Month: May 2022

Enlarge / A COVID-19 testing tent stands in Times Square on April 27, 2022, in New York City. (credit: Getty | Spencer Platt)

Enduring an initial omicron infection may not spare you from omicron's subvariants, according to preliminary data from South Africa.

The country is currently at the start of a new wave of infections, primarily driven by two omicron coronavirus subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5. Despite a towering wave of cases from the initial BA.1 omicron variant in December that infected a large chunk of the country, new omicron cases increased 259 percent in the last two weeks, according to data tracking by The New York Times. Hospitalizations are also up, and deaths have increased by 18 percent.

Preliminary data posted online last week helps explain why cases are once again surging—the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants can evade neutralizing antibodies generated by infections from BA.1. For the study, led by virologist Alex Sigal of the Africa Health Research Institute, researchers pitted neutralization antibodies from people infected with BA.1 up against BA.4 and BA.5 in a lab. They had samples from 24 unvaccinated people infected with BA.1 and 15 vaccinated people who had also had a BA.1 infection (eight people were vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and seven had the Johnson & Johnson vaccine).

Black holes feeding on companion stars can go through cycles where they emit high-energy outbursts. MIT astronomers are using X-ray echoes from those cycles to map out the environment around these exotic objects, similar to how bats map out their environment via echolocation. The astronomers hope to use this new data to learn more about the evolution of these kinds of black hole systems, and by extension, the formation of galaxies, according to a new paper published in the Astrophysical Journal.

“The role of black holes in galaxy evolution is an outstanding question in modern astrophysics,” said co-author Erin Kara of MIT. “These black hole binaries appear to be ‘mini’ supermassive black holes, and so by understanding the outbursts in these small, nearby systems, we can understand how similar outbursts in supermassive black holes affect the galaxies in which they reside.”

As we've reported previously, it's a popular misconception that black holes behave like cosmic vacuum cleaners, ravenously sucking up any matter in their surroundings. In reality, only stuff that passes beyond the event horizon—including light—is swallowed up and can't escape, although black holes are also messy eaters. That means that part of an object's matter is ejected in a powerful jet.

Enlarge / Apps on an iPhone. (credit: Wiyre Media / Flickr)

Last month, an email sent by Apple to many app and game developers led to confusion and frustration about the role in the App Store of apps that aren't intended to be long-term services. Now Apple has published a news release targeted at developers to clarify the confusion and soften the frustration.

The initial email warned recipients that their apps would face removal from the App Store because they had not been updated in a "significant amount of time." The email told each developer they would have to submit an update for their affected app or apps within 30 days to avoid removal. A related support document clarified that submitting an update after 30 days could lead to a removed app being reinstated.

Developers took to Twitter and other online platforms, claiming that many of the apps in question still work perfectly on modern hardware and should be seen as completed works rather than ongoing services with continual updates. Some also found examples of apps that have not been updated in many years that have apparently not faced removal, suggesting that Apple was inconsistent in how it applies the policy.

Enlarge (credit: Fitbit)

Google and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled 1.7 million Fitbit Ionic smartwatches earlier this year, citing "78 reports of burn injuries in the United States, including two reports of third-degree burns and four reports of second-degree burns." A new lawsuit claims the recall was not enough, and that "the same defect exists throughout all" Fitbit products.

The Fitbit Iconic's recall was due to faulty batteries that would overheat and burn a user's skin. It's hard to believe "all" Fitbit products are affected by this defect, but given that companies tend to share designs and components across products, it would not be surprising to hear that multiple smartwatch-style models contain defective batteries.

Two women named in the lawsuit claim they were burned by their Fitbits; one had a Fitbit Versa Light and the other a Fitbit Versa 2. The lawsuit also points out several online reports of burns from Fitbit products, like the Fitbit Versa and Fitbit Sense lines. Fitbit's replies usually claim these reports are due to "skin irritation" or "friction," but the lawsuit contends that this is not the case, saying that these products can "overheat and pose a significant hazard for burns and fires" due to a defect in "the battery and charging system."

Enlarge / FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington testifies during a House committee hearing on March 31, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Federal Communications Commission member Nathan Simington says the FCC should "applaud" Elon Musk for buying Twitter, arguing that Musk's "stated intention to ease Twitter's restrictions on speech... would almost certainly enhance competition and better serve those Americans, the majority, who value free speech."

"The FCC cannot, and should not, block this sale," Simington, one of two Republican commissioners on the FCC, said in a statement issued Monday. "We should instead applaud Mr. Musk for doing something about a serious problem that government has so far failed to address." Simington was nominated to the FCC by then-President Donald Trump in 2020 to replace a Republican commissioner who objected to Trump's demand that the FCC crack down on social media "censorship."

There's not much reason to think the FCC would try to block Musk's pending $44 billion purchase of Twitter, as the commission's authority over mergers and acquisitions is centered on transactions that involve FCC licenses. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, hasn't issued any statements on the Twitter sale. However, a group called the Open Markets Institute last week claimed that the FCC, Department of Justice, and Federal Trade Commission all have "ample authority" to block the sale.

Enlarge / In this illustration, SpaceX's Starship vehicle is seen landing on the Moon. (credit: NASA)

As part of its Artemis program to return humans to the Moon this decade, NASA has a minimum requirement that its "human landing system" must be able to deliver 865 kg to the lunar surface. This is based on the mass of two crew members and their equipment needed for a short stay.

However, in selecting SpaceX's Starship vehicle to serve as its human lander, NASA has chosen a system with a lot more capability. Starship will, in fact, be able to deliver 100 metric tons to the surface of the Moon—more than 100 times NASA's baseline goal.

"Starship can land 100 tons on the lunar surface," said Aarti Matthews, Starship Human Landing System program manager for SpaceX. "And it’s really hard to think about what that means in a tangible way. One hundred tons is four fire trucks. It’s 100 Moon rovers. My favorite way to explain this to my kids is that it's the weight of more than 11 elephants."

Enlarge / In this illustration, SpaceX's Starship vehicle is seen landing on the Moon. (credit: NASA)

As part of its Artemis program to return humans to the Moon this decade, NASA has a minimum requirement that its "human landing system" must be able to deliver 865 kg to the lunar surface. This is based on the mass of two crew members and their equipment needed for a short stay.

However, in selecting SpaceX's Starship vehicle to serve as its human lander, NASA has chosen a system with a lot more capability. Starship will, in fact, be able to deliver 100 metric tons to the surface of the Moon—more than 100 times NASA's baseline goal.

"Starship can land 100 tons on the lunar surface," said Aarti Matthews, Starship Human Landing System program manager for SpaceX. "And it’s really hard to think about what that means in a tangible way. One hundred tons is four fire trucks. It’s 100 Moon rovers. My favorite way to explain this to my kids is that it's the weight of more than 11 elephants."