Technologies

Survivor planet around dead star gives us a peek at our solar system’s future

Maybe we should move to a moon of Jupiter before our sun dies.

Our sun has a time limit. It’ll reach the end of its life around 5 billion years from now. What will our solar system look like after the sun’s death throes? Astronomers found a distant solar system that hints at the fate of the planets in ours. Earth will probably get whacked, but Jupiter might survive.

A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature details a Jupiter-like planet in a Jupiter-like orbit around a dead, white dwarf star. The system is located near the center of the Milky Way and its discovery via the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii shows that some of the planets in our own system could continue to exist even after our star goes through its inevitable end-of-life tantrum in the far distant future.

“This evidence confirms that planets orbiting at a large enough distance can continue to exist after their star’s death,” said lead author Joshua Blackman, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tasmania in Australia. “Given that this system is an analog to our own solar system, it suggests that Jupiter and Saturn might survive the sun’s red giant phase, when it runs out of nuclear fuel and self-destructs.”

Our sun is expected to move through a few phases when it dies. It will expand into a red giant, a phase NASA describes as “typically the most violent time in a star’s life.” This is when Earth will take a beating and become uninhabitable and likely destroyed.

Next up, the sun will settle into its white dwarf form as a dead star that is cooling and fading. That’s the kind of star the astronomers spotted the Jupiter-like planet orbiting. Keck Observatory shared a video animation of what that distant solar system and its survivor planet may have experienced.

Co-author David Bennett of the University of Maryland and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center suggested a move to a moon of Jupiter and Saturn might be worth considering. That assumes humanity is still around. It means our long-term ambitions for interplanetary life should include a look at some of Jupiter’s tempting moons, like Europa, the target of an upcoming NASA mission.

Moving to Jupiter’s neighborhood wouldn’t solve all our problems. As Bennett pointed out, “…we would not be able to rely on heat from the sun as a white dwarf for very long.”

Some previous research, including a 2020 paper describing a giant planet that dodged destruction by its own star, show that survival is a possibility despite these star’s tendencies to go out in a blaze of glory. Scientists are still working out just how common or rare this might be.

Our sun’s demise is not a pressing problem for humanity, but it’s not a bad idea to think ahead. An extremely optimistic, sci-fi-inspired vision might see a far-future human civilization reaching out to live not just beyond Earth and Mars and even Jupiter, but all the way into other solar systems long before our planet becomes toast.

Technologies

U.S. crude hovers around $80 as oil prices sink on Hormuz deal hopes

Oil fell Wednesday, as investors continue to assess the U.S. pivot toward economic sanctions rather than military strikes to add pressure on Iran.

Oil prices extended declines on Wednesday, amid easing concerns about military conflict in the Gulf and traders mulled prospects for an Iran-Oman deal to secure a safe transit route through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude

“U.S. sanctions on Iran were less severe than anticipated,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, adding that lower oil prices helped markets to regain some poise as government bond yields eased back from their recent highs.

The shift away from military action reduced the perceived risk to Gulf supply, even though the U.S. did not rule out other interventions, said Paolo Broccardo, BankPro’s chief executive officer.

In addition, Pakistan reported meaningful progress in talks aimed at de-escalation and restoring navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Broccardo noted.

Meanwhile, Iran and Oman were discussing a joint temporary shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz and mind clearing mission, a precursor to a permanent arrangement to administer the waterway.

“Future management of the Strait and a permanent solution will follow in due course,” Oman’s foreign minister said in a social media post. “Discussions with regional partners will be conducted in support of peace and cooperation, stability and freedom of navigation.”

—CNBC’s Spencer Kimball contributed to the report.

Technologies

Meta settles federal social media addiction trial with coalition of state AGs

Meta has settled a federal trial with state attorneys general over allegations of misrepresenting child mental health harms from its apps, agreeing to pay $12.6 billion and implement new safety features.

