China's war against cryptocurrency could soon extend to a broader ban on crypto mining. Reutersreports the country has added crypto mining to a draft "negative list" that limits or outright bans investments in a given industry, whether by Chinese or foreigners. Would-be investors would need to get approvals, and those are unlikely given China's anti-crypto stance.

Bitcoin.comnotes China's Development and Reform Commission is asking for public commentary on the list through October 14th. It's doubtful public input will change the approach to crypto mining, however. China has deemed crypto transactions illegal, claiming the digital currency sparked a rise in money laundering and other financial crimes. The country has been testing its own cryptocurrency, though, and some suspect the country just wants a more stable currency it can directly control.

The move could further make cryptocurrency impractical in China. Just don't mourn for crypto as a whole. The price of Bitcoin has surged over 30 percent since China's September crackdown — these bans may have given crypto a second wind where it was otherwise poised to level off. It may just be a question of whether or not an official Chinese currency skews the market.

Those murmurs of lengthy delays for Boeing's next Starliner test flight turned out to be true. Space.comreports Boeing and NASA are now targeting an Orbital Flight Test-2 launch sometime in the first half of 2022. Engineers have narrowed down the likely causes of the oxidizer isolation valve problem that forced the team to scrap the August 2021 launch, but it remains a "complex issue" that requires a "methodical approach" to solve, according to Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich.

Boeing has several possible solutions in the works, ranging from small tweaks to the existing crew capsule through to modifying a capsule still in production. The exact launch timing hinges on both the readiness of the hardware itself as well as the rocket manifest and access to the International Space Station.

While this does suggest Starliner is moving forward, the delay further hurts Boeing's chances to compete with SpaceX in crewed capsule missions. SpaceX has already sent two crewed missions to the ISS, and it may have sent two more by the time the Starliner OFT-2 mission lifts off — Elon Musk's outfit will be a seasoned veteran before Boeing is cleared for its first occupied Starliner flight. It could be a long while before the two companies are taking turns ferrying people to orbit.

NASA landed the Perseverance rover in Mars' Jezero Crater knowing it had the potential for signs of ancient life, but now it's clearer where the rover should be looking. Scientists have published a study (the first from Perservance since landing) providing insights into where the rover can "best hunt" for traces of past microbial life. The findings and images confirm that Jezero once had a lake and river delta, and that certain patches (the fine-grained material at the bottom of the delta, plus the boulders at the top) are ideal targets for the search.

The breakthrough moment came when Perseverance captured images of "Kodiak," a rock outcropping that would have been at the edge of the delta. It represented the best-preserved stratigraphy (the layering of geological deposits) ever seen on Mars, confirming the existence of the lake and river delta. The imagery gave the Perseverance team an idea of where to search months in advance of the rover reaching the area.

Scarps northeast of Kodiak also provided a surprise. Boulder-laced layers suggest flash floods reshaped the otherwise slow, relatively still river. It now appears that Jezero's waterways were considerably more complex than previously thought. The lake's water levels must have changed wildly over the years before eventually disappearing.

The discoveries should save researchers valuable time as they collect samples for an eventual return to Earth. However, they might also help scientists understand why Mars dried out. In that light, Perserverance should be useful even if there are no hints of past life to be found.

Yu don't have to wait until Google's October 19th event to learn a little bit more about the Pixel 6. Well-known leaker Evan Blass has spotted teaser pages on Carphone Warehouse that shed more light on the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, including their software. In a confirmation of past rumors, Google is promising "at least" five years of security updates — that's longer than Samsung's four years, and suggests your Pixel 6 will have up-to-date protection as late as 2026.

The teasers tend to cover officially-released details beyond that, although they do provide a few more details. Not surprisingly, Google is interested in camera tricks — Magic Eraser eliminates photobombers, Face Unblur keeps subjects in focus, and an ultra-wide front camera helps with group selfies. The Pixel 6 will have a 50MP main sensor (up from 12MP) and a 12MP ultra-wide, while the 6 Pro will add a 48MP telephoto lens to the mix.

The product pages also hint at battery life past 24 hours "even on 5G," with fast 30W wired charging and reverse charging through Battery Share. There's a new "twice as powerful" Pixel Stand for wireless charging, too. The 6.4-inch Pixel 6 and 6.7-inch 6 Pro will both tout Gorilla Glass Victus as well as IP68 dust and water resistance, although you'll have to spring for the 6 Pro if you want an adaptive 120Hz display — you'll have to 'settle' for a Smooth Display (likely 90Hz) on the smaller model.

Carphone's listings don't dive much further into specs. All the same, it's evident Google is determined to treat the Pixel 6 as a flagship in terms of support, not just performance. Other Android vendors might have a harder time following suit (they're often tied to policies from chipmakers like Qualcomm), but this could give you at least one option if you want iPhone-like security updates without being tied to Apple's ecosystem.

YouTube's reduced tolerance for misinformation now extends to climate science. The Google service has enacted a new policy barring ads and monetization for content that contradicts the "well-established scientific consensus" surrounding climate change, including videos that claim climate change is a hoax or reject the human link to global warming. YouTube will start enforcing the policy in November.

The company stressed that it would allow ads for videos discussing those bogus claims as well as other climate-related subjects, such as the exact degree of human impact or debates on climate policy. YouTube is basing its judgments on "authoritative" expertise, including contributors to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The firm wasn't shy about the reasoning for the move: advertisers just don't want their ads linked to climate change denial material, and creators don't want those ads on their pages. YouTube is concerned it could lose business, and dropping monetization for bogus science is an easy way to prevent that loss.

