Perhaps one of the most resounding and uplifting images of U.S. politicians these past tumultuous years has been that of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Even well into his nineties, he banged a hammer, getting up on roofs, building houses, all while wearing blue dungarees like Bruce Springsteen. Carter was a longtime volunteer at Habitat for Humanity and a dogged environmentalist which did much set the country straight toward a green future. Carter died this weekend at age 100. News of the former presidents death was confirmed by The Carter Center. The 2002 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate passed at his home surrounded by family in Plains, Georgia, making him the longest-living U.S. president.My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love, Chip Carter, the presidents son, said in a statement. My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.Carter volunteered for Habitat for Humanity well into his nineties. (Courtesy Habitat for Humanity)James Earl Carter Jr. was born in 1924 in Plains, Georgia. In 1946, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. He married his wife, Rosalynn Smith, that same year.In 1953, Carter left the U.S. Navy to manage his fathers peanut farm. In 1963, he successfully ran for a Georgia State Senate seat. Carter operated the peanut farm while serving in the state senate. He subsequently served as Governor of Georgia between 1971 and 1975. Carter was elected U.S. President in 1977. In 1978, under Carters tutelage, Congress authorized the Solar Photovoltaic Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1978. This legislation granted time and resources for scientists to explore solar irradiance (sunlight) as an alternative to fossil fuels.Leading the ChargeCarter said he wanted to harness the power of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling dependence on foreign oil. That same year, May 3 forever became Sun Day. Carter didnt mince any words when he said his goal was to wage the moral equivalent of war on the energy crisis at hand. This pioneering investment was made famous when, in 1979, Carter had 32 photovoltaic panels installed on the West Wings roof. These same photovoltaic panels however were famously taken down by his successor, Ronald Reagan, after moving in. (Ironically, George H. W. Bush reinstalled solar panels at the White House in 2003 to help heat the pool, albeit quietly, and then Barack Obama added more to the roof in 2013.)The Carter Presidential Center was built in 1986 and designed by Henri Vatable Jova, Stanley Daniels, and John Busby, reputable Atlanta architects. (Nicolas Henderson/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)While in office, Carter ensured that more than a dozen new parks were added to the National Park Services purview. Carter placed special emphasis on nature reserves in Alaska, where oil tycoons sought to plunder. In 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act was approved, putting much land in Alaska under public management.Habitat for Humanity WorkCarter lost to Reagan in 1981. After, The Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project was founded in 1984 as an offshoot of Habitat for Humanity. That program started in Georgia as a one-off, but eventually spread out into 15 countries around the world, becoming an annual affair. The program ultimately built and renovated 4,390 homes. Its gathered more than 104,000 volunteers.We are deeply saddened by President Carters passing, and our prayers are with the Carter family, Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, said in a statement. President and Mrs. Carter began volunteering with Habitat for Humanity near their home in southwest Georgia more than 40 years ago, and soon brought worldwide attention to the need for decent and affordable housing. Reckford continued: We are grateful for the incredible impact the Carters have had on Habitat and on the families who have benefited from their shining example. The Carters put Habitat for Humanity on the map, and their legacy lives on in every family we serve around the world.In the early 1980s, construction started on the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta. A local firm ran by Henri Vatable Jova, Stanley Daniels, and John Busby designed the building together with Hawaii-based Lawton, Umemura, Yamamoto. In 1986, the same year the Carter Presidential Center completed, Reagan shut down research into renewable energy. Reagan also prohibited tax breaks for property owners who installed photovoltaic panels and wind turbines. These measures were praised by The Heritage Foundation, but critics argued Reagans antics put the U.S. back on track to be fully dependent on foreign countries for dirty, nonrenewable energy.Peace and PoliticsCarter stayed politically activethroughout the 1990s.In 2002, he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. The committee bestowed the award upon Carter for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter (Courtesy Habitat for Humanity)In 2006, Carter strayed away from his contemporaries in U.S. politics when he used the word Apartheid to describe the situation in Israel and Palestine when speaking to Charlie Rose.Critics like Rashid Khalidi argued however in his book The 100 Years War on Palestine (which President Biden was recently seen brandishing) that the 1978 Camp David Accordswhich Carter helped broker between Israel and Egyptdid much to destabilize the Levant, and ultimately hurt Palestinians.Carter spent much of his nineties volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, and continuing to advise global leaders. His wife, Rosalynn Carter, died on November 19, 2023.Today, Carter is survived by his four children, 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.

