Netflix just dropped the official trailer for its upcoming Scott Pilgrim anime, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. The highly anticipated eight-episode series brings back the original cast from the 2010 movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and counts Bryan Lee O’Malley — creator of the comics it’s all based on — as one of its executive producers. Edgar Wright, who directed the movie, is also on board as an executive producer. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will be released on November 17.

The show will return to the story of 23-year-old Sex Bob-Omb bass player, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), and his plight to defeat the seven evil exes of his new love interest, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). While Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will build on what we’ve seen in the comics and movie, it won’t be a straight adaptation, according to the show’s creators. In an interview with the Netflix companion site Tudum, Wright said O’Malley’s idea for the show “was way more adventurous” than that. 

Alongside Cera and Winstead, actors including Kieran Culkin, Ellen Wong, Brie Larson, Chris Evans, and Aubrey Plaza will be reprising their roles. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will also feature music by Anamanaguchi, the band that did the soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game. The action-packed trailer set to the Mortal Kombat theme is doing everything to drum up the hype, and honestly, it's working. 

Anyone sitting on a mountain of cryptocurrency can now use it to buy a Ferrari in the US. According to Reuters, the luxury carmaker is working with the crypto payment processor BitPay to accept bitcoin, ether, and USDC for purchases stateside, which customers were apparently begging for. Europe is expected to get the same treatment in early 2024, with other regions to follow.

There won’t be any upcharges for those paying with crypto, Ferrari’s Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer Enrico Galliera told Reuters, and BitPay will convert those payments to traditional currency at the time of the transaction to avoid any issues of volatility. Galliera said the move will help the company reach “people who are not necessarily our clients but might afford a Ferrari.”

Just last year, Ferrari announced a commitment to more sustainable operations, including reducing its environmental footprint, and embracing the notoriously energy-intensive cryptocurrencies would seem to go against that. But, the company insists this doesn’t get in the way of its mission. Galliera cited recent strides in improving crypto’s carbon footprint, like heavier reliance on renewable energy sources, and told Reuters, “Our target to reach for carbon neutrality by 2030 along our whole value chain is absolutely confirmed.”

X’s firing of an employee who pushed back against a return-to-office policy imposed by Elon Musk last year was illegal, the National Labor Relations Board alleges. In what Bloomberg reports is the NLRB’s first formal complaint against X Corp., filed on Friday, the labor board accused the company of retaliating against software engineer Yao Yue for attempting to organize workers in the wake of the new policy. After Musk gave then-Twitter employees an ultimatum in November 2022 to return to the office, Yue urged others not to resign in response but instead “let him fire you.”

Musk at the time had told employees, “If you can physically make it to an office and you don’t show up, resignation accepted.” Yue was fired five days after tweeting about it and writing a similar post on Slack. In terminating her, the complaint filed by a San Francisco branch of the NLRB alleges the company violated federal labor law by “interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees” exercising protected rights, according to CNBC. A hearing is now set for January 30.

The formal NLRB complaint may be a first for X, but accusations of retaliation against employees are nothing new for a Musk-helmed company. In early 2023, Tesla workers in Buffalo, New York accused the company of firing them for unionizing, and eight SpaceX employees filed a complaint with the NLRB in 2022 claiming they were terminated for criticizing Musk.

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has confirmed it used AI voice cloning software to reconstruct the voice of a deceased actor for its Phantom Liberty DLC. Actor Miłogost Reczek voiced the character Viktor Vektor in the Polish version of the game and would have been tapped to reprise the role for the DLC, which came out last month, but he died in 2021 before its production. The developer told Bloomberg it decided to go this route as a way to “pay tribute to his wonderful performance,” and was given permission to do so by his family.

