Twitter has announced three changes designed to restrict the effects of abusive messages. It’s clear the company is trying to find a difficult balance between free speech and combating harassment. The first change is about policy rather than process. Until now, Twitter only considered it a violation when people made “direct, specific threats of violence […]
A Hawaii telescope has produced data that suggests astronomers may soon see two black holes pair and even merge, the first time such a process has been observed. Researchers believe the two black holes have synchronised and are producing a quasar that cycles from bright to dark and back again. The data comes from a telescope […]
A computer that automatically bought illegal drugs online has been released from custody by Swiss law enforcement officials. The computer ran an automated bot called ‘Random Darknet Shopper’ as part of an art project. The artists behind the project had programmed the bot to search for illicit materials on darknet sites. That’s a loosely defined […]
Researchers at Columbia University have produced a video camera that uses no battery or mains power. Instead it powers itself using the very light it is capturing for the images. In the first working model, the video is pretty crappy. However, the researchers say the principle could be developed to produce a camera that can […]
GameStop is to start accepting retro consoles and games as tradeins. It will then sell them via its online store. The program will cover consoles from Nintendo (NES, SNES and N64), Sega (Genesis and Dreamcast) and Sony (original Playstation) plus associated games and accessories. GameStop already accepts several later consoles. It’s a test program at […]
Pluto is a reddish color. Until now that was largely an assumption, but a new probe photo confirms that is indeed the case. The New Horizons probe has just taken its first photo of Pluto, as shown above. It’s a bit blurry, which is excusable as it was taken from 115 million kilometers away. Much better […]
Early reviews of Mortal Kombat X are generally positive, but it’s clear the game is very much shaped to the 2015 gaming market. As well as buying new fighters as DLC, there’s an option to make micropayments to get “easy fatalities.” Using an easy fatality means being able to carry out the ultimate in finishing […]
The US government says China is using the world’s largest supercomputer for nuclear-related activities. It’s banned Intel from supplying chips to expand Tianhe-2’s capabilities. The computer has been listed as the world’s fastest since June 2013 when it took top spot on the bi-annual TOP500 list. Housed at the National Supercomputing Center in Guanghzhou, it’s […]
The biggest ever wipeout of life on Earth was indeed the result of the oceans turning acidic according to researchers. They say unearthed rocks provide the first clear evidence to prove a theory behind the mass extinction 252 million years ago. The Permian-Triassic extinction event, also known simply as the Great Dying, killed off around […]
The new Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has a lot of people drooling. One of the best “accomplish the mission the way you see fit” franchises ever made, the newest edition to this great series looks like it wants to blow away all prior versions (which will be quite difficult to do, seeing as to how […]