Day: June 12, 2025

Discover the Biggest Map of the Universe That Has Ever Been Made

The cosmos is an expansive and enigmatic realm, and our comprehension of it keeps expanding with progress in technology and exploration. One of the most notable accomplishments in recent history is the development of the most extensive map of the universe ever produced, which is now accessible for anyone to examine.

This groundbreaking map was created as a part of the Cosmic Evolution Survey carried out by Caltech. It spans roughly 0.54 square degrees of the sky and encompasses about 1.5 terabytes of information. This comprehensive map provides a detailed perspective of galaxies and stars that date back 13.5 billion years, offering some of the earliest views of the universe that humankind has encountered.

The information for this map was gathered utilizing the near-infrared camera of the James Webb Space Telescope, which enabled scientists to photograph distant stars and galaxies. The map is interactive, allowing users to explore the cosmos from their web browsers without needing to navigate through the extensive dataset themselves. This availability permits anyone with an internet connection to interact with the map and marvel at the vastness and splendor of the cosmos.

The interactive map presents various viewing options, including NIRCam and RGB images, providing a thorough viewing experience. Although it doesn’t facilitate searching for specific galaxies or stars by name, users can navigate freely and zoom in and out of the map, exploring the universe at their own leisure.

This map is a tribute to the efforts and commitment of astronomers and researchers who have been diligently working since the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. It signifies a crucial milestone in our endeavor to understand the universe and offers a distinctive chance for the public to engage with and discover more about the cosmos.

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Prime Video Increases Advertising Frequency in Streaming Content

It has been a year and a half since Amazon rolled out advertisements on Prime Video, compelling viewers who did not opt for the ad-free upgrade to watch commercials. Upon the introduction of ads, Amazon informed audiences that they would encounter only 2 to 3.5 minutes of advertisements per hour; however, Adweek indicates that the platform has stealthily increased its ad inventory in recent months.

What is the current ad count on Prime Video?

Adweek consulted with six advertising buyers and examined documents that indicated Prime Video currently broadcasts between 4 and 6 minutes of ads each hour. The publication even obtained an email from an Amazon employee to an ad buyer that included this statement: “Prime Video ad load has gradually increased to four to six minutes per hour.”

Importantly, Amazon did not directly notify subscribers about the increase in advertisements. Kelly Day, VP of Prime Video International, mentioned to the Financial Times late last year that the ad load for Prime Video was expected to “ramp up a little bit more into 2025,” but no specific details were given.

When asked about Day’s remarks, Amazon provided the following statement to Ars Technica, essentially confirming that additional ads were forthcoming: “We have not altered our plans to have significantly fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers and evaluate advertising volumes to help ensure we’re delivering a great customer experience.”

The path to this point

While most streaming services provide separate ad-supported and ad-free options, Prime Video opted for a different approach. One day in 2024, all Amazon Prime subscribers woke up to find ads on Prime Video. The sole method to eliminate them was to “upgrade to Prime Video Ad Free” for an extra $2.99 monthly on top of the $139 yearly Amazon Prime membership fee.

Initially, Amazon only displayed a few ads per hour to avoid alienating too many subscribers. This strategy proved successful, resulting in low churn rates. However, now that subscribers have become accustomed to ads, they likely wouldn’t mind one or two more each hour, right?

Prime Video previously had one of the lightest ad loads among streamers. Currently, Doug Paladino of the ad agency PMG tells Adweek that Prime Video is “firmly in that middle tier.”

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“7 Irresistible Netflix Crime Dramas You’ll Want to Binge-Watch Again and Again”

Streamers such as Netflix have a knack for transforming crime dramas into captivating spectacles, weaving narratives that pull us into the shadowy aspects of human behavior and revealing the consequences when individuals decide that rules no longer bind them.

It’s not solely the excitement of a heist or the suspense of a cover-up that makes them so thrillingly engaging; it’s witnessing ambition, desperation, and ego clash in a slow-motion spectacle, often resulting in a high body count. It’s the way that power and greed can both construct and destroy an empire. Reflecting on it, these narratives provide the enjoyment of pure escapism and a front-row experience of chaos. Incidentally, this is essentially what MobLand star Tom Hardy expressed to me during a recent interview about his Paramount+ series when I inquired why we are so attracted to such tales:

“It’s a kind of wish fulfillment and escapism, isn’t it? Observing individuals undertaking actions that I personally wouldn’t. I believe there’s an element of comic book appeal in them as well, in many ways. Additionally, there’s often a parody aspect — because, in reality, being a gangster is truly awful and severe business. It’s simply an escape. And there’s a sense of freedom too… like proclaiming, ‘No, I’ll do what I please whenever I choose.’ We enjoy seeing if they succeed in the end.”
-Tom Hardy, in an April 2025 interview with BGR

This blend of peril and indulgence is what renders these narratives so irresistible. Keeping that in focus, I’ve compiled seven Netflix crime dramas that are so captivating, a single binge-watch won’t suffice. Believe me, I’ve completed all of these at least twice.