STAR/BUTTERWORTH. Photo by Ronaldas Buozis. All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permissionBeams of Light Lance Monumental Architecture in Jun Ongs Astral InstallationsDecember 30, 2024ArtDesignKate MothesIn artist Jun Ongs luminous installations, rays of light pierce through concrete, stone, and steel. In his ongoing Stars series features LED strips that intersect with the human-built environment in monumental, illuminated geometries.Ongs latest piece, HALO, relies on an existing architectural structure to provide a site-specific framework. Beams of light appear to permeate stone and concrete, simultaneously contained by the buildings yet impervious to their solidity.HALO. Photo by YueJin Art MuseumExploring themes of time and space, HALO radiates from within the Xiu De Bai Pavilion, a former Buddhist temple in Yan Shui, Tainan, Taiwan. Built in 1919, the temple has history tracing back to the Qing dynasty and was pivotal in supporting the community, Ong says.Light in Buddhism is an important metaphor for enlightenmentthe awakening or the understanding of truth, says a statement from YueJin Art Museum. Just as Buddha, in addition to sacred figures in other religions, is often portrayed with a bright aura or halo around the head or body, Ong envisions the burst of light as a means of illuminating our surroundings and our past.HALO builds upon a work titled STAR/BUTTERWORTH, which he installed in Penang, Malaysia, in 2015. The artist was inspired by the idiosyncratic designs of Buckminster Fuller, like his geodesic domes, and M.C. Eschers optical illusions. He says, Using only two materialstensile steel cables and LED stripsI manipulated light and architecture to create a colossal object that seemingly burst out of the building like a glitch in time.Detail of HALOFor HALO, Ong created a starburst form that can also be interpreted as a ring of light, reimagining a 2022 piece called STAR/KL, which he installed in brutalist interior in Kuala Lumpur. I hope that the Star series continues to emerge across different cities and cultures and possibly also in interesting terrains, like caves, the desert, or even forests, Ong says.Commissioned byfor the 2024 Yuejin Art Museum Festival, HALO remains on view through February 16. If youre in The Netherlands, you can also see Ongs piece POLARIS on view as part of the Amsterdam Light Festival through January 19. Find more on the artists website and Instagram.Detail of STAR/BUTTERWORTH. Photo by Ronaldas BuozisPOLARISDetail of HALOHALO. Photo by YueJin Art MuseumPOLARIS. Photo by Merce WouthuysenDetail of STAR/BUTTERWORTH. Photo by Ronaldas BuozisDetail of HALO. Photo by YueJin Art MuseumNext article

ZDNET's key takeaways The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is available now for $50 on Amazon. It's a solid fitness tracker with great battery life that covers the basics in a slim form factor. It might not fit everyone, and the entry-level tracking data lacks the deep, personalized insights you'll find on more expensive devices. View now at Amazon If you want all the features of a smartwatch but can't commit to a big, bulky watch face, you might be interested in a smart band. Xiaomi's ninth-generation popular fitness band has so many new features that it's basically on par with any full-fledged smartwatch, just in a smaller, lighter form factor.The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 features a compact design with a slim watch face and a bright, 1.62-inch AMOLED display that's packed with almost all the health-tracking features you'd find on any other smartwatch, with fantastic battery life to boot.Also: One of my favorite Android smartwatches isn't from Google or OnePlus (and it's on sale)In fact, Xiaomi advertises this device as having up to 21 days of battery life on a single charge, although this number goes down based on how many metrics you monitor at once. That said, the battery life is still pretty fantastic, and even with everything turned on, I was able to get a little over a week of constant monitoring without having to charge it. details View at Amazon So how does the Smart Band 9 differ from a smartwatch? Well, the lines are a little blurred. Basically, it can do all the basic things any smartwatch can do but without the quality-of-life features found on higher-end smartwatches and without deeper, more personalized data insights. Xiaomi does have a line of smartwatches, after all, and naturally, there is some delineation between the feature sets.The Smart Band 9 has the basics covered, though. It's accurate at tracking most physical activities and comes with over 150+ sports modes, heart rate and blood oxygen tracking, stress tracking, and, of course, sleep tracking. Additionally, it pairs with your phone to support the most useful connectivity features, such as notifications for emails, texts, calls, etc. It does not have GPS, however, nor does it feature a mic or a speaker. