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Could JWST solve cosmology’s big mystery? Physicists debate Universe-expansion data

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This image, taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the globular star cluster Terzan 1.

Observations of the current Universe suggest a faster rate of cosmic expansion than predictions based on early-Universe data.Credit: NASA/ESA/Judy Schmidt

Cosmology seems to be heading for a showdown on one of its most basic questions: how fast is the Universe expanding?

For more than a decade, two types of measurement have been in disagreement. Observations of the current Universe typically find the rate of expansion — called the Hubble constant — to be about 9% faster than predictions based on early-Universe data.

Researchers hoped that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which launched in late 2021, would help to settle the question once and for all. But consensus has so far failed to materialise. Instead, two teams of cosmologists have calculated different values for the Hubble constant — despite both observing the recent Universe using the JWST.

Wendy Freedman, an astronomer at the University of Chicago in Illinois, and her collaborators presented preliminary results from their JWST observations today at a conference at the Royal Society in London. The Hubble constant they measured was 69.1 kilometers per second per megaparsec, meaning that galaxies separated by one million parsec (around 3 million light years) are receding from each other at a rate of 69.1 km/s.

This is only slightly larger than the 67 km/s per megaparsec predicted using early-universe data from Europe’s Planck satellite. But it is at odds with recent work by Adam Riess, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and his collaborators, who calculated a substantially higher Hubble constant, of at least 73 km/s per Mpc1,2,3.

Stars and supernovas

Freedman’s team analyzed three types of star that are used as distance indicators, or ‘standard candles’, in nearby galaxies. Understanding the average brightness of standard candles helps astronomers estimate how far away the same types of star are in more distant galaxies, which appear as they were billions of years ago. Together with observations of supernova explosions in the same galaxies, standard candles can be used to measure the Universe’s current rate of expansion.

Riess, whose observations were based on the same three types of star, warns that it is too early to draw conclusions from any of the JWST data. “The Hubble Space Telescope has collected a mountain of data over several decades, including four separate and direct calibrations of [the Hubble constant],” he says. “Our JWST programme and Wendy’s are tiny by comparison.”

It would be premature to comment on Freedman’s results because they have not yet been published, says Kristin McQuinn, an astronomer at Rutgers University in New Jersey who is leading her own study of standard candles with JWST. “It is hard to evaluate their results without seeing their data.”

Freedman says that multiple techniques will need to agree before the Hubble constant issue is solved. “We need more than one method, and we need more than three if we want to put this issue to rest,” she told delegates at the London meeting.

Cosmologist George Efstathiou, a leading member of the Planck collaboration who is based at the University of Cambridge, UK, sees the glass half full, saying that the latest JWST results are remarkably close to Planck’s. “They are 4 km/s away from each other, which is not a lot,“ he says.

Hiranya Peiris, a cosmologist also at the University of Cambridge, says that she wouldn’t be surprised if the recent-Universe observations were to end up converging towards the Planck early-Universe results. But she agrees that it will be crucial to add a completely new technique to the mix. Observations of gravitational waves could offer a ‘clean’ approach that doesn’t suffer from the confounding factors that are always present when observing stars, she adds.

If the discrepancy is here to stay, it could mean that the current theoretical model of the expansion of the Universe — which relies on Einstein’s general theory of relativity — needs to be amended. Theorists have been busy trying to find explanations for the Hubble-constant discrepancy, but none of them are compatible with every set of observations, says cosmologist Eleonora Di Valentino at the University of Sheffield, UK. “At least 500 models have been proposed, and none of them is satisfactory.”

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Rode’s $90 MagSafe mount lets you attach pro lights and mics to your iPhone

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Modern iPhone cameras are extremely capable video recorders, but typically require accessories like lights and microphones to ensure professional results. Audio gear manufacturer Rode just announced a pair of gadgets intended to simplify this process, so streamers won’t have to build a cumbersome rig in the computer room or haul one to an outdoor space.