This effort stops short of banning climate change denial, although that's not surprising. Unlike anti-vaccine misinformation, climate change denial doesn't carry the risk of short-term harm. YouTube can keep the content visible for the sake of debate and expression without worrying that it will directly lead to illness. This won't stop science deniers from moving to other platforms or using their videos to peddle products like books, but it might discourage 'casual' attempts to profit from climate misinformation.

YouTube is improving video accessibility for both viewers with sight issues and those beyond the English-speaking world. To start, the company is testing the option of adding multiple audio tracks to videos. This will help with international viewers, of course, but it should also enable descriptive audio for people with little to no vision. This arrives sometime in the "coming quarters," YouTube said.

Automatic captions should also be far more commonplace. YouTube now permits live automatic captions for any livestream in English, not just those with 1,000 or more subscribers. These live captions will be available for all 13 supported auto-captioning languages in the "coming months," according to the company. Auto-translated captions will also reach supported languages on Android and iOS later in 2021, so you won't have to turn to your PC to make sense of a video you don't understand.

An experiment later in 2021 will let you search transcripts on your phone, YouTube added. A previously promised subtitle editor is still on track to launch in the "coming months," giving creators the chance to delegate subtitle creation to someone they trust.

The upgrades make sense. YouTube is increasingly dependent on a global audience for views, particularly with the growth of livestreaming. These tweaks ensure more people can watch, even if a creator doesn't have the resources to add subtitles themselves.

Eidos is joining the ranks of game developers pushing back against crunch time. The Square Enix-owned studio has announced that its Quebec locations (Montreal and Sherbrooke) are shifting to a four-day, Monday-to-Thursday work week sometime in the "next few weeks." Salaries and working conditions will remain the same, the Deus Ex and Tomb Raider developer said.

The hope, as you might expect, is to improve the quality of working hours. Eidos is accordingly encouraging teams to redefine work conditions and improve efficiency, such as by cutting meeting times. The company had already implemented some quality-of-life changes during the pandemic, such as rest periods and compensation for mental and physical health costs — this is ostensibly a logical extension of that strategy.

Eidos isn't the first studio to adopt a four-day week. Bugsnax developer Young Horses made that switch in September. It's very rare for a large studio to make this move, though, and it might prompt similar moves by other developers if the strategy proves successful.

"If" is the operative term, however. Eidos was eager to tout past tests with shortened work weeks, like with Iceland's civil service, but it's not yet clear if that translates to the game industry. Developers are notorious for rushing games to make the holiday season, even if that leads to extremely buggy results. Eidos will have to make a hard choice: does it stick to the four-day schedule and risk delaying games, or demand extra hours to be sure a title is ready? This shortened week could pay off with happier developers, but it could also cause problems if teams take months more to finish projects.

YouTube scrapped its Rewind 2020 video due to COVID-19 and social unrest, but it's not coming back now that the turmoil is (partly) calming down. As Tubefilter first confirmed, YouTube is cancelling its year-end Rewind videos once and for all. The service insists it's not due to the blowback from Rewind 2018, however. Rather, YouTube is reportedly so large that it would be impractical to summarize the site with a yearly video.

The Google-owned brand will instead trust creators like MrBeast and Slayy Point to produce end-of-year videos, and promote them through social networks. You'll also see annual trend lists, awards shows and a currently mysterious "interactive experience."

Rewind debuted in 2010 and was popular for most of its history as a snapshot of the online zeitgeist. That all fell apart with Rewind 2018, however. Many felt the video both ignored major creators like Pewdiepie and had more than a few cringe-worthy moments (Will Smith's "oh, that's hot" haunts people to this day). When YouTube returned with Rewind 2019, it abdicated editorial control and let the statistics guide the content to the frustration of viewers. Even if YouTube is right about the site becoming too large for Rewind, the demand just isn't what it used to be — a revival might not have much of an impact.

You don't have to be a Kanye fan (or buy a gadget) to remix a new album. MusicTechnotes that Courtney Barnett has shared a free, web-based stem mixer that lets you chop up three singles from the Australian rocker's upcoming Things Take Time, Take Time. You can isolate or highlight elements like percussion and guitars, and there's even a simple loop generator with start and end points. You aren't about to produce a drum-and-bass mix of "Before You Gotta Go," but you might get closer than you think.

This is a promo for the album, of course, and it's notable that you can't (officially) save your compositions. This might teach you a thing or two about layering in music, though. And it's free — you won't need more than your computer and some headphones to experiment with Barnett's tracks. Don't be surprised if other artists follow suit, even if they're unlikely to pull a Nine Inch Nails and release the raw track files.

Now that in-person dating is making a comeback, Lyft and Tinder want to encourage more of those face-to-face encounters. As teased in March, the Tinder app now includes an Explore hub that lets you buy a Lyft ride for your date. You don't have to exchange addresses or locations — you just send a credit (with a set destination, if you prefer) and your date does the rest.

The credit is only useful for dropoffs within a half-mile of a set destination, and you'll get a refund for any unused credit. You don't have to worry that your would-be beau will travel to the other end of town, in other words.

The motivations are fairly obvious here. This gives Lyft drivers more business, and encourages Tinder users to do more than message each other and watch videos. It might be difficult to complain about a free ride to the restaurant, mind you, and you might just land a relationship in the bargain.