Located in the mountains outside Tucson, Arizona, the Kitt Peak National Observatory was threatened last week by the ongoing Contreras Fire. While the blaze has affected more than 20,000 acres and disrupted work at the facility, the major scientific equipment seems to be thus far unscathed.

The scientific community feared the worst, but over the weekend, the National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab), the organization that operates the site, had good news to share. “All physical scientific observatory structures are still standing,” NOIRLab said in a tweet spotted by Gizmodo. However, in a later press release, the organization said the fire destroyed four support buildings on June 17th.

The facility’s official Twitter account said NOIRLab staff would have to conduct a thorough assessment of the observatory grounds to determine the extent of the full damage caused by the inferno. “This process will likely take weeks,” the account tweeted. “Restoration of services (power, etc) may take even longer.” 

The telescopes aren’t safe just yet. The Contreras Fire continues to blaze in and around the area of the Kitt Peak National Observatory. As of Monday, 350 firefighters were working to contain the fire, according to the Arizona Emergency Information Network.

The potential destruction of Kitt Peak comes a little more than a year after the Arecibo Observatory's receiver platform collapsed into its iconic 1,000-foot wide antenna. Puerto Rico has pledged $8 million to rebuild the telescope, but the future of the facility is unclear. Kitt Peak may be less famous than Arecibo but it's no less important. The facility's Mayall telescope is the seventh-largest optical telescope in the US and was used to discover methane ice on Pluto back when it was considered a planet.

Astronomers, astronauts and other near-Earth object experts from around the world are gathering next week in Luxembourg to talk about asteroids. If you tune in to the Asteroid Foundation’s live event on International Asteroid Day (which is June 30), you can hear about the latest in space rock research. The four hour event will consist of panel discussions on future missions, advances in technology, how scientists track and discover asteroids and what resources might be gleaned from asteroids. It will be moderated by Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project, the astronomer Phil Plait, Asteroid Day’s editorial director Stuart Clark and Patrick Michel, director of research at CNRS of the Côte d’Azur Observatory.

“Asteroid Day reminds the world of just how important these celestial objects are. They hold the keys to understanding the formation of the Solar System, provide stepping stones we will utilize to explore our solar system, and occasionally they hit our planet,” said Dr Dorin Prunariu, Vice-Chair of the Asteroid Foundation in a press release. The Asteroid Day event will also feature pre-recorded interviews from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which is currently on its way back to Earth after collecting samples from the asteroid Bennu.

Detecting asteroids is a tricky science, and scientists still manage to miss a large number that are potentially dangerous. NASA has detected nearly 16,000 near-Earth objects, which are objects within approximately 45 million kilometers of our planet's orbit. As The Conversation notes, while extinction-level asteroids are very rare, smaller space rocks such as the one that hit Tunguska, Siberia in 1908 or the 10,000-ton space rock that hit the Russian city of Chelyabinsk are also capable of doing damage. And there have been plenty of near misses. Scientists estimate that in 2029, a 1,120 feet asteroid known as Apophis will miss Earth by a mere 19,000 miles.

You can stream Asteroid Day’s program on June 30 at 11 am CET (or 5 am EDT) on Asteroid Day’s website, TwitchTV or YouTube.

Humans aren't the only ones working with Play-Doh. MIT CSAIL researchers have created a system, RoboCraft, that teaches robots how to work with the kid-friendly goo. The platform first takes the image of a shape (in this case, a letter of the alphabet) and reinterprets it as a cluster of interlocking particles. The bot then uses a physics-oriented neural network to predict how its two "fingers" can manipulate those spheres to match the desired outcome. A predictive algorithm helps the machine plan its actions.

The technology doesn't require much time to produce usable results. It took just ten minutes of practice for an robot to perform roughly as well (and in some cases better) than humans remote-controlling the same hardware. That's not the same as having a human shape the Play-Doh by hand, but it's no mean feat for a machine discovering how to perform the task for the first time. Robots frequently struggle with soft objects where they tend to thrive with firm shapes.

RoboCraft-trained bots aren't about to produce elaborate sculptures. The results are still imprecise, and the machine works slowly using just two fingers. The team is already developing a method of making dumplings, though, and plans to teach robots to use additional tools (such as a rolling pin) to prep the food.

The CSAIL scientists already have an idea of where the technology might be deployed. Kitchen robots could take over more responsibilities, while artistic automatons might create pottery. Eventually, technology like this could help the elderly and people with mobility issues by taking over household duties that require subtle motor skills.

Barack and Michelle Obama are heading to Audible. On Tuesday, the Amazon-owned company announced an exclusive multiyear first-look production deal with the former first couple’s Higher Ground media company.