The Rode Magnetic Mount . It’s a MagSafe mount with a pair of connection points for accessories like the aforementioned lights and microphones. There are two adjustable cold shoe arms that allow people to use the phone in portrait or landscape mode. For the uninitiated, “cold shoe” refers to metal connection brackets that lack power, whereas “hot shoe” would refer to metal connection brackets that feature electronic contacts.

It’s not just for iPhones, as any smartphone snuggled into a MagSafe-compatible case should work. The Rode Magnetic Mount is made from high-grade aluminum, so it’s on the pricier side when compared to the endless barrage of similar products on Amazon. It costs $90 and begins shipping on April 24.

A man using the device.A man using the device.

Rode

Rode also , which promises to “turn your smartphone into a professional filmmaking rig.” This is basically a beefier version of the aforementioned accessory, with five cold shoe mounts for attaching anything a budding filmmaker could possibly need, all while keeping the phone safe and snug inside its cage.

To that end, the mounts integrate with an array of thread sizes for attaching accessories like tripods and handles. There are also cable management slots, as five accessories could mean five cables snaking about and threatening to ruin that perfect shot. Again, this is for MagSafe models, which start with the iPhone 12. It’ll also work with another brand of smartphone inside of a MagSafe-compatible case. The Phone Cage starts shipping on April 24 and costs $120.

Rode recently Mackie and announced a renewed effort to design and release products for content creators. It looks like these mounts are part of that push. The company also just launched a for multi-mic setups.

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Bisnis Industri

Rode Interview Pro microphone and MagSafe mounts released

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Rode showcased a new microphone and two MagSafe mounts for iPhone at NAB 2024 in Las Vegas on Sunday that should serve mobile content creators like podcasters and streamers. They’re the new Rode Interview Pro microphone, the Phone Cage and the Magnetic Mount.

Rode Interview Pro microphone, Phone Cage and Magnetic Mount

Rode Interview Pro microphone

The Australian company said its new broadcast-quality wireless handheld microphone is great for podcasting, streaming and presentations. And it works with the company’s Series IV wireless system products, including the RodeCaster Pro II, RodeCaster Duo and Streamer X.

Rode Interview Pro microphone features 2.4GHz digital transmission with 128-bit encryption and should work within a range of up to 656 feet (200m) with line of sight of a receiver.

However, the mic, which includes physical controls, can be used as a standalone field recorder without a receiver.

And the mic’s pro-grade condenser capsule omnidirectional polar pattern provide detailed voice reproduction even without ideal mic placement, the company said.

Rode Interview Pro microphone
The new Rode Interview Pro wireless microphone features high-quality voice reproduction.
Photo: Rode

In addition, with Rode’s GainAssist technology, you can control the mic’s audio levels automatically, avoid signal imbalance and prevent clipping. The mic includes 32GB of internal memory for more than 40 hours of recording time.

So Rode Interview Pro ships in early May. But you can preorder now for $249.

Where to preorder: B&H Photo

Rode Phone Cage

As its name implies, the new Rode Phone Cage is a magnetic smartphone mounting system. It includes 33 mounting threads and five cold shoe slots. You can use it to attach various audio, lighting and mounting solutions to a smartphone rig.

Phone Cage includes a MagSafe-compatible magnetic mounting disc Rode said is “incredibly secure.” And cable-management slots help users run cables between iPhone and accessories.

And you can also use Phone Cage as an ergonomic grip for stable handheld shooting, or mount it on a tripod.

Rode Phone Cage ships April 24. Preorder now for $120.

Where to preorder: B&H Photo

Rode Magnetic Mount
The new Rode Magnetic Mount helps you attach various accessories to iPhone.
Photo: Rode

Rode Magnetic Mount

Magnetic Mount helps you easily attach microphones, lights and other accessories to your iPhone.