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETThe device also requires some manual tuning that other, more premium devices would probably recognize automatically. By default, many of the continuous monitoring features are switched off, and to get the most out of the device, you'll need to manually turn on the features you want.The band coordinates with the Mi Fitness app for Android or iOS for the complete experience. The app is straightforward enough to cover the basics but isn't overly comprehensive. All the previously mentioned tracking metrics are accessible in the app, which is clean and easy to navigate.Also:How to buy Casio's tiny digital watch for your finger in the USThe Smart Band 9 uses the Mi Fitness three-band rainbow design as its core daily tracking system. It shows your calories burned, steps taken, and daily movement. As you do all three of those things, the bands fill, marking your progress. This concept is used by all manner of wearables, but this one features one of the cleaner designs I've seen.In fact, Mi Fitness is one of the more accessible apps for folks who aren't well-versed in fitness tracking lingo or are new to the game. It does a good job of spacing out the data so as not to bombard you with numbers and metrics. For that reason, this would also make a great tracker for kids or teens.Xiaomi says that the Smart Band 9 features a tracking sensor that is 16% more accurate than the previous version. Still, its accuracy sometimes strayed for me, particularly with the more complex metrics. For example, it doesn't seem to catch when I wake up at night, even if I get out of bed.Nevertheless, the sleep tracking is about on par with other smartwatches, providing a breakdown of how long you were in each sleep stage, as well as your average heart rate, blood oxygen level, and breathing rate (as long as you turn those features on). Its lightweight and thin form factor also makes it very easy to sleep with, so if wearing a chunky watch to bed feels weird to you, this might be a good option.Also:The best Android smartwatches in 2024: Expert tested and reviewedThe Smart Band 9 doesn't have some of the deeper insights that more comprehensive sleep trackers like the Oura ring have, but it will interpret the basics for you and add the data to your overall Vitality Score. This number is the Mi Fitness' holistic health assessment metric that looks at the last seven days' worth of data to provide an overarching score based on your age, weight, and activity level.Xiaomi makes some wearable accessories that connect with its smartwatches and smart bands to provide more accurate data. For example, the Running Clip for the Smart Band 9 is only $12 and clips to your shoe for deeper, more accurate tracking. You just switch the band into running mode to access run cadence, stride length, landing time, landing mode, and more. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETLet's break down some of the things I don't love about the Smart Band 9. First, the fit is not exactly perfect. Because the device is so small, it tends to lose its optimal position on the wrist. There were multiple instances where I looked down, only to see the sensor light flashing on the bottom of the device, indicating it doesn't have skin contact. If you're a lean person or have smaller wrists, the Smart Band 9 might have a little more trouble positioning itself and lose contact from time to time, especially if you're moving around. The way around that is to just wear it very tight to your wrist, which may or may not work for you.Also: This Android smartwatch undercuts what Samsung and Google offer, and I prefer it more tooAlso, the screen is small. Navigating the menus is functional, but if you have big hands or trouble seeing the tiny 1.62-inch display, the Smart Band 9 might be a little too compact. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETWhen I tested it out during a HIIT workout, the transition from moving around to the little display took some getting used to. Similarly, if you're mid-run, it's very difficult to navigate. This is a device you set up before running around.ZDNET's buying adviceThe Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is a great entry-level device that can do almost anything a smartwatch can do, just in a more basic form. If you're looking for accurate, actionable insights across specific metrics, you'll want to invest in a premium smartwatch. Still, the Smart Band 9 and the accompanying Mi Fitness app are well-designed and accessible, great for kids, teens, and folks just starting their fitness journeys.The device itself is small and thin, and because of that, might not fit well on certain people, and the display, while very bright, is about half the size of a smartwatch. Its small size makes it very easy to wear to bed for sleep tracking, and it provides the basic roundup of sleep tracking metrics.If you're looking for a wearable that can do most of the same things but has a proper watch face, check out the Amazfit Bip 5, which is only about $18 more expensive.Featured reviews

Scaling physical qubits reliably is a step forward. Now comes the hard part: actual circuits.

