Month: May 2020

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)

Today's Dealmaster is something of a special edition of our usual tech deals roundup, as it's highlighted by exclusive discount codes we've secured for a bevy of Anker charging gear.

Our selection covers 15 different devices from the popular accessory maker, including USB-C wall chargers, Qi wireless chargers, USB-C hubs, portable batteries, fast Lightning charging cables, and power strips. The deals bring several items down to their all-time lowest prices and all of them well below their typical going rates. You can find the codes for each individual item below—just apply them at checkout to see the respective discount. Anker says they'll be valid until June 4.

Some highlights here include the Anker PowerPort PD 2 wall charger, which is down to a new low of $16 with the code "ARSTECH25". This is a 30W charger that includes both an 18W USB-C Power Delivery port for charging many newer smartphones at maximum speeds as well as a 12W USB-A port for powering up a second device simultaneously. The PowerCore Metro Slim 10000 PD, meanwhile, is a newer power bank with a similarly fast 18W USB-C PD port and a fairly thin (0.59 inches) fabric-coated design; it's about $15 off and down to a new low of $30 with the code "ARSTECH11".

Enlarge / The new update is available via System Preferences on supported Macs. (credit: Samuel Axon)

This week, Apple released macOS Catalina 10.15.5, rounding out a series of system software updates that has rolled out to various Apple platforms (iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS) over the course of a week or so.

This version of macOS is primarily focused on a new battery management feature similar to one already introduced in iOS. It helps prolong the life of the device's physical battery by moderating charging based on users' habits.

With "Battery Health Management" in macOS 10.15.5, Apple aims to increase the life of the lithium-ion battery in each MacBook by limiting that laptop's maximum charge level when plugged in based on analysis of your charging patterns and the battery's temperature history. Charging to full unnecessarily can reduce the number of cycles before a lithium-ion battery becomes less reliable.

• 

  The Raspberry Pi 4. [credit: Raspberry Pi ]

Hot off the launch of an interchangeable camera system earlier this month, Raspberry Pi is introducing a new configuration of the Pi4: a model with a whopping 8GB of RAM. The new, highest-end config for the Pi 4 will run you $75.

The 8GB version of the Raspberry Pi 4 has been long rumored, thanks to Raspberry Pi itself leaking the existence of an 8GB model. The blog post reveals that an 8GB model was always a possibility and says, "We were so enthusiastic about the idea that the non-existent product made its way into both the Beginner’s Guide and the compliance leaflet."

The Raspberry Pi 4 launched last year with a faster SoC, more RAM, dual micro-HDMI, USB 3.0 support, and a USB-C charging port. In addition to the usual server and hobbyist uses, Raspberry Pi promoted performance on par with an "entry-level x86 PC" and dual-monitor desktop uses.

• 

  Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken after suit-op operations on Wednesday. [credit: NASA ]

Shortly after sunrise on the morning of February 1, 2003, Doug Hurley waited on the long runway at Kennedy Space Center for a vehicle that would never come.

Only recently graduated to becoming a full-fledged astronaut, one of Hurley's first tasks was serving as a "Cape Crusader" for the corps, meaning he watched out for the Astronaut Office's interests in Florida. On this morning, he was part of a small cadre of astronauts to greet seven returning crew members on board the space shuttle Columbia.

As he waited, Columbia broke into pieces as it passed over Texas and other southern US states along its ground track to Florida. Hurley's friends died as their spacecraft burned up and broke apart during their reentry to Earth's atmosphere. From the beginning of his career, then, Doug Hurley profoundly understood the risks of the profession he had just entered into.

Enlarge / If Scandinavian archaeology needed a logo, this outline would be a good one. (credit: NIKU)

A ground-penetrating radar survey in 2018 found a 20-meter Viking ship buried just beneath the surface of a farmer’s field in Ostfold, Norway. At the time, archaeologists decided that the rare find was safest where it was. But recent analysis of a wood sample taken in 2019 reveals that although the ship looks remarkably well-preserved, it’s actually being eaten away by fungus. And that means it’s time for a rescue mission.

A Viking burial

The intended excavation is being led by archaeologist Jan Bill, curator of the Viking Ship Collection at Norway’s Museum of Cultural History, and his colleagues at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU). When they start digging in June, they’ll be the first archaeologists in a century to excavate a Viking ship.

The site, called Gjellestad, is especially interesting—and especially complicated. It’s a ship from the period when Scandinavian seafarers were raiding and settling their way around the North Sea and Atlantic—but it’s also the tomb of a Norse ruler. “Ship graves of this size were built for persons from the uppermost echelons in society—we would tend to call them kings and queens today, possibly also jarls,” Bill told Ars.