China Mars rover to land between Saturday and Wednesday

A Japanese fashion magnate, who has booked an all-civilian SpaceX flight, has now announced he’s also making an earlier trip this December to the International Space Station. The trip is facilitated by space tour agency Space Adventures, which has arranged space tours for a handful of monied clients, primarily tech entrepreneurs. Yusaku Maezawa tweeted: ’Going to the ISS before the Moon.’

Discord on Thursday announced a new feature that will put it in competition with Clubhouse, Twitter and Facebook in the fast-growing, real-time audio market. Stage Discovery will make it possible for Discord users to easily find live audio conversations happening across the various communities that exist on the app. Discord will soon begin testing ticketed events for Stage Channel conversations.

Google announced that its cloud unit has won a deal to supply computing and networking resources to Elon Musk’s SpaceX to help deliver internet service through the latter’s Starlink satellites. The Starlink satellite internet will rely on Google’s private fiber-optic network to quickly make connections to cloud services as part of a deal that could last seven years.

Researchers have discovered Covid-19 in penile tissue, warning that men who get infected with the virus run the risk of becoming impotent. ’Our study is the first to demonstrate the presence of the COVID-19 virus in the penis long after the initial infection in humans,’ the team wrote, adding that ’widespread endothelial cell dysfunction from COVID-19 infection can contribute to ED.’

Amazon hires 75,000 workers across its warehouse and delivery network in the U.S. and Canada. The company will also offer a $100 bonus to new warehouse and transportation hires who show proof of their Covid-19 vaccination. Amazon said the jobs will offer an average starting pay of $17 per hour, reflecting its recent wage increases.

The Framework Laptop, a modular notebook that lets you swap most of its parts for repairs or upgrades, is now up for grabs in a limited presale. Announced earlier this year by one of the founders of Oculus, this notebook is said to redefine the ’replace when broken’ approach to laptops that we often see today. We now know the specs and the price of the laptops that will begin shipping this summer.

David Kennedy, a former NSA hacker, argued President Vladimir Putin is connected to the actions of DarkSide, which is allegedly behind the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline. The Russian embassy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. ’We are seeing so much hostility coming from a cyber warfare campaign perspective, that it’s almost difficult to even keep up with it,’ said Kennedy.

The UK’s Govt. plans to ban technology companies from ’discriminating’ against particular political viewpoints, according to a press release about the new proposed Online Safety Bill. The anti-censorship clause is just a minor part of a much larger draft bill. ’When moderating content, companies will need to take into account the political context,’ the press release continued.

President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at protecting U.S. cybersecurity and federal government networks. It also seeks to boost security for software used in the private sector. The action comes amid a crippling ransomware attack that forced the shutdown of a major US petroleum pipeline last week, leading to concern of widespread gas shortages along the East Coast.

Students now and in the foreseeable future need a laptop suitable for both campus and distance learning. Here are some of the best laptops on offer in 2021. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 is the best for high-end applications. Samsung Chromebook is budget-friendly Chrome OS option. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is rugged laptop with hefty processing power. Microsoft Surface Go 2 has a detachable display.

The Colonial Pipeline cyber attack only made the situation worse, as the industry already faces too few tanker truck drivers. The price surge follows this past weekend’s cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which carries about 45% of the east coast’s gasoline supply. Drivers quickly flocked to stations to top off, which has left numerous stations without fuel.

The US Government has begun a program offering aid to those struggling to afford internet costs in their own homes. This is part of the $900 billion December pandemic-relief package and is geared towards people that cannot afford internet at a time when much work and schooling has moved to the web. Those residing in tribal areas of the nation are eligible for an extra $25 off their bills.

Gabe Newell, President of Valve, has teased some upcoming news regarding Steam and video games consoles for later this year. Speaking to students at the Sancta Maria College in Auckland, New Zealand earlier this week, the Valve executive was asked if the company had any plans to bring Steam games to consoles. He replied a question: ’You will get a better idea of that by the end of this year.’

VMware has named Raghu Raghuram, the current chief operating officer of products and cloud services for VMware, as its new chief executive effective June 1. The virtualization company has been vetting CEO candidates since the departure of Pat Gelsinger in January. VMware also revealed that the company’s current COO of customer operations has decided to leave VMware after 7 years at the company.

The U.S. has agreed to remove Xiaomi from a blacklist that would have barred Americans from investing in the Chinese smartphone maker. Shares of Chinese tech giant Xiaomi rallied as much as 6.5% after the news, before paring some gains. In January, the administration under former President Donald Trump designated Xiaomi as one of several ’Communist Chinese military companies’ or CCMC.