Good morning. It’s almost the end of the week and we’ve got five things to get you up to speed on in the world of tech.
1. Sun Cable is in trouble
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that the ambitious Sun Cable project, that would have seen a 4,200km seafloor cable run from the Northern Territory to Singapore, powered by a 12,000-hectare large solar farm (with between 36 and 42GWh of storage), has come into trouble. The main investors, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest, have been unable to agree on a path forward for the business, according to the report. The business has collapsed into administration, due to an “absence of alignment with the objectives of all shareholders”.
2. Samsung Galaxy Unpacked is locked in
Samsung has announced the details of its next Galaxy Unpacked event. The launch event will happen in-person on Thursday, February 2, at 5 a.m. AEDT in downtown San Francisco. It will be live-streamed on YouTube and Samsung’s website. We’re expecting that what will be unpacked is Samsung’s next flagship, the Galaxy S23. If it’s anything like last year, three models will be offered, including a standard-sized Galaxy S23, a larger Galaxy S23+, and an “ultimate package” with a stylus and extra camera sensor called the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Bring your epic moments into the spotlight. Join us at #SamsungUnpacked, on February 1, 2023.
Learn more: https://t.co/D6nxwskXj1 pic.twitter.com/jllmsDvWmD
— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) January 10, 2023
3. Webb space telescope finds its first exoplanet
The incredibly powerful Webb Space Telescope — which has fed us dazzling images of the cosmos since July — has officially found its first exoplanet, a world that is approximately the same size as Earth. The planet is named LHS 475 b, and it’s 41 light years away with a diameter that is 99 per cent of Earth’s. LHS 475 b’s presence was suspected by researchers who observed hints of the planet using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, but they were able to confirm its existence with Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph.
4. Bored apes try to get out of legal proceedings
The company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT range (Yuga Labs) is trying to get out of legal proceedings against someone who complained that the apes were racist (and made his own range of apes), according to crypto researcher Molly White. It’s been a tumultuous year for crypto-adjacent companies, with this just the latest in the ‘web3 is going great‘ saga.
lol. so the bored apes guys sued the guy who made copycat apes because he says bored apes are racist.
and now the bored apes guys are realizing they will have to testify under oath in the lawsuit they filed and are trying (and failing) to get out of it.https://t.co/q8dwOdEtH4 pic.twitter.com/dwWC124Lxs
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) January 10, 2023
5. Breathe in the microplastics (or maybe don’t)
Researchers in Australia have uncovered that people are likely exposed to thousands of airborne microplastics a year, primarily while indoors. The research team found that the average human exposure of airborne microplastics as 2,674 particles per person per year, with indoor rates between one and 28 times higher than outdoors in Sri Lanka. This comes just a week after it was found that microplastics were flowing through eight freshwater streams in South Australia, raising the alarm on health concerns surrounding the particles.
BONUS ITEM: As an animation lover, I’m so happy to see Guillermo del Toro win a golden globe for Pinocchio.
Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre for kids, it’s a medium.”
– Guillermo del Toro
See the full winners list: https://t.co/WqofoWwwhV pic.twitter.com/29nrZy89LV
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 11, 2023
Have a lovely day.