NASA’s Webb telescope spots its first Earth-like exoplanet

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NASA’s Webb telescope spots its first Earth-like exoplanet

Researchers have confirmed an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope for the first time.

Formally classified as LHS 475 b, the planet is almost exactly the same size as our own, clocking in at 99 percent of Earth’s diameter. LHS 475 b is relatively close, at only 41 light-years away, in the constellation Octans.

“These first observational results from an Earth-size, rocky planet open the door to many future possibilities for studying rocky planet atmospheres with Webb,” said Mark Clampin, Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

“Webb is bringing us closer and closer to a new understanding of Earth-like worlds outside our solar system, and the mission is only just getting started,” he said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The research team was led by Kevin Stevenson and Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, both from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

Among all operating telescopes, only Webb is capable of characterizing the atmospheres of Earth-sized exoplanets.

Although the team can’t conclude what is present, they can definitely say what is not present.

“There are some terrestrial-type atmospheres that we can rule out,” said Lustig-Yaeger. “It can’t have a thick methane-dominated atmosphere, similar to that of Saturn’s moon Titan. a

Webb also revealed that the planet is a few hundred degrees warmer than Earth.

If clouds are detected, it may lead the researchers to conclude that the planet is more like Venus, which has a carbon dioxide atmosphere and is perpetually shrouded in thick clouds.

“We’re at the forefront of studying small, rocky exoplanets,” Lustig-Yaeger said.

Meta to limit ads targeting teens on Facebook, Instagram

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Meta to limit ads targeting teens on Facebook, Instagram

Meta has announced that it is bringing further updates to its ad system, including removing gender as an option for advertisers to reach users under 18 on Facebook and Instagram.

Starting in February, advertisers will only be able to use age and location to reach teens, the company said in a blog post on Tuesday.

Age and location will be the only information about a teen that the company will use to show them advertisements, which will make sure that teens see ads that are meant for their age and products and services available where they live.

Moreover, starting in March, users under 18 will have more ways to manage the types of advertisements they see on Facebook and Instagram with Ad Topic Controls.

Teens can also choose to hide any or all advertisements from a specific advertiser.

“The topics we already restrict in our policies will be defaulted to See Less so that teens can’t choose to opt into content that may not be age-appropriate,” Meta said.

“We’ve added a new privacy page with more information for teens about the tools and privacy settings they can use across our technologies,” it added.

NASA mission spots 2nd Earth-size world within ‘habitable zone’

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NASA mission spots 2nd Earth-size world within ‘habitable zone’

NASA mission has discovered a second Earth-sized, rocky planet within the habitable zone of its star — the range of distances where liquid water could occur on a planet’s surface.

Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the astronomers found “TOI 700 e” which is one of only a few systems with multiple, small, habitable-zone planets that we know of.

Astronomers previously discovered three planets in this system, called TOI 700 b, c, and d.

Planet d also orbits in the habitable zone, but the scientists needed an additional year of TESS observations to discover TOI 700 e.

“That makes the TOI 700 system an exciting prospect for additional follow-up. Planet e is about 10 percent smaller than planet d, so the system also shows how additional TESS observations help us find smaller and smaller worlds,” said Emily Gilbert, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California who led the work.

TOI 700 is a small, cool M dwarf star located around 100 light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado.

In 2020, Gilbert and others announced the discovery of the Earth-size, habitable-zone planet d, which is in a 37-day orbit, along with two other worlds.

The innermost planet, TOI 700 b, is about 90 percent of Earth’s size and orbits the star every 10 days.

TOI 700 c is over 2.5 times bigger than Earth and completes an orbit every 16 days.

“The planets are probably tidally locked, which means they spin only once per orbit such that one side always faces the star, just as one side of the Moon is always turned toward Earth,” the US space agency said in a statement late on Tuesday.

TOI 700 e, which may also be tidally locked, takes 28 days to orbit its star, placing planet e between planets c and d in the so-called optimistic habitable zone.

Scientists define the optimistic habitable zone as the range of distances from a star where liquid surface water could be present at some point in a planet’s history.

