Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Today — 4 April 2025Tech News

Adding transit cards direct from the Wallet app is a traveler’s delight

4 April 2025 at 05:35

I said a few years ago that Express Transit is a tiny feature that makes a huge difference, and planning a last-minute trip revealed the same is true of another Wallet feature.

The ability to add foreign transit cards direct to the Wallet app before you even leave home is a traveler’s delight …

more…

Recap: Wheel of Time dances through Tanchico as the Two Rivers boils

Andrew Cunningham and Lee Hutchinson have spent decades of their lives with Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson's Wheel of Time books, and they previously brought that knowledge to bear as they recapped each first season episode and second season episode of Amazon's WoT TV series. Now we're back in the saddle for season 3—along with insights, jokes, and the occasional wild theory.

These recaps won't cover every element of every episode, but they will contain major spoilers for the show and the book series. We'll do our best to not spoil major future events from the books, but there's always the danger that something might slip out. If you want to stay completely unspoiled and haven't read the books, these recaps aren't for you.

New episodes of The Wheel of Time season 3 will be posted for Amazon Prime subscribers every Thursday. This write-up covers episode six, "The Shadow in the Night," which was released on April 3.

Read full article

Comments

© Prime/Amazon MGM Studios

Honda is sending its hydrogen tech to space

4 April 2025 at 05:15
Rendering of Honda’s hydrogen-powered system on the Moon
Honda’s regenerative fuel cell technology continuously produces hydrogen, oxygen, and electricity. | Image: Honda

Honda is looking to the stars for its next hydrogen breakthrough.

The automaker is teaming up with space tech companies Sierra Space and Tec-Masters to test its high-differential pressure water electrolysis system on the International Space Station. The test is part of Honda’s vision to support life on the Moon and elsewhere in space using regenerative fuel cell technology that continuously produces hydrogen, oxygen, and electricity.

It’s another risky move from Honda, which is more bullish on hydrogen than most other automakers. Hydrogen-powered cars have historically faced a lot of hurdles, including fueling challenges and pricing pressures. But Honda is counting on hydrogen to help it decarbonize its vehicle fleet by 2040. And now it wants to tap into the most abundant element in the universe to power its push into space.

Honda says it envisions its hydrogen-powered regenerative system as part of a human settlement on the lunar surface. But it also hopes that by stress testing the technology on the Moon, it can prove its utility on Earth.

It’s another risky move from Honda, which is more bullish on hydrogen than most other automakers

Here’s how Honda’s system works: during the lunar day, the system will use electricity generated by solar panels capturing sunlight. The company’s high-differential pressure water electrolysis system will then produce hydrogen and oxygen from water. When the Moon rotates away from the Sun, some of the oxygen will be used for astronauts, with the rest put toward generating electricity. The only byproduct of the electrolysis process is water, which is recycled back into the regenerative system, creating a closed-loop energy cycle.

Honda plans on testing the process in the microgravity environment on the ISS. The company says it will work with NASA to transport the equipment on Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane, with Tec-Masters as the ISS technology expert.

Creating a reliable source of oxygen and electricity in space would help humans establish livable habitats off-Earth in an era when space travel seems more achievable than ever. While the science community has explored the use of electrolysis as a means to sustain life in the vacuum of space, it has found that low gravity environments will have some effect on the gas-evolving process. A study published in 2022 concluded that around 11 percent less oxygen was created through electrolysis in a lunar environment as compared to the gravity of Earth.

Rocket Report: Next Starship flight to reuse booster; FAA clears New Glenn

Welcome to Edition 7.38 of the Rocket Report! SpaceX test fired a Super Heavy booster that launched in January on Thursday, in South Texas. This sets up the possibility of a reused Super Heavy rocket launching within the next several weeks, and would be an important step forward in the Starship launch program. It's also a bold step given that there is a lot riding on this Starship launch, given that the last two have failed due to propulsion issues with the rocket's upper stage.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

European commercial launch industry joins the space race. The first flight of Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket didn't last long on Sunday, Ars reports. The booster's nine engines switched off as the rocket cartwheeled upside-down and fell a short distance from its Arctic launch pad in Norway, ending the abbreviated test flight with a spectacular, fiery crash into the sea. However, it marked the beginning of something new in Europe as commercial startups begin launching rockets.