Instead of replacing Reczek outright, CD Projekt Red worked with Respeecher, the Ukraine-based voice tech company known for deaging Mark Hamill’s voice in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett to create a young Luke Skywalker. Another actor was hired to speak the new lines, and Respeecher’s software reworked them into Reczek’s voice, CD Projekt localization director Mikołaj Szwed told Bloomberg. Reczek, who Szwed described as “one of the best Polish voice talents,” had also voiced major roles in The Witcher series.

AI has become a contentious topic in the entertainment industry, and striking Hollywood actors are currently fighting for more protections around the use of their likenesses, among other things. In September, SAG-AFTRA voted in favor of a strike authorization for video game actors, too, whose jobs could be threatened by studios’ increasing reliance on AI. Zelda Williams — Robin Williams’ daughter — recently slammed the practice of emulating deceased actors using AI, saying that they cannot consent. In this case, CD Projekt Red says Reczek’s family was “very supportive.”

Earth’s orbit is getting crowded.

Last year, a record 2,409 objects were sent to orbit, the bulk of which were satellites settling into the increasingly cluttered region 1,200 miles above our planet’s surface known as low Earth orbit. Another 2,000-plus satellites have joined them so far this year, according to the UN’s Online Index of Objects Launched into Outer Space. As the presence of artificial objects in orbit grows, so too does the accumulation of debris, or space junk — and the risk of collisions. Dealing with existing waste and preventing its unchecked growth has become imperative, but it’s a problem that doesn’t have one simple solution.

Currently, the US Department of Defense’s Space Surveillance Network tracks more than 25,000 objects larger than 4 inches wide, most of which are concentrated in low Earth orbit, and there are an estimated millions of smaller objects still that are trickier to pinpoint. This includes everything from defunct satellites and spacecraft fragments to things as small as a paint chip, all of which can cause damage to other equipment due to the extreme speeds orbiting objects travel at. As yet, there have been no successful missions to remove extant debris from orbit. Proposals for removing this debris fall into two broad (and imperfect) categories: pushing them further from Earth into graveyard orbits where they pose less risk, or pulling them towards Earth where they'll deorbit and burn up in the atmosphere.

One such system is being developed and tested by Astroscale. The company, headquartered in Japan, demonstrated a magnetic capture-and-release tactic in 2021 with its ELSA-d mission, which simulated the strategy using an extra satellite it brought with it as mock debris. In a real-world scenario, its magnet would lock on to debris floating through space and drag it down to deorbit. Astroscale is selling its own docking plates that satellite operators can affix to their equipment ahead of launches, so it can easily be removed after a mission’s end. It's partnered with UK-based OneWeb to test how this will work, and plans to execute a full removal demonstration using one of the company's internet satellites in 2025 under the ELSA-M mission. 

Astroscale will also soon launch its ADRAS-J spacecraft in partnership with Japan’s space agency, JAXA, to demonstrate the ability to safely approach and inspect a real target ahead of future removal attempts. And, it's gearing up for a separate mission dubbed COSMIC that will use a robotic arm to grab objects in orbit, this time aiming for a pair of dead British satellites. That is expected to launch in the next few years.

The European Space Agency similarly commissioned Swiss startup ClearSpace for a junk removal mission that’s slated to launch in 2026. It’s expected to be the first mission to actually remove a real piece of debris from orbit, rather than perform a simulated capture. Ironically, the target of the ClearSpace-1 mission — an approximately 250-pound defunct rocket upper stage dubbed Vespa — was struck by untracked debris in August. The event created more debris, but ESA says it left the object intact and still in position for capture. ClearSpace will attempt to grab onto Vespa using a giant robotic claw, and the two will deorbit together, ending with them both burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Researchers have also experimented with the use of harpoons and nets to catch objects floating through space. The first mission to demonstrate these active debris removal techniques was one called RemoveDEBRIS, which launched in 2018. In 2018 and 2019, the craft successfully performed simulated debris capture by firing out a net and ensnaring a mock target, and by shooting a harpoon at a target to pierce and hook onto it. The company behind the project — Surrey Satellite Technology — does not appear to have any follow-up missions planned.