This area extends to either side of the conservative habitable zone, the range where researchers hypothesize liquid water could exist over most of the planet’s lifetime. TOI 700 d orbits in this region.

“Finding other systems with Earth-size worlds in this region helps planetary scientists learn more about the history of our own solar system,” said scientists.

Gilbert presented the result on behalf of her team at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, the US.

A paper about the newly discovered planet was accepted by The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Meta now ‘rescinds’ full-time job offers amid recession fears

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Meta now ‘rescinds’ full-time job offers amid recession fears

As layoffs deepen in New Year, Meta (formerly Facebook) has reportedly rescinded full-time employment offers to some people, which is a first for the company as it never took back job offers in its history.

According to tech writer Gergely Orosz, Meta has rescinded job offers in London, “as I confirmed with developers impacted. New grads with offers due to start in February have been taken back in bulk. I know of about 20 people so far”.

“This is the first time I’m aware that Meta is taking back signed, FTE (full-time employment) offers,” Orosz said in a tweet.

Meta’s position until now was that FTE offers are “NOT at risk, up to even a week ago”.

In October this year, recruiters made it clear to candidates worried about their Meta offers that these are safe, according to Orosz.

The worst lay-off in the global tech industry by Meta, which saw 11,000 employees being shown the door, has hit India teams too, albeit marginally, reliable sources said on Wednesday.

In one of the worst lay-offs ever in the tech industry that saw 11,000 employees being shown the door, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in November last year fired about 13 percent of the global workforce and extended the hiring freeze through Q1 2023.

Zuckerberg said that as a severance measure, the company will pay 16 weeks of base pay, along with two additional weeks for every year of service, “with no cap”.

“Outside the US, support will be similar, and we’ll follow up soon with separate processes that take into account local employment laws,” he had said.

Triggered by Twitter, several tech companies like Amazon and Salesforce have laid off thousands of employees amid global economic recession fears in 2023.

Google releases ‘Switch Access’ app in Play Store

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Google releases ‘Switch Access’ app in Play Store

Google has released the standalone “Switch Access” app on the Play Store, which was originally part of the Android Accessibility Suite.

The app allows users to interact with their Android device using one or more switches or a keyboard instead of the touchscreen.

“Control your phone or tablet using switches or the front camera. You can use switches to select items, scroll, enter text, and more,” according to the Switch Access about page.

“Switch Access can be helpful if you can’t interact directly with your device,” it added.

The app scans the items on users’ screens and highlights each item until they make a selection.

Users can choose from a few kinds of switches — Physical switches and Cameras Switches.

Physical switches include — USB or Bluetooth switches, like buttons or keyboards, and on-device switches, like volume buttons, while, Camera switches include facial gestures like — open your mouth, smiling or raise your eyebrows, looking left, right, or up, the apps about page mentioned.

To get started with the app, users will need to open their device’s Settings app and then Tap Accessibility and then Switch Access.

Meanwhile, Google announced that it is bringing new features to smartphones that have not got operating system (OS) updates in years.

The company is releasing a tool called the “Extension Software Developer Kit” (Extensive SDK), which will allow developers to use features such as Android 13’s new photo picker in applications running on some Android 11 and 12 versions.

Telecom Sector Skill Council to place over 1.25 lakh youth with focus on 5G

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With the 5G rollout, India needs a ready-skilled workforce and the Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) on Tuesday announced to get over 1.25 lakh candidates placed across the industry through its placement initiatives and training labs.

The Council also said it will establish at least 50 new training labs and centers of excellence (CoEs) across India for various telecom job roles.

The TSSC announced a five-year partnership with the Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation (TiHAN) at IIT Hyderabad which will focus on joint projects in skilling in emerging technologies like 5G and its use cases, internet of things (IoT), Cloud, AI/ML and others.

“It’s not only 5G as the upcoming semiconductor technologies and the growth of electronics manufacturing in the country will also require a range of skills which students need to be acquainted with,” said K Rajaraman, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

The Council said that the new training labs and CoEs will be set up at the ITIs and premier universities in a “hub and spoke model”.

