SpaceX showed off its new Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suit over the weekend. This is a big step forward for commercial space travel. The suit looks nothing like what we’ve seen from NASA and Roscosmos before. It’s a lot less bulky, and it was made to be comfortable and flexible.

The design is based on and looks a lot like the SpaceX Intravehicular Activity (IVA) suit that astronauts and cosmonauts wear when they take a SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule to the International Space Station. The new suit can be used in both pressurized and non-pressurized spaces. It also has new features and backups to make it more reliable during the spacewalk. These suits will get their power from an umbilical cord, which will make them less mobile than the ISS’s Extravehicular Mobility Unit.

The suit is made to be able to fit different sizes. So that it doesn’t happen again, like the first spacewalk of two women that was canceled because NASA didn’t have enough spacesuits in the right sizes, the different parts can be made and put together for people of different body types.

In the near future, these spacesuits will be put to the test. They will be put to the test by Polaris Dawn, the first mission of the Polaris Program. There will be a dragon capsule in space, 700 kilometers (435 miles) above the Earth. This mission’s start date hasn’t been set yet, but it won’t be before this summer.

For business reasons, this is the first spacewalk. Also, four people will be in space at the same time, which is a first. There is no airlock in the capsule, so it will lose all of its pressure. The crew should all go outside and see what’s going on.

The mission will take the crew higher than any other private mission has ever gone. They will pass through the Van Allen belts, which are radiation bands, for a short time. The team will do science experiments over the course of five days to learn more about how space travel affects the human body.

They will also be the first people to use Starlink’s laser-based communications in space. SpaceX thinks this is a big step forward in technology for communication in deep space, like around Earth, the Moon, and even Mars. Sending messages from outside of Mars’ orbit is another way that NASA has been testing this type of communication.

SpaceX thinks these suits are very important for their plans to put millions of people on the Moon and Mars in the future. However, we have recently seen that this goal is not as simple as they said it would be.

The World Health Organization (WHO) initiated its global vaccination program in 1974 with the aim of ensuring universal access to vaccines for children worldwide. A recent study indicates that vaccination has had a substantial effect on public health over the past 50 years, resulting in the prevention of millions of deaths.

Initially, the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) by WHO aimed to vaccinate all children against seven diseases, including the now-extinct smallpox. However, the program has now been extended to cover 14 different pathogens.

The recent study analyzed the effects of the vaccines for these diseases on both local and worldwide public health from the start of the EPI in June 1974 until its 50th anniversary in 2024.

These estimates were obtained through the application of mathematical and statistical modeling to determine three important metrics: the quantity of prevented deaths, the amount of gained life-years, and the duration of improved overall health.

According to the findings of the 22 models combined, global vaccination efforts over the past 50 years have had a significant effect. It is estimated that immunization has saved approximately 154 million lives since 1974, replacing death with an average of 66 years of good health per person.

The program’s most significant influence in terms of age seems to be on the youngest members of society. Modeling analysis revealed that out of the estimated 154 million deaths that were prevented, 101 million were specifically among infants aged less than one year. Additionally, it was indicated that vaccination accounted for 40 percent of the decrease in worldwide infant mortality, making it the primary factor in that reduction.

Although all of the vaccines examined had an effect, the measles vaccine had the most notable influence, despite the recent resurgence of measles.

“Measles vaccination contributed to 60% of the overall benefits of vaccination over the span of 50 years, making it the primary factor in saving lives,” stated Dr. Andrew Shattock, the leader of the study.

The authors assert that the results serve as evidence of the potential that can be realized through collaboration, and advocate for continued efforts.

“Vaccines are one of the most influential innovations in human history, as they have the ability to prevent diseases that were once feared,” stated Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). Vaccines have played a crucial role in eradicating smallpox and bringing polio to the verge of elimination. Furthermore, the development of vaccines against diseases such as malaria and cervical cancer has allowed us to make significant progress in combating these illnesses.

“Through ongoing research, investment, and collaboration, we have the potential to preserve millions of additional lives both presently and over the course of the next five decades.”

Reddit, which is now a publicly-traded company and subject to increased scrutiny regarding its revenue growth, is placing significant emphasis on expanding its international user base, beginning with targeting French-speaking individuals. During the company’s inaugural earnings call, CEO Steve Huffman verified that the company is presently engaged in developing real-time automatic translations of the site’s content into French, utilizing advancements in large language models.

In addition, he mentioned the expansion of the ecosystem through a few reversals in direction. Reddit aims to attract developers by offering new tools, which is unexpected considering its past approach in this area. Additionally, the company plans to reintroduce Reddit Gold, a virtual currency that it discontinued less than a year ago, which is also surprising.

These moves involve predicting the potential future of Reddit rather than focusing on its current state. Currently, the news regarding Reddit is quite positive. In the previous quarter, their revenue increased by 48% compared to the same period last year, reaching $243 million. Additionally, the number of unique users grew by 37%, reaching a total of 82.7 million. (This number encompasses both users who are currently logged in and those who are not, following a similar method that Twitter, now referred to as X, used to calculate its audience when it was publicly accessible.)

Expansion of user base and language localization
During the earnings call, Huffman stated that 50% of Reddit’s audience is located in the United States. This indicates that the company is prioritizing efforts to enhance its international presence.

“Our ratio of U.S. to non-U.S. is still 50/50, but our peers have a much higher percentage of non-U.S. members, ranging from 80% to 90%,” he stated. “I believe there is a significant opportunity available.” He proceeded to characterize automatic, AI-powered translation as “one of the significant breakthroughs for us in the near to medium future.”

“Today, we are translating our complete collection of texts, which is primarily in English, into other languages. We anticipate that this will contribute to the rapid expansion of our international presence,” he stated.

Despite the substantial allocation of resources, the speaker described the site-wide translation effort as being in a testing phase right now. Huffman observed that the content is also being included in the search results of Google for the French language, thereby increasing the number of visitors to the website. The company’s next objective is to address the Spanish language.

Reddit has been providing post-based translation since last year, supporting a total of eight languages.

Software development tools
Hearing Huffman discuss developer tools on the call felt unreal. In July 2023, the company became involved in a significant dispute with third-party client developers due to changes in the API. This led to the blackout of numerous subreddits as a form of protest against the API changes.

Currently, the social network is operating in a mode where users are expected to behave in a respectful and cooperative manner. Huffman stated that there are intentions to develop tools that have the potential to expand the limits of what a subreddit can encompass. He provided illustrations of current experiments, such as real-time scores displayed on certain sports subreddits and a live stock ticker on r/wallstreetbets, the subreddit famous for the Gamestop stock controversy.

According to him, several hundred developers are currently conducting tests on these new experiences. Reddit plans to expand its developer base by inviting more individuals from the waitlist to join this summer. Additionally, the platform intends to introduce monetization capabilities later in the year.

Additional notifications
In a recent agreement, Reddit and Google have partnered to allow the search engine giant access to the social network’s data. Huffman stated that the company intends to grant licenses to other companies for the use of their data. This has been a significant matter, often generating controversy, as users may express reluctance towards their data being utilized for purposes such as AI training or other prevalent applications. Huffman emphasized that the company is being discerning and careful in its partner selection process.

The current focus of the company is to expand its infrastructure in order to generate more revenue. Although Gold and another blockchain-based currency called community points were discontinued last year, Reddit is considering reintroducing virtual currency on its platform. This move is seen as an opportunity for Reddit to expand and diversify its business model. During the earnings call, the company announced its intention to introduce an upgraded Gold product, featuring new programs that allow users to both spend and earn money on the platform.