Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte (WLM)

Microsoft announces all the things 

Nowadays, Microsoft is a serious consumer electronics device vendor and the company presented a load of hardware at its October 6th event:

- A developer version of the VR HoloLens will be available in Q1-2016 for $ 3,000. Cool!

- An new version of the Microsoft Band is ready. The wearable band now has Cortina integration, a curved gorilla glass display and the device is fully packed with fitness centric features such as continuous heart rate monitoring, UV monitoring, GPS, a barometer and Microsoft Health integration. The Microsoft Band can be preordered today for $250 and it will be available at the end of October.

- Microsoft unveiled three new Windows 10 Lumia phones including the high-end 950 ($550) and 950XL ($650) devices and the budget Lumia 550 ($140). The 950 devices feature USB-C connectors, 5.2” or 5.7” high resolution OLED displays, 20 MP cameras with optical image stabilisation, 32GB of storage and support for additional SD card storage. The devices will be out at the end of November. Reasonable specs for high-end devices, but I’ve been burned before by Microsoft’s mobile eco system.

- The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is the company’s new tablet. The device fits a larger 12.3”  2,736 x 1,824 resolution display in the same design foot print as last years’ Surface Pro 3. The Surface Pro is 30 percent faster than the SP3 and comes with an updated Surface Pen. The pen features 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, one year battery life and nifty magnetic storage. The new and slimmer Type Cover has a 40 percent larger glass track pad and updated key mechanism compared to previous models. The Surface Pro 4 will be available at the end of October with prices starting at at $899.

- The big surprise of the event was the Microsoft Surface Book, the company’s first lap top. The convertible notebook has a 13.5” 3000 x 2000 resolution touch screen and Microsoft said it was pound for pound, the fastest laptop in the world. It can be yours for $1499 and pre orders start today. The Surface Book looks nice and the “fulcrum hinge” enables the device to bend in all kinds of positions even though it actually won’t let you fully close the lid.

Peter Erskine.

Heart shaped snack cakes

Artificial Intelligence Isn’t About Intelligence, but Manipulating Humanity

Secret of Mana - by Jordan Grimmer

“Re-imagined version of the Secret of Mana game cover for Third Edition’s new book LEVEL UP: LEVEL 3 which can be bought [here]”

Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies

Here are some fun and unusual galaxies from the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, a catalog produced by Halton Arp. A total of 338 galaxies are presented in the atlas, which was originally published in 1966.

1. IC 883 (Arp 193), remnant of two galaxies’ merger     2. Arp 147, an interacting pair of ring galaxies 3. Giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 4. Interacting pair of galaxies: Arp 238 (UGC 8335)  5. Merging galaxy pair named NGC 520 (Arp 157)

James Clar.

Allow us to reintroduce someone … the name’s Perseverance. 

With this new name, our Mars 2020 rover has now come to life! Chosen by middle school student Alex Mather, Perseverance helps to remind ourselves that no matter what obstacles we face, whether it’s on the way to reaching our goals or on the way to Mars, we will push through. In Alex’s own words, ⁣⁣

“We are a species of explorers, and we will meet many setbacks on the way to Mars. However, we can persevere. We, not as a nation but as humans, will not give up. The human race will always persevere into the future.” ⁣

Welcome to the family.⁣ ❤️

⁣Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

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