Category: Technologies

Canon has introduced a new RF-S7.8mm F4 STM Dual lens for 3D shooting with a 63-degree viewing angle. The device will go on sale in November 2024 at a price of $450, which is significantly cheaper than existing analogs.

Canon has officially announced the new RF-S7.8mm F4 STM Dual lens, first shown in June at Apple's WWDC 2024. UNN writes about it with reference to The Verge.

Details

The lens has stereoscopic elements squeezed into a body that is no larger than a traditional 2D camera lens. It was first introduced during a keynote at Apple's WWDC 2024 conference last June and is designed to work with the Canon EOS R7 as a more affordable tool for creators who create 3D VR content for headsets like Meta Quest 3 or spatial videos for Apple Vision Pro.

The company has not set a specific date for when the new 3D lens will be available, but says it will be sometime in November 2024, with an "estimated retail price" of $449.99. This is significantly cheaper than Canon's existing dual fisheye lenses designed to capture 3D video, including the RF5.2mm F2.8L Dual, which costs $1999, and the RF-S3.9mm F3.5 STM Dual, which costs $1,099.

Combining Canon's new 3D lens with the 32.5-megapixel EOS R7 digital camera, which starts at $1,299, brings the total cost of the kit to more than $1,700. However, this is still cheaper than Canon's more expensive 3D solutions, which start at $2,498 (and can go up to $6,298) when combined with the necessary camera hardware.

Canon's new 3D lens has an aperture range of f/4.0 to f/16, supports autofocus, and features a button and control wheel for separate manual focusing on the left and right sides. What makes it much cheaper than existing Canon 3D lenses is its limited field of view. More expensive Canon lenses are capable of capturing video and images with a 180-degree field of view – close to what the human eye can see – while the new RF-S7.8mm F4 STM Dual lens only covers a third of that angle, 63 degrees.

Using Canon's standard RF mount, the new lens has stereoscopic elements aligned in a straight optical path, resulting in its front lenses being only 11.8mm apart compared to the 60mm gap between the dual fisheye lenses on Canon's existing 3D lenses. As a result, Canon claims that the strongest 3D effect will be achieved when shooting subjects that are between 6 and 20 inches away from the lens. If you use it to shoot more distant subjects, the 3D effect will be less pronounced.

Images and videos captured with this lens need to be processed before they can be viewed with a virtual or augmented reality headset, either with the EOS VR plug-in available for Adobe Premiere Pro or with Canon's own EOS VR Utility software available for Mac and PC. Both tools require a paid subscription, but can generate 180-degree 3D, VR, or spatial video content.

Recall

Apple has announced that it will introduce new products via a press release. New Mac mini, iMac, and MacBook Pro with M4 processors are expected to be introduced.

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The State Service for Special Communications has published a list of signs that indicate a smartphone or computer is infected with a virus. The agency recommends regular scanning of devices with anti-virus programs.

In new cybersecurity tips from CyberCat, the State Service of Special Communications recommends not waiting for a virus to wreak havoc on your smartphone, but regularly scanning your devices with an antivirus, UNN reports.

Details

As noted in by the State Service of Special Communications, detecting a virus on a computer or smartphone can be difficult, but there are several signs that may indicate that your device is infected:

• slow operation of the device;
• fast battery drain;
• if applications on your device open and close on their own;
• the appearance of new accounts or active sessions on behalf of unknown users may be an intrusion signal;
• if unknown apps appear on your device;
• disappearance or appearance of new files;
• Regular errors or reports of errors may be a sign of problems in the system;
• if you can't access some files or folders;
• launching unknown processes in the system;
• if the administrator console or antivirus does not work.

"If you find the above signs, we recommend that you scan your device with an antivirus program," the State Special Communications Service emphasized.

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The state-owned online service Diia has passed the 21 million user mark. The app is the second most popular Ukrainian app in the AppStore after Google.

More than 21 million Ukrainians are already using the Diia online public service, Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Development and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov said on Wednesday in Telegram, UNN reports.

21+ million Ukrainians already use Diia! We are growing every day. In January, we passed the 20 million mark and are scaling further. We consistently rank second after Google in terms of popularity among Ukrainian apps in the AppStore

– Fedorov wrote.

According to him, with Diia, Ukrainians get married, start businesses, buy new housing and restore destroyed ones, save time and gradually forget about photocopies. Thus, according to the service, 600+ couples have already gotten married on Diia, 6,700+ couples have applied for marriage on the service, and 1,300,000+ have proposed to each other.

"Diia has become a state superapp that is hard to imagine life without. On the day of Diia's launch, we monitored the number of downloads and authorizations, and then we dreamed of the first million users. Five years have passed, and now we see 21,000,000 on the dashboard, which is a great result that motivates us to move forward and digitalize further," he said.