The deal comes after it came out that the Obamas and Spotify had decided not to extend their exclusive podcast partnership beyond the end of 2022. According to a Bloomberg report published in April, the family wanted an agreement that would see their content distributed widely across various platforms, and that’s what this deal with Audible will allow the Obamas to do. It will also let the couple take a more behind-the-scenes role in future productions, a request that Spotify reportedly met with pushback when it came to their recent negotiations.

“At Higher Ground, we have always sought to lift up voices that deserve to be heard — and Audible is invested in realizing that vision alongside us,” former President Obama said. “I’m looking forward to partnering with them to tell stories that not only entertain but also inspire.”

Audible did not disclose the financial terms of its agreement with Higher Ground. The Obamas’ previous deal with Spotify was rumored to be worth around $25 million. That partnership produced Renegades: Born in the USA with Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen, as well as The Michelle Obama Podcast. The latter was among the most popular original podcasts Spotify released in 2020.

Activision Blizzard shareholders on Tuesday approved a plan for the company to release an annual, public report detailing its handling of sexual harassment and gender discrimination disputes, and how the company is working to prevent these incidences. The proposal was initially made in February by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Under the proposal, Activision Blizzard will have to publicly disclose the following information each year:

• The number and total dollar amount of disputes settled by the studio relating to sexual harassment and abuse, and discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, service member status, gender identify, or sexual orientation — covering the last three years

• What steps Activision Blizzard is taking to reduce the average length of time it takes to resolve these incidents internally and legally

• The number of pending complaints facing the studio relating to sexual abuse, harassment and discrimination, internally and in litigation

• Data on pay and hours worked, as required by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing

The DFEH sued Activision Blizzard in July 2020, alleging executives there fostered a culture of rampant sexual harassment and systemic gender discrimination. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also sued the studio over these allegations in 2020, and Activision Blizzard settled with the federal agency in March, agreeing to set up an $18 million fund for claimants. Activists, employees and the DFEH have argued that this settlement is too low, and former employee Jessica Gonzalez appealed the ruling in May. The DFEH estimates there are 2,500 injured employees deserving more than $930 million in compensation.

"For years, there have been alarming news reports that detail allegedly rampant sexual abuse, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation directed toward female employees," a statement in support of the proposal to shareholders reads. As an investor-focused document, it outlines the ways in which systemic discrimination and sexual abuse can damage the studio's revenue streams and its ability to retain employees, saying, "A report such as the one requested would assist shareholders in assessing whether the company is improving its workforce management, whether its actions align with the company’s public statements and whether it remains a sustainable investment."

While Activision Blizzard is facing multiple lawsuits and investigations in regards to sexism, harassment and discrimination, some employees at the studio are attempting to unionize with the help of the Communications Workers of America. This would be the first union at a major video game studio and could signal a shift in the industry's longstanding crunch-centric cycle. At Tuesday's annual meeting, Activision Blizzard shareholders denied a proposal that would've added an employee representative to the board of directors, with just 5 percent voting in favor, according to The Washington Post.

At the same time, Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard in a deal worth nearly $69 billion. Microsoft has pledged to respect the rights of workers to unionize. And all the while, Activision Blizzard is still making games.

Meta has agreed to settle 2019 charges that it enabled housing discrimination through ad targeting. The deal with the Justice Department will have the company end use of a "Special Ad Audiences" tool that allegedly used a discrimination-prone algorithm to widen the reach of housing ads on Facebook. Meta is instead developing a new method, the "variance reduction system," to ensure home ads match their eligible targeted viewers.

The decision to retire Special Ad Audiences also applies to credit and employment ads, Meta added. The company said all three categories were part of a "deep-rooted problem" with discrimination in the US.

This is the first time the DOJ has used a case to tackle algorithmic biases under the Fair Housing Act, according to officials. Meta said it collaborated with the Department of Housing and Urban Development for over a year to more accurately target ads and avoid discrimination. The new system will also be subject to DOJ approval and monitoring.

The firm had already limited ad targeting in 2019 after settling another lawsuit accusing it of violating housing discrimination law. Advertisers haven't been allowed to target campaigns based on age, gender or ZIP code. Special Ad Audiences was launched at the same time to help address issues with a previous system, but Meta said its algorithms needed to adapt to ensure fairness.

A settlement isn't shocking. Meta has faced other accusations of allowing problematic ad targeting in fields like politics. Other tech heavyweights have also faced penalties. The Federal Trade Commission slapped Twitter with a $150 million fine for reportedly "deceptive" ad targeting that relied on sensitive contact information. The agreement could help Meta avoid similar punishments, and suggests it's willing to cooperate when ad systems come under scrutiny.

NASA and the Department of Energy have awarded contracts to three companies that are designing concepts to bring nuclear power to the Moon. The agencies will award Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse and IX around $5 million each to fund the design of a fission surface power system, an idea that NASA has been working on for at least 14 years. 

