Impact

Using satellite imagery to study the effects of a 2019 landslide on the Amalia Glacier in Patagonia, a University of Minnesota-led research team found the landslide helped stabilize the glacier and caused it to grow by about 1,000 meters over the last three years. Credit: Max Van Wyk de Vries, University of Minnesota A team led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers has revealed, for the first time, that…

Genshin Impact’s release set a new standard for free-to-play gacha games, combining their addictive hunt for new characters with a full-featured and gorgeous open-world RPG. Like any gacha game, a big part of the fun in Genshin Impact is finding new characters to build out a great team through lucky draws. To make that team actually work well together, though, you’ll need to spend a lot of time getting them leveled up enough to take on progressively tougher challenges. The level grind in Genshin Impact certainly…

Genshin Impact is a free-to-play open-world action RPG that feels like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but if BOTW had elements of a mobile game. Developer miHoYo was better known for its mobile RPGs until Genshin Impact exploded onto the late-2020 console, mobile, and PC scene. While the base game is free to play, Genshin Impact, at the end of the day, is still a gacha game. Gacha games are built to have players spend in-game currency for the chance to unlock random items. They are similar to how…

Ever since it launched in September 2020, Genshin Impact has been one of the most popular free-to-play games on the market. One of many reasons that this game has such a dedicated and enormous fan base is the level of consistency from the team. Every six weeks, HoYoverse rolls out another major update for the game. These updates typically introduce new playable characters, new locations, and new events. But for the first time since launch, HoYoverse has announced a major delay to a Genshin Impact update.…

T-Mobile US said on Friday an ongoing investigation into a data breach revealed that hackers accessed personal information of an additional 5.3 million customers, bringing the total number of people affected to more than 53 million.The third-largest US wireless carrier had earlier this week said that personal data of more than 40 million former and prospective customers was stolen along with data from 7.8 million existing T-Mobile wireless customers.In its latest update, which comes days after the US Federal…

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it will publish notices early Thursday detailing the extent of the potential impact of new 5G wireless service on sensitive aircraft electronics.The FAA has been in talks with airplane manufacturers, airlines, and wireless carriers to reduce the impact of new wireless service that is set to begin January 19. The FAA has warned that potential interference could impact sensitive airplane instruments like altimeters.AT&T and Verizon Communications, which won nearly all of…

Large chip companies so far predict limited supply chain disruption from the Russia-Ukraine crisis, thanks to raw material stockpiling and diversified procurement, but some industry sources worry about the longer-term impact.One of the worst security crises in Europe in decades is unfolding, with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday authorising a military operation in eastern Ukraine in what appeared to be the start of a war.The crisis has hit stocks of tech companies that source or sell globally on fears of…

Taiwan expects little impact from the war in Ukraine on the supply of key raw materials for semiconductors, the government said on Saturday.Taiwan is a major chip manufacturer, home to the world's largest contract chip manufacturer and Asia's most valuable listed company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), and key to alleviating a global shortage of semiconductors which have in some cases forced auto production lines to shutter.The cabinet, following a meeting chaired by Vice Premier Shen…

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella warned that employee well-being could suffer from an ever-expanding workday that often now creeps well into the night.Nadella, whose company has studied how remote work impacts collaboration in an effort to improve its Teams software, cited Microsoft research showing that about a third of white-collar workers have a “third peak” of productivity late in the evening, based on keyboard activity. Productivity typically spikes before and after lunch, but this third peak…

Revenue at Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent grew just 8% in the fourth quarter, the slowest pace since it went public in 2004, reflecting regulatory scrutiny that has hurt both its gaming business and advertising sales.China has frozen game approvals since August last year and curtailed gaming time for under-18s, part of Beijing's move to strengthen control over its society and industries including technology, after years of unbridled growth.This has also led to a slowdown in advertising as businesses have…