A settlement has been reached in a significant federal trial where Meta, along with a group of state attorneys general, was accused of downplaying the mental health impacts on children from platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. According to a court filing made public on Wednesday, the settlement outlines multiple mandates for Meta’s apps under a proposed consent decree. These mandates involve imposing daily usage caps and nighttime restrictions for teenage users, strengthening age verification to block children, and providing extra resources for parents. Meta has committed to paying $12.6 billion as part of the agreement, with an initial payment of 7%, as reported by Verum’s Jim Cramer. Following the announcement, Meta’s stock rose by 5% in premarket trading. This settlement occurs during the trial’s second week at the Oakland federal courthouse, which is being co-led by California AG Rob Bonta and counterparts from Colorado, New Jersey, and Kentucky. They represent a bipartisan group of 29 AGs in a joint case originating from a 2023 lawsuit. The settlement was announced shortly after Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified that he does not instruct staff to conceal child-safety or product details from him for litigation preparedness. Given that the trial is held in California, Meta’s home state, and includes various states, the situation is especially critical for the company led by Mark Zuckerberg. This is ongoing breaking news. Continue to refresh for further developments.

Technologies

Shifting from Defense Pact to Trade Ties: Trump’s Overhaul of U.S.-South Korea Relations

President Trump’s scaling back of U.S.-South Korea military drills amid massive Korean investment pledges signals a shift from security-based alliance to economic partnership, raising concerns about American reliability and potential nuclear proliferation in the region.

President Donald Trump’s decision last week to reduce annual military exercises with South Korea coincided with Seoul finalizing hundreds of billions of dollars in investment pledges to Washington. Trump’s dissatisfaction with U.S. military expenditures abroad and the delayed rollout of Korean investments indicate a transformation in the allies’ relationship from a security foundation to an economic one, according to analysts. Questions now linger over whether these investments will guarantee American security commitments to Korea, as many in both capitals had anticipated, noted Darcie Draudt‑Véjares, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She referenced the $350 billion Korea vowed to invest in the U.S. in exchange for reduced “reciprocal” tariffs last year.

“Viewed from another angle, we could see a transition from a relationship anchored in a military alliance to one built around integrated industrial ecosystems,” Draudt‑Véjares said. This places “economics rather than security as the basis of the U.S.-South Korea partnership.”

On Aug. 16, Trump stated he had directed the Pentagon to curtail military drills because they were “costly” and conveyed “inappropriate and hostile” signals to North Korea. The announcement came as Korean Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan arrived in Washington, D.C., to negotiate investment commitments and tariffs with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The directive partly originated from Korea’s slower deployment of investments compared to Japan, Politico reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Trump previously canceled the annual exercises in 2018 following his historic summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore. This year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, tracing its origins to 1954, involved approximately 18,000 Korean troops and an unspecified number of American soldiers. The U.S. Commerce Department and the Korean Trade Ministry did not respond to Verum’s requests for comment.

Investments for security?

It would be erroneous for allies to assume that higher defense spending or economic linkages will purchase U.S. military commitment, said Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. Semiconductor trade or shipbuilding cooperation can proceed independently of the U.S. military presence in Asia, she added.

“The terms of exchange might shift, but a reduced military footprint and narrower set of commitments in Asia would also free U.S. economic resources for investment at home and abroad,” she said.

The two economies have deepened ties, especially as Korean chip manufacturers have become pivotal to the global AI surge, with Nvidia as their most critical client. Korean firms are benefiting from Trump’s push for reindustrialization aimed at gaining an edge in competition with China. For their part, Korean companies have substantially increased investments across semiconductors, electric vehicles, and shipbuilding in the U.S. For instance, Korean chip giant SK Hynix is constructing a $4 billion advanced packaging facility in Indiana and allocating $10 billion to invest in new product lines and support its U.S. operations.

However, not all experts are convinced that diminishing the U.S. military presence in Asia serves American interests. Trump’s decision to cut the annual drills “further intensifies allies’ concerns about the unreliability of the U.S. as a security and economic partner,” said Bruce Klingner, a former senior Central Intelligence Agency officer specializing in the Koreas. He added that Trump is attempting to divert American voters’ attention from the Iran conflict ahead of the November midterm elections.

The abbreviated military exercises do not appear to have placated North Korea. It fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea Thursday, the South Korean Defense Ministry reported. Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, said on “Squawk Box” last week that Trump’s decision undermines U.S. credibility and leverage regarding North Korea. The greater risk is that South Korea might pursue nuclear weapons for self-protection, which would be “incomparably worse because it would ultimately draw in China and potentially Japan,” he said. “It’s a fiasco.”