News September 03, 2024

Access thousands of book summaries with a lifetime subscription to Instaread on sale for just $80

Get instant access to over 3,000 book summaries in just 15 minutes each with Instaread Book Summaries. With a lifetime subscription on sale for $79.99 (reg. $300), you can explore a wide range of topics, from business and self-improvement to novels and memoirs. Plus, the quality is top-notch, with more summaries than similar services and unique features like “Cards” for quick knowledge and “Playlists” for seamless listening on the go.

Read more

The US Navy is experimenting with bringing reliable and persistent high-speed internet to its surface warships using satellites from the Starlink network maintained by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The system, called SEA2, uses a satellite terminal to maintain a constant and consistent internet connection for sailors, which has applications across the entire Navy. The system allows a warship’s tactical feeds to securely access low-orbit satellites with median connection speeds of 30 to 50 megabits per second, with the installation of additional Starlink antennas scaling up to speeds of 1 gigabit per second. The Navy has not yet disclosed how many surface warships have received Starlink terminals, but plans to field those broadband-providing capabilities across a fleet of up to 200 in the future.

Read more

Ski Resorts Are Stockpiling Snow to Get Through Warm Winters

Levi ski resort in northern Finland has a large snow storage operation, which is one of the largest in the world. The operation involves storing snow in four separate stockpiles, which amount to 260,000 cubic meters of snow, enough to fill 100 Olympic swimming pools. This allows the resort to guarantee opening some key ski routes in November without relying on natural snowfall. The snow storage helps mitigate against natural variability each winter.

Levi uses mechanical herd of snow-grooming machines to produce artificial snow, which is then stored and used as needed. The stored snow forms a dense, icy base that is skiable and also keeps fresh natural snow cold and in place during the fall season. Levi is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

The insulating blanket system used by Levi and other resorts in Europe to preserve their snow during summer is made from extruded polystyrene, or XPS, supplied by Finnish insulation manufacturer Finnfoam. The blankets are 4-meter sheets that are either 18 or 25 meters long and are laid over snow mounds before being taped together to seal everything in.

Read more

NYT Strands hints, answers for September 3

Strands is a word search game that requires players to find words in a grid of letters, but with a twist - words can change direction and be made from linked letters in any direction. The theme for each puzzle is different, and there is always a special “spangram” that spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically. The game takes a little longer to play than other games like Wordle and Connections because it requires players to think creatively and make connections between letters. If you’re stuck, Mashable has all the hints you need to progress at your own pace. Today’s theme is about bell sounds, and the spangram is vertical. The word list for September 3 includes Tinkle, Clang, Toll, Belltones, Ring, Chime, Peal, Knell, Jingle.

Read more

Your noisy commute just met its match with Sony noise-cancelling headphones on sale for $150 off

Sony’s new WH-1000XM4 wireless noise-cancelling headphones are on sale for 42% off, with an open box price of $199.99 (regularly $349). These headphones offer premium sound in peace and comfort, with dual noise sensor technology and HD Noise-Canceling Processor QN1 blocking out ambient noise. They’re lightweight, comfortable, and have touch controls, voice assistant compatibility, and adaptive sound control. Battery life is up to 30 hours on a single charge, and quick 10-minute charges give you up to five hours of playback. Don’t miss out on this limited time offer!

Read more