The Gentlemen
Guy Ritchie’s distinctive flair receives the ideal platform in this Netflix original that resembles a mashup of Succession and a violent pub altercation. Set within the same realm as his 2019 film, the series tracks a hesitant heir to a marijuana empire attempting to prevent the family business from going up in flames. It’s fast-paced, dapper, and rife with betrayals, featuring plenty of dry humor and a rotating ensemble of charming psychopaths.

In my humble view, with The Gentlemen, Netflix has discovered its most effortlessly chic new crime franchise.

Snabba Cash
This Swedish thriller delivers a heart-pounding journey through the perilous crossroads of ambition and greed. A tech entrepreneur pursuing startup aspirations becomes entangled in Stockholm’s criminal scene, leading to blurred boundaries. Snabba Cash is not only gritty; it’s cold and merciless, capturing the tension of an ever-simmering fuse. Structured like a thriller, it also fosters a deep connection to characters whose decisions become increasingly dubious.

Ricky Gervais enthusiastically commented on X about the series: “Just completed Season 2 of Snabba Cash. Astonishing. One of the best series of all time. The writing, acting, direction, casting, editing, soundtrack, design and titles are all flawless. The Wire meets Wall Street. Incredible.”

Dept. Q
Derived from the acclaimed Danish crime novels, Dept. Q is a meticulously paced procedural that follows an ostracized detective and his partner as they revisit long-buried cold cases — unwittingly uncovering secrets that influential individuals wish to keep hidden. The cases are eerie, the ambiance is grim, and the character development here is as precise as a coroner’s knife. While the show taps into familiar, Slow Horses-style grumpy detective territory, I cannot emphasize enough: Dept. Q stands as one of the finest new Netflix offerings of 2025.

Oh, and it’s penned by the writer of The Queen’s Gambit, should you need another incentive to tune in.

Ozark
Jason Bateman cast as a criminal genius? Yes, indeed please. What starts off in Ozark as a straightforward money-laundering task rapidly devolves into a violent rivalry with cartels, corrupt politicians, and local crime syndicates. Bateman takes on the role of genius accountant Marty Byrde, while Laura Linney’s Wendy transforms into his ruthless Lady Macbeth of a wife.

What elevates Ozark isn’t merely the peril; it’s the gradual evolution of Marty from a mild-mannered accountant to a master manipulator. Much like Walter White, he remains composed under pressure and possesses a chilling ability to rationalize his moral decline. However, Marty doesn’t merely turn evil; he strategically charts his course there. Observing him juggle family life alongside criminal endeavors feels akin to witnessing someone handle knives blindfolded.

Suburra: Blood on Rome
This Italian treasure is somewhat overlooked in the realm of Netflix crime dramas, but Suburra

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Apple’s VisionOS 26 Functionality Indicates Anticipated Innovations in Home Products

This week, Apple revealed visionOS 26, which brings forth spatial widgets—customizable, three-dimensional features that users can attach to their environment while using the Apple Vision Pro headset. These widgets encompass choices for Batteries, Calendar, Clock, Music, News, Notes, Photos, Podcasts, Reminders, Stocks, and Weather, aimed at boosting productivity and delivering glanceable data.

The launch of spatial widgets may also suggest Apple’s intentions regarding a long-speculated smart home device, potentially called HomePad. This gadget is believed to be a wall-mounted or dockable tablet focused on home control, HomeKit scenes, intercom capabilities, and swift access to personal data.

For those acquainted with smart displays like the Google Nest Hub or Amazon Echo Show, the idea of spatial widgets might seem recognizable. These displays provide concise information, such as weather updates and reminders, making them a significant addition to various households. Nonetheless, the fixed nature of spatial widgets could appear constrained when compared to the contextual intelligence of traditional smart displays.

While spatial widgets offer a constant piece of information, there’s room for more dynamic alternatives, like a Smart Stack that presents context-aware details as required. This concept could smoothly extend to a physical smart display, integrating features like cameras for Spatial Photos.

The newly introduced visionOS 26 spatial widgets are not only visually attractive but also signify Apple’s investigation into ambient information in everyday life. This opens up the possibility that a HomePad could transform into a dedicated dashboard that adjusts to its surroundings, rather than merely being a reconfigured iPad or an Echo Show replica.

In the end, while some might doubt if a HomePad can stand against current devices, the emphasis on crafting a smarter, more cohesive experience aligns with Apple’s design ethos.

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Apple Provides Developers with Entry to New Local AI Models: Performance Analytics

**Apple’s Foundation Models Framework: A Revolutionary Tool for Third-Party Developers**

Apple’s latest disclosure at WWDC unveiled a noteworthy enhancement for third-party developers: access to the Foundation Models framework, enabling them to utilize Apple’s on-device AI functionalities. This signifies a critical turning point in the incorporation of AI into iOS applications, allowing developers to introduce features such as document summarization, key information extraction, and structured content generation—all independent of cloud services.

### Competitive Performance

Apple’s Foundation Models framework is grounded in strong performance metrics. Based on Apple’s assessments, their ~3 billion parameter on-device model has delivered remarkable outcomes, especially in image-related tasks, surpassing similar lightweight models like InternVL-2.5 and Qwen-2.5-VL-3B in over 46% and 50% of prompts, respectively. In text processing, it effectively competes against larger models, even exceeding them in certain multilingual scenarios, including Portuguese, French, and Japanese.

