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The world is a very busy place, and it’s hard to stay on top of everything. Infoplease has got you covered. Here are the Science & Technology news events you need to know so far for November 2023.
- Canadian Government Bans WeChat From All Official Devices
- The Euclid Telescope Sends Back Its First Set Of Images From The Deep Dark Universe
- Video Chat Website, Omegle, Announces Permanent Shutdown
- YouTube Is Working On AI Technology That Can Clone Celebrities’ Voices
- Broadcom Completes The $69m Acquisition Of VMware
Canadian Government Bans WeChat From All Official Devices
Photo Source: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Tuesday, October 31, 2023 – Canada has stated that WeChat would be blocked on government devices. WeChat is one of the world’s most popular applications. It is widely used in China, as well as throughout Southeast Asia and among Chinese expatriate populations.
Western governments have had increasing concerns about its security, primarily because the program may be used to spy on users; nevertheless, there is no proof that government information has been hacked via WeChat.
Canada is also pursuing action against the Russian cyber-security firm Kaspersky. Users will have the applications uninstalled and will be unable to download them in the future.
Even though TikTok has garnered a lot of attention for possible security problems, many security experts feel WeChat is a bigger threat; and that it only receives less attention since government personnel in North America do not utilize it as much as TikTok.
Source: BBC
The Euclid Telescope Sends Back Its First Set Of Images From The Deep Dark Universe
Photo Source: AP Photo/John Raoux
Tuesday, November 7, 2023 – The £850m Euclid Space Telescope by the European Space Agency had been on a mission to explore the dark Universe which makes up about 95% of the entire cosmic space. The Telescope is now sending back its first set of clear images from its exploration.
The aim of this exploration according to researchers at the ESA is to understand the nature of these dark matters in the universe and to create a 3D model of the cosmic world. As far as Euclid is concerned, it can capture the dark matter and the surrounding galaxies and may capture up to 100,000 galaxies in a single snapshot.
Using infrared and visible light, Euclid will observe approximately 8 billion galaxies spanning 36% of the night sky over the next six years. Scientists will additionally observe the motion of galaxies. This will enable researchers to observe the operation of dark energy in the early universe for the very first time.
Source: The Guardian
Video Chat Website, Omegle, Announces Permanent Shutdown
Photo Source: AP Photo/Richard Drew
Thursday, November 9, 2023 – A popular website for live video conversation Omegle is ceasing operations after fourteen years due to allegations of harassment from its users. Children and adolescents flocked to the service, which facilitated online conversations with individuals at random, as its prevalence increased throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Brooks founded Omegle at the age of 18 in 2009. He defined it as “the concept of meeting new people reduced to its platonic essence.” Monthly, the site receives approximately 73 million visitors.
Omegle has also generated considerable controversy, with users recounting distressing experiences of predatory and sexual conduct that they encountered on the platform.
Mr. Brooks and his supporters contend that the closure of Omegle signifies the erosion of internet liberties and the end of an era, given that Moderation’s involvement on the website was notably minimal during a period when legislators and society are increasingly demanding more from internet service providers.
Source: BBC
YouTube Is Working On AI Technology That Can Clone Celebrities’ Voices
Photo Source: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
Thursday, November 16, 2023 – YouTube has unveiled an artificial intelligence application that allows users to mimic music singers. The Dream Track experimental feature allows users to create short songs by describing attributes such as lyrical content and mood.
Charli XCX, Troye Sivan, T-Pain, and Sia are among the nine singers who have agreed to have their voices “cloned” by the program, and the feature is only currently available to 100 users.
The launch of this feature comes barely 24 hours after YouTube announced that it would begin alerting users when they are watching an artificial intelligence-generated video. People will also be able to request the removal of videos that utilize AI to impersonate an identifiable person, according to them.
Although Dream Track is being developed with the consent of the participating Artists, there are still controversies and pending lawsuits because the technology training involves the use of copyrighted materials.
Source: BBC
Broadcom Completes The $69m Acquisition Of VMware
Photo Source: AP Photo/Paul Sakuma
Thursday, November 23, 2023 – Broadcom has finalized its $69 billion (£55 billion) acquisition of cloud computing giant VMware, completing one of the largest takeover deals in the technology sector. Before receiving final approval from China, the merger was scrutinized by regulators all around the world, and there were fears that it would be harmed by U.S.-China relations.
Hock Tan, Broadcom’s president and CEO, stated that they were eager to bring their teams together to establish “the world’s leading infrastructure technology company.” They intend to work together to establish private and hybrid cloud environments where users may execute apps from anywhere.
To finalize the transaction, the company has actively pursued and successfully obtained legal approvals for the merger in many jurisdictions, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, Israel, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. According to the firm, VMWare shares would no longer be traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Source: BBC
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