ZDNET's key takeaways The Asus ProArt P16 is available now, starting at $1,900.It pairs powerful hardware with a suite of customizable options designed for creatives.The deep personalization requires engagement from the user, the huge trackpad won't be everyone's cup of tea, and the ultra-glossy display tends to glare. $1,899.99 at Best Buy Asus' ProArt series consists of sleek laptops with high-end hardware for creatives. At the top of the line is the new AMD-powered ProArt P16, which exudes power and performance with a sleek, all-black form factor, giant trackpad with Asus' proprietary DialPad, and brilliant display.I recently had a chance to go hands-on with the ProArt P16 and found it to be a highly capable machine with a lot of raw power, but one that also requires some customization and optimization to get the most out of it. Before I touch on that, let's take a look at the hardware.Also: This Asus laptop is my go-to MacBook alternative - and it's on sale at Best BuyThe ProArt P16 comes with 32GB of memory and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, a 12-core, 24-thread chip with a 50 TOP NPU. This strong core powers the device's creative endeavors, whether video editing, using advanced animation or graphic design programs or simply multitasking with a handful of different apps and dozens of browser tabs. details View at Best Buy One of the best parts of this laptop, however, is its display. The 500-nit, 3840 x 2400 resolution AMOLED touchscreen display delivers a crisp, bright picture and has a glossy, premium coating. Powered by the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, it features DLSS 3 (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and support for ray tracing.Although it is certainly capable of delivering a good gaming experience, it's held back a bit by the 60Hz refresh rate, something that is part of the give-and-take of the device's overall feature set. Asus' decision to limit the refresh rate is a little disappointing, but it does keep the price point low and solidifies its intended use case as a creator-first machine.Also: The best laptops for graphic designers: Expert tested and reviewedIn that vein, it comes with a stylus that feels precise and responsive, especially on the smooth, glossy display, which feels like a blank canvas beckoning you to sketch on. The pen on this laptop is good enough for artists and designers to use seriously, as all too often, they're either too laggy or too barebones to justify using. Here, however, it's snappy and responsive and comes with various capabilities that work in tandem with the DialPad to power customizable, single-click actions.I also appreciate that this laptop isnota 2-in-1. Convertible laptops are often forced to switch to tablet mode if you want to use them with a stylus, as pressing on the display in laptop mode pushes it down unless you're supporting it with your hand.The ProArt P16 was designed with this in mind, as the display locks into place at its furthest angle. Instead of folding back from the pressure of the pen, it stays upright with a generous degree of bend. Just keep in mind that pushing back too hard will result in the front of the device lifting off of the desk.Also: This Asus has one of the best OLED displays I've seen, and I've tested hundreds of laptopsThe Asus DialPad is another unique feature that creatives will love to tinker with. If you haven't seen it before, it's a small, raised wheel on the trackpad that can be customized to activate different settings, like changing brush sizes in Photoshop or cutting, pausing, or rewinding in CapCut or Premiere. The DialPad's small physical size makes activating and scrolling through the "wheel" fast and easy, especially for common features. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETMy only gripe about the DialPad was that it took a minute to set up. It came disabled on the laptop out of the box, requiring me to activate it with a specific gesture on the trackpad that isn't obvious unless you look it up (you press the icon in the top right corner of the trackpad, then quickly slide diagonally down toward the middle of the trackpad). As one of this laptop's premiere features, wouldn't it make sense to a) have it work out of the box and/or b) feature an easy setup tutorial?Also: I tested Acer's Swift X Laptop and its performance surprised me in 3 waysOnce it was activated, however, I quickly became a fan. I like how granular you can make the customizations, and it's useful even beyond creative use cases. In fact, I found that some of the most handy cases were in productivity apps and in the browser, enabling quick functions during the workday for frequent actions. Asus/ZDNETThe other Asus programs that come with the laptop have varying degrees of usefulness, not to mention they were rather slow to fire up. Asus' "Muse Tree", for example, took an unexpectedly long time to install and get going. I had a chance to go hands-on with this app previously, and although it's a very cool idea, I'm still on the fence regarding its usefulness.The high-end and satisfying keyboard has absolutely silent keys. Similarly, the trackpad is massive, extending from the keyboard to the edge of the device, and has a velvety matte texture. One downside is that I had some trouble getting it to function at a high capacity in a particularly cold office. If your hands are on the cold side, you might experience some slow responses.Also: One of the best laptops for work travel I've tested isn't a MacBook Air or Lenovo ThinkPadThis could potentially be adjusted with optimization, which is the other big thing I'd like to mention about this laptop. In my experience, Asus laptops across the board respond particularly well to optimization settings. The ProArt P16 is a perfect example of this; different profiles or settings parameters can drastically affect performance, ranging from battery life to speed and responsiveness.This also applies to Windows updates, particularly when it comes to demanding workloads. When I first fired up this laptop, for example, its performance was noticeably worse until I went through the series of Windows updates for the OS, updated drivers, and followed up with the list of updates in the MyAsus app.The P16's performance improved after I took the time to update it, and it was then optimized further once I got used to the DialPad and configured the trackpad and power profiles. