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Science

Microsoft Acknowledges Sony Has Better Games

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The unreasonably high proposal by Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard has led to a drawn-out and difficult period of discussions. Without going into too much detail, the short version of this is that Sony is attempting to block the purchase, while Xbox, of course, is urging regulators to approve it. The most recent assertions have been made public, and according to Microsoft, Sony’s first-party work is superior than its own.

The business argues that because Sony has more exclusive titles, it doesn’t have require games like Call of Duty to be successful. Microsoft claims that many of Sony’s first-party games are higher quality than its own creations, despite this. To put it another way, the company has admitted in writing that its own games fall short of those produced by Sony.

Apparently “equal in size to Activision and roughly double the size of Microsoft’s game publishing company,” the article continues by referring to Sony as “the dominating console provider” and a “strong games publisher.”

It is merely one of numerous refutations to Sony’s own account regarding the entire song and dance (which, by the way, makes allusions to the inevitable PS6). To try and secure this deal, Microsoft is at pains to show out that Sony will be OK without Call of Duty, framing itself as the underdog while making the aforementioned arguments. All of this is very taxing, don’t you think?

As Editor here at GeekReply, I'm a big fan of all things Geeky. Most of my contributions to the site are technology related, but I'm also a big fan of video games. My genres of choice include RPGs, MMOs, Grand Strategy, and Simulation. If I'm not chasing after the latest gear on my MMO of choice, I'm here at GeekReply reporting on the latest in Geek culture.

Engineering

Exploring the Depths: The Quest for Dark Matter Beneath the Earth’s Surface

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Based on observations made by astronomers studying the observable universe, it has been determined that approximately 5 percent of the universe consists of matter. The remaining portion, or the vast majority of it, consists of dark matter (approximately 27 percent) and dark energy (approximately 68 percent).

Dark matter is a type of matter that cannot be detected through its own light emission. It only interacts with regular matter through the force of gravity. This interaction can be observed in galaxies and galaxy clusters, providing evidence for its existence. However, considering the abundance of this mysterious substance compared to regular matter, it is only natural for scientists to actively search for concrete proof of its presence.

One way to locate it, which may seem surprising since dark matter accounts for what we observe in the stars and galaxies, is to go underground.

Scientists around the world conduct research in various underground facilities to study phenomena like weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) and the impact of neutrinos. It is believed that the WIMPs are constantly passing through the Earth as it moves through space. To detect them, we require highly sensitive detectors capable of capturing these subtle interactions.

“In the Stanford LUX-ZEPLIN experiment, an electric field is applied across the volume of liquid, causing the released electrons to be pushed towards the liquid’s surface,” explained Hugh Lippincott, a physics professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in an article for The Conversation.

When they break through the surface, an additional electric field propels them into the xenon-filled space above the liquid, where they produce a second burst of light. Two extensive arrays of light sensors capture the two bursts of light, enabling researchers to reconstruct the precise location, energy, and nature of the interaction that occurred.

They are very good scanners, and even if they don’t find dark matter, they can help narrow down what it isn’t. It’s just that putting them on the surface would make them pick up way too much noise.

“On Earth, however, we are constantly surrounded by low, nondangerous levels of radioactivity coming from trace elements—mainly uranium and thorium—in the environment, as well as cosmic rays from space,” Lippincott said. “The goal in hunting for dark matter is to build as sensitive a detector as possible, so it can see the dark matter, and to put it in as quiet a place as possible, so the dark matter signal can be seen over the background radioactivity.”

They are put deep below the ground so they can find dark matter. SNOLAB is the world’s deepest and cleanest lab. Every day, scientists have to go 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) underground and then walk further inside a working mine to get there.

The LUX-ZEPLIN project, which is deep in the Black Hills of South Dakota, has been recording about five events a day. This is a lot less than the trillion events it would pick up at the surface. Scientists have ruled out dark matter as a possible cause for all of them, though. But as long as the tests keep going, there is still hope that they will find proof of all the lost stuff in the universe deep underground.

 

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Engineering

Russia And China Are Planning On Building A Nuclear Reactor On The Moon

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In 2021, the Chinese and Russian space agencies forged a collaborative agreement to establish a research base on the Moon. According to recent reports, space agencies have revealed their plans to construct an automated nuclear reactor on the lunar surface. The objective is to provide power to the International Lunar Research Station by the year 2035.

