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A bitcoin investor who bought a SpaceX flight for himself and three polar explorers blasted off Monday night on the first rocket ride to carry people over the North and South poles.Chun Wang, a Chinese-born entrepreneur, hurtled into orbit from NASAs Kennedy Space Center. SpaceXs Falcon rocket steered southward over the Atlantic, putting the space tourists on a path never flown before in 64 years of human spaceflight.Wang wont say how much he paid Elon Musks SpaceX for the 3 -day ultimate polar adventure.The first leg of their flightfrom Florida to the South Poletook barely a half-hour. From the targeted altitude of some 270 miles (440 kilometers), their fully automated capsule will circle the globe in roughly 1 hours including 46 minutes to fly from pole to pole.Enjoy the views of the poles. Send us some pictures, SpaceX Launch Control radioed once the capsule reached orbit.Wang has already visited the polar regions in person and wants to view them from space. The trip is also about pushing boundaries, sharing knowledge, he said ahead of the flight.Now a citizen of Malta, he took along three guests: Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robotics researcher Rabea Rogge, and Australian polar guide Eric Philips.Mikkelsen, the first Norwegian bound for space, has flown over the poles before, but at a much lower altitude. She was part of the 2019 record-breaking mission that circumnavigated the world via the poles in a Gulfstream jet to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrins moon landing.The crew plans two dozen experimentsincluding taking the first human X-rays in spaceand brought along more cameras than usual to document their journey called Fram2 after the Norwegian polar research ship from more than a century ago.Until now, no space traveler had ventured beyond 65 degrees north and south latitude, just shy of the Arctic and Antarctic circles. The first woman in space, the Soviet Unions Valentina Tereshkova, set that mark in 1963. Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, and other pioneering cosmonauts came almost as close, as did NASA shuttle astronauts in 1990.A polar orbit is ideal for climate and Earth-mapping satellites as well as spy satellites. Thats because a spacecraft can observe the entire world each day, circling Earth from pole to pole as it rotates below.Geir Klover, director of the Fram Museum in Oslo, Norway, where the original polar ship is on display, hopes the trip will draw more attention to climate change and the melting polar caps. He lent the crew a tiny piece of the ships wooden deck that bears the signature of Oscar Wisting, who with Roald Amundsen in the early 1900s became the first to reach both poles.Wang pitched the idea of a polar flight to SpaceX in 2023, two years after U.S. tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman made the first of two chartered flights with Musks company. Isaacman is now in the running for NASAs top job.SpaceXs Kiko Dontchev said late last week that the company is continually refining its training so normal people without traditional aerospace backgrounds can hop in a capsule . . . and be calm about it.Wang and his crew view the polar flight like camping in the wild and embrace the challenge.Spaceflight is becoming increasingly routine and, honestly, Im happy to see that, Wang said via X last week.Wang said hes been counting up his flights since his first one in 2002, flying on planes, helicopters, and hot air balloons in his quest to visit every country. So far, hes visited more than half. He arranged it so that liftoff would mark his 1,000th flight.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Marcia Dunn, AP Aerospace Writer

Hooters of America, LLC, owner of the Hooters restaurant chain, has announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The bankruptcy filing is aimed at helping the company restructure itself so it can transition from a company-owned restaurant chain to a franchisee-owned chain.Heres what you need to know about Hooters bankruptcy and whether any locations will close.Hooters to transition to franchisee-owned modelMost people think of Hooters as just one company, but the restaurant chain currently operates under a hybrid model. Hooters of America, LLC, owns the restaurants brand intellectual property and currently operates numerous Hooters locations in the United States and across the world. The company says it franchises and operates 410 Hooters restaurants in 38 states and 24 countries.However, Hooters of America, LLC, also licenses out its restaurants to franchisees, allowing individuals and companies to operate Hooters stores. One of the largest Hooters franchisees is Hooters Inc., the company owned by the original Hooters cofounders. Hooters Inc. owns and operates over 20 restaurants in America.Like many restaurant chains, Hooters has been struggling financially in recent years, and now the companys owner, Hooters of America, LLC, has decided that the best way forward for the brand is to restructure its business model. That restructuring will see Hooters move from a primarily company-owned model to an entirely franchisee-owned model.Hooters of America, LLC, says that the restructuring will see a group of current franchisees acquire and operate the current company-owned locations. Among those franchisees is Hooters Inc.It should be noted that the bankruptcy filing and the restructuring of the company only affect Hooters locations in America. Its worldwide locations are unaffected by the changes.Are any Hooters locations closing?If youre a fan of Hooters, then there is some good news. The company says that it currently has no definite plans to close any Hooters locations. In a press release announcing the bankruptcy filing, Hooters of America CEO Sal Melilli said, Our renowned Hooters restaurants are here to stay.However, the announcement went on to leave open the possibility that some locations could close. As part of the Companys broader business transformation and planning, Hooters is evaluating the Companys operational footprint as part of its financial restructuring process to position itself to invest its resources in its strongest assets moving forward, the statement read.What this means is that its possible Hooters could decide to close some locations as the bankruptcy process continues.So, is Hooters going out of business?The company has no plans to. Indeed, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, so it can keep its business going and locations open, albeit under a new franchisee-owned model.In a dedicated website for customers who have questions about Hooters bankruptcy, the company says, Hooters is here to stay, and with a stronger financial foundation and streamlined operations on the other side of this process, we will be well-positioned to continue delivering the guest-obsessed hospitality experience and delicious food our valued customers and communities have come to expect well into the future.How long will Hooters restructuring take?Hooters of America, LLC, says it expects to move through the bankruptcy process swiftly. The company defines this as having the goal of emerging from Chapter 11 in about 90 to 120 days.Restaurant chains have had a rough yearHooters of America, LLC isnt the only restaurant company that has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy lately. In the past year, numerous other popular restaurant chains have as well, including Red Lobster,Tijuana Flats,Buca di Beppo, and Roti.While the specifics of each bankruptcy will vary, many restaurants have faced the same problems in recent years. This includes diminishing foot traffic, higher costs, and diners who are cutting back on discretionary spending due to price rises fueled by inflation.