Read full article

Comments

© SpaceX

We asked camera companies why their RAW formats are all different and confusing

4 April 2025 at 04:00

When you set up a new camera, or even go to take a picture on some smartphones, you’re presented with a key choice: JPG or RAW?

JPGs are ready to post just about anywhere, while RAWs yield an unfinished file filled with extra data that allows for much richer post-processing. That option for a RAW file (and even the generic name, RAW) has been standardized across the camera industry — but despite that, the camera world has never actually settled on one standardized RAW format.

Most cameras capture RAW files in proprietary formats, like Canon’s CR3, Nikon’s NEF, and Sony’s ARW. The result is a world of compatibility issues. Photo editing software needs to specifically support not just each manufacturer’s file type but also make changes for each new camera that shoots it. That creates pain for app developers and early camera adopters who want to know that their preferred software will just work.

Adobe tried to solve this problem years ago with a universal RAW format, DNG (Digital Negative), which it open-sourced for anyone to use. A handful of camera manufacturers have since adopted DNG as their RAW format. But the largest names in the space still use their own proprie …

Read the full story at The Verge.

China retaliates with tariff that matches Trump’s

4 April 2025 at 04:09
A graphic of Donald Trump and an arrow going up

China has responded to Donald Trump’s new trade tariffs with its own charges on US goods. After Trump announced the imposition of an additional 34 percent charge on Chinese imports into the US, China has announced a levy at the same rate for US goods shipped to China.

It has also barred 11 US companies from trading in the country, added 16 more to an export controls list, applied new restrictions to rare earth mineral exports, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO), and started investigations into imports of American medical equipment.

In a statement announcing the new tariff, China’s finance ministry declared that the US tariff on Chinese goods “seriously undermines China’s legitimate rights and interests,” and called it a “typical unilateral bullying practice.”

Trump announced his latest levy on Chinese imports as part of new tariff rates that affect every country the US trades with, including a few uninhabited islands. It followed two separate 10 percent tariffs on China from earlier in the year, bringing the US’s total tariff on Chinese goods to 54 percent. He also signed an executive order ending the “de minimis” exemption for packages valued below $800, which could be a death blow for Chinese retailers like Shein and Temu.

“China urges the United States to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and resolve trade differences through consultation in an equal, respectful and mutually beneficial manner,” the statement concludes. The Chinese levy will go into effect on April 10th, one day after the US’s new tariff starts to apply.

China has also imposed strict limits on the exports of some rare earth elements that are mined almost exclusively in China and used in electric vehicles, weapons, and other tech.

It’s also launching investigations into exports of X-ray tubes from America and India, amid allegations of “dumping” — when exported goods are sold for less than their domestic price, damaging the local industry. If that sounds oddly specific, bear in mind that the US dominates the international medical device trade.

The country has also barred 11 American businesses accused of “military and technological cooperation with Taiwan” from importing to, exporting from, or investing in China, adding them to its “Unreliable Entity List.” The new additions, mostly made up of drone and defense companies, include drone manufacturer Skydio, which started out making consumer drones but pivoted entirely to enterprise in 2023.

A further 16 US companies have been placed under export controls, banning the export of dual-use items – anything that can be used for both civilian and military purposes – to those companies. The BBC reports that a further six companies have been prohibited from shipping their goods to China because of “food safety concerns.”

China’s Commerce Ministry also says that it has filed a new charge within the WTO’s dispute settlement system, claiming that Trump’s reciprocal tariffs violate WTO rules. China initially lodged a complaint with the WTO in early February after Trump’s first 10 percent tariff, and updated it following the second round in March, but the WTO only describes the complaint as “In consultations.”

❌
❌