Month: June 2022

Seattle-based Stratolaunch Systems has debuted a structurally complete prototype of its Talon-A separation test aircraftx, along with a view of the vehicle nestled within its unique launch platform. The company says hypersonic test flights could happen as early as this year.

The newly showcased black-and-white prototype, designated TA-0, is not a powered unit, but it represents an important step in that direction. TA-0 won’t be zipping above the Mojave Desert on its own, but private aerospace company Stratolaunch will use the unit to test and validate its carrier aircraft release system, and also study the associated separation dynamics, according to a company press release.

These tests will transpire over the coming months and in advance of actual powered tests, in which the upcoming prototype TA-1 will launch from Roc—a gigantic carrier aircraft—and attempt hypersonic flight. (Hypersonic describes vehicles or missiles capable of traveling faster than Mach 5; supersonic refers to faster than Mach 1.)

In early May, Roc performed its fifth flight since tests began three years ago. The carrier aircraft is the largest plane ever built, featuring a dual fuselage and a wingspan that stretches 385 feet (117 meters) across. Weighing roughly 250 tons, Roc requires 12,000 feet (3.65 kilometers) of runway clearance to take flight.

When Stratolaunch was founded back in 2011, its original goal was to launch planes to space, similar to how Virgin Galactic currently does it with SpaceShipTwo. The company recently switched gears, however, and is now focusing on hypersonic vehicles, though the development of spaceplanes remains a long-term goal. Stratolaunch is currently under contract with the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to provide a testing platform for developing mitigations against hypersonic threats, namely hypersonic missile threats from China and Russia. By obtaining proprietary hypersonic vehicles, the Pentagon plans to test various defense strategies against them.

“The Talon-A testbed capability ultimately enables routine access to the hypersonic flight environment, which is critical for scientific research, technological development, and component demonstration,” according to the company press release.

In addition to our first view of the Talon-A separation test vehicle, Stratolaunch also released an image showing TA-0 attached to Roc’s pylon on the center wing. The 8,000-pound pylon, constructed from aluminum and carbon fiber skins, debuted during the May 4 flight, and it’s designed to carry and release Talon-A hypersonic vehicles. The pylon measures 14 feet (4.2 meters) across, which still allows for ample launch clearance space along Roc’s 95-foot-long (29-meter) center wing. The system also includes a winch, allowing for the quick loading of vehicles from the ground and without an intense need for ground support.

Future versions of Talon-A vehicles will be rocket powered and capable of carrying customizable payloads at hypersonic speeds. The pending tests of TA-0, should they go well, could lead to hypersonic tests of TA-1 later in the year, according to the Stratolaunch press release. A third vehicle, designated TA-2, is currently under construction and, unlike TA-1, it’s being designed for full reusability.

In March, the United States tested a hypersonic missile but refrained from publicizing the test for fear of antagonizing Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 20, CNN reported.

Is it really possible to “Netflix and chill” when everyone watching the TV is aggressively battling to control the volume? Sennheiser’s latest earbuds could finally bring peace to the family room, as they wirelessly connect to any TV, even older models that don’t have Bluetooth built in.

Sennheiser’s new TV Clear buds aren’t the company’s first headphones designed specifically with TV connectivity in mind. Older models like the RS 2000 provide the same functionality, and while they feature a design that’s supposed to be more comfortable to wear for longer periods, they also look like a doctor’s stethoscope and only work with an included base station that wirelessly broadcasts low-latency audio from a TV or home theater system.

The TV Clear offer two big advantages to Sennheiser’s older offerings, with the most obvious being that they look and feel like regular wireless earbuds, with a compact design that relies on silicon eartips and small wings to stay securely perched in a user’s ears. Battery life is promised to be up to 15 hours per charge when used with an included low-latency transmitter that can be connected to a TV or other gear using analog or optical cables, with an additional 22 hours of use provided through an included charging case.

They can also help bring peace to the bedroom when someone wants to stay up late watching TV while their bedmate wants to go to sleep. But they’re also an excellent solution for those dealing with hearing loss, as the TV Clear buds offer five selectable levels of speech clarity enhancement, making it easier to discern what people on screen are saying without requiring the volume to be cranked overly loud.

