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After Russian spaceport firm fails to pay bills, electric company turns the lights off

“If you increase the cost, you’ll get everything in two years. If not, I’m sorry.”

One of Russia’s most important projects over the last 15 years has been the construction of the Vostochny spaceport as the country seeks to fly its rockets from native soil and modernize its launch operations.

However, the initiative has been a fiasco from the start. After construction began in 2011, the project was beset by hunger strikes, claims of unpaid workers, and the theft of $126 million. Additionally, a man driving a diamond-encrusted Mercedes was arrested after embezzling $75,000. Five years ago, there was another purge of top officials after another round of corruption.

Through it all, there has been some progress. In 2016, a Soyuz-2 rocket launched from the first pad, “1S.” And eight years later, a second pad, “1A,” opened with a successful Angara rocket launch. Eventually, the Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, would like to operate seven launch pads at the Vostochny in the far eastern area of Russia, so development work continues.

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OmniOne handheld PC has an Intel N150 processor, 5.7 inch screen, and thumb keyboard (crowdfunding)

Nearly two decades after the rise and fall of the UMPC category, handheld computers with x86 processors are having a moment. But most modern handhelds that fit that description are made for PC gaming. The Hyperstrix OmniOne Pocket PC is something different. This handheld computer doesn’t have game controllers or high-performance graphics. Instead it’s positioned as […]

The post OmniOne handheld PC has an Intel N150 processor, 5.7 inch screen, and thumb keyboard (crowdfunding) appeared first on Liliputing.

Lego boldly goes into the Star Trek universe with $400, 3,600-piece Enterprise-D

Kit includes the ship and accessory-toting minifigs of the Enterprise crew.

Star Trek fans who have long envied the Star Wars franchise’s collaboration with Lego are finally getting something to celebrate: Lego is introducing a version of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise, specifically the Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Because we don’t live in the post-money utopian society of the 24th century, the kit will cost you, and unfortunately, it’s priced well into the for-superfans-only zone. The 3,600-piece starship and collection of minifigs will run you $400 when the set officially leaves spacedock on November 28.

Though the Enterprise-D is far from our favorite Enterprise, it does make sense as a starting point for the Lego Group. The Next Generation‘s seven-year run in the late ’80s and early ’90s represents a creative and cultural peak for the franchise, and a 2010s-era remaster that painstakingly re-scanned and upgraded all of the original footage and effects for high-definition TVs has kept the old episodes looking fresher than other ’90s Trek shows like Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

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Google plans secret AI military outpost on tiny island overrun by crabs

Christmas Island facility would support naval surveillance in strategic Indo-Pacific waters.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Google is planning to build a large AI data center on Christmas Island, a 52-square-mile Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, following a cloud computing deal with Australia’s military. The previously undisclosed project will reportedly position advanced AI infrastructure a mere 220 miles south of Indonesia at a location military strategists consider critical for monitoring Chinese naval activity.

Aside from its strategic military position, the island is famous for its massive annual crab migration, where over 100 million of red crabs make their way across the island to spawn in the ocean. That’s notable because the tech giant has applied for environmental approvals to build a subsea cable connecting the 135-square-kilometer island to Darwin, where US Marines are stationed for six months each year.

The project follows a three-year cloud agreement Google signed with Australia’s military in July 2025, but many details about the new facility’s size, cost, and specific capabilities remain “secret,” according to Reuters. Both Google and Australia’s Department of Defense declined to comment when contacted by the news agency.

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