If you've got your smartphone in a protective case, chances are it's plastic. For those that prefer a more natural materialand are willing to leave your phone naked while in useleather goods company Hard Graft offers this $126 Masterpiece iPhone Case, which is about as minimalist as you can get. These are artisan-made in Italy, using full-grain vegetable-tanned leather sourced from Tuscany. The interior is soft and suede-like, and the edges are hand-painted. The case is attractive in a less-is-more kind of way, but I'm not sure how practical it would be over time; leather has a tendency to stretch, and a protective case is no good if your phone can slide out of it. The company says "To avoid stretching the leather, push the bottom of the case, while pulling on the top of your device." In other words, you have to adjust to the object, the object doesn't adjust to you. The things people do for luxury.

SNRGY Studios, a Swedish product development firm of designers and engineers, looked into hobbyist soldering stations. Their research indicated that many peoples' soldering set-ups look like this: SNRGY founder Alexander Osika could relate. "As a maker for many years," he writes, "l've always been frustrated by how traditional soldering stations demand dedicated desk space and how you always waste time when the right tool is not in your hand. This limitation inspired me to create SOLDR, a solution that delivers professional-grade soldering capabilities in a compact, portable format that you can set up on any desk and easily take with you wherever you go." Osika and the design team itemized each item needed in the soldering process and integrated them into a cleaner design. Here's their design process: The frame unfolds to reveal the heat-resistant worksurface and a grid from which accessories can be hung. Though the two plates are made of powder-coated steel, they're only 1mm thick, which keeps the overall weight down to 1,500g (3.3 lbs). There's a carry handle, and with folded dimensions of 255mm x 205mm x 35mm (roughly 10" x 8" x 1.3"), it will also fit into a backpack. Silicone feet on the bottom provide a non-slip grip. A soldering iron holder unfolds and has space for the iron, a soldering sponge and brass wool. The holder will fit most USB-C-powered soldering irons, the company says. The holder can of course be placed on either side, to suit both left- and right-handed users. A powerful LED lighting unit provides 1,000 lumens, allowing you to see what you're doing with clarity. The lighting unit also contains a fan with a replaceable carbon filter to extract the fumes. The fan/lighting unit is USB-C rechargeable and has a 3-hour runtime.A quartet of helping hands are included. They have magnets on both their bases and backs, providing flexibility of placement. Their grips are heat-resistant silicone, providing a good hold, and they can be operated by one finger. A pair of tweezers are included, each with different tips, in a holder. The included wire stripper removes the jacketing in one motion, self-adjusts to different gauges and has adjustable end-stops, providing consistent lengths of exposed wire. A spool unit holds both the solder and the copper braid used to remove solder, with the ends of each emerging from a slot. The holder has been designed for the spools to be easy to pop out and reload. They've also designed a spool for the power cable. A spring-loaded flush cutter is mounted in a bracket. The refillable flux syringe contains a precision-dispensing tip and a leak-proof cap. Another nice detail is that the open-source design can be partially DIY'ed in order to save on cost. While the full kit is up on Kickstarter for $120 (and will retail for $170), if you're able to 3D print the frame and brackets yourself, the price drops down to $75 on Kickstarter (to retail for $110). SOLDR has been a smash hit on Kickstarter; it blew past its measly $6,500 target five minutes after launching, and has currently passed $500,000 in funding, with 8 days left to pledge at press time.

