Month: July 2023

Enlarge / Astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen are joined by an instructor (background) on the first day of Artemis II crew training. (credit: NASA)

The four astronauts assigned to soar beyond the far side of the Moon on NASA’s Artemis II mission settled into their seats inside a drab classroom last month at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It was one in a series of noteworthy moments for the four-person crew since NASA revealed the names of the astronauts who will be the first people to fly around the Moon since 1972.

There was the fanfare of the crew’s unveiling to the public in April and an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. There will, of course, be great anticipation as the astronauts close in on their launch date, currently projected for late 2024 or 2025.

But many of the crew’s days over the next 18 months will be spent in classrooms, on airplanes, or in simulators, with instructors dispensing knowledge they deem crucial for the success of the Artemis II mission. In the simulator, the training team will throw malfunctions and anomalies at the astronauts to test their ability to resolve a failure that—if it happened in space—could cut the mission short or, in a worst-case scenario, kill them.

Enlarge / Astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen are joined by an instructor (background) on the first day of Artemis II crew training. (credit: NASA)

The four astronauts assigned to soar beyond the far side of the Moon on NASA’s Artemis II mission settled into their seats inside a drab classroom last month at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It was one in a series of noteworthy moments for the four-person crew since NASA revealed the names of the astronauts who will be the first people to fly around the Moon since 1972.

There was the fanfare of the crew’s unveiling to the public in April and an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. There will, of course, be great anticipation as the astronauts close in on their launch date, currently projected for late 2024 or 2025.

But many of the crew’s days over the next 18 months will be spent in classrooms, on airplanes, or in simulators, with instructors dispensing knowledge they deem crucial for the success of the Artemis II mission. In the simulator, the training team will throw malfunctions and anomalies at the astronauts to test their ability to resolve a failure that—if it happened in space—could cut the mission short or, in a worst-case scenario, kill them.

Enlarge / Drop has made some pretty expensive keyboards, like this $349 Islay Night that is no longer in stock. (credit: Scharon Harding)

Corsair is acquiring Drop, the companies announced today. Corsair is already the parent company of other gaming peripherals and PC brands it previously acquired, including Elgato and Origin PC. The latest acquisition adds a brand that's well-known among mechanical keyboard builders to the company's catalog.

Drop used to be called Massdrop and was founded in 2011. Based in California (like its soon-to-be parent company), its bread and butter has traditionally been parts for DIY mechanical keyboard enthusiasts, including bare-bone kits and premium keycaps. However, the company's selection has expanded to prebuilt mechanical keyboards, including some high-end, supremely expensive ones. The company also sells more mainstream-friendly keyboard parts, like Lord of the Rings prebuilt keyboards and keycaps, and other PC peripherals, like headphones and desk mats. Beyond Drop products, the site also sells other enthusiast-brand products.

Today, we learned that Corsair reached an agreement to buy Drop but didn't learn of the terms of the "non-material, all-cash transactions." Once the deal closes, people can still shop on Drop's website, and Drop will be a separate brand within Corsair. Drop warranties and customer support will still be handled by Drop, for example. However, Corsair "will be able to offer specialized Corsair and Elgato products to the enthusiast community that Drop is engaged with,” Corsair CEO Andy Paul said in a statement. The stated parameters are similar to how brands Corsair has acquired—Elgato, Origin PC, and Scuf—operate.

Enlarge / Drop has made some pretty expensive keyboards, like this $349 Islay Night that is no longer in stock. (credit: Scharon Harding)

Corsair is acquiring Drop, the companies announced today. Corsair is already the parent company of other gaming peripherals and PC brands it previously acquired, including Elgato and Origin PC. The latest acquisition adds a brand that's well-known among mechanical keyboard builders to the company's catalog.

Drop used to be called Massdrop and was founded in 2011. Based in California (like its soon-to-be parent company), its bread and butter has traditionally been parts for DIY mechanical keyboard enthusiasts, including bare-bone kits and premium keycaps. However, the company's selection has expanded to prebuilt mechanical keyboards, including some high-end, supremely expensive ones. The company also sells more mainstream-friendly keyboard parts, like Lord of the Rings prebuilt keyboards and keycaps, and other PC peripherals, like headphones and desk mats. Beyond Drop products, the site also sells other enthusiast-brand products.

Today, we learned that Corsair reached an agreement to buy Drop but didn't learn of the terms of the "non-material, all-cash transactions." Once the deal closes, people can still shop on Drop's website, and Drop will be a separate brand within Corsair. Drop warranties and customer support will still be handled by Drop, for example. However, Corsair "will be able to offer specialized Corsair and Elgato products to the enthusiast community that Drop is engaged with,” Corsair CEO Andy Paul said in a statement. The stated parameters are similar to how brands Corsair has acquired—Elgato, Origin PC, and Scuf—operate.

