A couple of years ago, Israeli startup CogniFiber made headlines with Deeplight, a fiber-optic cable which could, “process complex algorithms within the fiber itself before the signal hits the terminal.” At the time, we warned this technology wouldn’t reach end users in the near future, and was unlikely to appear in laptops or smartphones anytime soon.

However, eeNews Embedded is now reporting on Oriole Networks, a UK-based startup using light for a different purpose – to create efficient networks of AI chips.

“It is very important to defend the Earth from asteroids and we need to prepare ourselves with a little bit of defence from the asteroids though they are  not going to come and attack us like missiles, guns or laser beams but will simply come and hit us and can be dangerous,” remarked ISRO Chairman S Somanath while speaking on a Workshop on Planetary Defence on the sidelines of the International of International Asteroid Day 2024. He said that no one nation can defend the earth against the Asteroids alone and a joint effort of different nations in the world is needed to serve the purpose. 

S Somanath added that India as a space-faring nation is very keen to work on this. Debate and discussions are required to save the Earth from any such kind of catastrophe. 

Speaking at length on asteroids, Somanath said that there were lakhs of asteroids mainly between Mars and Jupiter. “Asteroids are small in size compared to the celestial bodies such as the Sun, the Moon and the planets but have huge energy. Some of them are as big as 1000 kilometers. They move at tremendous speeds and it is very important to understand them. Many missions have gone to asteroids and collected samples. 

“It is more challenging to go to Asteroids when compared to other planetary objects such as the Moon as the Moon has a definite path around the Earth. Landing on an Asteroid is much more trickier because of their shape. However many many nations  have done this which is remarkable,” said Somanath. 

The ISRO chairman also recalled the Hollywood movie “Armageddon’ that focused on a large asteroid en route to Earth with the possibility to destroy life. He also recalled the June 30t incident in 1908 wherein a huge blast from an asteroid had flattened about 2200 square kilometre of forest destroying nearly 80 million trees in Tunguska a remote location in Siberia, Russia. 

In accordance with the UN resolution in 2016, International Asteroid Day is celebrated to “observe each year at the international level the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia Russian Federation, on 30t June 1908 and to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard”. 

The workshop on planetary defence was the first of its kind in the country and aimed to raise awareness on the impact threats of asteroids, the importance of asteroids research for a better understanding of our universe and also inspire participants to find innovative solutions for planetary defence. 

Planetary defence involves early detection of hazardous asteroids, their continual observation for better characterization and risk assessment and devising an appropriate risk mitigation strategy. Several scientific missions for asteroid exploration and sample return have improved the understanding of the asteroids and the recent successful demonstrations of kinetic impactor technology for asteroid deflection by DART mission has further spurred global interest in this field. Due to this, ISRO has also initiated focused activities towards planetary defence. 

Strands is a brand new daily puzzle from the New York Times. A trickier take on the classic word search, you’ll need a keen eye to solve this puzzle.

Like Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword, Strands can be a bit difficult to solve some days. There’s no shame in needing a little help from time to time. If you’re stuck and need to know the answers to today’s Strands puzzle, check out the solved puzzle below.

How to play Strands

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strand answers

Today’s spanagram

We’ll start by giving you the spangram, which might help you figure out the theme and solve the rest of the puzzle on your own:

Today’s Strands answers

• CREAM
• CROP
• HEAD
• CLASS
• PICK
• LITTER
• LIFE
• PARTY

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is finally here and in addition to the launch on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, and Battle.net, the game is also live on Xbox Game Pass. This is a monumental shift in how one of Activision’s biggest game franchises is made available to players. The announcement about the game coming to Xbox Game Pass was made earlier this year, but the reality of this distribution of the game is likely just now setting in for some.

Call of Duty is almost always the best-selling game of the year. If it isn’t number one, it’s typically in the top five. That won’t necessarily change with Black Ops 6, but the Game Pass availability will no doubt have some players choosing to play it for free as opposed to paying for it. The reason this is such a big deal is because it’s just never been done before.

It’s not the first Call of Duty to make its way to Game Pass. Warzone, Modern Warfare II, and Modern Warfare III were all dropped into the Game Pass library back in July. With Black Ops 6 though, it’s the first Call of Duty title to go live on the service on launch day. That’s the factor that makes this such a big deal. Day one availability on Microsoft’s gaming subscription service for one of the biggest franchises in gaming.

With Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 live on Xbox Game Pass, the game should see a surge of players

From Microsoft and Activision’s financial standpoints, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not the Game Pass availability is going to hurt the bottom line.

From a player standpoint, this is perhaps the best thing to happen to Call of Duty in a while. It means the game will now be available to more players than ever. There will be some overlap of players who would buy the game and play it regardless of whether or not it was on Microsoft’s subscription service. However, there are also some players who would certainly avoid the game if it meant having to pay for it.