Ever noticed how most packaging designs prioritize function over form? Traditional boxes focus on maximizing space for storage and shipping, resulting in efficient but forgettable containers that fail to capture our imagination. On the flip side, overly elaborate packaging often sacrifices practicality for visual appeal, creating wasteful designs that confuse consumers with unnecessary complexity. This common trade-off between practicality and creativity has long been accepted as unavoidable in the packaging world.But what if packaging could be both memorable and functional? The innovative Big-billed Bird Food concept challenges this false dichotomy by drawing inspiration directly from the creatures its designed to feed. This clever packaging solution demonstrates how thoughtful design can create an emotional connection with consumers while enhancing usability, proving that form and function can coexist harmoniously when designers think outside the conventional box.Designers: Yu Guang, Fu Yu HanThe magic happens when you open the package. As you rotate the upper portion, the box transforms into the shape of a bird with a prominent beak, a visual pun that perfectly echoes the Big-billed brand name. This transformation isnt just visually delightful; it serves a practical purpose by creating an ideal pouring spout for dispensing bird food without spills or waste. The design literally embodies its purpose, with the package becoming a visual representation of the creatures its meant to feed.Despite its creative appearance, the design maintains practical efficiency. Unlike many novelty packages that sacrifice internal capacity for visual appeal, this triangular box holds just as much bird food as a conventional container. The design achieves its distinctive look without complex mechanisms or additional parts that would increase manufacturing costs or environmental impact. Its a reminder that innovation doesnt necessarily require elaborate engineeringsometimes the most elegant solutions are also the simplest.From a marketing perspective, this concept offers significant advantages. The memorable unboxing experience creates a strong brand impression that standard packaging simply cannot match. When consumers interact with the package, theyre not just opening a container. Theyre participating in a delightful moment of discovery as the box transforms into a bird. This emotional connection helps the product stand out in a crowded marketplace where most bird food comes in forgettable, utilitarian packaging that fails to engage the consumer.The Big-billed Bird Food packaging represents a growing trend toward designs that balance creativity with functionality. By taking cues from nature, in this case, the very creatures the product serves, designers can create packaging that resonates on multiple levels. The concept proves that practical considerations like ease of use and storage efficiency dont have to be sacrificed for a memorable design. Instead, when thoughtfully integrated, these elements can enhance each other, creating packaging thats both a joy to use and a pleasure to behold.The post Nature-inspired bird food packaging concept serves up creativity and efficiency first appeared on Yanko Design.

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MacworldIs AI giving you an ulcer? Good news! Soon youll be able to turn to AI for help with that!UhhhnnnnLook out! Apple Intelligence reportedly wants to manage your health.People in the U.S.: Our healthcare system is broken!The market: Maybe giving people wrong answers will fix it.Apparantly, Apple is working on Project Mulberry, which involves a new Health app with a health coach. If the idea of entrusting your health to a chatbot, the current crop of which is anything but confidence-inspiring, sounds like a dystopian nightmare to you, join the club. The club is called humanity. We meet every day. There are no dues but we also tend not to accomplish that much.Before we start popping antacid pills over this concept, though, remember that Apple works on a lot of things that never see the light of day. And its not like the companys current track record in delivering on AI projects is any better than the Macalopes at learning programming or cleaning the basement out or saving for retirement orOkay, look, you know what? This isnt about the Macalope. This is about Apple and Tim Cooks desire to make health care a signature feature of the companys products:Development is now full steam ahead, with a release due as early as iOS 19.4. That update is scheduled for spring or summer of next year.Mark Gurman, BloombergGiven that Apple has had such a hard time delivering a more conversational version of Siri, as early as seems to be doing a lot of work in that sentence.The company is currently training the AI agent with data from physicians that it has on staff.Mark Gurman, BloombergThat is, at least, a lot better than just reading the entire internet and regurgitating whatever answer happened to trend to the top on Reddit, possibly from noted health expert picklerick69. One of the most obvious problems with the current crop of AI models is that none of the companies working on them wants to do the hard work of creating defined data sets that route out the bon mots of the picklerick69s of the world, no matter how pithy they may be. Ugh, its so much easier if we just let it read the entire internet, why cant we just do thaaaaaat? they complain as they idly toss lit matches into piles of $10,000 bills.IDGYou dont need an AI chat doctor to tell you that it would be seriously detrimental to your health to hold your breath until Apple delivers on this rumor.[Apple is] also seeking to find a major doctor personality to serve as a host of sorts for the new service, which some within Apple have tentatively dubbed Health+.Mark Gurman, BloombergAI-delivered healthcare sounds more like Health- to the Macalope but what does he know. Best of luck to Apple in finding a spokesdoctor who doesnt raise the ire of one group or another and best of luck to Apple and said spokesdoctor on surviving the resulting landslide of litigation waiting for them the second it goes wrong.CNNs Allison Morrow recently keyed a spot-on piece about AI for CNN that gets to why the Macalope does not believe for a second that an Apple Intelligence-powered doctor will be arriving any time soon. Largely in response to pie-eyed AI enthusiasm of The New York Times Kevin Roose, Morrow notes that while AI is great for making suggestions (which is why its so good for tasks like coding), it is nowhere near ready to be a true digital assistant.If its 100% accurate, its a fantastic time saver. If it is anything less than 100% accurate, its useless. Because even if theres a 2% chance its wrong, theres a 2% chance youre stranding mom at the airportAllicon Morrow, CNNNow apply those same numbers to health care and you see how there might be a bit of a problem. Looks like you have eczema. Or maybe a flesh-eating disease. Could be that, too. Hey, would you like to see some images of people in your contacts list as cats?Apples efforts in health under Tim Cook have been thoughtfully executed and provided solid value to customers (even arguably saving lives), if they have fallen short of all the companys goals. Adding an AI doctor to the mix had best be done in the same deliberative manner, which means taking it slow.