TLDR 2021-04-12

This article follows a Starlink user as they set up their new service. The antenna needs to be mounted in a location that has a 100° view of the northern sky. While the provided cables felt rugged, the router design is impractical. The satellite dish uses two internal motors to orientate itself to get the best signal. User locations are assigned, and the system can detect if the dish is too far from its expected location.

Neuralink released a video last week that showed a macaque monkey using wireless neural interface tech to play video games. The company has boasted about its tests on primates before, but this is the first time it has been demonstrated in public. Scientists have been using primates to test neural interfaces for decades. Neuralink's wireless interface is a significant advance in neural interface technology. The video is available in the article.

CRISPRoff is a new gene-editing technology that can control gene expression while leaving the sequence of the DNA unchanged. Using CRISPRoff, scientists can silence the vast majority of genes without any DNA damage in a way that can be reversed. The changes are passed down through cell divisions. CRISPRoff works on most of the genes in the human genome, even for some in regions where the scientists didn't think the technology would work. The technology could lead to many therapies and help scientists learn much more about the function of the human genome.

Weilan, a tech firm based in China, has developed a robodog similar to Boston Dynamics' Spot robot. The robot is the fastest on the market, moving at a speed of almost 9 mph. AlphaDog uses 5G technology to make it operate autonomously. The company sold more than 1,800 units in its first month of sales. Weilan hopes to eventually enable the robots to help guide the visually impaired. A short video made by Weilan to introduce AlphaDog to the world is available.

Layout Parser is a tool for document image layout analysis tasks. It uses deep learning to analyze complex documents and process hierarchical structures in layouts. Layout Parser can be used to extract information from documents and convert the output into structured data.

This repository contains a collection of cool web page effects. The effects can be simply inserted into any page. Categories include mouse effects, background decorations, image effects, SVG animations, and more.

There are many ways to start a new country. The internet provides us with a new way of bringing people together. It is not difficult for millions of people to gather together anymore. If millions of people build a network with a genuine sense of national consciousness, an integrated cryptocurrency, and a plan to crowdfund territory around the world, it would be possible to build a new type of network state.

A nuclear facility in Iran was hit by a terrorist attack after new centrifuges used for enriching uranium were inaugurated at the site. The centrifuges represent a breach of Iran's part in a deal made in 2015 with the US, which only allows Iran to produce and store limited quantities of uranium enriched up to 3.67%. Trump’s administration had abandoned the deal in 2018, but Biden’s administration is currently in the process of reviving it. There were no casualties or leaks due to the incident. Some sources have blamed Israel for the attacks.