A cost-benefit analysis released last year by NASA noted that the benefit of space tugs like these could surpass their upfront costs in a matter of decades, but using space- or ground-based lasers to nudge debris out of orbit could break even much sooner. Lasers can move objects either through the momentum of their photons, or through a process called ablation, in which thrust is generated when the laser vaporizes bits of debris. The latter especially could be used for both large and small objects, either to deorbit debris or move trackable pieces out of another satellite’s way to avoid a collision.

“The process of laser ablation and photon pressure induces a change in velocity in the target debris, which ultimately alters the size and shape of its orbit,” said West Virginia University engineer Hang Woon Lee, who NASA recently granted up to three years of funding for research into this tactic. Doing so could mean “avoiding potentially catastrophic events,” he said. Using multiple lasers at once, instead of a single beam, could produce even greater effects.

Others yet are looking into means of recycling space debris, both to cut down on junk and to limit the reliance on reentries for its removal. While reentry is among the preferred disposal methods, it doesn’t come entirely without side effects of its own, which haven’t yet been well studied. Scientists have begun to speak up about the potential ozone-depleting effects of having large numbers of satellites disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere, which releases pollutants like aluminum and nitrogen oxides. There are concerns about harmful pollution in the ocean, too, where spacecraft parts that don’t fully break apart end up.

NASA ODPO

Companies like Neumann Space and CisLunar Industries are developing the means to melt down metal parts from debris in space and reuse that material as fuel. The former’s Neumann Drive converts metal rods into plasma to generate thrust, and was just recently integrated into a satellite for the first time to begin tests of the system in space. CisLunar, on the other hand, is building the technology to create those metal fuel rods, along with other materials that could be repurposed to support other missions.

In the US, policymakers are starting to clamp down on commercial entities contributing to the pollution. The FCC handed out its first-ever fine for space debris in early October, and revised its guidelines last year for operations in low Earth orbit, with a new mandate that states satellites in LEO must be transitioned out of orbit within 5 years of completing their missions. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is also eyeing more stringent policies, and proposed a new rule in September that would require commercial launch operators to have a plan in place to remove rocket upper stages from orbit within set timelines, from 30 days to 25 years depending on the circumstances.

Thanks to the rapid acceleration of commercial space activities in the 2020s, we’ve seen an unprecedented number of new satellites arrive in orbit, and there are many more yet on their way. With more launch providers on the scene and innovation in reusable launch systems, led by SpaceX with its Falcon 9 rockets, launches have become less costly and more attainable. And competition to provide space-based internet connectivity by way of satellite “megaconstellations” is intensifying; SpaceX’s Starlink fleet is now at about 5,000 and counting, Amazon just launched the first two prototypes of its eventual 3,200 Project Kuiper satellites and OneWebb has placed over 600 satellites in orbit as of early 2023.

Scientists have long warned about the potentially catastrophic chain reactions that could be caused by space junk if it’s allowed to get out of hand. In the 1970s, NASA scientists Donald Kessler and Burton Cour-Palais argued in a paper that rampant debris could spur collisions that in turn create more debris, and cause more collisions. The risk of impacts between satellites increases, too, as more are pumped into orbit. We’ve already seen a glimpse of how disastrous that could be. In 2009, a commercial Iridium 33 satellite collided with a long-defunct Russian military satellite, Cosmos 2251, creating nearly 2,000 pieces of large debris.

Satellite destruction on a mass scale would have grave consequences both in space and on Earth. It could interfere with science activities and space exploration, and threaten the safety of astronauts aboard the International Space Station. It would also disrupt communications on the ground, removing major sources of internet and cellular connectivity, and GPS. Weather services we’ve long relied on would be interrupted.

More than half of all satellites that have ever been sent to orbit are still up there, a lot of them inactive. “Imagine how dangerous sailing the high seas would be if all the ships ever lost in history were still drifting on top of the water,” ESA Director General Jan Wörner said in 2019, when ClearSpace-1 was announced. “That is the current situation in orbit, and it cannot be allowed to continue.”