And while its magnetic effect is similar to Phone Cage, it features three removable arms instead of a cage and a long arm you can attach to a tripod or desk mount.

This one comes out later in April. You can preorder for $90.

Where to preorder: B&H Photo



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75% of adults don’t know how to recycle electronics — here are the 3 best ways to responsibly dispose of tech

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It seems that the e-waste issue is more widespread and harmful than we thought — even bigger than Windows 10’s end of service — as several reports showcase the issue on a greater scope.

A new study from CNET found that a staggering 75% of adults either don’t have a plan in place for disposing of old devices or only have a vague but not definite one. 

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Bisnis Industri

‘Hollywood Con Queen’ on Apple TV+ documents major scam

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A new three-part documentary series explores the story of an international con artist impersonating Hollywood’s most powerful women, Apple TV+ said Monday. And it provided a “first look” image, above. You can watch Hollywood Con Queen on Apple TV+ starting May 8.

Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Chris Smith created the three-part series. It’s based on investigative journalism by Scott Johnson in The Hollywood Reporter.

Hollywood Con Queen documentary series airs on Apple TV+ May 8

Apple TV+ called the new documentary series from Smith (Tiger King, Fyre, 100 Foot Wave) “incredible” and “riveting.” As such, the story it tells comes from work by investigative journalist Scott Johnson. He writes for The Hollywood Reporter and published a book through Harper Collins entitled, Hollywood Con Queen: The Hunt for an Evil Genius.

So here’s how Apple TV+ describes the documentary series:

A mysterious figure dubbed the ‘Con Queen’ impersonates the industry’s most powerful women, luring unsuspecting victims to Indonesia with the promise of a life-changing career opportunity. The Con Queen’s marks exhaust their personal finances in pursuit of a big break, while being exploited in a perverse psychological game spanning the globe.

The scam eventually draws the attention of veteran investigative journalist of The Hollywood Reporter, and dedicated private investigator Nicole Kotsianas, formerly of K2 Integrity, who set out to find the truth, only to discover a story more strange than they could have imagined.

Library Films produced Hollywood Con Queen for Apple TV+. Smith serves as director and executive producer alongside executive producer Ben Anderson. Johnson is a consulting producer.

Watch documentaries on Apple TV+

So does that sound tempting? You can see Hollywood Con Queen on Apple TV+ starting May 8. It joins numerous other documentary films and shows on Apple TV+.

The service is available by subscription for $9.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.

After launching in November 2019, “Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 471 wins and 2,090 award nominations and counting,” the service said.

In addition to award-winning movies and TV shows (including breakout soccer comedy Ted Lasso), Apple TV+ offers a variety of documentaries, dramas, comedies, kids shows and more.

Watch on Apple TV

Source: Apple TV+



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Amazon just dropped one of this year’s best tablet deals – and it’s not the iPad

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There has been a flurry of Samsung Galaxy tablet deals lately, with the whole lineup of the manufacturer’s top slates receiving some serious discounts. But this latest and unexpected offer on an older model could have trumped them all.

After a refresh for 2024, you can now get a Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite at Amazon for $329.99 (was $429.99). What sweetens the deal even more is the inclusion of a $100 Amazon Gift Card, which makes this budget-friendly mid-range tablet even better value for money.

However, with Samsung now up to the Galaxy Tab S8 and S9 generation of tablets, you may be wondering if you should even buy an older S6 device. In my eyes, it’s a great buy at this price – especially if you need an affordable device for everyday use but don’t want to compromise too much on performance.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite was one of the manufacturer’s flagship models at the time of release, and this is effectively a relaunched new device – not simply a way to shift old stock. It’s fast and responsive, making it good for browsing, video calls, relatively demanding work, media streaming, and even a little gaming. Plus, you get the handy S-Pen Stylus included for free, which is great for accessibility and if you like to doodle.

