AWS successfully ran a suite of AWS compute and machine learning software on an orbiting satellite, Apple threatens Elon Musk, and Google and YouTube invest in curbing the misinformation issue.
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That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Wednesday November 30 and I’m your host, Ashee Pamma.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced today at re:Invent 2022 that it successfully ran a suite of AWS compute and machine learning software on an orbiting satellite. Conducted over the past 10 months in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the experiment was designed to test a faster and efficient method to collect and analyze space data, in real time, directly on orbiting satellites using the cloud. AWS collaborated with D-Orbit and Unibap to eliminate technical challenges associated with operating in space including high latency and limited bandwidth. The project involved breaking down large raw satellite images and datasets in smaller ones to increase processing and analysis speed on-orbit. Today, the joint experiment remains in space, where AWS, Unibap, and D-Orbit continue to test 72 new capabilities beyond the original set of test objectives.
Elon Musk is feuding with Apple after he said the company threatened to block the social network from its App Store without explanation and mostly had stopped advertising on Twitter. An article in The Washington Post added that Apple has previously revoked App Store privileges from companies that broke its security policies or hosted violent content. If the company blocked Twitter from its App Store, new users would not be able to download the Twitter app on Apple devices, and existing users would be unable to access updates. On Monday Musk tweeted “Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” The threat from Apple adds to the advertiser pressure, staff departures and regulatory scrutiny confronting Musk as he attempts to change Twitter policies and account suspensions for “free speech” on the social media app.
Google and YouTube are trying to stop the misinformation issues plaguing the platforms with a $13.2 million grant to the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). The grant will fund the formation of the Global Fact Check Fund, to support a network of 135 fact-checking organizations, operating from 65 countries in more than 80 languages. The money will go towards launching new initiatives to elevate information and reduce misinformation. According to Mashable, the fund will open next year. This is Google and YouTube’s single largest grant toward fact-checking.
NASA has awarded the Texas company ICON $57.2 million for its Project Olympus. The project aims to develop technology that will allow humanity to build outposts on the moon and Mars using locally available dirt and rock. ICON built the first-ever fully permitted 3D-printed home in the United States in 2018 and has since delivered entire communities of such houses in the U.S. and in Mexico. Project Olympus was launched in 2020, to use its technology to help build critical infrastructure like landing pads, roads and habitats on the moon and Mars. Space.com added that ICON has already produced a prototype — a simulated 3D-printed Red Planet habitat called Mars Dune Alpha, which NASA will use to train astronauts for long missions. “To change the space exploration paradigm from ‘there and back again’ to ‘there to stay,’ we’re going to need robust, resilient and broadly capable systems that can use the local resources of the moon and other planetary bodies,” ICON co-founder and CEO Jason Ballard said in a statement.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Thursday morning. If you have a suggestion or a tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thank you for listening, I’m Ashee Pamma.