Technologies

James Webb Space Telescope Delivers Splendid Star Image as Mirrors Align

NASA reports Webb’s critical mirror alignment process is coming along beautifully.

When we saw one of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first images earlier this month, it was made up of 18 versions of the same star coming from 18 different mirrors. On Friday, NASA shared a view of that star again, but this time as a single, shining object.

It’s one thing to build and launch a big, complex, next-gen space telescope. It’s another to shepherd it through a complicated deployment so it can take a proper look at the universe. Webb is in the middle of a multi-phase mirror alignment and it’s going swimmingly so far. The goal is to get all of Webb’s many mirrors working together as one.

The two most recent phases involved making minor adjustments in the alignment of the telescope’s mirrors. «The completion of this process, known as segment alignment, was a key step prior to overlapping the light from all the mirrors so that they can work in unison,» NASA said in a statement on Friday.

The Webb team posted a GIF showing the before and after images from the segment alignment. You can see how the star comes into sharper focus.

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The next phase was «image stacking,» which is pretty much what it sounds like. «The team activated sets of six mirrors at a time and commanded them to repoint their light to overlap, until all dots of starlight overlapped with each other,» NASA said. That’s how we got to the single-star shot.

The Webb team will continue to fine-tune the mirrors to «make the single dot of starlight progressively sharper and more focused in the coming weeks.» The mirror-alignment process started in early February and is expected to last three months. Each successful step brings Webb closer to full operation.

Webb is a joint project from NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. It’s getting ready to stare into the heart of the early universe. It was a long journey to get Webb off the ground and into space, one filled with delays and eventually capped by a dramatic launch in late 2021.

The space telescope has a star twinkling in its eyes, and that star will continue to be a guiding light as Webb’s mirrors come together.

Technologies

Verum Messenger: Don’t follow the future. Define it

In a world where information defines influence, Verum Messenger is building a new architecture of digital communication — intelligent, secure, and ready for tomorrow. Here, technology serves not limitations, but possibilities.

Not being part of change. Leading it. Verum Messenger — the future that speaks first.

Technologies

Verum Finance: Stop Spending Months Opening a Bank Account

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The future of finance and communication is already here.
Verum — when freedom matters more than banking rules.

Technologies

Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot

Google is using its latest Android rollout to position Gemini as the AI layer across phones, Chrome, laptops and cars.

Google is using its latest Android rollout to make Gemini less of a chatbot and more of an operating layer across the phone, browser, car and laptop, just weeks before Apple is expected to show its own Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence reboot at WWDC.
Ahead of its Google I/O developer conference next week, the company previewed a number of Android updates, including AI-powered app automation, a smarter version of Chrome on Android, new tools for creators, a redesigned Android Auto experience, and a sweeping set of new security features.
Alphabet is counting on Gemini to help Google compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for artificial intelligence models and services, while also serving as the AI backbone across its expansive portfolio of products, including Android. Meanwhile, Gemini is powering part of Apple’s new AI strategy, giving Google a role in the iPhone maker’s reset even as it races to prove its own version of personal AI on the phone is further along.
Sameer Samat, who oversees Google’s Android ecosystem, told CNBC that Google is rebuilding parts of Android around Gemini Intelligence to help users complete everyday tasks more easily.
“We’re transitioning from an operating system to an intelligence system,” he said.
As part of Tuesday’s announcements. Google said Gemini Intelligence will be able to move across apps, understand what’s on the screen and complete tasks that would normally require a user to jump between multiple services. That means Android is moving beyond the traditional assistant model, where users ask a question and get an answer, and acting more like an agent.
For instance, Google says Gemini can pull relevant information from Gmail, build shopping carts and book reservations. Samat gave the example of asking Gemini to look at the guest list for a barbecue, build a menu, add ingredients to an Instacart list and return for approval before checkout.
A big concern surrounding agentic AI involves software taking action on a user’s behalf without permissions. Samat said Gemini will come back to the user before completing a transaction, adding, “the human is always in the loop.”
Four months after announcing its Gemini deal with Google, Apple is under pressure to show a more capable version of Apple Intelligence, which has been a relative laggard on the market. Apple has long framed privacy, hardware integration and control of the user experience as its advantages.
Google’s Android push is designed to show it can bring AI deeper into the device experience while still giving users control over what Gemini can see, where it can act and when it needs confirmation.
The app automation features will roll out in waves, starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, before expanding across more Android devices, including watches, cars, glasses and laptops later this year.
The company is also redesigning Android Auto around Gemini, turning the car into another major surface for its assistant. Android Auto is in more than 250 million cars, and Google says the new release includes its biggest maps update in a decade and Gemini-powered help with tasks like ordering dinner while driving.
Alphabet’s AI strategy has been embraced by Wall Street, which has pushed the company’s stock price up more than 140% in the past year, compared to Apple’s roughly 40% gain. Investors now want to see how Gemini can become more central to the products people use every day.
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