Ukrainian "Diya" received a silver YouTube buttonJune 6 2024, 01:58 AM • 21449 views

The Australian Ministry of Defense has canceled a multibillion-dollar military satellite project with Lockheed Martin. Instead of a single-orbit system, the country will focus on developing a multi-orbit system to improve defense capabilities.

Australia has canceled a multibillion-dollar military satellite project with Lockheed Martin (LMT.N). According to a statement from the country's Ministry of Defense, the military will instead shift its focus to a multi-orbital system. UNN writes about this with reference to Reuters.

Details

The project to launch a single-orbit satellite with Lockheed Martin, which was supposed to provide Australia's first satellite communications system with sovereign control over the Indo-Pacific Ocean, was canceled.

Due to the accelerated development of space technology and the evolution of threats in space since the project began, the Ministry of Defense assessed that a single-orbit geostationary satellite communications system would not meet strategic priorities

– the Australian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

Instead, Australia will prefer a multi-orbital system to increase the resilience of the Australian armed forces.

In a radio interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that while Australia's defense budget is growing, his government is prioritizing its procurement.

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Add

Last year, the Australian company Lockheed Martin was announced as the winner of the tender for the creation of a satellite communication system in the geostationary earth orbit (GEO) as part of this project.

At the time, the government claimed that this was a "multi-billion dollar deal." However, the Defense Ministry has now said it will still allocate more than $13 billion for space capabilities.

Recall

Airbus plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs in its defense and space division due to the "challenging business environment." The cuts will affect 7% of the workforce, with specific positions to be determined after discussions with trade unions.

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Empa researchers visualized the process of amyloid β protein accumulation in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease. The observation lasted 250 hours and showed how second-generation fibrils are formed.

Empa researchers have recently been able to visualize the “abnormal” accumulation of amyloid β proteins in the brain, a process associated with Alzheimer's disease. Scientists hope that the result will open up new methods of diagnosing the disease.

Writes UNN with reference to Science Daily.

Alzheimer's disease affects more than 55 million people worldwide. Treatment of such disorders is still one of the biggest challenges facing modern medicine. The accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain plays a significant role in the development of the disease.

Misfolded proteins stick together to form fiber-like structures. However, it was not yet entirely clear how these fibrils are formed.

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Recently, a team led by Empa researcher Peter Nirmalraj from the Empa Transport at Nanoscale Interfaces lab and scientists from the University of Limerick in Ireland were able to show how this process works using a particularly powerful visualization technique.

ExplanationExplanation

The focus is on the processes observed on the surface of amyloid fibrils, i.e. structures in the brain formed by oligomers – soluble proteins that are highly toxic to neurons and assemble into dense fibers. Scientists have identified a special subtype of superproliferator proteins among them.

For reference

Aβ42 is considered to be one of the main factors that trigger Alzheimer's disease.

Incorrectly folded proteins lead to the formation of new oligomers on the surface of existing fibrils during secondary nucleation (when mature fibrils catalyze the formation of new oligomers).

Aβ is formed from a larger transmembrane precursor protein (beta-amyloid precursor, PBA) with a molecular weight of 100-140 kDa, which performs trophic and protective functions.

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According to the “amyloid hypothesis,” beta-amyloid forms neurotoxic soluble oligomers for reasons that are not fully understood. According to numerous studies, beta-amyloid aggregates, including oligomers, have a detrimental effect on nerve cells, disrupting their normal functioning. This creates conditions for the development of Alzheimer's disease.

What the new observation achieves

The mechanism of how the protein building blocks come together to form second-generation fibrils, as well as their shape and structure, were previously unclear.

Recent imaging brings us one step closer to a better understanding of how these proteins are distributed in Alzheimer's brain tissue.

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The researchers were able to observe the process of fibril formation in real time, from the first moments to the next 250 hours. This was made possible by a new technique: proteins are analyzed unchanged in saline, which is much closer to the natural conditions of the human body.

“This work brings us one step closer to better understanding how these proteins are distributed in Alzheimer's brain tissue,” says Nirmalraj, an Empa researcher. He hopes this will eventually lead to new ways of diagnosing the disease.

Scientists discover new sign of early stage of Alzheimer's diseaseOctober 28 2024, 03:27 PM • 15245 views

17 Ukrainian manufacturing teams presented their developments of drone swarms and guided munitions. The tests were conducted with the participation of military and government officials, who provided recommendations for improving the products.

Recently, Ukraine's military and government officials have conducted demonstration tests of new Ukrainian developments – swarms of drones and guided munitions. This was stated by Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine Herman Smetanin, reports UNN.

Details

Representatives of Brave1, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the General Staff, and the National Guard joined the tests.

17 teams of manufacturers. 7 of them presented their developments in drone swarm technology, and 10 in guided munitions. These solutions were at different stages of readiness and showed different approaches to solving problems

– Smetanin said.