Enlarge / The 2022 13-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 chip. (credit: Samuel Axon)

The third generation of Apple silicon chips for Macs and iPads will launch before the end of the year, according to two reports. One simply claims that they will launch in the third quarter of the year, while another says October.

We've known for a while that the first Macs with the M3 processor were due soon, but we didn't know quite when. But in his weekly newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman said his sources claimed that in addition to the annual iPhone and Apple Watch launch event this September, Apple plans to put on one additional event in October. He then speculated that the "likely topic" of that event will be Macs, though he based that only on past history rather than any revelation by his sources. I agree this matches Apple's history, though; the company has often held a second event in October or November to launch new Macs and iPads after the iPhone fanfare from September has quieted.

Meanwhile, a preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report seen by MacRumors claims that "Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro slated for launch in the third quarter will feature 3 nm processors, according to industry sources."

Enlarge / The 2022 13-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 chip. (credit: Samuel Axon)

The third generation of Apple silicon chips for Macs and iPads will launch before the end of the year, according to two reports. One simply claims that they will launch in the third quarter of the year, while another says October.

We've known for a while that the first Macs with the M3 processor were due soon, but we didn't know quite when. But in his weekly newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman said his sources claimed that in addition to the annual iPhone and Apple Watch launch event this September, Apple plans to put on one additional event in October. He then speculated that the "likely topic" of that event will be Macs, though he based that only on past history rather than any revelation by his sources. I agree this matches Apple's history, though; the company has often held a second event in October or November to launch new Macs and iPads after the iPhone fanfare from September has quieted.

Meanwhile, a preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report seen by MacRumors claims that "Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro slated for launch in the third quarter will feature 3 nm processors, according to industry sources."

Enlarge / Bottles of Diet Coke, which contains aspartame.

The World Health Organization's cancer agency released an anticipated assessment late last week, finding that the common artificial sweetener aspartame "possibly" has the ability to cause cancer—specifically, a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma.

The assessment, leaked to Reuters in June, was poised to set off alarms. But, a closer look at the designation itself, the safety evaluation of the current daily recommended limited, and the data underpinning the assessment should comfort anyone worried about their cancer risk and considering ditching their favorite diet drink or snack.

Low-confidence designation

The concern is all based on a designation from the WHO's cancer agency—the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)—labeling aspartame a Group 2B agent, which is considered "possibly carcinogenic to humans." Group 2B is one of four possible classifications, which span "carcinogenic" (Group 1),  "probably" carcinogenic (Group 2A), "possibly" carcinogenic (Group 2B), and "not classifiable" (Group 3). This is the first time the IARC has evaluated aspartame—it's not an update to a previous assessment.

Enlarge / Bottles of Diet Coke, which contains aspartame.

The World Health Organization's cancer agency released an anticipated assessment late last week, finding that the common artificial sweetener aspartame "possibly" has the ability to cause cancer—specifically, a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma.

The assessment, leaked to Reuters in June, was poised to set off alarms. But, a closer look at the designation itself, the safety evaluation of the current daily recommended limited, and the data underpinning the assessment should comfort anyone worried about their cancer risk and considering ditching their favorite diet drink or snack.

Low-confidence designation

The concern is all based on a designation from the WHO's cancer agency—the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)—labeling aspartame a Group 2B agent, which is considered "possibly carcinogenic to humans." Group 2B is one of four possible classifications, which span "carcinogenic" (Group 1),  "probably" carcinogenic (Group 2A), "possibly" carcinogenic (Group 2B), and "not classifiable" (Group 3). This is the first time the IARC has evaluated aspartame—it's not an update to a previous assessment.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Eugene Mymrin)

AT&T's stock price hit a 29-year low on Friday and continued to sink today as investors fled telecom stocks on reports that cleanups of lead-covered telephone cables could cost the industry tens of billions of dollars.

AT&T stock dropped 4.1 percent to $14.50 on Friday, reportedly the lowest close since 1994. AT&T's stock price fell another 6.7 percent to $13.53 when the market closed today.

Frontier Communications stock dropped 11.9 percent on Friday and was down 15.8 percent today. Verizon stock fell 1.8 percent on Friday and was down 7.5 percent today. Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) fell 10.2 percent Friday and was down 8.6 percent today.

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JumpCloud, a cloud-based IT management service that lists Cars.com, GoFundMe, and Foursquare among its 5,000 paying customers, experienced a security breach carried out by hackers working for a nation-state, the company said last week.

The attack began on June 22 as a spear-phishing campaign, the company revealed last Wednesday. As part of that incident, JumpCloud said, the “sophisticated nation-state sponsored threat actor” gained access to an unspecified part of the JumpCloud internal network. Although investigators at the time found no evidence any customers were affected, the company said it rotated account credentials, rebuilt its systems, and took other defensive measures.

On July 5, investigators discovered the breach involved “unusual activity in the commands framework for a small set of customers.” In response, the company’s security team performed a forced-rotation of all admin API keys and notified affected customers.