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Robots will help maintain the largest FAST radio telescope Robots will help maintain the largest FAST radio telescope

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Robots will help maintain the largest FAST radio telescope

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The Chinese authorities have announced the verification and approval of several “smart” robots to serve the Chinese radio telescope FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope) with a diameter of 500 meters.

The main task of these robots will be to assess the condition of the cables and pulleys supporting the FAST receiving cabin (a structure that collects radio data received by a dish); automation of maintenance of laser targets and drives on the reflector; monitoring of radio interference and all-weather maintenance of the cabin with receivers weighing 30 tons.

Robots will help maintain the largest FAST radio telescope

Top view of the dish of the FAST radio telescope. Source: NAO/FAST

Since the cabin is 140 meters above the dish, maintenance is a challenge, and with a dish 500 meters in diameter, maintenance of the retaining cables is no less difficult.

One of the most important tasks of the new robots, according to engineers, will be to replace special sensors in the dish that transmit radio signals to the receiver. These sensors are built into the aluminum reflectors that make up the dish and can be damaged by human handling due to the heavy weight. The use of lightweight robots significantly reduces this problem.

Robots will help maintain the largest FAST radio telescope

Workers during FAST repair work. Source: NOEL CELIS/AFP

Keeping the telescope and its components operational means long interruptions in data collection, and demand for its use has been high since China opened FAST to international researchers in 2020. Chief Engineer Jiang Peng is confident that the introduction of smart robots will improve the operational safety of the telescope and extend its observation time, thereby increasing its efficiency. This, in turn, will lead to more scientific data.

FAST is located in Guizhou Province in southwest China, in a karst hollow, and covers an area equal to 30 football fields. Since its launch in 2016, the telescope has helped discover hundreds of new pulsars. It is the largest radio telescope on Earth, and since the closure of the Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico in December 2020, its role has become even more significant.

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Laptops

Microsoft is preparing a lightweight version of Windows 12 for very cheap PCs and laptops

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Microsoft is preparing a lightweight version of Windows 12 for

Microsoft is indeed working on a “web-centric” version of the next generation of the Windows operating system, commonly known as Windows 12. This was reported by the thematic resource WindowsLatest, citing several sources close to Microsoft and its industry partners.

Microsoft is preparing a lightweight version of Windows 12 for very cheap PCs and laptops

The cloud or web-based version of Windows 12 is similar in operating principles to the already well-known ChromeOS operating system from Google, which is used mainly on school and student PCs and laptops that are characterized by accessibility.

As WindowsLatest notes, the cloud version of Windows 12 is not intended to replace the traditional proprietary OS on desktop computers and could be the “true” answer to Chrome OS. This is Microsoft’s attempt to create a more modern, modular and lightweight version of Windows for low-cost educational devices.

Microsoft is already building a development team for the next generation of Windows. This is confirmed by job listings appearing online. It also notes that the “next generation of Windows” will appear in 2024.

As WindowsLatest learned, the Microsoft Edge browser and a new artificial intelligence system will be the center of the first web version of Windows 12.

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Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro declassified before announcement. Almost all main characteristics are confirmed

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Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro declassified before announcement Almost

Well-known insider Evan Blass published a comparison table with the parameters of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. It looks like this table was taken from Google’s website or from its presentation materials for the announcement of new smartphones.

Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro declassified before announcement.  Almost all main characteristics are confirmed

Not all the characteristics are there, but you can see that all the latest leaks have been confirmed. The new smartphones will receive SoC Tensor G3, IP68 water protection, 50-megapixel main cameras, and the Pixel 8 Pro will be able to measure temperature.

Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro declassified before announcement.  Almost all main characteristics are confirmed

Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro declassified before announcement.  Almost all main characteristics are confirmed

Also, the older model will receive an ultra-wide-angle camera with a resolution of 48 megapixels with autofocus (for the Pixel 8 it will be 12 megapixels without autofocus) and a telephoto camera with a resolution of 48 megapixels with five times optical and 30 times hybrid zoom.

The older model will be available in black, blue and beige, and the younger model in black, gold and gray-green.

Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro declassified before announcement.  Almost all main characteristics are confirmed

There are also images of the new Pixel Watch 2, but there are no specifications listed for them.

Evan Blass is a reliable informant; he has previously made numerous true leaks. So, at one time he published exact images of Sony Xperia 5 II, Galaxy Note20, Galaxy Z Fold 2, Galaxy Tab S7, Galaxy Watch 3 and Samsung Galaxy Buds Live before their official premiere.

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Laptops

Nokia has returned to the smartphone market? The company has released the HHRA501x and IS540.1 devices, but it calls them industrial laptops

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Nokia has returned to the smartphone market The company has

Nokia has, in a sense, returned to the smartphone market. New products called Nokia HHRA501x and Nokia IS540.1 were released by Finnish Nokia, and not by HBM Global. True, these are not exactly smartphones.

Nokia has returned to the smartphone market?  The company has released the HHRA501x and IS540.1 devices, but it calls them industrial laptops

Nokia itself in a press release calls the devices industrial portable computers. The devices are designed for use in harsh industrial environments and are well protected – these are not everyday consumer solutions.

In addition to protection from water and dust (IP68) and compliance with the MIL-STD-810H standard, the new products offer touch-sensitive screens with gloves, slots for two SIM cards and eSIM support, replaceable batteries, EMBMS support, a 16-pin connector for connecting accessories and much more.

Nokia has returned to the smartphone market?  The company has released the HHRA501x and IS540.1 devices, but it calls them industrial laptops

Nokia has returned to the smartphone market?  The company has released the HHRA501x and IS540.1 devices, but it calls them industrial laptops

More familiar technical parameters are not indicated on the site, but third-party resources say that the Nokia IS540.1 has a six-inch screen, Qualcomm QCM6490 SoC, 8/128 GB of memory, a 48-megapixel camera and a 4400 mAh battery. All this runs on Android 12.

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