In the relatively short time that the James Webb Space Telescope has been operational, there’s seemingly no end to its list of accomplishments. And if you’re like us, you were sure that Webb had already achieved the first direct imaging of a planet orbiting a star other than our own a long time ago. But as it turns out, Webb has only recently knocked that item off its bucket list, with the direct visualization of a Saturn-like planet orbiting a nearby star known somewhat antiseptically as TWA 7, about 111 light-years away in the constellation Antlia. The star has a significant disk of debris orbiting around it, and using the coronagraph on Webb’s MIRI instrument, astronomers were able to blot out the glare of the star and collect data from just the dust. This revealed a faint infrared source near the star that appeared to be clearing a path through the dust.

The planet, dubbed TWA 7b, orbits its star at about 50 times the distance from Earth to the Sun and is approximately the size of Saturn, but only a third of its mass. The star itself is only about 6.4 million years old, so the planet may still be accreting from the debris disk, which might present interesting insights into planetary formation, assuming that other astronomers confirm that TWA 7b is indeed a planet. But what’s really interesting about this discovery is that because the star system’s orbital plane appears to be more or less perpendicular to ours, the standard exoplanet detection method based on measuring the dimming of the star by planets passing between it and us wouldn’t have worked. This might open the doors to the discovery of many more exoplanets, and that’s pretty exciting.

Question: What’s worse than a big space rock that’s on a collision course with Earth? Answer: Honestly, it feels like a lot of things would be worse than that right now. But if your goal is planetary protection, one possible answer is doing something that turns the one big rock into a lot of little rocks. That seems to be just what NASA’s DART mission did when it smashed into a bit of space debris named Dimorphos back in 2022, ejecting over 100 boulders from the asteroid-orbiting moonlet. LICIAcube, an Italian cubesat that hitched a ride on DART, used optical cameras to observe the ejecta, and measured rocks from 0.2 m to 3.6 m in diameter as they yeeted off at up to 52 meters per second. Rather than spreading out randomly, the boulders clustered into two different groups, something that years of playing Asteroids has taught us isn’t what you’d expect. The whole thing just goes to show that planetary protection isn’t as simple as blasting into a killer asteroid and hoping for the best. And please, can somebody out there type “NASA DART” into Google and tell me what they see? Because if it’s not an animated spacecraft zipping across the screen and knocking the window out of kilter, then I need a vacation. K, thanks.

Do you even code? If you’re reading Hackaday, chances are good that you at least know enough coding to get yourself into trouble. But if you don’t, or you want to ruin somebody else’s life bring someone new into the wonderful world of bossing computers around, take a look at Micro Adventure, an online adventure game aimed at teaching you the basics — err, BASICs — of coding. The game walks you through a text-based RPG (“You’re in a dark room…”) and prompts you to code your way through to a solution. The game has an emulator window that appears to be based on MS/DOS 1.00, so you know it’s cutting-edge stuff. To be fair, it’s always been our experience that coding is mostly about concepts, and once you learn what a loop is or how to branch in one language, figuring it out in another language is just about syntax. There seem to be at least six different adventures planned, so perhaps other languages will make an appearance in the future.

And finally, while we’re talking about the gamification of nerd education, if you’ve been meaning to learn Morse code, you might want to check out Morse Code Defender. It’s an Android app that uses a Missile Command motif to help you learn Morse, with attacking missiles having a character attached to them, and you having to enter the correct Morse code to blow the missile up before it takes out your ham shack. We haven’t tried it yet, so there may be more to it, but it sure seems like a cute way to gamify the Morse learning process. Honestly, it’s got to be better than doomscrolling Instagram.

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Our hacker [John Duffy] wrote in to let us know about a video he put together to explain the design of his open-source multimeter, the HydraMeter.

If you’re interested in how the circuitry for a voltmeter, ohmmeter, or ammeter might work, this video is a masterclass. In this long and detailed video, [John] walks us through his solutions to various challenges he had while designing his own multimeter. We covered this multimeter last year, and this new video elaborates on the design of the HydraMeter which has been a work in progress for years now.

The basic design feeds voltage, current, and resistance front-ends into an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC), which then feeds into a microcontroller and out to the (detachable) display. You can find the KiCad design files on the GitHub page. There is also a write-up on hackaday.io.

The user interface for the meter is… opinionated, and perhaps not to everyone’s taste. In the video, [John] talks a little bit about why he made the UI work the way that it does, and he noted that adding a rotary range switch is a goal for version 2.0.

