Don't expect China to readily accept blame for the rocket debris expected to collide with the Moon on March 4th. SpaceNews and The Verge report Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin denied that the debris came from the 2014 Chang'e-5 T1 Moon mission. The upper stage of that rocket burned up "completely" in Earth's atmosphere, Wang said. He maintained that China's aerospace efforts were always in line with international laws, and that the country was determined to protect the "long-term sustainability" of outer space.

It's not clear China has the right rocket in mind, however. Astronomer Bill Gray, who pinned the expected collision on the Chang'e-5 T1 mission (after initially blaming SpaceX), believes Wang may have confused that with the 2020 Chang'e 5 mission. A US Space Force squadron claimed the T1 upper stage burned up in October 2015, but Gray noted that the squadron offered only one trajectory update for that rocket. The burn-up may have been assumed, not confirmed. NASA's JPL also believes the T1 booster is involved.

Whoever's responsible, the predicted crash will represent an unwanted milestone in spaceflight — a Moon crash from a spacecraft that wasn't meant to be there. The dispute over the debris' origins also reflects the difficulty of tracking space debris. While there are more advanced sensors for spotting debris in Earth orbit, deep space monitoring simply hasn't been a priority. The impending collision might change that focus, particularly with Moon missions like NASA's Artemis program on the horizon.

You might not have to pay to charge the Kia EV6 if you take it on a road trip — but you might want to dial back your expectations. Kia and Electrify America have launched a deal that gives EV6 buyers 1,000kWh of free charging at any of EA's US stations for up to three years. That offers around 3,500 to 4,000 miles of driving, depending on your model and road conditions.

The promo might be helpful if you're in a hurry. If you happen to find one of Electrify America's 350kW chargers, you can reach an 80 percent charge as quickly as 18 minutes.

As you might have guessed from the numbers, though, the deal isn't quite as sweet as it sounds. If you're driving the longest-ranged EV6, the 310-mile "Wind" trim, you'll get around 11 to 13 full charges before you start paying. That's fine for cross-country jaunts, but it won't help much if you're hoping to save money during your commutes. You might want to spring for the Ioniq 5 (which promises unlimited 30-minute charges for two years) if you want a Hyundai group EV without paying for frequent top-ups.

Nonetheless, this might be a useful offer. It could soften the initial blow of EV ownership, particularly if you're unsure about the costs of driving long distances. To some degree, it's also a competitive necessity — Tesla's Supercharger network is still larger than Electrify America's equivalent, and this may persuade you to buy the Kia if you were otherwise hesitant.

Positive Grid's Spark amp is helpful for practicing musicians, but its size and heft haven't been practical if you've wanted to jam in the bedroom or otherwise venture beyond your studio. Thankfully, the company now has a portable option. Positive has unveiled a Spark Mini amp that promises the digital functionality of its larger sibling in a much smaller (roughly six inches across) design you can carry wherever you want to play. The 10W device doubles as a Bluetooth speaker and supposedly delivers "punchy" bass through a downward-facing boost — there's even a swappable grille to personalize the look.

The connected features remain the centerpiece. The Spark mobile app can automatically create backing tracks as you play, display the chords for any song (including slowdowns if you want to learn a segment) and deliver any of 10,000-plus free guitar tones. The Spark Mini includes 33 amp models, 43 effects, and a USB interface (on top of the virtually mandatory quarter-inch guitar input and eighth-inch aux inputs) to translate your performances to creative software. The battery is useful for up to eight hours.

Positive hasn't mentioned pricing for the Spark Mini, but it will be available to pre-order in March. It's safe to say the minuscule amp will cost less than its $299 full-size counterpart, potentially making it a better value if price and versatility matter more than raw power.

A Slack outage has once again soured the start of the work day. Slack is reporting a partial faiilure that has affected many users starting around 9:30AM ET. Simply speaking, the chat service is "not loading" for some — if there was an important virtual huddle this morning, you might have missed it. Some of us at Engadget haven't had problems, but others have been locked out completely.

