TLDR 2021-09-23

Facebook's new CTO 💻, Apple hunts leakers 📱, multi-cellular life 🦠

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Big Tech & Startups

Surface Laptop Studio is Microsoft’s new powerful flagship laptop (3 minute read)

Microsoft has announced the Surface Laptop Studio, a totally redesigned flagship laptop with a display that pulls forward to transform it into a tablet. The 14.4-inch display supports up to 120Hz and Dolby Vision. It sits on a flexible hinge that allows the laptop to transition between three modes: laptop, stage, and studio. The Surface Laptop Studio will ship on October 5 with prices starting at $1,599.99. More details about the device are available in the article.

Facebook names a new CTO with a major focus on hardware (2 minute read)

Facebook has promoted Andrew Bosworth, the current head of its hardware division, to the role of chief technology officer. The current CTO Mike Schroepfer will become a senior fellow next year. Bosworth will continue to lead Facebook Reality Labs while also assuming responsibility for Facebook's broader software engineering and artificial intelligence efforts. Facebook is still relatively new to selling hardware, but it has significantly ramped up its efforts in recent years under Bosworth's watch.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

Single Cells Evolve Large Multicellular Forms in Just Two Years (12 minute read)

Researchers were able to evolve single-celled yeast into complex multicellular organisms in just a short period of time by growing them in environments that favored clumpy growth. The yeast would evolve to stay together to survive the selection pressure exerted by the scientists. Further experiments revealed that removing the ability for the yeast to use oxygen resulted in massive clusters that could be viewed with the naked eye. The team continues to evolve the yeast to see whether they can develop sophisticated differences in their tissues.

Winged microchip is smallest-ever human-made flying structure (6 minute read)

Scientists have developed winged microchips that can spin through the air like a helicopter. The microfliers can be equipped with sensors, power sources, antennas, and memory. They can be dropped from large buildings or planes to track environmental factors at different altitudes. The design is based on the maple leaf's whirling propeller seeds. The chips are created with electronics that can dissolve in water after they are no longer needed, so they will naturally degrade and disappear over time. Pictures and videos of the microfliers are available in the article.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

Hippo (GitHub Repo)

Hippo is a WebAssembly Platform-as-a-Service. It makes it easy to deploy and serve WebAssembly applications and services at scale. Hippo provides a CLI for uploading releases or preparing packages for local development. It also provides a web interface for users to register new accounts, access applications, and create environments for testing.

Motion One (Website)

Motion One is an animation library built on the Web Animations API. It is small and responsive, using hardware-accelerated animations where possible. Motion One features keyframes, timelines, paths, and more. A quick start guide is available.
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Miscellaneous

Inside the World’s Most Exclusive (and Strange)

The Alternative Propulsion Energy Conference (APEC) places scientists and engineers from various organizations together with fringe theorists and garage hobbyists with the goal of understanding gravity. It brings people together from diverse backgrounds to discuss how to reverse the effects of gravity. Open discussion on how to reverse gravity has drifted to the outer fringes of pseudoscience, and many researchers refuse to discuss the topic due to the risk to their reputations. This article takes a look at how APEC started and covers some of the topics discussed at the conference.

Apple CEO Tim Cook in Leaked Memo: 'We Are Doing Everything in Our Power' to Identify Leakers (3 minute read)

A recently leaked memo from Apple CEO Tim Cook warned employees about leaking company information. It states that the company is doing everything in its power to identify the leakers and that people who leak confidential information don't belong in the company. Apple has served various leakers with stern warnings from lawyers in recent months. A copy of the leaked memo is available in the article.
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