The case is 3D printed and [John] had glowing things to say about his Bambu printer. He also had glowing things to say about D-sub connectors, but he did not have glowing things to say about Solid Edge, the CAD software he used to design the case.

Thank you, [John], for putting this video together; it is an excellent resource. We look forward to seeing version 2.0 develop soon!

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Un robot umanoide vestito con abiti casual, nello stile di un uomo medio, ha guadagnato una popolarità inaspettata in Cina. Soprannominato “Uncle Bot” su Internet, è diventato famoso grazie a un breve video che lo ritraeva mentre correva giù per una collina in pantaloncini larghi, scarpe da ginnastica e maglietta.

Il video è apparso sul canale cinese Douyin e poi è migrato sui social network occidentali, dove ha raccolto oltre 80 milioni di visualizzazioni. Nel video, il robot si muove con sorprendente velocità e stabilità, agita le braccia e scende con sicurezza lungo il sentiero, come se stesse partecipando a una gara, e lo fa con molto più controllo.

Da allora, Uncle Bot è stato avvistato in diverse situazioni. Visita templi, saluta i passanti, scatta foto con i tifosi e passeggia tranquillamente per angoli pittoreschi del paese. Osserva ragazzi che giocano a basket, come se stesse valutando la loro tecnica di lancio. In un altro, porta a spasso tranquillamente un cane robot, come un vero pensionato durante la passeggiata mattutina.

Dietro tutta questa simpatica goffaggine c’è un’ingegneria seria. Uncle Bot è in realtà un Unitree G1, prodotto dall’azienda cinese Unitree. Questo umanoide costa circa 16.000 dollari ed è progettato per operare in modo autonomo, interagire con le persone e muoversi con sicurezza in una varietà di ambienti. È dotato di lidar 3D, una telecamera di profondità Intel RealSense, microfoni, un corpo dinamico e articolato e persino un altoparlante integrato da 5 watt. Può correre, camminare e muoversi su terreni irregolari, e la sua batteria dura un paio d’ore di attività.

L’azienda non ha ancora dichiarato se il successo virale sia legato a una strategia di marketing, ma l’attenzione rivolta al modello ha già attirato un pubblico internazionale. Gli utenti paragonano il G1 ai primi prototipi di Boston Dynamics, solo più affascinanti e umani.

Potrebbe essere ancora più un meme che un prodotto pronto per l’adozione di massa, ma la sua comparsa nella vita reale rappresenta un passo avanti. I robot umanoidi stanno lasciando i laboratori e stanno diventando parte della vita quotidiana. Se i nostri successori meccanici sono altrettanto bonari e rilassati, forse i nostri timori di un film sulla rivolta dei robot erano vani.

La Cina sta mostrando risultati impressionanti nel campo della robotica, dai robot che cucinano bistecche a distanza agli umanoidi che promettono una settimana lavorativa di tre giorni . Unitree è già nota per aver realizzato un’alternativa economica al cane robot di Boston Dynamics, e ora l’azienda sta dimostrando di poter costruire robot parlanti che interagiscono con le persone.

L'articolo Uncle Bot, il robot umanoide che sta conquistando la Cina e spaventando gli USA proviene da il blog della sicurezza informatica.

Normally, mechanical devices like record players move smoothly, with well-greased contact surfaces enabling the tone arm to automatically move, the multi-record mechanism to drop down a fresh disc, and the listener to have a generally good time. Unfortunately, the 1972-era ITT KP821 record player that [Mark] got recently handed by a friend wasn’t doing a lot of moving, with every part of the mechanism seemingly frozen in place, though the current owner wasn’t certain that they were doing something wrong.

More after the break…

Fortunately, this record player was in exceptionally good condition.. The primary failure was that the BSR record player mechanism, with its many touching metal surfaces, was suffering from a bad case of solidified grease. Although this is easily fixed with some IPA and a lot of elbow grease, the biggest trick with these mechanisms is putting it back together after cleaning, with many seemingly randomly shaped parts and every single E-clip that the manufacturer could design for and source at the time.

With that complete, this just left some pot cleaning and replacing a busted fuse in the amplifier section. The selenium rectifier was still functional, as were the SGS TAA621AX1 audio amplifier ICs. Despite the age of this ‘portable’ record player, both its BSR mechanism and the twin speakers that are part of the record player are in remarkably good condition. Much like with a car, it seems that you just have to swap out the liquid-y elements before they turn into a solid.

