Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: Everything You Need To Know

What is Xbox Game Pass Ultimate? Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is a new subscription from Microsoft that combines Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass into one convenient monthly payment that will allow subscribers to reap all of the benefits of both programs. Xbox Live Gold Beneifts: Whilst the main benefit of an Xbox Live Gold subscription is the ability to play both competitively and in co-op over Xbox Live, there's the added bonus of downloading four free games every month via Games with Gold and an additional discount on the latest weekly Xbox sales. Xbox Game Pass Benefits: Xbox Game Pass gives you unlimited access to over 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 backwards compatible games for a monthly subscription fee, as well as giving you a 20% discount on Xbox One game purchases and a 10% discount on all related add-ons for any games within the Xbox Game Pass program. How Much Does Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Cost? The price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is $14.99/month. Pricing for other regions has not been announced yet. When Can I Buy Xbox Game Pass Ultimate? Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is scheduled to release at an as yet unannounced date in 2019. Select Xbox Insiders have the ability to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in early access. Will Xbox Game Pass Ultimate be Available in My Region? During early access, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will only be available to Xbox Insiders in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Australia. Early access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is also limited to English-speaking Xbox Insiders. When Xbox Game Pass Ultimate releases properly in 2019, it will be available in all of the current Xbox Game Pass regions. How Do I Sign Up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Early Access? Xbox Game Pass Ultimate early access is currently only available to select Xbox Insiders on the Alpha and Skip Ahead rings. If you are either of those Xbox Insider rings, you can open the Xbox Insider Hub and navigate to the Insider Content section to see if the option to try Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is available to you. As an incentive to joining Xbox Game Pass Ultimate early access, the monthly subscription cost has been reduced to $1 or £1/month. ...

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Facebook exposed millions more Instagram passwords than we realized

Facebook today revealed it’d discovered millions of improperly secured passwords on its server. So, you know… business as usual. Facebook revealed in March it’d discovered a cache of Facebook passwords being stored in plain text form — meaning several thousand Facebook employees who had access could have read them at any time. The company stated then that the passwords included those of “hundreds of millions of Facebook Lite users” and only (only?) “tens of thousands of Instagram users.” The company today updated the same post with this: “Since this post was published, we discovered additional logs of Instagram passwords being stored in a readable format. We now estimate that this issue impacted millions of Instagram users.” I’m not saying updating an old post in lieu of making a new one was an attempt to fly under the radar — but I am saying, if that was the case, it failed miserably. It’s also telling it dropped the same day that the Department of Justice released the Mueller report, the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller III in the investigation of interference in the 2016 US Presidential election. Unluckily for Facebook, we’re capable of being passionate about events of extreme political importance and our account security. This news comes mere hours after the revelation that Facebook uploaded the email contacts of almost 2 million users without their permission. My colleague Ivan Mehta jokingly called it “Facebook’s Daily Screw-up,” but by now we have enough material to make that a real thing, easily. I’m not sure anyone can expect anything more from Facebook at this point. Security researcher Brian Krebs estimated in March that Facebook had been storing passwords in this way since 2012. By now, we should all just keep any passwords even tangentially connected with our Facebook and Instagram accounts on a weekly flip schedule. Guard them with the zealousness with which you’d guard the nuclear football, because clearly Facebook isn’t going to.

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Amazon launches ad-supported music service to Echo owners