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETAll of this is to say that the ProArt P16, for me, was not a laptop that came ready to go out of the box but rather requires some personalization and attention to get the most out of it. This applies to its rich feature set, but it takes a moment to incorporate it into creative workflows. Ultimately, this is a good thing, as it encourages innovation on the user's part to break out of cloned UIs and workflows that all look the same.Putting a more concrete number to its performance, in our benchmarking tests, the ProArt P16 placed somewhere in between the M3 MacBook Pro and the M4, although it should be noted that it's more on par with the M3 than Apple's latest M4 product. Cinebench 24 MCGeekbench 6.2.2 SCGeekbench 6.2.2 MCApple MacBook Pro with M41,0003,82314,849Apple MacBook Pro with M3 906 3,072 11,623 Asus ProArt P161,0962,90412,787Apple MacBook Pro with M1 Pro8282,21112,482Lastly, let's briefly mention the battery. This is a laptop with a powerful suite of hardware and a 16-inch AMOLED display, so I wasn't expecting much going into my testing. However, I was pleasantly surprised at just how robust the battery is, especially when paying attention to power-saving settings.Also:The best OLED laptops of 2024: Expert tested and reviewedWith normal use and intermittent high-demand tasks, I easily got over 10 hours of battery life. However, with intensive creative tasks and heavy multitasking, you can expect around seven hours before connecting to an outlet.ZDNET's buying adviceIf you're looking for a powerful laptop with solid hardware and a rich, dynamic feature set, I recommend the Asus ProArt P16 as a solid choice for advanced creators who want to challenge the status quo and enjoy tinkering with customization settings to maximize creative output.However, if you're looking for an out-of-the-box creative powerhouse, I recommend the Apple M3 or M4 MacBook Pro. It has all the powerful hardware ready to tackle creative tasks and couldn't possibly be easier to set up. If you like the ProArt P16 but want something a bit more accessible, Asus' ProArt PZ13 is a more compact version at almost half the price.Featured reviews

A G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storm watch is in place for 31 Dec due to the anticipated arrival of a CME ... [+] that left the Sun early on 29 Dec.NOAAThe Northern Lights could make an appearance on Dec. 30 and early on New Years Eve across as many as 17 northern and Midwest U.S. states and northern Europe after space weather forecasters predicted a strong G3 geomagnetic storm.A potential display of the aurora borealis looks possible overnight on Monday, Dec. 30, through Tuesday, Dec. 31. Theres also a chance that New Years Day could also see a significant geomagnetic storm.Northern Lights Forecast Tonight: X-Class Solar FlaresThe possibility of displays of the aurora borealis at more southerly latitudes than is typical comes after a spike in solar activity. According to NASA, the sun emitted three strong solar flares powerful bursts of radiation from the sun on Dec. 29, with X1.1, X1.5, and X1.1-class events detected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations new GOES-16 satellite.In the wake of the solar flares, two coronal mass ejections clouds of charged particles from the sun were hurled into the solar system toward Earth. Although NOAA says neither will be a direct hit, both will impact Earths atmosphere early on Dec. 31.A G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for Dec. 31, with a G1 (Minor) watch for Jan. 1, said NOAA. These are in anticipation of a pair of Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CME). The G1 Watch for Jan. 1 is being considered for upgrade to a G2 Watch.MORE FOR YOUNorthern Lights Forecast Tonight: When And WhereNOAA forecasts that a G3 geomagnetic storm will make aurora visible early on Dec. 31, with the most intense activity likely between around 09-12 UTC, which is 4-7 a.m. EST, 3-6 a.m. CST, 2-5 a.m. MST and 1-4 a.m. PST.According to NOAA, G3 storms can be seen from as low as Illinois and Oregon and could be as intense at Kp 7, which means bright and active aurora. The aurora may become visible over many of the northern U.S. states and some of the lower Midwest to Oregon, said NOAAs forecast.According to NOAAs viewline for the aurora for Dec. 30 and Dec. 31, the aurora could be visible in the northern sky from these U.S. states: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.The aurora viewline for Dec. 30 (left) and Dec. 31 (right), 2024. NOAANorthern Lights Forecast Tonight: Latest UpdatesKnowing when a geomagnetic storm will begin and how intense it will be is all about knowing when a coronal mass ejection (a cloud of charged particles that left the sun two or three days ago) reaches Earth and begins interacting with the atmosphere. That's not easy, but there is a warning system.Although there is always uncertainty about a prediction of displays of the aurora, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center knows the characteristics of a CME when its particles strike the sensors of the DSCOVR and ACE