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A Spacecraft is set to smash into an asteroid

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A spacecraft is set to smash into an asteroid to test whether deflecting a space rock could one day protect Earth from a potentially catastrophic impact.

If all goes according to plan, the ESA’s 700-kilogram (1,543-pound) Hera spacecraft will slam into Didymos B, a small asteroid that orbits the much larger Didymos A, at a speed of 14,000 kilometers per hour (8,700 miles per hour). The high-speed impact is designed to create an artificial crater on the surface of Didymos B.

Over the next two years, Hera will study the artificial crater using its suite of cameras and sensors.

In particular, Hera will search for signs that the impact has altered Didymos B’s orbit around Didymos A. This information could help scientists better understand how to deflect an asteroid if it were on course to hit Earth.

“To successfully defend our planet from future asteroid impacts, we need to be able to change the motion of an asteroid in a controlled manner,” said ESA Director General Jan Wörner in a press release.

“Hera will pave the way for future missions by testing technologies required for resource utilization on an asteroid and demonstrating innovative methods for altering an asteroid’s path.”

Not on a collision course

While Didymo A is not on a collision course with Earth, it offers scientists an ideal target for testing out what could one day be used to save our planet from a devastating impact.

“This is exactly why we’re doing this mission,” said Paolo Martino, Hera project manager at ESA’s technical center in Noordwijk, Netherlands, in the press release.

“It’s the first step in demonstrating how we can protect our planet from future hazardous encounters.”

Hera isn’t going it alone on this journey—it’s being accompanied by two CubeSats that will act as eyewitnesses to the impact. One of these CubeSats is called LICIACube and was built by university students in Belgium.

The other CubeSat, called DART+LANCE+, was built by NASA. Both CubeSats will take pictures and collect data during Hera’s flyby of Didymos B following the impact.

“The beauty of using CubeSats for this kind of rendezvous mission is that they are considerably cheaper than traditional satellites.”

By better understanding how to deflect an incoming asteroid , we can protect our planet from disastrous consequences .

This experimental collision is just the first step in learning how we can change an asteroid ‘s path.

Ahron Young is an award winning journalist who has covered major news events around the world. Ahron is the Managing Editor and Founder of TICKER NEWS.

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Apple takes your eyes and your wallet with the Vision Pro

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Welcome to the future of the world, or at least how Apple wants you watch, feel and communicate with it.

 
Apple describes the Vision Pro headset as “a revolutionary spatial computer that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world.”

The device features a new operating system that features a 3D interface.

You can watch movies, scroll through apps, pretty much everything you can don on your phone, but this device doesn’t fit in your hands. You use your eyes.

The entire front of the headset is made of polished glass that flows into a lightweight aluminum frame. The top of the headset features a button and a Digital Crown that lets a user control how present or immersed they are in an environment.

But as usual with Apple, there’s a catch, and also, as usual, it’s the price.

The Vision Pro starts at $US3500 and is only available in US retail stores from next year.

Tech commentator Trevor Long told Ticker News the high price will be out of reach for most users.

It comes as Meta licks its wounds having spent billions trying to make the Meta world commercially viable. So why is Apple different? #featured #apple #vision pro #trevor long

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“TikTok represents two national risks to Australians”: should you delete the app?

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Democracies continue to ban popular video-sharing app TikTok over national security concerns

Australia recently banned TikTok from all federal government owned devices over security concerns.

Canberra is the latest in a string of U.S.-backed allies to take action against the popular video-sharing app.

The ban centres around concerns China could use the app to trace users’ data, and undermine democratic values.

Senator James Paterson is the Australian Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security, who said TikTok poses a risk to Australians.

“They can get access to awful amount of information on your phone.

“Because it’s beholden to the Chinese Communist Party, there’s no guarantee it won’t fall into their hands,” he said.

Senator Paterson said there are “six or seven million Australians who use the app.”

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Business

Cyber attacks are on the rise, so what is being done to combat them?

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Australia experienced two of its worst cyber attacks on record last year, as the world braces for cyber warfare to rise

 
Ukraine has suffered a threefold growth in cyber-attacks over the past year.

Viktor Zhora is leading Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection agency, who said cyber attacks are occurring at the same time as missile strikes at the hands of Russia.

Mr Zhora said in some cases, the cyber-attacks are “supportive to kinetic effects”.

On the other side of the planet, Russian hackers were responsible for Australia’s Medibank scandal.

“This is a crime that has the potential to impact on millions of Australians and damage a significant Australian business,” said Reece Kershaw, who is the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.

Australian Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security is James Paterson, who said Australia can learn from cyber warfare in Ukraine.

“Ukraine is a lesson for the world.

“They are fighting a hybrid war, one on the ground and one online. If there is to be future conflict including in our own region, in the Indo-Pacific, it’s highly likely that the first shots in that war will occur cyber domain not in the physical world,” Senator Paterson said.

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