🚀 $10 per Kilogram Space Launches

🚀 Longshot Space's Giant Air Gun: A Promising Alternative to Costly Rockets

Rockets are cool, but they are also pricey and complicated.

That’s why Longshot Space wants to shoot stuff into space with a giant air gun.

Longshot’s system is a horizontal tube that shoots projectiles with compressed gas. The bigger the tube, the faster the projectile, and the higher it goes. Longshot’s goal is to make space launches super cheap, like $10 per kilogram cheap.

But there’s a catch. Their system is loud, big, and needs a lot of power. So they can’t just set it up anywhere. They need a remote spot with lots of sun for solar power.

They also think their system is better for space colonization than rockets, because rockets are too expensive to send goods to other planets.

They’ve already built a test tube and reached Mach 2.2, and they’re aiming for Mach 5 soon.

🇨🇳 Apple Expands its Reach in China with New Store on WeChat

Apple has just opened a new store on WeChat, the super app that lets you chat, shop, watch and pay for everything in China.

Users will be able to buy Apple products, including iPhones, iPads, and Macs, from the comfort of their WeChat app.

This is a big deal for Apple, because they want to reach more Chinese customers who love to shop on social media platforms like WeChat and Douyin (that’s TikTok for you non-Chinese folks).

Apple already has a store on Tmall, another online shopping giant. They also tried to spice things up with a livestream show in May.

Despite the overall smartphone market shrinking by 5% in the first quarter in China, Apple managed to grab a 20% market share, which is the highest since 2014. That’s impressive, considering how many local rivals they have.

🎬 Will AI Replace Actors? Contract Negotiations Spark Tensions in Hollywood

AI is transforming Hollywood, and it’s at the center of contract negotiations.

Imagine watching Indiana Jones as a young and old man at the same time. Or seeing James Dean come back to life on the big screen.

Sounds crazy, right? Well, it’s not. It’s all possible thanks to artificial intelligence, or AI, which can create realistic performances from data.

But not everyone is happy about this. Actors are worried about what will happen to their likeness, their voice, and their paycheck if AI takes over. They want to have a say in how their data is used and who profits from it.

That’s why they’re threatening to strike if they don’t get a fair deal with the studios by the end of the week.

The studios say they’re open to negotiation, but they also see the potential of AI to make movies cheaper, faster, and more diverse.

The AI company Metaphysic says it’s not trying to replace actors, but to preserve them for future generations. It says actors should see their data as a valuable asset that they can control and monetize.

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