This performance showcases that Apple’s local models can provide consistent results for diverse applications without requiring cloud connectivity or data transfers, thereby enhancing user privacy and experience.

### Advantages of Offline Capabilities

A standout feature of Apple’s Foundation Models framework is its offline capabilities. Developers can now build applications that do not necessitate large language models to be included within their apps, leading to smaller app sizes and eliminating the reliance on the cloud for most tasks. This transition not only simplifies the development process but also cultivates a more private user experience.

Apple’s models are engineered for structured outputs via a Swift-native “guided generation” system, enabling developers to effectively steer model responses within their application logic. This functionality is especially advantageous for applications in education, productivity, and communication, offering the benefits of large language models without the related latency, expenses, or privacy issues.

### Implications for Developers and Users

Though Apple’s models may not be the most formidable in the AI sphere, they are fine-tuned for efficiency and accessibility. The combination of free, on-device processing with offline functionalities positions Apple’s Foundation Models as a viable solution for developers aspiring to integrate AI into their applications without incurring extra costs or endangering user privacy.

As developers start to tap into these capabilities, we can anticipate an influx of innovative AI features in third-party iOS applications. This evolution could result in a richer user experience, as applications become progressively skilled at delivering personalized and context-aware functionalities.

In summary, Apple’s Foundation Models framework signifies a substantial advancement in the integration of AI within the iOS environment. By emphasizing efficiency, privacy, and accessibility, Apple is not only improving the developer experience but also setting the stage for a new era of AI-powered applications that address user needs without the shortcomings of conventional cloud-dependent solutions.

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WhatsApp Unveils AI-Enhanced Summaries for Unread Conversations

### WhatsApp Launches AI-Driven Message Summarization Functionality

WhatsApp is in the process of piloting a groundbreaking AI-driven functionality that seeks to improve user engagement by summarizing unread messages within chats, groups, and channels. This functionality, currently being implemented on Android devices, follows advancements in Apple’s AI summaries for notifications, though Apple’s capabilities are restricted to specific devices.

#### Mechanism of Operation

The new functionality, termed “Private Processing,” is optional, granting users the choice to activate it. When enabled, if a user has a considerable accumulation of unread messages, a new button titled “Summarize with Meta AI” will supersede the typical “X unread messages” alert. By selecting this button, users gain a brief overview of the active conversation, facilitating a quicker catch-up without having to browse through multiple messages.

#### Privacy Aspects

WhatsApp underscores its commitment to user privacy with this functionality. The company states that no message content is retained or associated with the user. The entire summarization procedure occurs in a secure, confined environment in the cloud, and the summaries are erased immediately post-processing. Furthermore, the functionality is automatically turned off in conversations employing Advanced Privacy settings, ensuring that no AI involvement happens in those situations, even with end-to-end encryption active.

#### Availability Status

Currently, the message summarization functionality is accessible only to a select group of users engaged in the Android beta program. WhatsApp has yet to disclose information concerning its rollout for iOS users or specifics about language support and regional compatibility.

### Future Additions: Writing Assistance

Alongside message summarization, WhatsApp is also working on another AI-centric feature known as “Writing Help.” This functionality aims to aid users in polishing the tone or clarity of their messages prior to sending. Like the message summarization feature, “Writing Help” will also leverage the Private Processing framework to ensure the safeguarding of user privacy.

### Final Thoughts

WhatsApp’s rollout of AI-driven functionalities such as message summarization and writing assistance signifies the increasing trend of incorporating artificial intelligence within communication platforms. As these features evolve, users will gain the ability to enhance their messaging experiences while ensuring privacy remains a priority. The deployment of these functionalities will be closely monitored by users eager to discover how AI can elevate their interactions on the platform.

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ESA Obtains First-Ever Photographs of the Sun’s Southern Pole

The European Space Agency (ESA) has reached a remarkable milestone by capturing the first-ever images of the Sun’s south pole. These pictures were taken by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, offering a distinctive perspective of the Sun’s southern atmosphere. From our planet, the Sun looks like a massive disc of light, but thanks to missions such as the Parker Solar Probe and various astronomical studies, we understand it as a complex structure with multiple regions.

The Sun operates as a dynamic entity, with its magnetic fields twisting and turning as it spins. These fields play a crucial role in determining when solar energy is emitted into the solar system, making it essential to comprehend them for understanding the Sun’s power. The Sun experiences periods of relative calm, with well-defined poles, and phases of turmoil, where energy often erupts from its surface. Previously, pinpointing the Sun’s poles posed a challenge, but the recent observations from the ESA’s Solar Orbiter have altered that.

Determining the positions of the Sun’s poles enables scientists to monitor magnetic fields during polar reversals, which change energy flows on the Sun’s surface. Researchers aspire to leverage this data to create enhanced computer models for predicting solar outbursts. Since solar storms can affect Earth’s magnetic field, forecasting their occurrence is crucial for safeguarding future space missions. Although there is still much to uncover, these observations lay a strong groundwork for forthcoming research.

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