We've asked Slack for comment. In its status updates, Slack said it was "investigating" the problem and was working on a "full resolution."

Slack has had a few outages in the past two years. They've typically been short, and in at least one case was caused by an Amazon Web Services failure rather than Slack itself. Still, these disruptions aren't exactly minor in an era when virtual work is more important than ever — they may prompt companies to scramble for backups, and in some cases create very real headaches.

Grocery apps in New York City might have to tone down promises of ultra-fast deliveries. The New York Postreports city Councilman Christopher Marte plans to introduce a bill that will ban these apps from advertising 15-minute delivery times. The estimates encourage couriers to violate traffic laws and put people at risk, Marte said.

The bill should be ready within the next few weeks. It would be part of a larger legislation bundle tackling grocery apps. Marte said he was pressing for bills that would provide more benefits and protections to delivery workers, but hasn't shared more details.

The potential law comes as competition for fast deliveries heats up in New York. Services like Gorillas, Fridge No More and Jokr already boast of 15-minute delivery times, and DoorDash is piloting a similarly quick service in Manhattan. In many cases, the services manage speedy deliveries by shopping within a small radius and using full-time employees instead of gig workers.

However, they also follow a small but growing string of e-bike accidents in NYC. At least 20 people died in collisions linked to e-bikes in 2020. The bill won't guarantee the safety of delivery workers, but it might reduce the chances that they'll gamble with their health to arrive on time.

Google Chrome hasn't been the greatest password manager, in part because you couldn't add passwords yourself — you've had to wait until the browser offered to do it for you. You might soon have reasons to reconsider, though. Android Policenotes the latest stable version of Chrome includes a buried flag (chrome://flags/#add-passwords-in-settings) that lets you manually add passwords. If you know you'll frequently sign into a bank or favorite store, you can add the credentials without having to visit that site first.

Reddit user Leopeva64-2 first spotted the manual password feature in Canary builds of Chrome at the end of 2021. The feature is common in other password managers, but this should still be welcome if you'd prefer to use Google's built-in functionality instead of installing software and extensions.

More recently, that same user noticed a Chrome Canary 101 feature that lets you add notes for passwords. This again isn't new for password managers, but could be vital if you want to remember the last time you changed a password or want a clue for any security questions. While this and the manual password function might take a while to reach easily accessible settings, they should be worth the wait if you rely on Google's password tools.

Astronomers have mapped the atmospheres of exoplanets for a while, but a good look at their night sides has proven elusive — until today. An MIT-led study has provided the first detailed look at a "hot Jupiter" exoplanet's dark side by mapping WASP-121b's altitude-based temperatures and water presence levels. As the distant planet (850 light-years away) is tidally locked to its host star, the differences from the bright side couldn't be starker.

The planet's dark side contributes to an extremely violent water cycle. Where the daytime side tears water apart with temperatures beyond 4,940F, the nighttime is cool enough ('just' 2,780F at most) to recombine them into water. The result flings water atoms around the planet at over 11,000MPH. That dark side is also cool enough to have clouds of iron and corundum (a mineral in rubies and sapphires), and you might see rain made of liquid gems and titanium as vapor from the day side cools down.

The researchers collected the data using spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope for two orbits in 2018 and 2019. Many scientists have used this method to study the bright sides of exoplanets, but the dark side observations required detecting minuscule changes in the spectral line indicating water vapor. That line helped the scientists create temperature maps, and the team sent those maps through models to help identify likely chemicals.

This represents the first detailed study of an exoplanet's global atmosphere, according to MIT. That comprehensive look should help explain where hot Jupiters like WASP-121b can form. And while a jovian world such as this is clearly too dangerous for humans, more thorough examinations of exoplanet atmospheres could help when looking for truly habitable planets.

