Weekly Bytes | NASA to launch strongest area telescope, IBM Watson will get new AI capabilities, and extra

NASA to launch James Webb Area Telescope in December

NASA on Wednesday stated it plans to launch the James Webb Area Telescope (JWST) into orbit on December 18, 2021, to function the premier deep area observatory for the subsequent decade. “The Webb telescope’s revolutionary know-how will discover each part of cosmic historical past – from inside our photo voltaic system to probably the most distant observable galaxies within the early universe, and all the things in between,” the area company stated in a press release. A number of revolutionary applied sciences have been developed for probably the most highly effective area telescope, together with a major mirror manufactured from 18 separate segments that unfold and alter to form after launch. Based on NASA, Webb’s greatest characteristic is a tennis court-sized five-layer sunshield that attenuates warmth from the Solar greater than one million instances. The telescope’s 4 devices – cameras and spectrometers – have detectors that may file extraordinarily faint indicators. The JWST is a global programme led by NASA with its companions European Area Company and the Canadian Area Company. In a separate growth, the development of the world’s largest radio telescope began in July, combining 197 dishes in South Africa and 1,31,072 antennas in Western Australia.

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IBM Watson Assistant’s new AI, automation options

IBM has launched new synthetic intelligence (AI) and automation capabilities in its Watson Assistant, designed to make it simpler for companies to create enhanced customer support experiences. The brand new enhancements within the firm’s clever digital agent will help companies leverage AI and pure language processing (NLP) to deal with buyer points on first contact and extra rapidly present them with related solutions over the telephone, SMS, net, or any messaging platform. IBM additionally collaborated with IntelePeer to arrange and take a look at a voice agent, and a brand new agent app designed to assist customer support brokers decide up with a buyer proper the place the digital agent left off whereas sustaining the dialog’s context. Based on IBM’s 2021 World AI Adoption Index, 52% of world IT professionals surveyed report that their firm is utilizing or contemplating NLP options to enhance buyer experiences. In one other replace, IBM has launched its new Energy E1080 server that’s designed to supply a safe, frictionless, and scalable hybrid cloud expertise.

Mercedes idea automobile with brain-computer interface

German luxurious automotive agency Mercedes-Benz is integrating brain-computer interface (BCI) know-how into its VISION AVTR idea automobile. The automaker introduced how BCI know-how works and, for the primary time, gave a preview of thoughts management as a brand new dimension of human interplay with the automobile on the IAA MOBILITY 2021. After a brief calibration course of, a BCI system hooked up to a person’s head analyses the measured mind waves and triggers an outlined operate, the corporate defined. “They may expertise how rapidly their very own mind connects with the automobile – much like the neuronal connection between the Na’vi and the character within the visionary Hollywood blockbuster ‘Avatar’.” BCI might allow a brand new type of machine management that enables customers to pick out the navigation vacation spot by thought management, swap the ambient gentle within the inside or change the radio station. “The biometric connection permits a totally new interplay between man, machine and nature within the autonomous-driving idea automobile,” the carmaker stated. In one other growth, Mercedes has revealed the AMG EQS 53 4Matic+, an all-electric sequence manufacturing mannequin, that encompasses a twin-motor set-up providing as much as 751hp.

Twitter begins testing labels for bot accounts

Twitter has began testing a labelling characteristic that enables automated accounts (or bot accounts) to establish themselves so customers can have a greater expertise on the platform. “What’s a bot and what’s not? We’re making it simpler to establish #GoodBots and their automated Tweets with new labels,” the tech agency stated in a tweet. The micro-blogging platform has began testing the characteristic with a restricted variety of individuals, which permits them to establish their automated accounts with this label, it famous in a FAQ. The accounts in Twitter’s take a look at group could have an “automated” label on their account profile underneath their profile title and deal with. “Examples of automated accounts you may see on Twitter embody bots that assist you discover vaccine appointments and catastrophe early warning methods,” the corporate stated. This week, Twitter additionally began testing Communities, a characteristic much like Fb Teams, that lets customers tweet on to a bunch quite than all of the followers.

Amazon introduces Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max

Amazon on Thursday launched Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max, an Extremely HD streaming media participant. It encompasses a quad-core 1.8GHz processer, 2GB of RAM, brings Wi-Fi 6 help with the most recent MediaTek MT7921LS chipset, and is alleged to be 40% extra highly effective than Fireplace TV Stick 4K. The system helps 4K UHD, HDR, and HDR10+ streaming in addition to Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Dolby Atmos for a theatre-like expertise. It comes with the most recent Alexa Voice Distant that will also be used to manage appropriate TV and soundbar. The system provides entry to a number of apps, Alexa expertise, and channels, in addition to motion pictures and reveals throughout apps similar to Prime Video, Netflix, and Hotstar. Customers can even hearken to songs, playlists by companies like Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Spotify. Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max is accessible for pre-order for ₹6499 on Amazon.in and Amazon kiosks in choose malls and can start delivery to clients from October 7, 2021, the corporate stated. In a separate growth, the Supreme Courtroom on Thursday stayed proceedings within the dispute between Future Group and Amazon over an almost ₹25,000-crore merger cope with Reliance Retail.

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