As an apex body for telecom skills, TSSC has expanded into new business avenues like the development of CoEs, international skill development programmes, placements, and paid programmes.

“5G technology is expected to boost the Indian economy by $450 billion between 2023 and 2040 and we are currently facing an acute shortage of about 1.4 lakh workers in 5G and its allied technologies,” said Arvind Bali, CEO, TSSC.

TSSC will also train 1 lakh youth in 5G and allied technologies over the next three years with support from DoT.

“We have trained over 10 lakh candidates in various roles catering to the telecom industry demand,” Bali informed.

YouTube to share ad money with Shorts creators from Feb 1

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YouTube to share ad money with Shorts creators from Feb 1

Tech giant Google has announced that it has restructured the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) terms to include new modules such as the ‘Shorts Monetisation Module’, which allows creators to start making ad revenue on Shorts starting February 1 on the video-sharing platform.

The new modules provide creators more flexibility in the ways they can earn from their content, the tech giant said on a support page.

“After signing the Base Terms, which are the foundational contract terms for all creators wishing to monetize on the platform, creators can pick and choose from contract Modules to unlock earning opportunities.”

The new modules include the ‘Watch Page Monetisation Module’, ‘Shorts Monetisation Module’, and ‘Commerce Product Addendum’.

Users need to accept the Watch Page Monetisation Module to earn ad and YouTube Premium revenue on long-form or live-streaming videos viewed on the Watch Page.

“The Shorts Monetisation Module allows your channel to share revenue from ads viewed between videos in the Shorts Feed,” the company said.

If users already accepted the ‘Commerce Product Addendum’ which unlocks a series of Fan Funding features, then they won’t need to accept its terms again.

All users need to review and understand the new YPP terms as “accepting the Base Terms is required to join or remain in YPP.”

“To remain in the YouTube Partner Program and continue monetizing on YouTube, all monetizing partners will have until July 10, 2023, to review and accept new terms,” Google said.

If users do not accept the Base Terms by that date, their channel will be removed from the YPP and their monetization agreement will be terminated.

Google backs Indian agritech startup Cropin in its Rs 113 cr funding

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Google backs Indian agritech startup Cropin in its Rs 113 cr funding

Google has funded homegrown agritech startup Cropin in its latest Rs 113 crore round that also saw participation from JSR Corporation and existing investors ABC Impact and Chiratae Ventures, the platform said on Monday.

The funds will aid in expanding Cropin Cloud, the company’s intelligent agriculture cloud platform, to cater to the growing demand for digitization and predictive intelligence in the global agriculture sector.

“By making farms and harvests traceable, predictable, and sustainable, Cropin aims to transform how food is grown. We are excited to partner with global technology innovators like Google, which further validates our capabilities and solidifies our position as a leader in the digitalization of global agriculture,” said Krishna Kumar, Co-Founder, and CEO, Cropin.

Launched in September last year, Cropin Cloud has become a leading platform in the digital transformation of agriculture.

With the support of this funding round, Cropin will be able to further invest in its go-to-market efforts and expand the platform’s capabilities, including developing next-generation predictive intelligence solutions through Cropin AI Labs.

“Cropin is poised to be the largest agritech company globally with its cloud-based, SaaS business model. This investment underlines our strong belief in their growth,” said Sudhir Sethi, Founder, and Chairman of Chiratae Ventures India Advisors.

The goal of Cropin AI Labs is to bring predictive intelligence to every acre of the world’s cultivable land.

In addition, Cropin plans to expand its business presence in new regions and industries, focusing on creating solutions that promote sustainable agriculture practices and address global food security challenges on a large scale.

Cropin has partnered with more than 250 B2B customers and has digitized 16 million acres of farmland, benefiting over 7 million farmers.

Cropin Cloud’s intelligence platform has already provided predictive intelligence for over 200 million acres of farmland worldwide, said the startup.