The other advantage to the TV Clear over older models like the Sennheiser RS 2000 is that they also function as regular Bluetooth earbuds, connecting to laptops and mobile devices, or even smart TVs that offer Bluetooth, although with more latency between the action on screen and what the user is hearing than when using the included wireless transmitter. This makes the TV Clear more versatile as everyday wireless headphones too, but that flexibility doesn’t come cheap. Priced at $400 for the earbuds plus the transmitter when available this Summer, they’re considerably more expensive than even the most feature-rich wireless earbuds available today. If you’ve already got a Bluetooth-friendly smart TV at home, you might want to save yourself a few bucks and just stick with a cheaper pair of wireless buds.

The CEO of the notorious spyware vendor NSO Group apparently has a new plan to rebound from the company’s ongoing legal and fiscal tailspin: start re-selling its noxious spyware to the very governments that got it into trouble in the first place.

Beset by ongoing lawsuits, declining sales, scurrying investors, and unendingly negative press coverage, NSO Group has entered a financial spiral and seems so strapped that it’s struggling to pay its own employees. The pivot by CEO Shalev Hulio entails selling its products to countries that have been deemed “elevated-risk” clients, reports the Financial Times. Such clients had apparently been categorized as risky during a due diligence review by a now defunct internal committee. While we can’t say for certain which countries those are, you can probably assume they wouldn’t be places where civil liberties and democratic norms are a huge thing.

It’s been a rough few years for the NSO Group. The spyware vendor, once a shadowy, little-known hawker of technically sophisticated cyber weapons, has suffered a seemingly endless string of highly visible controversies over the past few years. Revelations that it sells its powerful Pegasus spyware to authoritarian regimes, that its products have been used to surveil journalists, activists, politicians, and even potentially world leaders, and accusations that it played a role in the death of Jamal Khashoggi, have marred its reputation—potentially beyond repair.

According to the FT report, Hulio recently pitched this idea to a roomful of suits tasked with representing the company’s largest financial investors. Said suits—executives from the global consulting firm Berkeley Research Group—had been sent to the meeting to help “wrap up” a private equity fund that had originally been formed to support NSO but which imploded last year due to infighting and legal disputes. Amidst those discussions, Hulio started trying to sell them on this whole “risky” clients strategy. Hulio reportedly viewed it as a profitable strategy. BRG folks promptly rejected the idea.

FT reports that, after the meeting, Hulio told NSO creditors that BRG’s decision had impacted the company financially and BRG apparently found itself on the defensive. An email sent by BRG attorneys to NSO creditors shows them affirming their decision not to allow sales to risky clients:

“You are demanding that (BRG) blindly sanctions the sale of . . . Pegasus . . . to elevated risk customers without a thorough governance review,” BRG attorneys apparently wrote in December. “Please note that in no circumstance is (BRG) prepared to do so.”

Are we to assume that NSO is having trouble being profitable without selling its services to some of the worst governments on the planet? Some might look at that situation and consider changing their business strategy to one that doesn’t require scandal-prone authoritarians as prime clientele.

Why NSO Group is So Strapped Right Now

It’s not just lawsuits and controversy causing NSO trouble, however. The spyware vendor has faced increased financial difficulties ever since it was effectively blacklisted by the U.S. government last fall.

In November, the U.S. Commerce Department added NSO to its Export Administration Regulation “Entity List.” The EAR list is basically a long tally of foreign companies whose activities have been deemed as “contrary to U.S. national security and/or foreign policy interests.” Getting put on this list means that any U.S.-based business that wants to provides goods or services to a blacklisted company has to acquire a special license from the U.S. government before it can do so. For obvious reasons, this can greatly hobble a company that relies on American tech companies, of which NSO is one. The blacklisting took place not long after the November meeting between BRG and NSO, FT reports.

Ironically, NSO’s blacklisting took place after the U.S. government reportedly spent several years deciding whether it should become one of the spyware merchant’s clients. In January, the New York Times Magazine reported that the FBI had spent the better part of two years mulling a potential acquisition of a surveillance system called “Phantom,” which could reputedly hack any mobile phone in the U.S. The bureau ultimately decided against the acquisition.