A new rule proposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would ban the sneaky fees some companies slap onto their services at checkout time. Thanks to these junk fees, which have crept into the process of everything from buying concert tickets to booking vacation rentals, the prices consumers initially see are often nowhere near what they end up paying. 

The Biden administration has been putting pressure on companies like Ticketmaster and Airbnb to improve their ways, and both recently committed to providing more transparency about their extra charges. The FTC wants to take things a step further by banning the common deceptive tactics altogether. The proposed rule targets both hidden, mandatory fees that aren’t properly disclosed upfront and ambiguous “bogus fees” that leave consumers unsure of what it is they actually had to pay more for. 

These practices are misleading, with companies often resorting to “bait-and-switch pricing and misrepresenting the nature and purpose of fees,” the FTC argues in the proposal notice. Under the proposed rule, businesses would have to include these additional fees in their advertised prices, explain what each fee is for and let customers know if any of it is refundable.

The FTC took comments from the public last year to assess the impact of junk fees and ultimately gathered over 12,000 responses to shape its proposal. It’s now opening up comments for 60 days so consumers can weigh in on the rule it’s put forth. “By hiding the total price, these junk fees make it harder for consumers to shop for the best product or service and punish businesses who are honest upfront,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. The proposed rule would "save people money and time, and make our markets more fair and competitive.”

NASA will give the public a look at the asteroid sample brought back to Earth by its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft next week. A livestream of the reveal is set for 11 AM ET on Wednesday, October 11. The capsule containing rocks and dust taken from the surface of the near-Earth asteroid “Bennu” touched down at a Department of Defense training site in the Utah desert on September 24, and scientists have since been at work making their initial analyses.

OSIRIS-REx grabbed its sample from Bennu back in 2020 and spent the subsequent year-and-a-half observing the asteroid from above, before starting to make its way back toward Earth in May 2021. After its dropoff last month, the canister was brought to Houston, Texas to be opened at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. OSIRIS-REx, on the other hand, is still in space, now heading to an asteroid called Apophis under a new mission name, OSIRIS-APEX.

Asteroid Bennu is estimated to be over 4.5 billion years old, meaning its materials could hold clues into the formation of the solar system and how the building blocks of life made it to Earth. And, to scientists’ delight, the mission managed to capture more material than anyone expected. “The very best ‘problem’ to have is that there is so much material, it’s taking longer than we expected to collect it,” said Christopher Sneadr, NASA’s deputy OSIRIS-REx curation lead. With the livestream coming up, we’ll soon know more about what they’ve found in that material so far.

The FCC hit Dish Network with a $150,000 fine for failing to properly dispose of a defunct satellite after its mission ended. It’s the first such penalty the agency has enforced as it attempts to crack down on the growing problem of space junk in low Earth orbit (LEO). Decommissioned satellites and other objects pose a collision risk for other instruments operating in these lower altitudes. In LEO, debris travels at thousands of miles per hour, meaning even a millimeter-sized scrap can pose a serious threat.

While Dish and the FCC had an agreed-upon deorbit plan for the company’s EchoStar-7 satellite, which launched in 2002 and was scheduled to be retired in May 2022, it started running out of fuel earlier than expected. Dish was supposed to maneuver the satellite into the designated graveyard orbit about 186 miles above where it had operated. But, EchoStar-7 only made it about 76 miles up. The company realized in February 2022 that its propellant was too low to carry out the plan, and the satellite was abandoned there.

The FCC is calling the penalty a “breakthrough settlement” after Dish admitted fault and agreed to pay a fine. At $150,000, the fine is merely a slap on the wrist, but it could serve as a warning as the number of commercial satellites in LEO continues to rise rapidly. There’s already close to 10,000 tons of junk orbiting Earth as of last year, and as companies like SpaceX vie to pump thousands more satellites into space, it’s only getting more cluttered by the day.

