It’s been a busy week for NASA in the days leading up to Halloween. In the spirit of the season, the agency recently released a new image of the Eagle Nebula captured by the James Webb Space Telescope where the Pillars of Creation look like a ghostly hand. By coincidence, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory managed to capture a similarly spooky image of the sun.

On Wednesday, the agency shared a capture of the sun “smiling.” As The Guardian points out, more than a few Twitter users were quick to point out how the star looks like a carved pumpkin in NASA’s image. There’s a bit of interesting science behind the resemblance. “Seen in ultraviolet light, these dark patches on the sun are known as coronal holes and are regions where fast solar wind gushes out into space,” according to NASA. The sun is constantly sending out solar winds. At times, these geomagnetic storms have been known to knock power out here on Earth, as was the case in part of Canada in 1989.

This isn’t the first time the Solar Dynamics Observatory has captured an interesting image of the sun. In 2016, NASA released an animation of the sun doing a somersault. The capture was the result of a seven-hour maneuver the SDO completes once a year to take an accurate measure of the star’s edge.

Robot vacuums can be a godsend if vacuuming is one of your least favorite household chores. In recent years, new models from iRobot and Shark have become more intelligent, more powerful and, best of all, less expensive. Still, a robot vacuum is an investment, and it helps when they go on sale like iRobot’s models are right now on Amazon.

To start, the retailer has discounted the Roomba 694, one of our favorite budget picks. After a 35 percent discount, the robot vacuum is $179. The 694 is great if you want a no-frills option. It features WiFi connectivity, allowing you to connect to it through iRobot’s easy-to-use companion app. The software makes setup and creating a vacuuming schedule easy. Add a powerful motor and decent battery life, and you have a robot vacuum that meets the needs of most people. One of the few downsides of the 694 is that it doesn’t come with spare parts, so you’ll be forced to pay extra when you need a replacement filter or brush. But when you’re saving almost $100 off the price of the 694's usual price, that’s less of a concern.

For those with a bigger budget, Amazon has also discounted the Roomba j7+ and Roomba s9+. The former is $599 after a $200 price cut, while the latter is $799, instead of $1,000, thanks to a 20 percent discount. Of the two, the j7+ is the better pick for most people. It features Roomba’s latest computer vision software, making the vacuum better at avoiding obstacles like pet poop. The more expensive s9+ isn’t as smart as its newer sibling but features 40 times the suction power of a standard Roomba. If you have a lot of carpet in your home, the s9+ will leave your floors noticeably cleaner than the company’s other vacuum robots. Both models ship with a docking station where they’ll automatically empty their canisters at the end of a cleaning session. So if that’s a feature you’re set on, you don’t need to upgrade to the s9+.

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Following Elon Musk’s takeover, Twitter was the target of a coordinated trolling campaign, according to Yoel Roth, the company’s head of safety and security. In a thread spotted by The Guardian, Roth said late Saturday that Twitter was working to stop an “organized effort” by trolls to make people think the company had weakened its content guidelines. “Bottom line up front: Twitter’s policies haven’t changed. Hateful conduct has no place here,” Roth said, adding the company had seen a “small number of accounts” post “a ton” of tweets that included derogatory language.

In one instance, Roth says the company saw just 300 accounts post more than 50,000 tweets using the same slur. “We’ve taken action to ban the users involved in this trolling campaign – and are going to continue working to address this in the days to come to make Twitter safe and welcoming for everyone,” he wrote.

The news of a coordinated trolling campaign comes after a handful of research groups found evidence of bad actors trying to test the limits of Twitter. On Friday, the Network Contagion Research Institute tracked a 500 percent increase in usage of the n-word. The nonprofit linked the increase to posts on sites like 4chan, where users were encouraging each other to post hateful content.

On Friday, Musk said Twitter would not make any major moderation decisions until the company had the chance to form a council with “widely diverse viewpoints.” Before taking control of the company, Musk had said he wanted to do away with permanent bans, noting he would “err on the side of, if in doubt, let the speech exist.” More recently, he floated the idea of allowing users to split off into different sections of the platform where they could add content ratings to their tweets.

Apple won’t release any more new Macs before the end of the year. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company had planned to announce new M2 versions of its 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros “as early as this fall,” but Apple now aims to introduce them in the first quarter of 2023. Gurman adds that the launch will likely coincide with the release of macOS Ventura 13.3.

“Apple has rarely launched new products in January or February during recent years, so I’d expect the new Macs to be announced by the first half of March,” he writes. “That aligns with the planned ship dates for the corresponding software, but also makes sense in light of Apple’s recent history of launching new Macs during that month, including the Mac Studio this year.”

Gurman points to Apple’s recent earnings call for supporting evidence. Earlier this week, Tim Cook told analysts the company’s product line for the holiday season was “set.” Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri provided even stronger confirmation, noting he expected Mac revenue to “decline substantially” in December in part because there are no new MacBook Pros to boost sales.

When they finally do arrive, the new MacBook Pros will feature the same design as the current 2021 models. The primary change Apple has planned is the inclusion of its new M2 Pro and M2 Max chipsets. According to Gurman, the M2 Max will feature up to 12 CPU cores and 38 GPU cores.

While Apple users shouldn’t expect any more hardware from the company before the end of the year, the company is still working on new software. Gurman says iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 should arrive by mid-December. The company is currently testing those updates among developers.

Ever since it was first announced in 2020, Chromecast with Google TV has been a solid and affordable purchase for those looking to add more smarts and streaming options to their existing setup. If you’ve been patiently waiting to buy one, now is a good time to do so. Amazon has discounted the 4K version. After a 20 percent discount, the device is $40, matching its previous all-time low price. The retailer has also cut the cost of the recently announced HD variant. At the moment, you can buy the device for $20. That’s $10 less than its usual $30 asking price.