Gizmodo reached out to the Berkeley Research Group, which referred us to an external communications firm, which did not respond to us by press time. We also reached out to the NSO Group for comment on this story and will update it if they respond.

Another week, another coffee-is-good-for-you study that’s caught people’s attention. New research found a link between regular coffee consumption and a reduced risk of death. While the findings are the latest to suggest that coffee is perfectly fine to drink, they’re not necessarily strong proof that your daily cup of joe is life-saving.

The study was conducted by researchers at Southern Medical University in China and was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It looked at data from the UK Biobank, a long-running research project that’s been tracking the health of UK residents. As part of the project, people detailed their dietary habits, including their coffee consumption.

Compared to people who didn’t report drinking coffee, the researchers found, people who drank coffee (up to and above 4.5 cups a day) were less likely to die of any cause over a seven-year follow-up period. This pattern held true after accounting for other factors like a person’s lifestyle, and even when people reported drinking sugar-sweetened coffee.

“Moderate consumption of unsweetened and sugar-sweetened coffee was associated with lower risk for death,” the study authors wrote.

As Gizmodo has covered before, this is far from the first work to suggest that coffee is good for you. Other studies have found a link between coffee consumption and a lower risk of heart failure, liver damage, and indeed, even early death. Overall, these studies outnumber the ones that suggest coffee could harm health. So by this point, there’s not much debate left as to whether coffee is an “unhealthy” food, at least for the average person. (People with certain conditions, such as clinical anxiety, might want to avoid the stimulant effects of caffeine, though.)

All that said, it’s always tricky to study the benefits and harms of food, and nutrition scientists typically have to conduct research that comes with some major limitations. This study, the authors themselves note, only looked at people’s diets at a single moment of time. It’s possible that some people started or stopped drinking coffee after the start of the study. It’s also possible that people misremembered their typical diet, a well-known flaw in these kinds of surveys.

But perhaps the most important caveat is that correlation isn’t necessarily causation. Coffee-drinking people may be different from those who intentionally abstain. They might tend to exercise more or keep to a healthier diet, for instance. Scientists do try to adjust for these kinds of factors, but it’s often not possible to fully eliminate this sort of noise in the data.

Interestingly enough, the study didn’t find the same correlation for artificially sweetened coffee. That could mean that mixing your espresso with Splenda instead of a sugar packet makes the beverage less healthful, but it could also be an example of why these conclusions may not be quite as sturdy as the headlines make them look.

This kind of research, known as an observational study, is an important part of science. Often, we simply can’t run a gold-standard clinical trial to test out theories about the world. But we also shouldn’t take the numbers that any single study spits out as gospel (in this one, the associated risk of early death was up to 30% lower for coffee-drinkers). Given the bulk of the evidence, you can rest easy knowing that drinking coffee in moderation isn’t likely to cause you any harm. But any conclusion beyond that is murkier.

And honestly, who cares? I’m certainly not having my daily coffee because I think I’ll live longer as a result—I just like the taste and morning pep it gives me.

Russia’s space agency has announced its intention to unilaterally seize control of a German telescope mounted to a Russian-built spacecraft. It’s a terrible, irresponsible idea, as even Russian scientists will admit.

The German developer of the eROSITA telescope, the Max Planck Institute, put the instrument into sleep mode this past February in protest of Russia’s unwarranted and ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The X-ray telescope is the primary instrument aboard the joint Russian-German Spektr-RG mission, which the Russian space agency Roscosmos launched to space in July 2019. The Russian ART-XC X-ray telescope is also attached to the spacecraft, and it works in tandem with eROSITA.

It now appears, however, that Russia is going to switch eROSITA back on without the explicit consent of the Max Planck Institute, as reported in Deutsche Welle. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin, a devout supporter of Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, made his intentions clear during a recent televised interview.

