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Space mirrors could ruin astronomy — and your eyes

Solar energy, at any time of day or night - that's the dream of space mirror projects. Futurists have been imagining satellite mirrors that could reflect the sun's light onto the Earth's surface for over a century. Russian scientists experimented with the concept in the '90s with the Znamya project. The idea is to put a large mirror in orbit and angle it such that sunlight can be reflected onto a specific geographical area for illumination or the generation of solar power. Now, the California-based company Reflect Orbital wants to try this idea again, launching a test satellite named Eärendil-1 as a precursor to a fleet of up to 50,000 spa … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/yJolQL6

Zuckerberg’s yacht was closer, but someone else saved a stranded boat

Mark Zuckerberg's yacht "The Launchpad" | Image: Sylvain Lefevre / Getty Images Earlier this week, the Alaskan cruise ship Wilderness Legacy rescued a small skiff stranded near Farragut Bay after running out of fuel. But, according to tracking data reviewed by the Alaska Beacon and Halifax Shipping News , the closest vessel was actually Mark Zuckerberg's super yacht, Launchpad. Michael Love, a passenger on the Wilderness Legacy, posted on Bluesky that the captain announced the Launchpad was closer, but "repeatedly refused to respond," which was met with booing from the passengers. The AIS tracking (embedded below) seems to support that the Launchpad was closer to the vessel in trouble, but then stopped near the entrance … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/MoO3Nd2

49ers coach says his Tesla was on Autopilot when he crashed

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers | Image: Michael Zagaris / San Francisco 49ers / Getty Images Four weeks ago, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was involved in an accident near downtown Palo Alto. At the time Shanahan said only that the accident was his fault. But during a recent press conference he shared more details about the incident, including the fact that he had his Tesla's Autopilot engaged at the time. Shanahan was not passing the buck, however, saying it was his fault regardless of whether or not Autopilot was engaged. "I've had Autopilot for nine years, so I'm pretty comfortable with it and, you know, who knows what happened when I turned around? Whether it malfunctioned or whether I knocked it off? That's somethi … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/wFEMglY

Dropbox is a PC builder’s best friend

In 2018 I bet my reputation and self-worth on a huge crowdfunded game design project. It could have been a failure for many reasons, but the one I became most worried about was losing all of the work that was stored locally on my home-built PC - a scenario that would have left a lot of people very upset and placed me in deep trouble. I wasn't irresponsible, I had local backups, but at some point I found myself in custody of so many important files that it scared me. And no matter how many redundancies I could build at home, they'd all still be in the same place - a risky bet. So I bought a subscription to Dropbox. Years later, it's still one … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/viIpr3a

AI detectors are creating a new era of distrust

This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about how AI is changing our daily lives, follow Emma Roth . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started Long before ChatGPT became a thing, educators and editors frequently used anti-plagiarism tools to see if writers were being honest about their work. These tools work by comparing a written work against a database filled with content from across the web, scholarly articles, and more to check for matching sentences and phrases. Some, like Turnitin, offer a percentage th … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/JYKhFQN

Buc-ee’s dodges John Oliver to sue another small business

Buc-ee’s mega-convenience store and 120-pump gas station in Mount Crawford, Virginia. | Image: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Buc-ee's became something of a viral sensation during the World Cup , but it has a troubling history of suing small gas stations and convenience stores. On a recent episode of Last Week Tonight , John Oliver literally begged the company to sue him for selling merch featuring his squirrel mascot, Mr. Nutterbutter, with branding that reads "Buc-Off." But Buc-ee's has so far declined to take the bait , instead targeting yet another small business that lacks the deep pockets and legal team of HBO. According to WDTN , an NBC affiliate in Miami Valley, Ohio, Buc-ee's opened its first locations in the state earlier this year. And now it's targeting es … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/2LX5i1E