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Dear Friend of Press Freedom,

It’s the 114th day that Rümeysa Öztürk is facing deportation by the United States government for writing an op-ed it didn’t like, and the 34th day that Mario Guevara has been imprisoned for covering a protest. Read on for more about how the government is stifling speech and reporting—and how to fight back.

Reporting isn’t ‘incitement,’ no matter what the government says

Not content with harassing journalists as they gather the news, the government is also increasingly threatening them with prosecution for reporting it.

At least three times now, the Trump administration has accused journalists who have reported on the government’s immigration crackdown of inciting violence or lawlessness. This raises the possibility that the government will attempt to prosecute journalists for incitement, the crime of instigating others to break the law.

Reporting the news doesn’t even come close to meeting the First Amendment standards for incitement. But the government is counting on its spurious accusations to silence reporting. Read more here.

FPF files complaint against judge who ruled for Trump in frivolous Pulitzer case

Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and Demand Progress filed an ethics complaint against Edward Artau, a Florida judge who was nominated by President Donald Trump to a federal district court. The nomination came after Artau delivered a favorable ruling for Trump in his baseless lawsuit against the Pulitzer Board for not rescinding awards to journalists who were critical of Trump.

“Judges should be safeguarding us against President Trump’s frivolous attacks on the free press, the First Amendment and the rule of law. Instead, Judge Artau seems eager to facilitate Trump’s unconstitutional antics in exchange for a job … Attorney disciplinary commissions need to rise to this moment and not tolerate ethical violations that impact not only individuals before the court but our entire democracy,” said FPF Advocacy Director Seth Stern. Read more here.

Warren introduces presidential library bill

Trump’s presidential library has already received nearly half a billion dollars in known donations, including the settlement from his frivolous lawsuit against ABC. This is a staggering figure considering a library may never be built, and Trump’s CBS shakedown is poised to add to the haul.

This begs the question, is Trump using the ruse of building a library as a vehicle for funneling bribes? It’s possible, and a new bill introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and endorsed by FPF would help put a stop to the potential corruption and make presidential foundations more transparent.

Read more about the bill here.

Gabbard fires FOIA officials after FPF request makes headlines

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has reportedly fired a Freedom of Information Act official who “facilitated” the release of a document to FPF in response to a records request we filed in April.

That document blew apart the Trump administration’s rationale for deporting Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador. The administration had also cited the supposed “fake news” to justify policy changes it claims allow it to investigate journalist-source communications.

FPF’s Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper breaks down Gabbard’s attempts to stifle lawful disclosures and reporting and how we’re using FOIA to fight back. Read more here.

Fighting authoritarianism with transparency

Speaking of freedom of information, Harper joined NPR’s “1A” this week to discuss how government secrecy undermines the democratic process and what steps we can take to boost transparency.

With overclassification rampant, FOIA offices understaffed and underpowered, and the Trump administration exploiting loopholes to avoid transparency, we’re experiencing “dangerous levels of government secrecy,” Harper said.

But Harper also explained how specific reforms can increase transparency and help preserve our democracy. Listen here.

What we’re reading

ICE lawyers are hiding their names in immigration court (The Intercept). ICE lawyers shouldn’t hide their identities in court, and immigration judges shouldn’t condone the practice.

This disturbing trend must stop immediately.

Senate approves cuts to NPR, PBS, and foreign aid programs (NPR). Clawing back government funding for public media is an attack on every American who relies on it for news and emergency information.

How user-generated videos on social media brought Trump’s immigration crackdown to America’s screens (NBC News). This is exactly why we must defend the First Amendment right to record police in public and laws that protect against online censorship.

It’s not just the Epstein files. The Trump administration is withholding all kinds of public records. (MSNBC). FOIA is “certainly on life support,” said FPF’s Harper.

NJ reporter faces legal battle over police blotter (New Jersey Globe). “Prosecuting journalists for declining to censor themselves is alarming and blatantly unconstitutional, as is ordering the press to unpublish news reports,” explained FPF’s Seth Stern.

How factory farms criminalized journalism to block viral videos of animal cruelty (Rolling Stone). Even as they’re struck down for violating the First Amendment, ag-gag laws that limit the public’s access to information about the agricultural industry are becoming a model for cracking down on reporting on other industries, too.

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