satellites, which orbit Earth about a million miles out. They measure a CME's speed and magnetic intensity, which is critical in calculating how the solar wind is about to change.Depending on the speed of the CME, the satellites give about 15-30 minutes warning of a major space weather event and the resulting displays of aurora. That's why aurora hunters need to keep an eye on NOAAs 30-minute forecast, where the latest updates are posted.An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is seen Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Falmouth, ... [+] Maine. (AP Photo/David Sharp)Associated PressNorthern Lights Forecast Tonight: How To See ThemGet to a location low on light pollution if you can, such as a Dark Sky Park or anywhere away from a major urban area. Its most important to have a northern horizon thats free from artificial light. If you cant escape an urban area, ensure there are no bright lights in your field of view, particularly to the north, where displays are most likely.Auroras are often much more vivid in photos than they are in person. Ibn fact, many aurora displays, especially when viewed from cities with significant light pollution, are best thought of as photographic aurora because they look their best on a smartphone screen. Activate night mode (or similar) to transform the gray streaks visible in the sky to your eyes into vibrant green or red hues.Northern Lights Forecast Tonight: CausesThe solar wind consists of a stream of charged particles emitted by the sun that engage with Earth's magnetic field. These particles gain energy from coronal mass ejections, which take a few days to reach Earth. Auroras are commonly observed in polar regions, specifically around latitudes of 70 degrees north and south.However, during significant geomagnetic events typically when CMEs arrive in quick succession the auroral oval can expand, allowing displays to be seen as far south as 25 degrees north and south of the equator.Solar activity is has been at a 23-year high through 2024, a situation that appears to to be extending into 2025. In October, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel announced that the sun had reached its solar maximum phase, the peak of its 11-year solar cycle.That could mean displays of Northern Lights at more southerly latitudes than is typical for at least the next year.Follow my page for the latest Northern Lights forecasts through 2025. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

Europe Vs. Silicon ValleygettySilicon Valley has long reigned as the king of unicorn development, but its dominance is increasingly challenged by rising venture hotspots like Shenzhen, Beijing, Singapore, and Tel Aviv. Now, Europe is positioning itself as a fresh challenger.A recent article highlights the 5-hour radius around London as an emerging contender ready to challenge the supremacy of Silicon Valley as a leading innovation and venture ecosystem, and establish itself as the new Palo Alto. Can Europe succeed in its quest to become a leader in the world of unicorn development and potentially beat Silicon Valley?Will Europe Succeed Against Silicon Valley?To assess Europes prospects, its crucial to first understand why Silicon Valley succeeds and whether Europe can do better. Although many regions aspire to emulate and surpass Silicon Valley, few have come close especially in the democratic world.3 Reasons Why Silicon Valley Dominates the World of Unicorns#1. Silicon Valley leads in emerging industries.Nearly every billion-dollar venture, from Walmart in the 1960s to Airbnb in the 2000s, started by leveraging disruptive technologies, and by reshaping entire sectors with revolutionary trends. Revolutionary trends and technologies are key to unicorn development because they help new ventures start by serving unserved or underserved markets with new solutions and new business models. Existing companies find it difficult to easily adopt the new business models without high risk and without disrupting their existing core business. Disrupting an industry helps a venture become a unicorn while beating existing giants. Silicon Valley excels at this, producing corporations like Apple, Uber, and Airbnb. In contrast, Europes notable successes, like the Samwer Brothers, have often focused on cloning Silicon Valleys unicorns rather than pioneering entirely new industries.Question: Can Europe and its tech hubs in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and elsewhere develop the global leadership needed to challenge Silicon Valleys dominance? According to Mark Zuckerberg, Europe does not seem to be positioning itself as a leader in AI, which is the hot industry for ventures today ? Is his assessment accurate?MORE FOR YOU2. Predicting venture success in emerging industries is nearly impossibleVCs fail on about 80% of their ventures because predicting winners in emerging industries is extremely challenging even for seasoned investors. Apple and Google were initially rejected by multiple VCs and Airbnb struggled to attract any angels during its early pitches. But Silicon Valley has a dense ecosystem of entrepreneurs eager to start high-potential ventures and a robust network of angels ready to provide early-stage funding, and a few successes take off to lead emerging industries.Silicon Valleys Top-20 VCs also gain an edge over other VCs by investing early after Strategy Aha when risk is high, but when they see a path to a homerun. To improve their odds, they replace the entrepreneur with a professional CEO in up to 85% of their ventures and invest heavily to succeed. For example, Benchmark Partners invested in eBay after Pierre Omidyar proved the ventures potential, and then replaced him with professional-CEO Margaret Whitman. Interestingly, nearly all the Top 20 VCs are in Silicon Valley or have offices there.Question: Does Europe have what it takes leading-edge entrepreneurs, bold angels with guts, and skilled VCs with capital to dominate after strategy Aha?