Now, those players will be able to give the game a shot and see if they like it. This should translate to the number of players in Black Ops 6 growing beyond what we saw in past Call of Duty games. However, that also depends on how fun the game is over an extended period of time. The first few weeks and likely the first season will probably maintain a large number of players either way.

The game is new and people will still be having that honeymoon stage with it. As time goes on, some players will undoubtedly drop off. Either out of boredom or because of other more important commitments. But it seems highly likely that because the game can be played for free via Xbox Game Pass, more people will jump in to check things out than with Modern Warfare III, simply because of the fact that it’s rolled into a service that many people subscribe to.

You don’t need Game Pass Ultimate

While I personally think this is still the best value, you don’t need to have the Ultimate membership to play Black Ops 6. It’s available via PC Game Pass as well, which is less expensive. You can also play it for free on the Xbox Series X|S consoles if you have the Ultimate plan. You cannot, however, access the game for free if you have the Core or Standard plans on console. At least, not right away.

Microsoft doesn’t confirm when or if Black Ops 6 will eventually be accessible via those two plans, but it is possible that it will land on them eventually. Players should also not forget that if they bought the game on Steam or Battle.net, or play via PC Game Pass, it can be streamed through GeForce NOW.

The long-anticipated iPhone iOS 18.1 , bringing with it , but we are already on to the next new thing. The company is busy , which has already entered its beta stage and should be widely released in December. This next operating system will include daily Sudoku puzzles for Apple News+ subscribers, .

Users will be able to choose from three difficulty options each day, ranging from easy to challenging. There’s a scoreboard to track stats, which includes the total number of puzzles solved, speed metrics and more. This is the fourth puzzle game to be included with an Apple News+ subscription, joining Crossword, Crossword Mini, and Quartiles. The New York Times also offers a slew of games with a subscription, , so this is becoming an actual trend.

Sudoku will also be available for Apple News+ subscribers with the forthcoming launch of iPadOS 18.2, and rumors indicate a similar release for macOS Sequoia 15.2. Apple News+ costs $13 per month on its own but is , along with Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud storage.

Of course, number-based mobile games aren’t the only feature shipping with iOS 18.2. Apple Intelligence is getting an expansion, including the custom emoji maker Genmoji and ChatGPT/Siri integration. There’s also a child safety feature and report it to Apple.

Project Helping Hands is a new community-based initiative to help game industry job seekers who have been out of work or underemployed for more than a year.

Aiming to draw a spotlight for long-term job seekers in games, it’s a project led by Amir Satvat, the game job opening aggregator who has amassed a big following of 400,000 unique viewers on LinkedIn. (You can apply here).

“Our goal is to help long-term job seekers in games get the spotlight they deserve,” Satvat said in a LinkedIn post.

This effort could be a big deal for job seekers as Satvat has been able to help more than 2,800 people find jobs. Satvat is a “top voice” on LinkedIn for games and he has 101,000-plus followers. He has also amassed a lot of data about jobs in the game industry, which is regrettably not transparent about hirings and firings. More than 32,000 people have been laid off in games in the past three years.

If you’ve been unemployed or underemployed for 12 months or more and have been seeking roles in games as part of your job search, this program is for you. You don’t need to have been exclusively looking in games, but it does need to be at least part of your goal, Satvat said.

He said that three times a week, he will spotlight up to 15 individuals looking for new opportunities.

Applicants can fill out a form, and Satvat will randomly select participants to feature along with a short bio you provide.

How it works

On his LinkedIn profile, Satvat has begun listed the profile details of 15 people each week who have been looking for work for a year or more. The post includes the name, function, years of experience, location, and whether the person is open to remote work.

Satvat is accepting submissions through a Google form and each application must be complete. He will adjust the project as needed. Satvat started posting community member profiles on October 18 (here’s another one and another one).

The long-term unemployed?

It’s not clear how many people have been stuck looking for a job in games for more than a year. But Satvat’s data gives him insights on the issue of ageism in games.

He noted that for younger game job seekers — those with three or fewer years of work experience who have never worked in games — the chances of securing a role in the industry over 12 months are just 1% to 2%.

And, after two years of collecting data, Satvat said he knows that the odds of finding a role in games for those 50 and over are roughly the same.

While the overall likelihood of finding work in games over 12 months is around 7%, and this number rises to 20-25% for all who have previous experience in the industry, these statistics show a pronounced peak in opportunities for those in their late 20s and 30s, with meaningful decline by the time they reach their 40s, Satvat said.

“We need to be much more aware of how challenging the odds become for those in our industry as they age,” Satvat said. “If we feel empathy for younger applicants locked out of opportunities, I’m equally raising my hand in solidarity for those with the most experience – because, numerically, I now know that, at some point, they face the same struggle.”

This new service to help those who are out of work for a long time will likely help those who are also subjected to ageism.