Judging by conversations I had with colleagues, family, and friends, it was becoming very clear that the new-to-remote workforce was on the fast track to hitting a collective wall. Generally, we try to keep our ears close to the ground when it comes to listening to employee feedback at Storyblocks so we can spot any mounting issues and nip them in the bud quickly. In the early days of the pandemic, this meant figuring out creative ways to maintain our company culture while working remotely....

As a member of the team that built the European Space Agency’s Rosalind Franklin rover (we made the PanCam, the camera “eyes” of the rover), which will set off for Mars next year, I will be holding my breath during the landing. There’s so much at stake. Not only could the mission unveil some of Mars’ best-kept secrets, and be a key part of future exploration to return a Mars sample back to Earth, it could also have important lessons for landing Rosalind Franklin....

Utilizing the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers examined the atmosphere of this rocky planet. They found that GJ 1132 b was once, likely, covered in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. “Starting out at several times the diameter of Earth, this so-called “sub-Neptune” is believed to have quickly lost its primordial hydrogen and helium atmosphere due to the intense radiation of the hot, young star it orbits. In a short period of time, such a planet would be stripped down to a bare core about the size of Earth....

Pluto is one example of a likely ocean world. But the worlds with oceans nearest to the surface, making them the most accessible, are Europa, a moon of Jupiter, and Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. Life inside ocean worlds These oceans are of interest to scientists not just because they contain so much liquid water (Europa’s ocean probably has about twice as much water as the whole of Earth’s oceans), but because chemical interactions between rock and the ocean water could support life....

Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say NASA’s nuclear budget? Surely not. Right? Here’s a meaningful quote via Paul Brinkman writing for UPI: Background: I don’t know who needs to hear this (NASA, definitely NASA), but maybe developing a nuclear spacecraft program is one of those things where the old tech adage of “move fast and break things” doesn’t fit very well. ‘The United States needs to move at a fast pace to stay competitive and to remain a leader in the global space community,’ Lal said....

Netflix today added a feature that will allow you to see what’s popular on the platform in your country — namely a top ten list for movies and TV. Given how much stuff is on Netflix, it might be useful to at least see what the popular vote says is worth watching. The feature, which the platform tested in Mexico and the UK, is rolling out worldwide today. This list will be updated daily to reflect what fellow users in your area are watching....

Here’s the TL;DR in the US: The Basic Plan (480p, 1 device at a time) is going from $8.99 to $9.99 The Standard Plan (1080P, 2 devices) is going from $13.99 to $15.49 The Premium Plan (4K, 4 devices) is going from $17.99 to $19.99 In Canada, Standard plans will now cost $16.49 CAD (up from $14.99 CAD) and premium plans will cost $20.99 CAD (up from $18.99) — basic plans remain the same up north....

The regulations will cover the entire battery life cycle: from the extraction of materials and industrial production, to disposal. They will apply to all types of batteries sold in the EU, including portable batteries used in electronic devices, industrial batteries, SLI batteries used in automotive applications, as well as batteries used in two-wheelers and EVs. The green requirements of the newly-agreed rules set an impressive milestone for the Union as part of its goals to advance its energy transition and increase its competitiveness in the sector....

Cities across the world have pledged to adopt principles and make “smart investments” to ensure their pandemic recovery plans also bolster climate resilience. At the two-day virtual Climate Adaptation Summit 2021 yesterday, the mayors of Miami, Paris, and Rotterdam joined the World Resources Institute (WRI), the Global Center on Adaptation, and more than three dozen other cities, governments, and NGOs to launch the new 1000 Cities Act Now initiative. The global program aims to see comprehensive climate resilience strategies and adaptation measures underway in 1,000 cities by 2030, starting with the first batch of 100....

We set out to answer a simple research question: Are people who are located near each other likely to tweet about similar things? To do so, we analyzed millions of GPS-enabled tweets across New York City and LA. This type of study – looking at huge amounts of social media traffic by location – is useful for more than tracking pop culture memes in different cities. It could be valuable for understanding many aspects of urban life, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic....

That’s right you beautiful people, a new Nintendo Switch will be hitting the shelves on October 8. It will come with a 7-inch OLED screen (YES!) and has a recommended retail price of $350 (OKAY!). Nintendo also released a video alongside the announcement of the OLED Switch, and you can watch it right here: Yes, the song choice may be appalling and, if I was drinking water at the time, I would’ve spat it out here: But you know what?...

According to a UN report, seen by CNN, North Korea could have earned up to $2 billion by hacking overseas financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges. The report also states that North Korea used hackers to “launder stolen proceeds and [create] income to avoid international sanctions.” Investigators believe those activities could be being used to fund North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. The allegations were divulged in a draft report compiled by a panel of independent experts that work for a branch of the UN that monitors sanctions on North Korea....

But there’s still a long way to go. While Europe may be pulling ahead of China in terms of fresh unicorns, the US managed to mint 184 in the first eight months of 2021, with more on the way in the months after. What’s one thing that could hold Europe back from competing in the unicorn market? A lack of ambition. A recent report by Techleap.nl, a Dutch organization that strives to build a “thriving Dutch startup ecosystem,” and the University of Utrecht, found a startling paradox....

This puts lots of us in the strange situation of being unsure whether to be excited or not. Is the OLED model worth it? Just how different is it to the original Nintendo Switch? Luckily for you, we’re here to solve those questions… with math. And graphs. Math and graphs. Graphs and math. HERE WE GO. Specs battle: Nintendo Switch vs. OLED model Let’s get the most obvious improvement out the way first: the screen....

What’s currently unclear is whether this will be a direct replacement for the now-discontinued original HomePod, or if Apple is going to release a model that’s sized in between this and the mini — as has been reported in the past. It isn’t all plain sailing though. According to renowned leaker and analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple won’t make any substantial changes to the smart speaker: — 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 20, 2022 This is troubling....

There’s a presidential election happening too. If you’ve got everything sorted out – who you’re going to vote for, how the individual candidates intend to vote on cannabis issues, etc. – then you’re all set. But, for the rest of us, here’s a little help. First, let’s make sure you’re registered to vote. Despite what you’ve heard on Twitter, it has never been easier to register or check your voter registration....

The onset of the “smart” device era has led to some fascinating DIY builds. We’ve seen modified Echo Dots host demonic versions of Alexa, and we even tried our hands at building our own virtual assistant. Back when we were stunned by DIY Alexa builds and other gadgets that could listen, computer vision was still just short of inaccessible to most enthusiasts. I’m happy to report that those days appear to be over....

Now, opportunistic scammers are seeking to capitalize on the incident by reportedly bombarding the city’s residents with threatening emails seeking payment in Bitcoin in exchange for staving off more violence, the New York Post reports. “These messages contain threats against those who receive them, demanding money be deposited into an account,” Mexican authorities told Rio Doce newspaper on Sunday. “However, this is an attempt to extort people or groups to take advantage of events in the city of Culiacan....

The iconic brand announced its upcoming Spring issue will be its last printed publication for the year in the US. “The disruption of the coronavirus pandemic to content production and the supply chain became clearer and clearer, we were forced to accelerate a conversation we’ve been having internally: The question of how to transform our US print product to better suit what consumers want today,” CEO Ben Kohn wrote. “We will move to a digital-first publishing schedule for all of our content....

Dan Salmon, a computer science student at Minnesota State University, has published a new data set of over seven million Venmo transactions on GitHub collected over a six month period. “I am releasing this dataset in order to bring attention to Venmo users that all of this data is publicly available for anyone to grab without even an API key,” Salmon wrote on the GitHub page, while warning users to change their privacy settings....