As mentioned above, both versions of Chromecast with Google TV are excellent options if you’re on a budget or prefer Google’s approach over competitors like Apple, Amazon or Roku. Engadget awarded the 4K version a score of 86 in 2020, praising the device for its excellent Google Assistant integration, comfortable and easy-to-use remote, as well as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support. The more affordable HD version is similarly excellent, offering much the same experience at a lower price point for those who don’t own a 4K TV. If there was a reason to buy a competing streaming stick over the Chromecast with Google TV, it was because the dongle could sometimes be slow. That has since changed, with Google releasing a performance update this past summer.

Elon Musk has ordered company-wide layoffs at Twitter, according to The New York Times. On Saturday, the SpaceX and Tesla executive reportedly told managers to begin drawing up lists of employees to cut. Twitter did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment.

The Times could not determine how much of Twitter’s workforce Musk plans to let go – though some teams will be more affected than others. Before completing his $44 billion takeover of the company, Musk reportedly told investors he planned to lay off as much as 75 percent of Twitter’s 7,500-person strong workforce. In meeting with staff, Musk is said to have told employees he wouldn’t cut the company’s headcount so dramatically.

The forthcoming layoffs are likely to occur before November 1st. The timing may give Musk the opportunity to avoid paying out stock grants to any outgoing workers. According to The Times, such payouts “typically represent a significant portion” of any employee’s pay.

Musk has already cut part of Twitter’s leadership team, firing CEO Parag Agrawal and Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal on the day he took ownership of the company. According to The Guardian, those moves are expected to cost Musk at least $120 million in “golden parachute” payouts.

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While The Witcher won't return until next year, Netflix has already renewed the show for a fourth season and announced a major change. On Saturday, the streaming giant said that Liam Hemsworth, best known for playing Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games film series, would replace Henry Cavill as protagonist Geralt of Rivia. The two actors posted about the casting change on social media. 

"My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords," Cavill said on Instagram. "In my stead, the fantastic Mr. Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men.”

Cavill didn't share a reason for his departure. Earlier this week, the actor confirmed he would continue playing Superman following his recent cameo appearance in Black Adam. Netflix cast Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in 2018. In addition to lending his star power to the series, the actor brought a genuine love of the franchise with him that was apparent whenever he was interviewed about the role. "I really feel a connection to Geralt and who he is and his nature, especially from the books," he told Polygon in 2019. "And having played the game for many, many, many hours, it was something that I had a connection with."

Netflix did not share a release date for season four of The Witcher. Season three began filming earlier this year. At its recent Tudum fan event, the company said the show would return sometime in the summer of 2023. In the meantime, fans can look forward to watching The Witcher: Blood Origin, a prequel series starring Michelle Yeoh, starting on December 25th.    

Google has quietly acquired a startup that was working on using AI to generate avatars for social media users and brands. According to TechCrunch, the company recently paid about $100 million to buy Alter. The acquisition went through about two months ago without Google publicly announcing it. On Thursday, the search giant confirmed the purchase but did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. According to TechCrunch, Google bought Alter to better compete against TikTok.

Alter began life as Facemoji, offering a platform that other developers could use to add avatar creation systems to their apps and games. Alter chief co-founder and operating officer Jonathan Slimak recently took to LinkedIn to share he was starting a position “building Avatars at Google.” How Alter’s team and technology could help Google better compete against TikTok is unclear. YouTube Shorts, Google’s take on the short-form video format, is already a success for the company. Following a global rollout in the summer of 2021, Google announced this past June the platform had 1.5 billion monthly active users.

If Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has crashed when you’ve tried to play with a party of friends, you’ll want to download the game’s latest update as soon as possible. In a tweet spotted by Eurogamer, developer Infinity Ward said early Friday morning it was “aware of some players experiencing crashes when partied up.” Later that same day, the studio said it would deploy a “mitigation” on Saturday morning. As of 12:22PM ET, that update is now live and rolling out to Modern Warfare II players. “Players in parties should see significant improvement,” Infinity Ward said.

The fix comes as the studio attempts to address a handful of launch issues with Modern Warfare II. One bug, for instance, is preventing players from accessing the game’s menu while in a match. Another issue, since addressed by Infinity Ward, created an audio continuity problem on PlayStation 4. The studio was also forced to disable Modern Warfare II’s ping system after people found it was possible to exploit it to track a single enemy player for the duration of a game. 

The Federal Trade Commission will call on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify in its upcoming case against the company. The FTC sued the social media giant in July in an attempt to block it from buying Within Unlimited, the creator of the popular VR workout app Supernatural.

Reuters reports that the agency listed 18 witnesses, including Zuckerberg and Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, in a court document filed with California’s Northern District Court on Friday. In addition to answering questions about the potential acquisition, the FTC plans to ask Zuckerberg about Meta’s VR strategy and how the company intends to support third-party developers, according to court documents seen by Reuters.

In July, the FTC accused the company and Zuckerberg of attempting to “illegally acquire” Within. “Instead of competing on the merits, Meta is trying to buy its way to the top,” John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said at the time.

Meta has dismissed the FTC’s lawsuit, claiming it is based on “idealogy and speculation, not evidence.” The case could be another costly setback for a company struggling to convince the public and Wall Street of its vision for the future. Earlier this week, Meta disclosed in its latest earnings report that its Reality Labs VR and AR division is losing more money than ever. In Q3 2022, the unit lost $3.7 billion. That’s a trend David Wehner, the company’s outgoing chief financial officer, told investors would continue through 2023.