Today’s best Samsung Galaxy Tab deals

Other Samsung tablet deals still available

If you want to compare these with all the other tablet deals available right now, I’ve included a few more of today’s best offers below including several other Samsung tablet deals and iPad deals.

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First direct image of a ‘Wigner crystal’ made entirely of electrons

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Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here.

1000x magnification micrograph of Braarudospharea bigelowii cell.

A Braarudosphaera bigelowii cell magnified 1,000-fold.Credit: Tyler Coale

A new organelle that can turn atmospheric nitrogen into biologically useful molecules has been discovered in a marine alga. It’s the first time nitrogen fixation has been recorded in eukaryotes (the group of organisms that includes plants and animals). The discovery offers hope that crops could one day be engineered to grab nitrogen from the air — essentially making their own fertilizer.

Nature | 4 min read

Reference: Science paper

Nature Briefing: Microbiology is our new free weekly newsletter that is all about the most abundant living entities on our planet – microorganisms – and the role they play in health, the environment and food systems.

A Wigner crystal — a structure made entirely of electrons — has been imaged directly for the first time. Until now, there had only been indirect evidence of the crystal, which forms at low temperatures. “We never thought that we would succeed,” says physicist and study co-author Ali Yazdani. “It was a bit of an accident.” Using high-resolution scanning tunnelling microscopy, the team saw the electrons inside two thin graphene sheets arrange themselves into a triangular lattice, just as physicist Eugene Wigner predicted in 1934.

New Scientist | 4 min read

Reference: Nature paper

Evidence from burial sites across Europe might point to a common ritual involving human sacrifice. Shared characteristics — such as the style of killing, broken grindstones, remnants of animal sacrifices and round, silolike structures — suggest that these rituals might have been a widespread practice amongst cultures that were otherwise quite different. Critics say that the human skeletons lack some key features, such as signs of violent injury, which puts the conclusion in doubt. “Human sacrifice is widespread, and many different cultures practised it,” says osteoarchaeologist Christian Meyer. “But it’s difficult to prove, and there’s no real evidence here beyond the arrangement of bodies in a pit.”

Science | 5 min read

Reference: Science Advances paper

Reader poll

A bar chart illustrating responses to the poll question “What do you think about using Reddit?”

Last week, we learnt that some scientists are turning to Reddit as their social media network of choice. When we asked the working scientists among our readers, 11% of the self-selected respondents said it was already their most-used platform and almost 20% said they are considering using it more. Another 12% said they preferred other platforms, including Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy and ResearchGate. And 35% of respondents weren’t keen on any social media.

Features & opinion

As recent PhD graduates in psychology-related fields, Violeta Rodriguez and Qimin Liu wanted to forgo postdoctoral training and instead immediately become junior professors. And they succeeded: together, they received 15 tenure-track assistant-professorship offers. To help others navigate the “stressful, fast and unpredictable” journey, they share a checklist for before you even get started.

Nature | 6 min read

A theoretical physicist gets advice from three of his multiverse selves in the latest short story for Nature’s Futures series.

Nature | 6 min read

Scientists and 210 volunteers spent about 7,000 hours cataloguing more than a million kilometres of unmapped ghost roads in Borneo, New Guinea and Sumatra. “The basic bottom line is: where the roads go is where the forest destruction happens,” ecologist and study co-author Bill Laurance tells the Nature Podcast. Major official roads often have many ghost roads branching off them. “One of the messages we want to say to governments is: be really careful where you develop your infrastructure,” Laurance says.

Nature Podcast | 23 min listen

Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube Music, or use the RSS feed.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Physician-geneticist Francis Collins, the former head of the US National Institutes of Health, shares the details of his prostate cancer diagnosis to highlight the importance of early detection and clinical trials, and the pervasive health inequities in screening and treatments. (The Washington Post | 7 min read)

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Apple Further Explains Why Game Boy Emulator iGBA Was Removed From App Store

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Over the weekend, a Game Boy emulator named iGBA appeared in the iPhone’s App Store, but Apple quickly removed the app due to violations of the company’s App Review Guidelines related to spam and copyright. Apple has since shared additional details about why it removed iGBA from the App Store, and it also clarified its guidelines for emulators.

iGBA Feature Slashed
iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut’s open-source GBA4iOS app, with the addition of ads on top. While it did not explicitly name GBA4iOS, Apple told us it removed iGBA from the App Store after learning that it was a knockoff app that copied another developer’s work and attempted to pass it off as its own.