It is worth noting that there has been no human presence on the Moon since Apollo 17 departed in December 1972. Several unmanned missions have been launched to the Moon recently, yielding mixed results. However, it will still take a while before humans can once again explore our beloved satellite firsthand.

China and Russia have set ambitious goals to land humans on the Moon within the next decade. However, both space agencies are also exploring the possibility of placing the reactor on the Moon without direct human involvement.

“Today, we are actively exploring the possibility of a project to send a power reactor to the Moon in collaboration with our Chinese partners, aiming for a timeframe between 2033 and 2035,” stated Yury Borisov, the CEO of Russian space agency Roscosmos, in an interview with state-owned news site Tass. “This is a significant challenge […] It would be ideal to have it done automatically, without human intervention.”

Borisov explained that solar panels alone would not be enough to power future human settlements, but nuclear power could be a viable solution.

Since the announcement of the Lunar Research Station in 2021, the availability of international use has been affected by the strained relations between Russia and international co-operators in space due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is currently developing a nuclear-powered cargo spaceship as part of its efforts to establish a lunar base on the Moon.

“We are currently developing a space tugboat,” Borisov stated, according to AP. “This massive structure has the capability, with the help of a nuclear reactor and powerful turbines, to transport large cargoes between orbits, gather space debris, and perform various other tasks.”

He mentioned that the space agency has successfully addressed all technical issues regarding the spaceship. However, they are still working on finding a solution to cool the nuclear reactor, which is a crucial task in order to achieve the ambitious goal of establishing a moon base by 2035.

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Astronomy

Voyager 1’s signal from interstellar space has raised some concerns, as it appears to be more than just a random transmission

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There is a concerning issue with the farthest human-built object. Currently, Voyager 1 is located a staggering 24 billion kilometers (15 billion miles) away from Earth, traversing the vast expanse of interstellar space. Unfortunately, NASA has encountered some difficulties in establishing effective communication with the spacecraft in recent months. However, progress has been made towards finding a solution. The engineering team has found a message in the data stream that the spacecraft sent back.

In September 2023, a problem emerged with the data received from Voyager 1. Typically transmitted in binary code, or a sequence of 0s and 1s representing words, the probe was instead sending a pattern of alternating 1s and 0s. In February, the NASA Voyager engineering team explained to IFLScience that the connection between the spacecraft and Earth was still intact, but Voyager’s “voice” had been replaced by a monotonous dial tone.

This issue prevents scientific information and updates about the condition and health of the probe from being available. This includes crucial information that could potentially uncover the root cause of the issue. Based on our analysis, it appears that the problem lies with the Flight Data System [FDS], one of the probe’s onboard computers. The team is diligently working towards resolving the issue, but it is anticipated that this process may take several months.

Various methods were tried, but there was a significant shift at the beginning of this month. On March 1, the engineering team initiated a command to prompt the FDS to explore alternative sequences within its software package. This was done as a precautionary measure to address any potential corruption and find a possible workaround.

It is worth noting that Voyager 1 is located a staggering distance of 22 light-hours and 34 light-minutes away. Consequently, the transmission of signals to and from NASA requires nearly a full day. The poke did not solve the problem, but it definitely had an impact.

“On March 3, the Voyager mission team observed an anomaly in a specific section of the FDS, which stood out from the rest of the computer’s data stream that was otherwise indecipherable. According to a blog post by the Voyager team, they were initially uncertain about the meaning of the new signal since it did not match the format typically used by Voyager 1 when the FDS is functioning correctly.

However, a scientist working with the agency’s Deep Space Network, responsible for operating the radio antennas that establish communication with various spacecraft, including the Voyagers, successfully deciphered the new signal. Upon analysis, it was discovered that the signal contains a comprehensive record of the FDS memory.

The memory of the FDS includes both its code and information regarding the spacecraft’s status. The team is currently analyzing this data in order to compare it with the data received prior to September. Their goal is to determine the cause of the issue and find potential solutions.

If the team fails to resolve this issue, it could potentially spell the end of operations for Voyager 1, as there is no backup FDS available. However, Voyager 2 is functioning normally; the Voyager mission will continue as long as one probe is still operational,” the Voyager team informed IFLScience previously.

NASA’s projected budget for the upcoming years demonstrates a strong dedication to extending the Voyager mission well beyond its 50th anniversary in 2027.

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