Month: December 2020

Enlarge / The upper stage of the Orbex Prime rocket will have a single engine. (credit: Orbex)

United Kingdom-based launch company Orbex says it has raised an additional $24 million in venture capital funding as it continues development of its small satellite launcher. This booster is planned to be similar in size and performance to Rocket Lab's Electron vehicle.

Orbex CEO Chris Larmour said this brings the total amount of money raised by the company to $69 million. It presently has 55 employees, but Larmour said the plan is to expand to around 90 by the middle of 2021 with this new round of funding. This staffing level, he said, should be enough employees to reach orbit with.

"We're very focused on being capital efficient, which is another word for cheap," Larmour said in an interview. "We're raising money as we need it, and not too much, and not too aggressively. This is quite adequate for what we need to do."

Enlarge / This kind of flashing-light-filled celebration would probably not be an appropriate response to this news...

The PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 now features an on-screen notice at load time warning players of the risk of seizures. The Washington Post's Elise Favis was among the first to note the addition last night.

"In this game you will encounter a variety of visual effects (e.g. flashing lights during braindance sequences) that may provoke seizures or loss of consciousness in a minority of people. If you or someone in your family has ever displayed symptoms of epilepsy in the presence of flashing lights, please consult your physician before playing Cyberpunk 2077. If you or someone you know experiences any of the above symptoms while playing, stop and seek medical attention immediately."

Booted up Cyberpunk 2077 to see a seizure warning come up at the start of the game that wasn't there before. Really amazing to see how @DirtyEffinHippy helped make meaningful change happen for the safety of players. pic.twitter.com/ItNwuLOxla

— Elise Favis (@elisefavis) December 10, 2020

Many games, including every title in the Ubisoft catalog, include a similar on-screen warning for photosensitive players. Cyberpunk 2077 previously included a seizure warning in its EULA, but not on-screen. The Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game have yet to be updated.

Enlarge (credit: Getty | Congressional Quarterly)

A committee of outside experts advising the Food and Drug Administration has convened this morning and is now publicly deliberating whether the agency should grant an Emergency Use Authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its partner, German biotech firm BioNTech.

If the committee votes to grant an authorization—and the FDA agrees—the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed has said it will begin shipping vaccine allotments to states and jurisdictions within hours.

So far, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has already been approved in the United Kingdom—after a remarkably speedy 10-day review. The country began a mass vaccination campaign this week. On Wednesday, Canadian health officials announced that they, too, had authorized the vaccine.