“I gave instructions to start work on restoring the operation of the German telescope in the Spektr-RG system so it works together with the Russian telescope,” Rogozin said. “Despite Germany’s demand to shut down one of the two telescopes at Spektr-RG, Russian specialists insist on continuing its work. Roscosmos will make relevant decisions in the near future.”

To which he added: “They—the people that made the decision to shut down the telescope—don’t have a moral right to halt this research for humankind just because their pro-fascist views are close to our enemies.”

Spektr-RG is currently in a halo orbit some 932,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth. The science phase of the collaborative 7.5-year mission began in October 2019. The eROSITA telescope is in the midst of an all-sky survey, in which it’s scanning the universe in the medium X-ray range “with an unprecedented spectral and angular resolution,” according to the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. The device consists of seven identical mirror modules, each of which contains 54 nested mirror shells that allow for the telescope’s high sensitivity.

Scientists with the eROSITA project are using the telescope to map out the large-scale structure of the universe, to detect obscured black holes in nearby galaxies, and to study the physics of X-ray sources, such as young stars, supernova remnants, and X-ray binaries.

Lev Zeleny, scientific director of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Science, spoke out against the decision to switch eROSITA back on, saying: “Our institute—all scientists—strongly object to this proposal,” as he was quoted by Russia’s state-run Gazeta. The objection, Zeleny said, “is both for political and technical reasons,” saying it’s not clear if Russian astronomers will actually figure out how to use eROSITA, or if outside journals will go on to publish any scientific results that might come from the move.

The scientific supervisor of the Spektr-RG project, Rashid Sunyaev, is concerned that Russian astronomers might accidentally damage Germany’s telescope, as reported in Interfax, a private Russian media outlet. “This is a wonderful device, absolutely world class, which has already given a lot of data,” Sunyaev said. “We all dream of seeing it return to active work. But it is an amazingly complex device, and if we decide to ignore agreements with partners and turn it on ourselves, it can simply ruin it,” Sunyaev said.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has been damaging on so many levels, the science realm included. It will likely take years, if not decades, for these broken relationships to mend. Rogozin’s decision to space-jack a telescope would only make a bad situation worse. He’d best think twice.

More: NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly to Russia: ‘Your Space Program Won’t Be Worth a Damn’.

Notably absent from the WWDC keynote this year was any overt mention of augmented or virtual reality. There were subtle hints sprinkled throughout the keynote—virtual maps, live text, and Visual Look Up are new features asking to be integrated into a mixed reality headset—but Apple chose not to use the big event as a springboard for its upcoming platform.

We knew not to expect AR hardware, but some mention of the rumored “realityOS” wasn’t completely out of the question. Apple will, at some point, need to drum up excitement and support from developers, which could happen to some extent during the ongoing WWDC sessions. However, the moment we’re waiting for: Apple revealing to the world its plans for augmented reality, will have to wait.

How long we’ll wait remains a moving target, but one of the most reliable Apple analysts has already chimed in with an updated timeline. Ming-Chi Kuo, in the wake of the WWDC keynote, predicted that Apple’s AR/MR (augmented and mixed reality) headset would be delayed until Q2 of next year, falling a few months behind the original Q1 projection. Kuo says the postponement would be due to lockdowns in China caused by the ongoing pandemic. He previously said Apple wouldn’t want to announce a product so far in advance and give its competitors time to create copies.

Kuo broke down the key dates ahead for Apple’s upcoming AR headset and software platform. Here is Kuo’s proposed schedule:

1. EVT (Engineering Validation and Testing) starting from Q3 2022.

2. Apple event in January 2023.

3. Dev toolkit send two to four weeks later (late February 2023).

4. Pre-orders begin in Q2 2023.

5. In-store before WWDC 2023.

If these predictions are accurate, and all goes well on the manufacturing front, then Apple’s mixed reality headset could be available in stores by around this time next year. Keep in mind that while Kuo often cites anonymous sources, these latest predictions appear to be pure speculation. While they align with what other top analysts are saying, you should take these claims with a heavy dose of skepticism.

