Month: June 2025

A European company that seeks to develop orbital spacecraft for cargo, and eventually humans, took a step forward this week with a test flight that saw its "Mission Possible" vehicle power up and fly successfully in orbit before making a controlled reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

However, after encountering an "issue," the Exploration Company lost contact with its spacecraft a few minutes before touchdown in the ocean.

In an update on LinkedIn Tuesday morning, the company characterized the test flight as a partial success—and a partial failure.

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After 20 years, being able to look at any corner of the planet in Google Earth doesn't seem that impressive, but it was a revolution in 2005. Google Earth has gone through a lot of changes in that time, and Google has some more lined up for the service's 20th anniversary. Soon, Google Earth will help you travel back in time with historic Street View integration, and pro users will get some new "AI-driven insights"—of course Google can't update a product without adding at least a little AI.

Google Earth began its life as a clunky desktop client, but that didn't stop it from being downloaded 100 million times in the first week. Today, Google Earth is available on the web, in mobile apps, and in the Google Earth Pro desktop app. However you access Earth, you'll find a blast from the past.

For the service's 20th anniversary, Google was inspired by a social media trend from last year in which people shared historic images of locations in Google Maps. Now, Google Earth is getting a "time travel" interface where you can see historic Street View images from almost any location.

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After a decade of construction a large new reflecting telescope publicly released its first images on Monday, and they are nothing short of spectacular.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory's primary mirror is 8.4 meters in diameter, which makes it one of the largest optical telescopes in the world. However, the real secret sauce of the telescope is its camera—the automobile-sized Legacy Survey of Space and Time camera—which has a resolution of 3,200 megapixels. Which is rather a lot.

The observatory is on a remote 2,682-meter-high (8,799 ft) mountain in northern Chile, a region of the planet with some of the best atmospheric "seeing" conditions.

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Das PC-Gaming verliert in Deutschland Marktanteile. Eine Entwicklung, die unser Autor aus persönlichen Gründen gut nachvollziehen kann. Ein IMHO von Mike Faust (Unterhaltung & Hobby, Steam)

Mit insgesamt 166 Milliarden Euro soll der Sanierungsstau bei der Verkehrsinfrastruktur aufgelöst werden - unter anderem bei der Bahn. (Deutsche Bahn, Politik)

Japanische Forscher wollen Prozessoren auf 3D-Speicher stapeln. Der Verzicht auf Lötverbindungen soll Chips effizienter und leistungsfähiger machen. (Innovation & Forschung, Wissenschaft)

Statt das Rad selbst neu zu erfinden, können Unternehmen mit KI-Start-ups arbeiten. Was Entscheider wissen müssen, damit das ein Erfolg wird. Ein Ratgebertext von Robin Harbort (KI, SAP)

Die Dashcam von Cievie soll laut Hersteller Alltagssituationen im Straßenverkehr hochauflösend aufzeichnen und für mehr Sicherheit sorgen. (Technik/Hardware)

Ein Blockchainexperte hat die Aktivitäten eines Betrügers aufgedeckt. Kryptos im Wert von Millionen von US-Dollar, die er anderen gestohlen hat, sind wohl weg. (Cybercrime, Phishing)

Last week, I attended a film festival dedicated to shorts made using generative AI. Dubbed AIFF 2025, it was an event precariously balancing between two different worlds.

The festival was hosted by Runway, a company that produces models and tools for generating images and videos. In panels and press briefings, a curated list of industry professionals made the case for Hollywood to embrace AI tools. In private meetings with industry professionals, I gained a strong sense that there is already a widening philosophical divide within the film and television business.

I also interviewed Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela about the tightrope he walks as he pitches his products to an industry that has deeply divided feelings about what role AI will have in its future.

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