Notably, Apple confirmed to us that emulators on the App Store are permitted to load ROMs downloaded from the web, so long as the app is emulating retro console games only. Apple also said it had approved iGBA’s functionality, before learning that it was a knockoff app, suggesting that Game Boy emulation is permitted on the App Store, but the company has yet to share any other examples of retro game consoles.

All in all, it appears that iGBA was removed from the App Store entirely because it was a ripoff of GBA4iOS, rather than due to piracy concerns resulting from users being able to load any ROM downloaded from the web. However, exactly which consoles Apple considers to be retro, and if there will be any other restrictions, remains to be seen.

It also remains to be seen how Nintendo reacts to Apple approving Game Boy emulators for distribution through the App Store on the iPhone. On its U.S. customer support website, Nintendo says downloading pirated copies of its games is illegal:

Pirate copies of game files are often referred to as “ROMs”.

The uploading and downloading of pirate copies of Nintendo games is illegal.

We have reached out to Nintendo for comment.

Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to permit retro game console emulators earlier this month. Apple says developers of emulators are “responsible for all such software” offered in the app, including compliance with “all applicable laws.”

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First iPhone Game Boy emulator quickly disappears from App Store

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Game Boy
iPhone users have to keep waiting for the Game Boy emulator of their dreams.
Photo: Caleb Oquendo/Pexels

A Game Boy emulator was added to the iPhone App Store over the weekend. This might be proof that Apple really has removed restrictions blocking retro game emulators.

Trouble is, the iGBA app has already been kicked out of the software store. But it was a very dodgy app that allegedly ripped off the work of another developer so its removal may have nothing to do with recent changes in Apple policy.

Hurray, the first Game Boy emulator on the App Store!

For many years, Apple prohibited developers from listing retro game emulators for download on the App Store. It actively took down any such that have slipped through its review process.

But in early April, the company updated the App Store guidelines to allow this type of software. It was part of Apple loosening previous rules forbidding developers from making applications that are bundles of mini-apps.

iGBA: GBA & GBC Retro Emulator is apparently the first application introduced after the change. Its appearance on Saturday ordinarily would be a a cause for joy — people have wanted a Game Boy emulator for iPhone for many years.

And while the software was loaded with advertising, that’s typical of free games. Users also complained that it was tracking their locations, which is also not that usual for free games — more people should check how they’re being tracked by “free” apps.

And it’s gone

But then on Sunday developer Riley Testut posted on a variety of social media platforms, “So apparently Apple approved a knock-off of GBA4iOS — the predecessor to Delta I made in high school — in the App Store. I did not give anyone permission to do this.”

GBA4iOS is a Game Boy Advance emulator Testut released many years ago. He’s also the developer of AltStore.

His complaint appears to have been what it took to get iGBA: GBA & GBC Retro Emulator kicked off the App Store. It was reportedly removed because of copyright violations and spam.

So those looking to see whether Apple really, truly means it when it says retro game emulators for iPhone are now allowed still don’t know for sure one way or the other.



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Meta scales up its AI chatbot experiment in India and Africa

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After officially entering the AI game in September 2023, Meta just scaled up its AI chatbot experiment.

Some WhatsApp users have been able to play around with the company’s new AI assistant for a while now, and Meta’s AI upgrade was first introduced in beta in November last year. More functionalities appeared on users’ search bars later in March. However, the trial was restricted to people in the US in a limited capacity. 



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