The three companies are being tasked with developing a 40-kilowatt class fission power system that can run for at least 10 years on the lunar surface. NASA hopes to test the system on the Moon as soon as the end of this decade. If the demonstration proves successful, it could lead to nuclear energy powering long-term missions on the Moon and Mars as part of the Artemis program. "Developing these early designs will help us lay the groundwork for powering our long-term human presence on other worlds," Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, said in a statement.

Under the 12-month contracts, Lockheed Martin will partner with BWXT and Creare. Westinghouse will team up with Aerojet Rocketdyne, while IX (a joint venture of Intuitive Machines and X-Energy) will work with Maxar and Boeing on a proposal.

Lockheed Martin was one of three companies chosen by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency last year to develop nuclear-powered spacecraft. The Defense Department has also sought nuclear propulsion systems for spacecraft.

Early in the pandemic, scientists tried training dogs to detect COVID-19 infections in humans. The results were predictable. Man’s best friend proved adept at sniffing out the disease, but the question researchers kept asking themselves was how they would scale that approach. After all, training a dog is expensive, and taking care of one can be a handful.

Still, the idea of using animals to spot sick humans is a good one and one that a team of researchers from Michigan State University approached in a novel way. In a recent study published in the journal bioRXiv, they detailed a locust-based cancer screening system. Per MIT Technology Review, the tech involves surgically-altered locusts with electrodes implanted into the lobes of their brains by Professor Debajit Saha and his colleagues. Those electrodes were there to capture signals from each insect’s antennae, which they use to sense smells.

Additionally, the team grew three different types of cancerous human mouth cells – in addition to a separate set of healthy ones – and built a device for capturing the gases emitted by those tissues. They then used that device to give the insects a whiff of the gases. They found that the locusts' brains responded to each type of tissue differently and that they could correctly identify sick cells with only the recording of the gasses.

It’s hard to say if you’ll ever see your local clinic uses insects for cancer screenings. The study hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet, and it’s difficult to know if regulators like the Food and Drug Administration would ever approve such a procedure. People could also find the treatment of the locusts questionable. “The insect is dead in terms of its body function,” Saha told MIT Technology Review. “We are just keeping its brain alive.”

Saha and his team plan to continue work on the project. Their current system requires between six and 10 locust brains to function. He hopes new electrodes will allow his team to record more neurons, thereby making a single locust brain sufficient for an individual screening. He also wants to make the device holding the brain and antennae portable, which would allow the team to use the system outside of a lab.

University of Michigan, Saha et al.

Microsoft is keenly aware of the mounting backlash toward facial recognition, and it's shuttering a significant project in response. The company has revealed it will "retire" facial recognition technology that it said could infer emotions as well as characteristics like age, gender and hair. The AI raised privacy questions, Microsoft said, and offering a framework created the potential for discrimination and other abuses. There was also no clear consensus on the definition of emotions, and no way to create a generalized link between expressions and emotions.

New users of Microsoft's Face programming framework no longer have access to these attribute detection features. Current customers can use them until June 30th, 2023. Microsoft will still fold the tech into "controlled" accessibility tools, such as its Seeing AI for people with vision issues.

The exit comes as Microsoft has shared its Responsible AI Standard framework with the public for the first time. The guidelines illustrate the tech firm's decision-making process, including a focus on principles like inclusion, privacy and transparency. This also represents the first big update to the standard since it was introduced in late 2019, and promises more fairness in speech-to-text tech, stricter controls for neural voice and "fit for purpose" requirements that rule out the emotion-detecting system.

Microsoft isn't the first company to have second thoughts about facial recognition. IBM stopped work in that field over worries its projects could be used for human rights abuses. With that said, this is still a major change of heart. One of the world's largest cloud and computing companies is backing away from AI that could have a substantial impact.

Creators on Instagram and Facebook will have another year to make money from the apps without Meta taking a cut from their earnings. Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that Meta will "hold off on any revenue sharing" until 2024, a one-year extension of his prior pledge to not charge a commission until 2023.

The move will cover monetization features where creators directly charge their fans: paid online events, subscriptions, newsletters and badges sold during livestreams. It doesn’t apply to Meta’s advertising-related revenue sharing features for Reels or other video products.

Zuckerberg also announced several other monetization updates for creators on the platform. The company is expanding Stars, the company’s in-app tipping feature, to more creators, and will open up its bonus program for Reels to more users as well. Meta is also expanding its support for NFTs on Instagram, which it began testing on Instagram profiles last month. Now, the feature will be available to more people, though Meta declined to specify exactly how many will now have access. The company also plans to integrate NFTs into Facebook and Instagram Stories “soon.”

The updates build on Meta’s massive investment into creator-centric features. Meta has made competing with TikTok one of its top priorities, and getting more creators on its platform is central to that effort. Creators could also help the company make big bucks on the metaverse, where Meta will get as much as 48 percent of creators’ earnings.