Nasa is about to set off to a distant, metal asteroid that could tell us how planets form. On Friday, the spacecraft – currently folded in the cargo bay of a SpaceX rocket – will leave from the Kennedy Space Centre and begin a mission that will see it arrive at what is thought to be an ancient remnant of a protoplanet in 2029. Propelled by a system of solar-electric ion thrusters being used for the first time on an interplanetary mission, the spacecraft - about the size of a small van - is expected to reach its target on the outer fringes of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter nearly six years from now. It would then orbit Psyche for 26 months, scanning the asteroid with instruments built to measure the asteroid’s gravity, magnetic proprieties and composition. Psyche measures roughly 173 miles (279 km) across at its widest point. The leading hypothesis for this asteroid’s origin is that Psyche is the once-molten, long-frozen inner hulk of a baby planet torn apart by collisions with other celestial bodies at the dawn of the solar system. It orbits the sun about three times farther than Earth, even at its closest to our planet.

If you’re in the red on AirNow’s air quality map, you should stay inside.

By Jane Lanhee Lee and Eduardo Baptista The sale of struggling Silicon Valley startup zGlue’s patents in 2021

A federal judge has blocked key agencies within President Joe Biden’s administration from communicating with social media companies about certain online speech in an extraordinary ruling as part of an ongoing case that could have profound impacts on the First Amendment. The preliminary injunction granted by Donald Trump-appointed US District Judge Terry A Doughty in Louisiana on 4 July prohibits the FBI and the US Department of Health and Human Services, among others, from speaking with platforms for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.” The ruling – which could obstruct the administration’s attempts to combat false and potentially dangerous claims about vaccines and elections – is a victory for Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri who have alleged that the federal government was overreaching in its attempts to combat Covid-19 disinformation and baseless election fraud narratives. Judge Doughty, who has yet to issue a final ruling, stated in his injunction that the Republican plaintiffs “have produced evidence of a massive effort by Defendants, from the White House to federal agencies, to suppress speech based on its content.” He did make some exceptions that would allow the government to warn platforms about national security threats, criminal activity or voter suppression. The legal challenge follows ongoing allegations from right-wing officials and Republican lawmakers that the federal government – specifically, Democratic officials – have conspired with “Big Tech” to silence conservative voices, a long-running conspiracy theory that proponents will argue is substantiated by the latest decision. GOP attorneys general in the case have accused government agencies of a “systemic and systematic campaign” to control speech on social media platforms that accelerated during the Trump administration and experienced a “quantum leap” under President Biden. Attorneys for the Biden administration have disputed such claims and warned that an injunction could undermine national security efforts, pointing to the programs developed among government agencies to combat disinformation in the aftermath of the 2016 election. The Independent has requested comment from the White House. Missouri’s Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who originally filed the lawsuit with Louisiana’s Attorney General Jeff Landry, called the ruling a “big win for the First Amendment on this Independence Day.” Though the case originated with those Republican officials, several additional plaintiffs added their name to the case, arguing that they also were unfairly targeted after spreading disinformation online. Plaintiffs also include vaccine conspiracy theorist and presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy Jr and Jim Hoft, the founder of the far-right conspiracy theory-fuelled website The Gateway Pundit and a defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed by election workers who faced death threats over false reporting about them in the 2020 presidential election. This is a developing story Read More Twitter applies temporary reading limits amid ongoing problems with platform Biden renews call for assault weapons ban after ‘tragic and senseless’ spate of July 4 shootings Ex-New York congressman pardoned by Trump is planning to run again in Florida Suspicious powder found at the White House when Biden was gone was cocaine, AP sources say Biden renews call for assault weapons ban after spate of July 4 shootings Watch live: Joe Biden addresses National Education Association

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering diluting some of his green policies, according to a person familiar

Batteries in older Nissan Leaf electric vehicles are getting a new life as portable power sources that can be used to run gadgets on the go or deliver emergency power in disasters

Baldur's Gate 3 does not support cross-platform play, preventing friends on different platforms from playing together. Baldur's Gate 3 does have cross-platform progression.

Do you ever miss the good, old-fashioned home button on an iPhone? Starting with the

Donald Trump has gone on a bizarre rant about offshore wind turbines, claiming they are driving whales “a little batty” and killing them “in numbers never seen before”. The former US President made the claim, which is rooted in a climate sceptic conspiracy theory, at a rally in South Carolina this week. There, he was taking aim at President Joe Biden’s regulations to impose speed limits on speed boats, vowing to overturn the rules on “day one” should he be voted in. Trump told the South Carolina crowd that the “Biden speed limit” would “demolish the charter fishing business, crush boat manufacturers and desecrate your cherished Low Country traditions.” That was when he got sidetracked by whales and wind turbines, or “windmills”, as he prefers to call them. “The windmills are driving them crazy. They’re driving the whales a little batty. And they are washing up on shore in levels never seen before.” It comes days after Trump praised Rishi Sunak for rolling back several key UK climate change promises. He congratulated the Prime Minister for “recognising this SCAM before it was too late”. As for this week's speech, it isn't the first time Trump has gone to war with wind turbines. In 2019, he suggested that wind turbines cause cancer, which is a lie. Months later, he attacked renewable energy again, suggesting that wind power doesn’t work when it’s not windy. This is also untrue. Wind-powered electricity supply isn’t affected by wind not blowing all the time because energy is stored for when it's needed. The US Department of Energy website even says that it's not a problem. At Trump's South Carolina rally, he was likely trying to appeal to a vocal community of misinformed protestors. In February, thousands of people gathered at New Jersey’s Point Pleasant beach to demand authorities pause offshore wind projects in response to recent whale deaths. Since 2023, 10 whales have washed ashore on the New York and New Jersey coastlines. Conspiracy theorists claim the noise created by wind turbines has been messing with the whales’ navigation systems. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has called the deaths “unusual mortality events”, and said there is no link between the wind turbines and whale deaths. “It’s just a cynical disinformation campaign,” Greenpeace oceans director John Hocevar told to USA Today. That’s hardly going to stop former President Trump though, is it? Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Australia’s central bank is developing its capacity to model the macroeconomic implications of climate risks for monetary policy

Soul Fighter Evelynn skin splash art, price, release date and how to get the League of Legends skin during Soul Fighter.

YOKNEAM ILLIT, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 18, 2023--