#3. Many unicorn-potential entrepreneurs are needed, and Silicon Valley attracts the worlds best.In the world of venture capital, success is a numbers game. VCs fund approximately 100 out of 100,000 ventures, and only one is likely to become a VC-funded unicorn. Silicon Valleys unparalleled success lies in its ability to attract a critical mass of global unicorn-potential entrepreneurs willing to risk their time and talent, alongside a robust network of angels willing to risk their capital.Since the 1970s, Silicon Valley has continuously replenished its entrepreneurial talent through successive industry wavesfrom semiconductors to AI. Crucially, Silicon Valleys advantage doesnt end with talent attraction. After Aha, the Valleys Top 20 VCs step in with significant funding using Capital-as-a-Weapon to outcompete rivals and dominate emerging industries. Silicon Valley wins if any one of its numerous ventures succeeds and they seem to do so repeatedly.Question: Can Europe develop or attract and retain the scores of qualified, motivated, unicorn-potential entrepreneurs, and risk-loving experienced angels needed to drive its Unicorn-Entrepreneur Ecosystem, or will this talent migrate to Silicon Valley, like the Collison brothers of Stripe who emigrated from Ireland?MY TAKE: The true foundation of Silicon Valley lies in its Unicorn-Entrepreneur Ecosystem, not the VC Ecosystem. While venture capitalists play a role in scaling success, they often arrive after "Aha, crow about their successes while glossing over their failures. Without unicorn-potential entrepreneurs driving innovation and angels taking risks, the VC model would crumble.For Europe to thrive, it must prioritize building its own Unicorn-Entrepreneur Ecosystem as the cornerstone of sustainable growth. This means equipping a broad, diverse, motivated population with the skills and mindset to identify emerging opportunities and launch ventures independently of venture capital. After all, no one can predict the next unicorn by analyzing a pitch or judging an individuals charisma; the magic lies in fostering an environment where bold action and entrepreneurial spirit, combined with unicorn skills, can flourish. Europe's success will depend on creating pathways for ventures in emerging industries. By empowering entrepreneurs to act with finance-smart skills, Europe can ignite its own wave of unicorns based on its entrepreneurs and not by reliance on venture capital.Also, Silicon Valley operates much like a casino, where unicorn-potential entrepreneurs, experienced angels, and VCs gamble on emerging trends with hopes of hitting the jackpot. In this high-stakes game, many ventures fail, but the house Silicon Valleys ecosystem wins by positioning itself to benefit even from a few successful bets. Among competing innovation hubs, Silicon Valley remains unrivaled. The regions combination of top-tier talent, access to capital, and a culture of relentless innovation makes it the best organized and most strategically positioned casino in the world. Based on Zuckerbergs analysis, its highly doubtful that Europe will surpass Silicon Valley in 2025. Europe may have to wait until Silicon Valley becomes complacent with its riches or restrictive in its immigration policies.For more on the Unicorn-Entrepreneur Ecosystem, write to me.Washington PostA MAGA 'Civil War' on X between Musk and the far right over H-1B visasWealthfront BlogDemystifying Venture Capital Economics, Part 1 | WealthfrontGrowBiz: Advice on how to grow your businessWhat can you learn from Airbnb: Focus on your skills - not the idea - GrowBiz: Advice on how to grow your businessBessemer Venture PartnersAnti-PortfolioPOLITICOZuckerberg: It's 'sad' that EU is left behind on AIYourstorySamwer brothers: Clone masters of Europe's startup sceneWIREDEurope's Innovation Ecosystem Can Make It the New Palo Alto

Choose your answer and the correct choice will be revealed. Correct Answer:CreeperA little backgroundThe first computer virus was named Creeper, created in 1971 by Robert Thomas, a programmer at BBN Technologies (Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., which later became part of Raytheon).Unlike the malicious viruses we often think of today, Creeper was designed as an experimental program to explore the concept of self-replicating software on the TENEX operating system. Thomas's goal was not to cause harm but to push the boundaries of what software could do in the early days of computing.Interestingly, Creeper did not replicate itself in the way modern viruses do. Instead, it exhibited curious behavior: it would display the message "I'm the Creeper: Catch me if you can" on infected machines, then delete itself from the current system as it traveled onward to the next system on the ARPANET (the precursor to the modern internet). This made Creeper more of a "self-propagating" program than a true virus by today's standards.In response to Creeper, another programmer at BBN, Ray Tomlinson (famous for inventing email), developed a program called Reaper in 1972. Reaper was designed to seek out and delete Creeper wherever it was found. While Reaper is sometimes considered the first antivirus software, it was essentially another experimental program created to address Creeper's behavior.While Creeper and Reaper were harmless experiments, they laid the groundwork for the concepts of computer viruses and cybersecurity, which would become critical in the decades that followed.Fun fact: the Creeper virus is said to have been named after a villain from the original Scooby-Doo cartoons, adding a playful element to its legacy.