A prototype satellite has become one of the brightest objects in the night sky, and it may soon be accompanied by dozens more. An observation campaign tracking the BlueWalker 3 satellite, launched in September 2022 by AST SpaceMobile, found that it is at times brighter than all but a handful of stars and planets that can be seen from Earth. The findings published in the journal Nature highlight a fast-escalating concern among astronomers, who have warned that the influx of private space ventures in low-Earth orbit could alter our view of the night sky and interfere with research.

Researchers with the International Astronomical Union’s Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS) observed BlueWalker 3 over the course of 130 days. BlueWalker 3’s antenna array measures just shy of 700 square feet, making it the largest yet for a commercial satellite in low-Earth orbit. That huge array reflects sunlight and after it unfurled, its brightness spiked. The effect isn’t constant, but instead fluctuates depending on factors like the satellite’s position relative to the sun, and the viewing angle. The CPS team observed it from sites in Chile, the US, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Morocco.

“These results demonstrate a continuing trend towards larger, brighter commercial satellites, which is of particular concern given the plans to launch many more in the coming years,” said Siegfried Eggl, one of the co-authors of the study. “While these satellites can play a role in improving communications, it is imperative that their disruptions of scientific observations are minimized.” AST SpaceMobile eventually plans to deploy a fleet of roughly 100 cellular broadband satellites based on the BlueWalker 3 design.

SpaceX, whose thousands of Starlink satellites have repeatedly come under scrutiny for their potential impact on the night sky, has experimented with dark coatings to cut down on the amount of reflected light, to limited success. For astronomers, to whom it poses a growing headache, it's not enough. Stations observing from the ground will need to develop satellite avoidance strategies to work around these artificial constellations, the researchers note in the paper.

And, visibility isn’t the only problem. Commercial satellites, including BlueWalker 3, flooding low-Earth orbit also threaten to interfere with radio astronomy. A separate study led by the CPS and published earlier this year found Starlink satellites are leaking “unintended electromagnetic radiation” that could disrupt radio telescope observations. 

An advertiser reportedly used a deepfake of Tom Hanks to promote dental plans without the actor’s permission. Hanks shared a warning on Instagram on Sunday alerting his followers about the AI-generated video, which he wrote he had “nothing to do with.” Hanks has been outspoken about the challenges AI poses for the industry, and the use of actors’ digital likenesses is one of the major points of concern voiced by striking SAG-AFTRA workers.

Just last spring, Hanks said in an appearance on The Adam Buxton Podcast that AI and deepfakes present both artistic and legal challenges. “I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it,” Hanks said, “but my performances can go on and on and on and on and on, and outside of the understanding that it’s been done with AI or deepfake, there’ll be nothing to tell you that it’s not me.” He also spoke of a hypothetical scenario in which an entire movie series could be made using an AI version of him that’s “32 years old from now until kingdom come.” Perhaps in confirmation of what's to come, the offending dental plan ad depicts a significantly younger Hanks.

The use of AI to capitalize on celebrities’ legacies has already become an ethical issue. Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain sparked widespread debate upon its release after it was revealed the documentary contained AI-generated voice overs of the beloved chef and storyteller. Just this weekend, Robin Williams’ daughter, Zelda Williams, posted in support of “SAG’s fight against AI,” writing on Instagram that she’d seen firsthand how the technology is used to capture the likeness of people “who cannot consent,” like her father.

“These recreations are, at their very best, a poor facsimile of greater people,” Williams wrote, “but at their worst, a horrendous Frankensteinian monster, cobbled together from the worst bits of everything this industry is, instead of what it should stand for.”

Hanks said in the April interview that the issue has been on his radar since filming The Polar Express in the early 2000s, which starred a CGI version of the actor. It was “the first time that we did a movie that had a huge amount of our own data locked in a computer,” Hanks told Buxton, adding, “We saw this coming.”