Ather Energy rolls out biggest upgrade to its EV 2-wheeler software

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Ather Energy rolls out biggest upgrade to its EV 2-wheeler software

Homegrown electric vehicle company Ather Energy on Saturday announced that it has rolled out ‘AtherStack 5.0’, the biggest upgrade to its software engine which drives the vehicle.

“AtherStack 5.0 will be powering a brand new user interface (UI) for the dashboard in addition to launching vector maps powered by Google,” the company said in a statement.

Built on numerous interconnected layers of software, firmware, system intelligence, and algorithms, AtherStack is the software engine that powers “every single user experience on the Ather 450X”.

“In 2018, when we launched AtherStack in Ather 450, it was the first ever software engine on any two-wheeler in India, probably even globally,” said Tarun Mehta, co-founder, and CEO, Ather Energy.

“With a fluid new UI and Google Vector Maps, AtherStack 5.0 takes our touchscreen and maps experience to a whole new level. It also enables us to leverage our hardware to unlock new experiences such as AutoHold,” Mehta added.

The new upgrade gives the dashboard a fresh look and an even more intuitive UI which enhances the overall experience of operating the dashboard.

Quick controls have also been added, which allows users to easily adjust settings such as brightness or turn off incoming call notifications with a single click.

“Ather is the only scooter in the world providing onboard navigation powered by Google. With the new AtherStack 5.0, the UI will also feature vector maps, which are far more smarter and intuitive than the previous versions,” the company said.

“Powered by AtherStack 5.0, Ather launches AutoHold technology which ensures the scooter never rolls back or forward on a slope,” it added.

Moreover, the manufacturer announced the ‘Battery Protect’ which extends the battery warranty to 5 years/60,000 km.

According to the company, “this is the first such warranty program in the industry that not only covers battery failures but also guarantees a minimum of 70 percent state-of-health for the battery at the end of 5 years.”

Ather Energy also expanded options for customers by introducing four new colors, a new comfortable seat, and the ‘unveiling of Ather’s scooter accessories and merchandise’.

“As an ode to early adopters of Ather scooters, the company announced an industry-first buyback offer for its first 1,000 customers. This allows them to buy the new Ather 450X at Rs 80,000,” the manufacturer said.

Zoom announces human avatars to its meeting app

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Zoom announces human avatars to its meeting app

Video conferencing platform Zoom has announced human avatars in its meeting app, which will let users appear as a cartoon version of themselves.

The company added avatars to its collection of filters, to make meetings more flexible and fun.

“With numerous personalization combinations, you can display the ‘virtual you’ in a way that is original and fun! Avatars mirror your movements and facial expressions, allowing you to present yourself dynamically without needing to be on video and providing a more engaging alternative to static profile pictures to inject more fun and energy into your meetings,” Zoom said in a blog post.

Avatars are currently available in beta to all Zoom users globally.

The company said as they progress in beta, they will continue to expand with additional facial features, hairstyles, and more customization options when creating your human avatar.

Meanwhile, Zoom also announced Meeting templates, threaded messages and in-meeting chat experience, and Q&A in meetings in other features.

With Meeting templates, users can now create, save, and choose from custom meeting templates, which automatically apply the right settings for their needs.

“Using Meeting Templates will help you feel comfortable knowing you’ve got the right type of meeting scheduled, focus on your content, rather than spend time toggling settings,” said the blog post.

Moreover, to enhance the in-meeting chat experience, later this month the company will be releasing threaded messages and reactions, which will allow meeting participants to create message threads and consolidate emoji reactions in the in-meeting chat.

This feature will help organize the chat messages and clarify which messages participants are responding to.

Further, the Q&A feature will allow meeting hosts to stay more organized by having one place to view and answer questions.

“Now you won’t have to sift through meeting chats to make sure you’ve answered all of the questions. From the Q&A pop-out, hosts and co-hosts can view, answer, or dismiss questions,” the blog post mentioned.

Q&A in meetings is available in Zoom One Business, Zoom One Business Plus, Zoom One Enterprise, and Zoom One Enterprise Plus accounts.

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