Category: Technology

Space One’s second Kairos rocket launch fails 10 minutes after liftoff

capital

Japan’s Space One on Wednesday faced another setback in its quest to become the country’s first space company to launch a satellite into space, as the company terminated the flight of its Kairos small rocket only 10 minutes after liftoff. This marks the second aborted attempt within nine months, underscoring the challenges Japanese rocket development is currently experiencing. The 18-metre (59 feet) solid propellant rocket lifted off from Spaceport Kii in western Japan at 11:00am but quickly lost stability in its trajectory, prompting authorities to cancel the mission in just…

Read More

TikTok asks Supreme Court to intervene as Jan 19 ban looms

capital

Fighting for its survival in the United States, TikTok has appealed to the Supreme Court to block a law that requires its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app by January 19 or face a ban. TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency request to the justices for an injunction to halt the looming ban on the social media app used by about 170 million Americans while they appeal a lower court’s ruling that upheld the law. A group of US users of the app filed a similar request on…

Read More

OpenAI turns up heat on Google with global launch of ChatGPT search

capital

OpenAI announced on Monday that it is rolling out ChatGPT-powered internet search to all users, intensifying competition with the existing search engine giant, Google. The San Francisco-based tech firm had beefed up its ChatGPT generative AI chatbot with search engine capabilities in late October, but made the feature available only to paying subscribers. According to OpenAI, with the help of the newly public feature, users can now receive “fast, timely answers” accompanied by links to web sources, a functionality that traditionally relied on standard search engines. The upgrade enables the…

Read More

Telegram promotes extremism, new study reveals

capital

Telegram has come under scrutiny for its role in promoting extremist content, according to a recent study from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) shared exclusively with the BBC. The report, Telegram’s Toxic Recommendations, revealed that Telegram’s “similar channels” feature, which was introduced last year, directs users to extremist material—even those simply browsing mundane topics like technology or entertainment. The study, which analysed 28,000 channels on the platform, found that the algorithm consistently pushed users toward radical ideologies. For example, when SPLC researcher Megan Squire searched for “Donald Trump,” the algorithm…

Read More

‘We can block VPNs but we won’t do it’, says PTA chairman

capital

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) will not block the virtual private networks (VPNs) despite having the capability to do so, the telecom regulator chief said on Monday. Addressing a launching ceremony of the PTA annual report 2024, its chairman Maj Gen (retd) Hafeez Ur Rehman said: “We had said earlier that we can block VPNs but we won’t do it.” Earlier, the regularity authority decided against blocking VPNs as the government extended the deadline for registering proxies beyond November 30. However, a new date has not been announced for the VPN…

Read More

‘We can block VPNs but we won’t do it’, says PTA chairman

capital

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) will not block the virtual private networks (VPNs) despite having the capability to do so, the telecom regulator chief said on Monday. Addressing a launching ceremony of the PTA annual report 2024, its chairman Maj Gen (retd) Hafeez Ur Rehman said: “We had said earlier that we can block VPNs but we won’t do it.” Earlier, the regularity authority decided against blocking VPNs as the government extended the deadline for registering proxies beyond November 30. However, a new date has not been announced for the VPN…

Read More

WhatsApp enhances video calls with four new features

capital

WhatsApp has unveiled significant improvements to its video calling experience, designed to benefit both personal and professional users, TechCrunch reported. As one of Meta’s flagship messaging services, WhatsApp is building on past updates, such as message drafts and voice note transcription, to make its video calls more user-friendly and engaging. Group call participant selection A standout update allows users to selectively choose participants for group video calls, rather than notifying the entire group. This enhancement gives users more control over who’s included in the conversation, streamlining calls that don’t require everyone’s attention.…

Read More

US court rejects TikTok request to temporarily halt pending US ban

capital

TikTok must now move quickly with a request to the Supreme Court to block or overturn a law that would require its Chinese parent ByteDance to divest of the short-video app by January 19 after an appeals court on Friday rejected a bid for more time. TikTok and ByteDance on Monday hadfiled the emergency motion with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, asking for more time to make their case to the US Supreme Court. The companies had warned that without court action, the law will…

Read More

Are comets responsible for ‘abundant’ presence of water on Earth?

capital

The reananalysis of “rubber-ducky” comet’s data, which was collected nearly a decade ago, suggested that comets may have deposited a lot more water on Earth than scientists thought previously. In the past decade, the idea that water was delivered by comets to early Earth has fallen out of favour. However, a new look at data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta mission to an iconic “rubber ducky” comet has reopened that possibility, reported Live Science. It is important to note that water has a pretty simple chemical makeup. It has…

Read More

Character.AI introduces safety measures amid teen suicide lawsuits

capital

Character.AI, once hailed as one of Silicon Valley’s most promising AI startups, announced new safety measures on Thursday aimed at safeguarding teenage users amid lawsuits claiming its chatbots played a role in youth suicide and self-harm. The California-based company, founded by former Google engineers, is among several firms offering AI companions — chatbots designed to provide conversation, entertainment and emotional support through human-like interactions. In a Florida lawsuit filed in October, a mother claimed the platform bears responsibility for her 14-year-old son’s suicide. The teen, Sewell Setzer III, had formed…

Read More