application. WABefaInfo wrote on its website: “If you reside in any of these countries and wish to check if this feature is enabled for your WhatsApp account, simply update the WhatsApp application and open it. “If you notice the “Updates” tab, it means that you can finally start using channels right away! Note that this is available on WhatsApp for iOS, Android, and Desktop apps.” What about my country? If you reside somewhere other than the places listed, you may wonder when Channels will be released in your country. Unfortunately, there is cu

Artificial intelligence is expected to pay off big for tech giants including Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) someday. But expect deeper investments before gains trickle to the bottom line, the companies said on Tuesday. Microsoft said costs rose sharply as it built new data centers to support AI and that capital expenditures will continue to rise as it buys chips from the likes of Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) to power those data centers. Microsoft is bearing AI costs in two ways, analysts said: to power its own products such as its forthcoming $30-a-month Copilot AI assistant, and to serve companies wanting to use its Azure cloud computing services to create AI products. Microsoft executives said the service will start generating the bulk of its revenue in the second half of its fiscal 2024 ending June 30. “They’re buying a bunch of H100s,” said Ben Bajarin, chief executive and principal analyst of Creative Strategies, referring to Nvidia’s flagship chips for AI. “You’re probab

Human-induced climate change has played an “absolutely overwhelming” role in the extreme heatwaves that have swept across North America, Europe and China this month, according to an  assessment  by scientists published on Tuesday. Throughout July, extreme weather has caused havoc across the planet, with temperatures breaking records in  China , the  United States  and  southern Europe , sparking forest fires, water shortages and a rise in heat-related hospital admissions. Over the weekend, thousands of tourists were evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes  to escape wildfires caused by a record-breaking heatwave.   Without human-induced climate change, the events this month would have been “extremely rare”, according to a study by World Weather Attribution, a global team of scientists that examines the role played by climate change in extreme weather. “European and North American temperatures would have been virtually impossible without the effects of climate change,” said Iz

It’s almost unbelievable, but it’s been a whole decade since Google introduced Android 4.4, also known as Android KitKat. As technology evolves rapidly, Google seems ready to bid farewell to this older operating system to commemorate its 10th anniversary. Recent reports unveiled the distribution of Android versions on devices, and the findings were surprising. Android 11 (codenamed Red Velvet Cake) emerged as the most widely adopted release as of May 2023. However, shockingly, there were still around 15 million devices running on Android 4.4. Despite this, Android KitKat accounted for only about 0.5% of the global market share. It appears that this small percentage has prompted Google to finally discontinue support for the aging version. In a brief announcement on the Android Developers Blog, Google stated that they will no longer support KitKat in future releases of Google Play services. The reason cited was the dwindling active device count on KitKat, which has fallen below 1% as

ISLAMABAD: The cabinet told National Assembly (NA) that 200,000 telecom jobs were given after the launch of 4G in Pakistan, ARY News reported. As per details, the National Assembly was told that after the launch of 3G and 4G, the telecom companies gave direct jobs to 5780 individuals whereas 30 Mobile device manufacturing companies provided 50,000 job opportunities. Currently, more than 44,200 employees are working in telecom companies across Pakistan. The number of internet users is over 128 million. Earlier, the federal government decided to establish the Universal Service Fund (USF), a new board for the development of telecommunication services across the country. Read more: Govt to establish new board to uplift telecom services The federal cabinet approved the summary of the Ministry of Information Technology (IT) to establish USF – a new board for the development of telecommunication services – in which experts from the field will be members of the board. Sources revealed t

The world is witnessing fast shrinking of different species and some are facing the dangers of extinction. Many attractive and potent species are gradually experiencing their end due to poaching and destruction of their natural habitats. Concerned agencies are working hard to preserve the endangered species and they vociferously appeal to let them live as they add flavour to life on mother Earth. Northern White Rhino is at the top of the species feared to become extinct and the main reason for this disastrous development is poaching. The last male died in Kenya earlier this year at the age of 45. The only two animals left of this species are females and both live in captivity. Asian elephant also faces the same fate as it is reported that since the beginning of the 20th century, more than half of this species has been annihilated by human activity, mainly due to poaching. There are now fewer than 55,000 left in the wild. Bengal Tiger was once the pride of jungle but it is now suf

Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, launched on Monday. The project’s core offering is its World ID, an account that only real humans can get. To get a World ID, a customer signs up to do an in-person iris scan using Worldcoin’s ‘orb’, a silver ball approximately the size of a bowling ball. Once the orb’s iris scan verifies the person is a real human, it creates a World ID. The company behind Worldcoin is San Francisco and Berlin-based Tools for Humanity. The project has 2 million users from its beta period, and with Monday’s launch, Worldcoin is scaling up “orbing” operations to 35 cities in 20 countries. As an enticement, those who sign up in certain countries will receive Worldcoin’s cryptocurrency token WLD. The cryptocurrency aspect of the World IDs is important because cryptocurrency blockchains can store the World IDs in a way that preserves privacy and can’t be controlled or shut down by any single entity, co-founder Alex Blania told Reute

The upcoming Apple iPhone 15 rumored to feature great charging speed potential with enhanced 40W charging. The next Apple flagship iPhone is rumored to have a major upgrade to battery tech with a stacked battery pack.  Currently, the iPhone 14 has a maximum charging speed of 30W and a leap to 40W speeds is quite significant. A tipster on Twitter, @RGcloudS says that a wired increase to 40W for the iPhone 15 could translate to up to 20W charging speeds via MagSafe. There are however no guarantees that the new tech will berth with the iPhone 15, as some speculations link the tech to the iPhone 16 instead. It is also speculated that Apple’s switch to USB-C has boosted the charging speed for the next-gen iPhones. It is however clear that there are several other reasons to adduce for a possible bump in charging speeds for the iPhone 15. For one, the stacked battery pack would imply Apple may have navigated over the overheating challenge present under such a scenario. It is noted that 40

FRANKFURT: Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) is making China, the world’s top auto market, central to its next electric vehicle (EV) campaign starting in 2025, its CEO told German magazine Automobilwoche. “To do this, we must master electric propulsion just as perfectly as digitalisation. That’s what our customers expect,” Ola Kaellenius was quoted as saying. From 2025, all of Mercedes-Benz’s new vehicle platforms will only make EVs under a strategy the German luxury automaker outlined in 2021. A senior executive told Automobilwoche the models the company plans to launch in China based on the upcoming MB.EA platform were being reviewed to ensure they better meet the needs of local customers, singling out space and digital content. China remains the most relevant market for Germany’s automakers, but local brands are in control with an 81% share of the Chinese EV market in 2022, Counterpoint Research found. China also has a significant stake in Mercedes-Benz, whose top two shareholders are B