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By combing through a collection of data, researchers may have discovered evidence that we've already observed the first "blitzar," a bizarre astronomical event caused by the sudden collapse of an overly massive neutron star. The event is driven by an earlier merger of two neutron stars; this creates an unstable intermediate neutron star, which is kept from collapsing immediately by its rapid spin. In a blitzar, the strong magnetic fields of the neutron star slow down its spin, causing it to collapse into a black hole several hours after the merger. That collapse suddenly deletes the dynamo powering the magnetic fields, releasing their energy in the form of a fast radio burst. The researchers who performed the analysis suggest that this phenomenon could explain the non-repeating forms of these events. Too big to live How big can a neutron star get before it collapses into a black hole? We don't have a good answer, in part because we're not sure what happens to the bizarre forms of … [Read more...] about Did we already observe our first “blitzar”?

Table of Contents What to Look For in an iPhone 13 Wallet Case in 2023 Best Minimalist iPhone 13 Wallet Case: Smartish Wallet Slayer Vol. 2 Best Spacious iPhone 13 Wallet Case: TUCCH Folio Case Best Clear iPhone 13 Wallet Case: Spigen Crystal Slot Case Best Stylish iPhone 13 Wallet Case: i-Blason Cosmo Wallet Case Best Rugged iPhone 13 Wallet Case: Element Case Black Ops Best MagSafe iPhone 13 Wallet Case: Apple MagSafe Leather Wallet Update, 01/30/2023: We’ve reviewed our recommendations and are confident these are still the best iPhone 13 wallet cases you can buy. What to Look For in an iPhone 13 Wallet Case in 2023 The first thing to consider when choosing a wallet case for your iPhone 13 is how much it can hold. All options will allow you to carry at least one card, with some options holding up to three. However, a folio case is your best bet if you’d like to carry a couple more items like receipts or rely heavily on cash. Another factor that … [Read more...] about The Best iPhone 13 Wallet Cases of 2023

In context: While gamers are patiently waiting for further details about the recently announced Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, Elden Ring developer FromSoftware has just released a new patch bringing ray tracing effects and many balance adjustments to its award-winning action-RPG. The much-awaited ray tracing update for Elden Ring is finally here, as Japanese developer FromSoftware has released patch 1.09 on all supported platforms. The new lighting effects are only available on recent gaming consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X) and PC, FromSoftware said, and users can expect a significant impact on the game's performance as support for upscaling algorithms isn't available yet. The new ray tracing feature can be enabled in the Settings menu, and early tests are confirming that the performance impact is indeed pretty noticeable. Despite the steep FPS drop, ray tracing illumination seems to be very limited (with no ray traced reflections ) while the overall effect on graphics … [Read more...] about New Elden Ring patch introduces ray tracing and more

Originally set to launch on March 28, users in Australia and several Asian countries have managed to get their hands on the long-awaited Apple Music Classical ahead of schedule. Judging from screenshots posted on Twitter (opens in new tab) , the app looks exactly as it was shown in previews – for better or for worse. The purpose of this app is to better curate Apple Music's classical music library. You get over five million tracks with “thousands of recordings [supporting] spatial audio and 192 kHz/24-bit Hi-Res Lossless sound quality.” Apple Music Classical is live pic.twitter.com/5BuUTDireQ March 27, 2023 See more Its user interface has been specifically designed to help classical music nerds “search by composer, work, conductor, or even catalog number” if they have a specific favorite. Newcomers, on the other hand, will probably appreciate one of the “hundreds of Essentials playlists,” which offer deep dives into the composition. Currently, the app is … [Read more...] about Apple Music Classical strikes its first note – here’s what it looks like

You can turn your Meta Quest 2 (formerly Oculus Quest 2) into “an almost-native Steam VR headset” that should also improve your VR performance thanks to an open-source tool. This free-to-download program is available on GitHub and was created by ItsKaitlyn03 (opens in new tab) late last year (via UploadVR (opens in new tab) ). This software engineer is an active member of the Oculus community and was the same person who discovered the Oculus code that referenced the Air Bridge a month ago. Their tool is called OculusKiller (opens in new tab) and it effectively “kills” the Oculus Dash function of the Oculus PC app and auto-launches Steam VR. If you only even play PC VR games from Steam - titles like Half-Life Alyx - then OculusKiller will make it way easier to load up these games quickly. What’s more, ItsKaitlyn03 found that removing Oculus Dash will save you around “200 MB of memory + GPU” which it eats up even when it’s not in use. This should mean … [Read more...] about Playing Steam VR games is now way easier with this free Meta Quest 2 tool

The latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence could lead to the automation of a quarter of the work done in the US and eurozone, according to research by Goldman Sachs. The investment bank said on Monday that “generative” AI systems such as ChatGPT, which can create content that is indistinguishable from human output, could spark a productivity boom that would eventually raise annual global gross domestic product by 7 percent over a 10-year period. But if the technology lived up to its promise, it would also bring “significant disruption” to the labor market, exposing the equivalent of 300 million full-time workers across big economies to automation, according to Joseph Briggs and Devesh Kodnani, the paper’s authors. Lawyers and administrative staff would be among those at greatest risk of becoming redundant. They calculate that roughly two-thirds of jobs in the US and Europe are exposed to some degree of AI automation, based on data on the tasks typically performed in … [Read more...] about Generative AI set to affect 300 million jobs across major economies

Further Reading Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel gets official name, May 2023 release date For a major game that was first announced nearly four years ago and is set to launch in less than two months , we've seen remarkably little gameplay footage from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom beyond some very sparse trailers . Nintendo set out to partially fix that today, releasing a new video in which Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma showed off some of Link's new abilities in a guided 10-minute gameplay presentation. The most impactful new ability on display was called "Fuse," which lets Link put together two disparate objects to create a new one with a brand-new effect. In the simplest example of this, Aonuma fused together a basic tree branch (which breaks incredibly easily even during simple fights) with a rock, creating a makeshift hammer with a lot more power and durability. Unlike in Breath of the Wild , where Link had to hunt for the most powerful weapons, the … [Read more...] about lets you make weapons, rafts, and more from component parts

Many of the features showing up in Edge aren’t all that helpful , but back in October, Microsoft showed off a real-time browser tab sharing feature that looked interesting. Now you can help Microsoft test it. Microsoft has opened up the preview of Edge Workspaces, a collaborative feature in the browser, to personal Microsoft accounts. Before now, the feature was limited to corporate deployments of Microsoft Edge, and only if the organization’s IT administrators enabled it. To get started, sign up for the Edge Workspaces Preview . The new preview only works for personal Microsoft accounts, and it’s limited to just Edge for Windows v111 and higher right now. School and work accounts, as well as Mac and Linux users, will have to sit this one out. Microsoft hasn’t said when, or if, the feature will arrive on other platforms. Once you’re in the testing program, you get five invites to share with friends and family. Play Video Edge Workspaces still works as originally … [Read more...] about You Can Now Try Microsoft Edge’s Real-Time Tab Sharing

Table of Contents What to Look for in an iPhone Case in 2023 Best iPhone 14 Case Overall: Speck Presidio 2 Pro With Magsafe Best Budget iPhone 14 Case: Torras iPhone 14 Guardian Best MagSafe iPhone 14 Case: Speck Presidio2 Grip Magsafe Best Wallet iPhone 14 Case: Smartish Wallet Slayer Vol. 2 Best Rugged iPhone 14 Case: ZAGG Denali Snap Best Clear iPhone 14 Case: UAG Plyo For Magsafe Best Thin iPhone 14 Case: Totallee iPhone 14 Case Best Leather iPhone 14 Case: Nomad Modern Leather Case Update, 01/27/2023: We’ve reviewed our recommendations and are confident these are still the best iPhone 14 cases you can buy. What to Look for in an iPhone Case in 2023 You might be someone who hates putting a case on their phone, and that’s understandable. Cases can be bulky, look strange, and make a phone more difficult to use if poorly designed. Thankfully, many of the cases designed for the iPhone 14 are not any of those things. Even if you want a case, it could … [Read more...] about The Best iPhone 14 Cases of 2023

Amazon Sidewalk is a mesh network powered by Amazon devices, like Ring cameras and Echo speakers, which aims to keep devices connected beyond the reach of Wi-Fi signals. Amazon is now opening up Sidewalk to more companies and devices. Amazon announced today that the Sidewalk network is now open for testing by developers and device makers. The company has created software development kits (SDKs) for creating applications that use Sidewalk technology, as well as hardware kits designed to help create physical devices that connect to Sidewalk. Amazon Sidewalk is advertised as a multi-purpose mesh network, with the ability to help locate trackers (like Apple’s Find My network ), but also provide limited internet connections to devices that can’t reach a Wi-Fi signal (or if your home’s network is disconnected). The company says in an FAQ article , “For example, if your Echo device loses its wifi connection, Sidewalk can simplify reconnecting to your router. For select Ring … [Read more...] about Amazon’s “Sidewalk” Mesh Network Is Coming to More Devices