According to him, thanks to these tests, representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff saw what the Ukrainian manufacturer can do and gave their recommendations for improving the products.

For the first time, Ukrainian companies will be able to participate in tenders of the Drone Coalition – Ministry of DefenseSeptember 17 2024, 06:30 PM • 20158 views

Recall

The Command of the Unmanned Systems Forces has been included in the list of state customers for drones and electronic warfare equipment. This will allow for faster formation of the needs of the front and strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities.

MIT researchers have found an interstellar cloud with a large amount of pyrene, a complex carbon molecule. Pyrene consists of four fused carbon rings and belongs to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States have discovered an interstellar cloud that contained a lot of pyrene, a type of molecule that contains carbon.

Writes UNN with reference to Space.

The molecule, called pyrene, consists of four fused flat rings of carbon. It is classified as a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), one of the most abundant complex molecules in the visible universe.

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A complex form of carbon was first spotted outside the solar system by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.

The pyrene was identified in a star-forming region called the Taurus molecular cloud, 430 light-years from Earth – one of the closest clouds to our planet. The detection was made using the 100-meter Green Bank Telescope (GBT), a radio telescope at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia, USA.

HelpHelp

Pyrene is a large molecule known as a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). Researchers speculate that this substance could be the source of much of the carbon in our solar system, which is crucial for life on Earth.

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Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS), discovered in September in Hawaii, evaporated near the Sun on October 28. The SOHO spacecraft captured the last moments of the comet, which belongs to the Kreutz family.

A video of the "Halloween comet" ATLAS burning up as it flies toward the Sun has been released, UNN reports citing Space.com.

Details

On Monday, October 28, the comet evaporated as it headed toward perihelion, the point closest to the sun in its orbit. Earlier, there were hopes that the comet, officially designated C/2024 S1 (ATLAS), might become a so-called "Halloween treat" visible to the naked eye, but in the end, these were just dreams.

Now, thanks to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a spacecraft jointly operated by NASA and the European Space Agency, we know exactly how and when comet ATLAS died.

Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) passed its closest point to Earth on October 23, reaching a magnitude of 8.7, too dim to be seen with the naked eye.

Addendum

Comet ATLAS was first discovered just last month, on September 27, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) project in Hawaii. The comet belongs to a family of comets known as the Kreutz comets, which all follow a similar orbit that brings them very close to the Sun every 500-800 years, depending on the individual orbit of each comet.

The Kreutz comets are believed to be fragments of a single comet that broke apart at some point in the past. According to the European Space Agency, the earliest these comets were probably spotted was in 317 BC.

The Ministry of Social Policy warns about fraudulent resources that promise to pay UAH 1000 from the state. Real payments will be made through the official Diia app.

Links to fake accounts of the Ministry of Social Policy, which allegedly promise to pay UAH 1,000 from the state, are being spread on the Internet, in particular among Telegram channels, the ministry warned on Thursday, UNN reported.

The Ministry of Social Policy urges not to trust such messages and not to click on the relevant links.

These are fraudulent resources that require personal card data, as a result of which fraudsters can gain access to your funds

– noted in the Ministry of Social Policy.

The ministry said that all reliable information on the registration of financial support in the amount of UAH 1,000 will be posted on the government's official resources.

It was also reminded that the opportunity to receive UAH 1000 as part of the Winter eSupport program will be available through the official Diia app.

It makes no sense for the rich, and 1 thousand won't be enough for the poor: economist on the support program for every familyOctober 28 2024, 03:59 PM • 136836 views

Context

On October 25, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to introduce a new support programfor Ukrainians starting December 1, under which they will be able to receive one thousand hryvnias per family member.

First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Oleksiy Sobolev said that Ukrainians will receive UAH 1,000 per person, regardless of age or social status. These funds can be used during the winter months of December, January and February.

The money will be transferred to the National Cashback virtual card, which can be opened through the Diia app. Sobolev clarified that the funds will be "labeled," meaning that there is a limited list of areas where they can be spent

Google has published updated satellite images showing the location of Ukrainian military systems. The company is not responding to requests to remove the photos, said the head of the NSDC's Center for Information Security.

Google has published updated satellite images showing the location of Ukrainian military systems. The company did not respond to requests for removal over the weekend, Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said on Sunday, UNN reports.

Imagine the situation. Google posts updated images on maps that show the location of our military systems (I won't specify). We contact them to fix it quickly, but it's their weekend. No time for that)

– Kovalenko wrote on Telegram.

According to him, the Russians are already actively disseminating these images.

Recall

Google, Meta and TikTok deleted social media accounts belonging to an industrial enterprise in Tatarstan, Russia. This particular enterprise was engaged in recruiting young foreign women for the production of drones.