As for what to expect when the headset does arrive, the product is said to have an “innovative three-display configuration” that combines dual 4K OLED microdisplays with at least six optical modules to provide continuous “video see-through AR services.” It is said to have M1 Pro-level power and could come equipped with 14 built-in cameras for advanced tracking. All of that technology is expected to result in a steep asking price that is currently set at 3,000 real physical dollars.

As shared e-scooter companies have infiltrated cities and e-bike sales have soared, micromobility has been offered up as a panacea to save us all from the ill humors and packed streets caused by gas-guzzling cars. However, one of the major roadblocks in front of well-intentioned city dwellers who’d love to trade in their cumbersome and environmentally unfriendly vehicles for an e-bike or scooter remains: What happens when it rains?

Nimbus, a California-based electric vehicle startup, wants to solve that problem with a simple solution: Put a roof on it.

The company recently came out of stealth with a prototype for its Nimbus One, a tiny, three-wheeled EV that “combines the convenience and cost of a motorbike with the safety and comfort of a car.”

The thin, pod-like vehicle is only about 2.75 feet wide and 7.5 feet long, which Nimbus says makes it three to five times smaller than a compact car — the better to park and navigate busy urban streets. It also has room behind the driver’s seat for another passenger or storage for things like grocery runs. Nong said the Nimbus’s backseat will have ISOFIX points for baby seats.

The vehicle also tilts, like a motorbike or scooter would, due to Nimbus’s proprietary tilting technology.

“Scooters are fun, but they’re also kind of dangerous, but they lean, so that’s fun,” Nong told TechCrunch, noting the front airbag in the Nimbus. “Our vehicle does the same thing, but it takes the skill out of it. So my mom can get in and start to drive. Have you ever driven a boat? It drives kind of like a boat. You turn left and it pitches to the left.”

The Nimbus One is classified as an auto-cycle in the U.S., which means it’s “the best of both worlds,” according to Nong.

“We don’t have to pass these stringent, very expensive and lengthy processes for getting our vehicles certified,” Nong said. “But also, drivers don’t need a motorcycle license to drive, so anybody with a car license can use our vehicle. They don’t have to wear a helmet.”

Since the Nimbus is made for city driving, not highway driving, it has a top speed of 50 miles per hour. Its 9 kWh battery has a range of 93 miles and a charge time of 1.2 hours on a Level 2 charger or 5.4 hours on household power, according to the company. Taking a page out of Gogoro’s book, Nimbus’s batteries are removable, swappable and can be charged in the owner’s own home.

The Nimbus One’s minimalist interior includes a display screen, Bluetooth-connected speakers, power windows, a rapid phone charger, heating and optional air conditioning. The vehicle also has a front-collision warning and additional features can be sent to the vehicle with over-the-air updates, according to the company.

Pre-orders for the Nimbus One started over the weekend, and test drives will be offered within a month, said Nong, who noted the company is taking $100 down payment per order. The vehicles themselves will cost around $9,980 to buy outright, but the company also intends to offer them as a subscription service for $200 per month.

Nimbus expects first deliveries from impending pre-orders to come in the third quarter of 2022, but the company hasn’t yet chosen its launch city. Nong said Nimbus will roll out city by city, in part so the company can set up proper after-sales service to maintain vehicles in each city as it grows.

Nong says that while he expects most of Nimbus’ business to come from direct to consumer sales, the startup is also in talks with several shared micromobility operators, other vehicle sharing programs and food and grocery delivery companies. All vehicle functions, like door locks, power windows, speakers and even steering, braking and vehicle speed can be controlled via Nimbus’s central control unit and accessed via API, making the vehicles highly compatible for a vehicle-sharing program. In addition, up to four 2.2 kWh swappable battery packs can be equipped with the vehicle, a feature that has the potential to cut overhead costs associated with charging shared fleet vehicles.

Of course, manufacturing costs for any vehicle have never been higher than they are today, so Nimbus will need to raise another round to make it to production. The startup wants to raise $20 million in equity and $10 million in debt for its Series A, as well as bring on a customer who is also a strategic investor.

Nimbus closed a $4.7 million seed round last August and expects investors from that round — Thiel Capital, the JAM fund, Conscience, Ponooc and Gaingels — to follow on into the next round.