Technology

PARIS: A golden halo glinting 12 billion light years away is the farthest galaxy resembling our Milky Way yet spotted, astronomers said on Wednesday, adding the “surprisingly unchaotic” infant star system challenges our understanding of the early years of the Universe. The galaxy, called SPT0418-47, is so far away that it took billions of years for its light to reach …

JERUSALEM: The Israeli defence ministry said on Wednesday that it had foiled an attempted cyber attack by a foreign group targeting the country’s defence manufacturers. It said the attempt was made by “an international cyber group called Lazarus, an organisation that is backed by a foreign country.” The United States has linked Lazarus to North Korea, but the Israeli statement …

Google added an earthquake alert system in California on Tuesday, saying it is working on letting Android-powered smartphones double as tremor detectors. Android phones will receive warnings triggered by a “ShakeAlert” earthquake early-warning system implemented on the West Coast by the US Geological Survey and partners. ShakeAlert uses signals from hundreds of seismometers across the state to trigger warning messages …

South Korea has opened a high-tech new front in the battle against coronavirus, fortifying bus shelters with temperature-checking doors and ultraviolet disinfection lamps. Ten advanced facilities have been installed in a northeastern district of Seoul, offering protection from monsoon rains, summer heat, and the novel coronavirus. To enter, passengers must stand in front of an automated thermal-imaging camera, and the …

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move hailed by Moscow as evidence of its scientific prowess. The development paves the way for the mass inoculation of the Russian population, even as the …

A California judge on Monday granted the state’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking Uber Technologies and Lyft from classifying their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. The ruling by Judge Ethan Schulman of San Francisco Superior Court is a defeat for the ride-hailing companies, as they defend against a May 5 lawsuit by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra …

SHANGHAI: Chinese entrants to the race to put autonomous vehicles on the road are bringing “robotaxis” online in hopes that a hired-car format can be the key to unlocking wide acceptance of the futuristic technology. It is expected to be years before cars that operate completely without human intervention are unleashed owing to lingering technological, regulatory, and safety hurdles. But …

NEW YORK: Twitter is in preliminary discussions for a possible combination with TikTok, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, after US President Donald Trump said he would ban the app, calling it a threat to national security. Trump declared that the popular Chinese video app TikTok and social network WeChat “threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” In an …

Twitter is in preliminary discussions for a possible combination with TikTok, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, after US President Donald Trump said he would ban the app, calling it a threat to national security. Trump declared Thursday that the popular Chinese video app TikTok and social network WeChat “threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” In …

TikTok is preparing advertisers for a possible ban of its app in the United States, ad buyers said, offering refunds for ad campaigns that are unable to run. The short-form video app’s advertising business is still nascent. TikTok’s anticipated $1 billion in 2020 revenue is a small fraction of its Chinese owner ByteDance’s overall sales. But TikTok has become a …