Hi viewers, welcome to our weekly engineering news update . This write article summarized some of the engineering events and news which occurred globally last week between 21st August 2023 to 27th August 2023. We hope to be giving your daily and weekly updates as soon as we able to receive these news.
News Highlight 1:
India makes history as the first country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole.
The country is the fourth to safely land a spacecraft on the moon, but it is the first to do it on the lunar south pole, which is relatively untouched. Chandrayaan-3 aspired to be the first spacecraft to land on the lunar surface in an area thought to contain deep craters filled with water ice. It landed six weeks after taking off on a rocket from an Andhra Pradesh spaceport. Mission control at Satish Dhawan Space Centre greeted the successful landing with cheers and joy.
News Highlight 2:
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission starts exploring the moon’s south pole
After the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s historic landing on the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s rover has commenced researching the composition of the surface and investigating water ice near the moon’s south pole
The historic Chandrayaan-3 moon project from India is now exploring the lunar surface near the south pole. With the successful landing, the country plans to move forward with putting a human in space and sending a vehicle to Mars.
Four hours after the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) mission landed on the moon on August 23rd, and the sun had risen on the landing site, Chandrayaan-3 lowered a ramp and the six-wheeled Pragyan rover, weighing only 26 kilograms, moved onto the lunar surface.
Both the lander and the rover are scheduled to operate for one lunar day (14 Earth days) until their ability to harvest energy from solar panels is reduced. ISRO has not ruled out the possibility of both being resurrected once the sun rises after two weeks of darkness and temperatures that will dip to – 238°C (-396.4°F), but this would be an added advantage.
Aug 24 (Reuters) – Meta Platforms (META.O) on Thursday said it would release an artificial intelligence (AI) model designed to assist in writing computer code, furthering its push into the new technology.
Code Llama, which will be available for free, can write code based on human text prompts and can also be used for code completion and debugging, the social media giant said in a blogpost.
Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT late last year, enterprises and businesses have flocked to the nascent generative AI market for newer capabilities and refining business processes.
News Highlight 3:
Abuja Building Collapse
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Rescue crews were searching for survivors Thursday after a building collapse in Nigeria’s capital left two people dead while many others are feared trapped, emergency officials said.
The two-story building in the densely populated Garki district of the capital Abuja collapsed during a downpour late Wednesday, witnesses said. It served both as a shopping center and a residential block and some of those trapped were believed to be shoppers.
Nkechi Isa, spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the city said 37 people have so far been pulled alive from the rubble. She said the rescue efforts would continue until the rubble has been searched.
Building collapses are becoming rampant in Africa’s most populous country with more than a dozen of such failures recorded in the last year, including earlier in August when a mosque collapsed in the northwestern Kaduna state, killing seven people.
Authorities often blame such disasters on a failure by officials to enforce building safety regulations and on poor maintenance.
News Highlight 4:
Fire at Louisiana oil refinery sends tower of black smoke into the air, but no injuries reported
According to Associated Press, A massive fire at a south Louisiana oil refinery sent a tower of black smoke billowing into the air above the Mississippi River on Friday, forcing nearby residents to evacuate for several hours as emergency crews battled the blaze.
No injuries were reported and the fire was under control and contained to two damaged storage tanks by late afternoon, according Marathon Petroleum, which operates the facility in Garyville, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans. Air quality monitoring was also taking place, officials said.
Photos from above showed orange flames leaping into the air beneath the dark cloud of smoke as emergency crews sprayed long arcs of water onto the inferno. The fire was burning in an section of the refinery surrounded by wide cylindrical storage tanks. The company said two tanks were damaged.
Earlier in the day, company spokesperson Justin Lawrence told reporters he couldn’t estimate when the fire might be fully extinguished.
An investigation will be conducted to determine what caused the leak and subsequent fire, officials said in a news release.
News Highlight 5:
Motorola to launch phone module that enables two-way satellite calling and messaging
Motorola is expected to introduce a new accessory for phones, which will enable two-way satellite calling and text messaging. Despite not being a standard yet in the smartphone ecosystem, satellite connectivity is starting to get more and more traction as handset makers are looking for way to make their products stand out.
While Apple and Huawei are among the most popular brands that offer satellite connectivity on some of their devices, Motorola is in the process of becoming a popular choice among those looking for this type of phone.
To make it easier for its brand to become recognizable in the satellite connectivity field, Motorola announced it will release a Tiantong satellite phone module by the end of the month, GizmoChina reports.
As the title says, the accessory will enable two-way satellite phone calls and text messaging. It’s also important to mention that the phone module will connect to China’s space-based information satellite, Tiantong-1, the same used by Huawei Mate 60 series.
The satellite phone module will be introduced in China since it will connect to the country’s Tiantong-1 satellite. It’s unclear whether or not Lenovo and Motorola will launch the phone accessory in other countries in the coming months. No word on price and availability have been unveiled yet.
Fortunately, there are options if you’re a Motorola fan. For example, the most recent Motorola rugged phone, the Defy 2, supports satellite connectivity. Not only that, but those who use the phone can also share their location and check-ins. (Phone arena)
News Highlight 5:
The Long-Awaited Upgrade to WHATSAPP: HD Videos are are now available
WhatsApp has some exciting news to share with its users – the support for HD videos has finally arrived! Yes, you read that right, it’s not a blast from the past, it’s happening in 2023. One of the most popular messaging services in the world has finally caught up and introduced this long-awaited feature.
Just last week, WhatsApp introduced support for high-resolution pictures, a feature that should have been available a long time ago. However, they assured users that HD video support would be coming soon, and now it’s here. The rollout has already begun, though it will be a gradual process, so it may take some time before you can enjoy HD videos on your account. The good news is that both iOS and Android users can look forward to this update.
What does this new feature entail? Well, you now have the option to share 720p videos, an upgrade from the previous 480p resolution. To take advantage of this, simply select the video(s) you want to share, and tap the new HD button located at the top of the screen. A dialog box will appear, allowing you to choose between Standard Quality and HD Quality (480p or 720p), and it will also display the file sizes to help you make an informed decision.
Just like HD images, all videos shared on the app, including HD videos, are protected with end-to-end encryption. So, you can rest assured that your content will remain secure and private. When someone receives an HD video, they will see a distinctive HD badge on it, indicating the enhanced quality.
It’s about time WhatsApp caught up with the times and introduced HD video support. So, keep an eye out for the update on your device, as it will enhance your video sharing experience and bring it up to par with other modern messaging platforms.
News Highlight 6:
Gmail users advised to set up two-factor verification now
In a brief but essential August 23 posting to the official Google Workspace updates feed, Gmail users have been advised to set up two-factor verification now. The advice comes as Google starts rolling out a new critical security alert system to help protect account holders when “sensitive actions” are taken that impact their Gmail account.
The sensitive actions that Google is referring to are specific to three things within Gmail:
Creating, editing, or importing a filter.
He noted that the new launch date has not been set, but it will be no earlier than Thursday due to necessary activities such as refuelling.
According to MHI and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the launch could happen as late as September 15.