TLDR 2020-08-31

Apple has terminated Epic Games' developer account and removed the rest of the company's apps from the App Store. Users who have already downloaded apps will still be able to use them, but won't receive any updates. Epic introduced a direct payment option in Fortnite to bypass Apple's in-app purchase system on August 13, resulting in Apple removing the app from its App Store. Epic has escalated the legal fight between the companies. A court order prevented Apple from terminating a second account linked with Epic Games' Unreal Engine.

On Friday night, Elon Musk unveiled Gertrude, a pig with Neuralink's wireless device surgically implanted in its skull. The demonstration showed the device picking up signals from the pig's snout as it snuffled around its pen. Neuralink's device communicates with brain cells via 1,024 thin electrodes that penetrate the outer layer of the brain. It uses Bluetooth to connect to an outside computing device or to other devices. The FDA has given the device approval for 'breakthrough device' testing. Neuralink will focus on medical applications first. Musk touched on other possibilities such as telepathy, gaming, downloading memories, and more. Images of the device and a video of the presentation are available in the article.

Elon Musk introduced a new surgical robot at the Neuralink presentation on Friday. The robot's underlying technology was created by Neuralink but its design and user experience was built by Woke Studio. It is comprised of three parts: the head, the body, and the base. The head holds the head of the patient and includes a guide for the surgical needle as well as embedded cameras and sensors. The body includes all the parts responsible for motion and the base contains the computer. An image gallery is available in the article.

United Launch Alliance had to abort its NROL-44 mission just three seconds before it was due to start. The rocket's initiators were already covering the vehicle in flames and the crew had already declared lift off, but the engines never ignited. It will take at least a full week before another attempt will be made. The rocket was carrying a secret National Reconnaissance Office payload that is believed to be a signal intelligence satellite. A video of the event is available in the article.

URF Academy is an interactive game design workshop for high school students around the world. This page contains the curriculum guide for the entry-level course. The entry-level course teaches the fundamental elements of game design using a framework and interactive workshops. In the course, students learn core game design concepts and create a paper prototype of a multiplayer game.

Dear PyGui is a Python GUI framework. It uses the immediate mode paradigm which allows for extremely dynamic interfaces. Dear PyGui draws widgets using the computer's GPU and works on Windows 10, macOS, and Linux. It includes plotting/graphing features, themes, a drawing API for custom drawings, and tools for app development. Examples are available in the repository.

A 40-minute documentary posted on YouTube on August 20 shows footage of the 1961 Tsar Bomba hydrogen bomb test, the largest bomb ever detonated on Earth. The footage shows the blast from several angles and is linked in the article. Officially named RDS-220, the Tsar Bomba was 26 feet long and almost seven feet tall. It had a destructive force over 3,000 times larger than the bomb used to destroy Hiroshima. The flash from the blast could be seen 620 miles away.

Many things can be done to make animals live longer, even though we don't know exactly why these things work. These can include changing diets, taking certain drugs, or special therapies. This article discusses research on longevity. It includes two large tables of data, one that shows 95 things that make mice live longer and the other that shows 70 drugs that have the potential to make people live longer. A comprehensive list of references is provided.