What just happened? Sandvik, a Swedish manufacturer of mining equipment, has announced the deployment of two fully automated electric loaders at Canada's New Afton gold and copper mine. These heavy-duty machines, weighing an impressive 18 tons each, have been operational in a designated test area since November. The Sandvik LH518iB measures 12 meters in length, 3.1 meters in width, and 2.3 meters in height. It's powered by a high-performance 540 kW electric drivetrain, capable of delivering 6,000 Nm of torque for rapid acceleration and efficient bucket filling. The loader features a massive battery, and when it runs low, it can autonomously swap out for a fully charged replacement.The New Afton deployment marks just the beginning. Operators are preparing to transition the loaders from the test area to the mine's "C-Zone" early next year, a section rich in valuable mineral reserves.Once in the C-Zone, the machines will streamline operations and significantly enhance cycle times at Canada's only block cave mine.Block caving is an underground mining technique in which ore is deliberately weakened, allowing it to collapse under its own weight into a funnel-shaped chamber for efficient extraction. Efficiency is paramount in this process, and these loaders are designed to enhance it significantly.Sandvik highlights that adopting electric and autonomous loaders at New Afton will reduce ventilation needs, heat, noise, and greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional diesel-powered loaders operated by humans. Additionally, the autonomous functionality addresses the ongoing challenge of a labor shortage in the mining industry. // Related StoriesOf course, this raises an important question: what about jobs? Are these autonomous loaders simply high-tech replacements poised to displace human workers? The answer isn't clear yet, but it's reasonable to anticipate that if New Afton's deployment proves successful, other mines may follow suit with their own fleets of autonomous electric machinery.This shift comes as demand for the minerals required to build electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure continues to soar. The International Energy Agency projects that mineral demand from EVs alone will grow 30-fold between 2020 and 2040, with the need for lithium and nickel spiking by 40x. Meeting these demands will require cutting-edge extraction technologies and innovative mining practices.

Aquaman has left the building.After starring as Arthur Curry/Aquaman in the DCEU, Jason Momoa will return in James Gunn and Peter Safrans DC Universe as Lobo. Momoa will debut as Lobo in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.Recommended VideosOn his Instagram, Momoa shared a quote from a previous interviewwhen he expressed his admiration for Lobo.Please enable Javascript to view this contentSo Lobo was I collect comics, and I dont do so much anymore, but he was always my favorite, and I always wanted to play Lobo, because Im like, Hello? Its the perfect role, Momoa said. I mean, listen. If they call and ask me to play him, its a f*ck yeah. I havent received that call, so I dont want to put any fake news out there, but if they ever call me and ask me to play, or ask me to audition, Im there.Created by writer Roger Slifer and artist Keith Giffen, Lobo first appeared in the comic Omega Men No. 3. Lobo is often categorized as an antihero with superstrength and healing powers. The character also tends to have a cigar handy to chomp on.RelatedLobo has predominantly appeared in DC animated shows likeSuperman: The Animated Seriesand Justice League Action. Lobo made his live-action debut in the TV show Krypton, with Emmett J. Scanlan portraying the character.Momoa appeared as Arthur Curry inJustice Leaguebefore starring in his solo outing, Aquaman. The DC superhero film became a massive hit, grossing over $1 billion. The sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, only grossed $439 million.Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrowopens in theaters on June 26, 2026.Editors Recommendations