If the atmosphere of Venus was at any point thin and similar to Earth’s, then ancient asteroid impacts transferred potentially detectable amounts of Venusian surface material to the Moon, according to new research from Yale University. Recovery and isotopic analyses of Venusian surface samples from the lunar surface would determine …
Read More »Microsoft Launches Surface Go
Microsoft made a pair of hardware announcements today. First, the company debuted a surprise $549 Surface Laptop Go. This is the first time we’ve seen Microsoft push the Surface Laptop family to a price point this low, though there are some hefty compromises that may make this a limited-utility …
Read More »Comet 67P/Churyumov
A new analysis of data gathered by the CONSERT (Comet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radio wave Transmission) instrument, a radar onboard ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft and its Philae lander, confirms that solar radiation has significantly modified the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it travels through space between the orbits of Jupiter …
Read More »Microsoft’s Duo Launches
Microsoft has tried to make smartphones on several occasions — it even purchased Nokia’s Lumia mobile division in 2014. Despite that, Windows Phone succumbed to the market pressures of Android and iOS. Well, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Microsoft’s first Android phone is now available for pre-order, …
Read More »Martian Surface
Curiosity Spots Earth and Venus from Curiosity Spots Earth and Venus from The Mast Camera (Mastcam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has captured new images of Earth and Venus as seen from the surface of the Red Planet. Two images of the night sky were combined to show Earth and …
Read More »Windows 10 S on the Surface Laptop Will Be Locked to Edge and Bing
Microsoft announced a new version of Windows and a laptop to go along with it yesterday, but the reaction has been tepid at best. Windows 10 S is supposed to be taking on Chrome OS with a specific focus on education, but Microsoft chose to show off the new stripped …
Read More »Melting Moons Could Hold on to Atmospheres and Surface Water Oceans for Billions of Years
Exomoons around migrant hot Jupiters could hold onto life-giving atmospheres and maintain surface oceans for billions and billions of years. This is the conclusion of a paper from the University of Washington modeling the impact of inward migrating gas giants on their frozen moons. According Lehmer et al, moons around …
Read More »Microsoft’s $999 Surface Laptop Is a Blatant Windows 10 Store Push
For the past four and a half years, Microsoft’s Surface family has done double-duty as an aspirational product platform and a high-end demonstration of what PCs are truly capable of. At the low-end, devices like the Surface 3 offered a low-cost, highly portable tablet, while high-end products like the Surface Pro …
Read More »Windows Phone Is Dead and Surface Sales are Slipping
Microsoft announced its quarterly results last night, and the figures were generally good, with revenue of $23.6 billion (up 6%), increased operating income, and higher earnings per share. The one ugly spot was More Personal Computing — the business segment that includes Windows 10, Bing, Surface devices, Windows Phone, and …
Read More »Microsoft launches less expensive flagship Surface Book without an Nvidia GPU
Microsoft’s Surface Book has been an intriguing foray into laptops since the company first launched it back in 2015. The November 2016 update didn’t really change much, beyond adding a GTX 965M option to the dock (Microsoft calls this its “Performance Base.”) Now, Microsoft has tweaked its SKUs and, in …
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