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All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio)

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8187 - This Week in Space 111: The Big Glass Wars
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  • 8187 - This Week in Space 111: The Big Glass Wars

    Welcome to the Big Glass Wars! That's right, just when you thought you'd heard it all, turns out there's hot competition among a few countries to stay on the cutting edge of optical astronomy, and to do that, you need a great big hunk of glass to gather light from distant galaxies and stellar systems. Enter the Carnegie Observatories and their partners on the Thirty Meter Telescope and the Giant Magellan Telescope. Both are currently under construction, and both are threatened by budget parsimony from the U.S. Congress. Dr. John Mulchaey, Director of the Carnegie Observatories, joins us to discuss what's happening, why it matters, and what you can do to help maintain U.S. leadership in astronomy, cosmology, and other STEM-related fields.

    Headlines:

    Boeing's Starliner launch to the ISS delayed again, this time due to a helium leak in the service module. The launch is now targeted for no earlier than May 21st. Blue Origin plans to conduct its first crewed suborbital flight since August 2022 on May 19th, carrying six passengers including the first Black astronaut candidate Ed Dwight. A massive sunspot caused spectacular auroras visible as far south as Alabama and turned skies purple and orange. More solar activity is expected as another large sunspot emerges.


    Main Topic: The Big Glass Wars with Dr. John Mulchaey

    Dr. Mulchaey provides an overview of the Carnegie Observatories, founded in 1904, and their historic telescopes at Mount Wilson that helped launch modern astronomy. He discusses the need for extremely large next-generation ground-based telescopes, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), to study earth-like exoplanets and the early universe. These ambitious segmented mirror telescopes will be 5-10 times larger than today's biggest telescopes and cost billions of dollars to construct. While substantial private funding has been raised, the projects need investment from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. government to be completed. However, the NSF has proposed only partial funding. Dr. Mulchaey emphasizes the importance of the U.S. having both telescope projects to provide full-sky coverage, double the observation time, and maintain the nation's leadership in astronomy research or risk losing top talent to competing projects in Europe and China. He notes that delaying a decision on full funding is causing the estimated costs to escalate as the projects are forced to wait. Dr. Mulchaey argues passionately that inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers by investing in these telescopes is critical for the country's future productivity and innovation.

    Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

    Guest: Dr. John Mulchaey

    Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space.

    Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    Sponsor:

    wix.com/studio
    Fri, 17 May 2024 - 1h 05min
  • 8186 - Tech News Weekly 337: AI News From Google I/O & OpenAI

    Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge joins Mikah Sargent this week! Jennifer talks about Matter 1.3 being released by the Connectivity Standards Alliance. Mikah is excited by the new accessibility features Apple recently announced. What Google announced at its Google I/O 2024 event. And finally, OpenAI announces GPT-4o.

    Jennifer Pattison Tuohy talks about Matter 1.3 being released, which brings further support to smart appliances and new features, but laments the fact that most major platforms have yet to adopt even Matter 1.2. Mikah Sargent is ecstatic about Apple's new accessible features, including Eye Tracking and Vehicle Motion Cues. Jason Howell attended Google I/O 2024 this past week and gives his recap and thoughts on what was announced at the event. Finally, Pranav Dixit of Engadget stops by to talk about OpenAI's announcement of the next iteration of its generative AI model, GPT-4o, and how it differs from the previous model.

    Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

    Guests: Jason Howell and Pranav Dixit

    Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

    Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    Sponsors:

    GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT - code TWIT30 YahooFinance.com cachefly.com/twit
    Thu, 16 May 2024 - 1h 18min
  • 8185 - Hands-On Windows 91: Setup Microsoft Edge Correctly

    Microsoft Edge is the default web browser and PDF reader in Windows 11, and a modern and capable successor to the Internet Explorer browser of yesteryear. It's built on the same Chromium web platform that Google uses for Chrome, and it integrates more deeply with Windows and Microsoft online services–most notably Copilot–than other browsers. But Microsoft Edge is also a vector for some of the worst behaviors in Windows 11. For this reason, it's important to configure Microsoft Edge correctly, whether you expect to use it regularly or not.

    Host: Paul Thurrott

    Want access to the video version and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

    Thu, 16 May 2024 - 18min
  • 8184 - Hands-On Mac 133: Use Time Machine To Back Up Your Mac

    Time Machine is a built-in back up tool for macOS that keeps multiple, browsable versions of your Mac as you make changes over time. Mikah Sargent walks you through the process of setting up, managing, and accessing your macOS Time Machine backups.

    Back up your Mac with Time Machine - https://support.apple.com/en-us/104984

    Host: Mikah Sargent

    Want access to the video version and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

    Thu, 16 May 2024 - 12min
  • 8183 - Home Theater Geeks 433: Budget-Friendly In-Ceiling Speakers Recommendations

    Listener Eric is moving his old AVR into the workout room, and he'd like to install some in-ceiling speakers to avoid taking up floor space. Scott Wilkinson has some recommendations.

    Polk Audio RC80i: https://amzn.to/44HU4ll Klipsch CDT-5650-C II: https://amzn.to/4bjkOet Klipsch CDT-5800-C II: https://amzn.to/3K3QGYl Yamaha NSIC800WH: https://amzn.to/3K0Qyce Acoustic Audio by Goldwood CS-IC83: https://amzn.to/3K4xaej

    Host: Scott Wilkinson

    Want access to the video version and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

    Thu, 16 May 2024 - 9min
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