How does a veteran bicycle maker like Raleigh survive an increasingly crowded e-bike market? By promising more oomph, apparently. The company has revamped its strong-selling Motus hybrid e-bike line with more power and range. The base Motus now starts with a 400WH Bosch Active Line motor (up from 300WH) and, accordingly, a bump from 60 miles to 80 miles of range. You shouldn't have as much trouble blasting up a hill or completing a lengthy commute. You can also expect four levels of electric assistance, a seven-speed gear system and hydraulic disc brakes.

More demanding riders have more options, of course. The Motus Tour and Motus Grand Tour both have the choice of either a derailleur or hub gearing, and they pack integrated front and rear lights as well as a wheel lock. The Tour and Grand Tour both pack sleeker, easily removable Bosch PowerTube batteries, while the top-end Grand Tour includes both a larger 500WH battery and a brawnier Active Line Plus motor. Raleigh claims up to 100 miles of range.

All the bikes are available in the UK and Ireland with either a crossbar frame or an easier-to-mount low step design. Expect higher prices in return for the added performance, however. The 'entry' Motus starts at £2,199 (about $2,987), while the Motus Tour begins at £2,499 for a derailleur version and the Grand Tour costs £2,699. The hub versions of the Tour and Grand Tour add another £100 to the price. They're slightly pricier than the models they replace (the previous Motus started at £1,900), but the additional outlay could easily be worthwhile if your bike is your chief mode of transportation.

It's not just Amazon and Google workers hoping to organize. Sources speaking to The Washington Post claim workers at six or more US Apple Store locations are quietly planning to unionize, with "at least" two stores already garnering the support of national unions and prepping submissions to the National Labor Relations Board.

As you might guess, the central issue is pay. Employees talking to The Post said their pay was similar to what other stores offered, but wasn't keeping up with rising costs of living. Apple's corporate success also hasn't translated to better wages, the staffers said.

The pro-union workers have reportedly organized in secret to avoid possible eavesdropping and retaliation from Apple, using encrypted chats and even Android phones to keep communications private. The employees have supposedly been informally canvassing coworkers to gauge support and potentially secure majorities in the event of union votes.

We've asked Apple for comment. The company previously said it took all employee concerns "seriously" and "thoroughly" investigated issues when they came up, but didn't discuss particular employee issues as a matter of "respect for the privacy" of those involved. Apple appears to already be aware of unionization efforts, though. Much like Amazon, Apple is apparently using managers to issue anti-union warnings, such as claims workers may see reduced pay and benefits.

This isn't the first time Apple has dealt with team members unhappy about working conditions. Last year's #AppleToo campaign gathered hundreds of stories of toxic workplaces from both retail and corporate employees. Apple hasn't shown clear signs of addressing those concerns, though, and allegedly pushed out and fired #AppleToo organizers. There's no guarantee unions will improve conditions, but it's increasingly clear staffers want better treatment.

Now's your chance to see how three of the highest-end performance EVs fare in a straight-line brawl. DragTimes has followed its previous Lucid-versus-Tesla match (among others) with a three-way drag race between the Tesla Model S Plaid, Lucid Air Dream Edition and Porsche Taycan Turbo S. As you can see in the video below, horsepower only matters to a degree — and the outcome doesn't tell the whole story about any of these cars.

It might not surprise you to hear the Model S Plaid emerged triumphant. Tesla's premium sedan comfortably won all three races, pulling solidly ahead of the Lucid Air and even further ahead of the Taycan. The 1,111HP Air has the most horsepower of the bunch, but its heavier body (about 5,200lbs versus the Plaid's 4,828lbs) requires more effort to move. The Taycan didn't stand a chance — its 750HP output and roughly 5,300-pound weight were certain to put it behind the pack.

Power-to-weight ratios weren't everything, however. The Air's performance may be more impressive than it looks, as it doesn't have a launch mode. And, as many an enthusiast will point out, a drag race isn't the sole benchmark of a car's performance. It's no secret the Taycan is one of the better-handling EVs in its class, and it might be your pick if you're more likely to drive a twisty mountain road than a quarter-mile. This is just a reminder that no one upscale electric sedan can do everything well.