Amazon today announced the launch of a free, ad-supported music service in the U.S. that will be available to anyone who wants to play free music on their Echo speaker. Until today, Echo owners who wanted to stream music from Amazon could either pay for an annual Prime membership for access to Prime Music or they could pay $3.99 per month to stream from Amazon Music Unlimited (or $9.99/month to stream on non-Echo devices, as well.) The new service has the same catalog as Prime Music, which today has just over two million songs. Amazon Music Unlimited, meanwhile, has 50 million songs. The new service gives Echo owners a way to enjoy free music from Amazon on their Echo, instead of having to turn to a third-party free provider, like Spotify or Pandora. It will also offer a way to push Echo owners to upgrade to the paid subscription services Amazon offers, including its Amazon Music Unlimited service and even Prime itself. Amazon’s plans to wade into the free streaming market and more directly compete with Spotify had been previously leaked by Bloomberg. The report noted that Amazon had been in discussions with the labels in order to obtain the licenses to stream the free music — something it agreed to pay for, regardless of how much advertising it sells. In addition to being a differentiating and attractive feature for potential smart speaker buyers — something that could have them opt for an Echo over a Google Home device or Apple HomePod, for example — the service also offers Amazon a new way to monetize its large and growing installed base of Echo speakers. Amazon’s ad revenue was $10.1 billion in 2018, or 4.3 percent of its total revenues, and now it’s looking for new ways to grow that number. The news also comes on the heels of a 2018 forecast from eMarketer that had predicted Amazon’s share of the smart speaker market would decline in 2020, as competition from rivals — including Google Home, Sonos One and Apple HomePod — would heat up. But there’s still plenty of time for that to change. The market for smart speakers hit critical mass in 2018, with around 41 percent of U.S. consumers now owning a voice-activated speaker. Amazon also said at the beginning of the year that more than 100 million Alexa-powered devices have been sold to date — but this number includes non-Echo devices, including those from third-party manufacturers. The launch of a free music service will be a significant blow to Spotify which, before now, was the top subscription music streaming service with a free tier. The free customers often then convert to paid subscribers as they use the service over time, something that has helped Spotify grow to reach 96 million paid users and 116 million free users. Apple Music has 56 million paying subscribers, but no free funnel.

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Tesla spotted filming self-driving demo ahead of autonomy/Tesla Network event

Tesla has been spotted evidently filming a self-driving demo in a Model 3 ahead of its planned ‘Investor Autonomy Event’ next week during which the automaker is expected to release more details about ‘Tesla Network’, its autonomous ride-hailing network. Earlier this month, Tesla announced an Autonomy Event for investors to be held on April 19th: The automaker described the event: “Investors will be able to take test-drives to experience our Autopilot software first-hand, including features and functionality that are under active development. Investors will also hear directly from Elon Musk, as well as VP of Engineering, Stuart Bowers, VP of Hardware Engineering, Pete Bannon, and Sr. Director of AI, Andrej Karpathy.” Later, the company pushed the event to April 22 and CEO Elon Musk said that it will include more details on ‘Tesla Network’. The event is also expected to include a broadcasted presentation and now we learn that Tesla has been filming what appears to be a self-driving demonstration. A seemingly self-driving Model 3 with filming equipment was spotted earlier this week (via skabooshka on Twitter):

Photographs: $TSLA recording the “autonomous driving” demo for its so-called “Autonomy Investor Day” (Apr 22).

Mounted, two cameras: one rear-facing on the trunk, one inside directed towards the steering and center console.

Note the license plate: MFG632779S. a company vehicle pic.twitter.com/HtCKwAGJkY

— skabooshka (@skabooshka) 18 de abril de 2019

According to skabooshka, a known Tesla detractor part of the Tesla short community on Twitter, the Model 3 traveled “approximately 35 miles from 1:00PM to 1:40PM” on Tuesday. ... .

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Mueller had everything he needed to charge Trump with obstruction, but didn't

Washington (CNN)If Robert Mueller wanted to charge President Donald Trump with obstruction, he found all he needed to do it. And he found it on multiple fronts. But he didn't make a decision on whether to bring the case. Mueller's report Thursday walked through excruciating detail of evidence in the obstruction of justice investigation and legal analysis, hitting over and over again how prosecutors had enough to meet the legal threshold for a case against Trump. The special counsel examined multiple incidents for potential obstruction. It showed how Trump's actions crossed the threshold for a case when Trump confronted former FBI Director James Comey to "let" national security adviser Michael Flynn go; when Trump fired Comey; when Trump directed his former White House counsel Don McGahn to shut down Mueller; and when Trump tweeted about his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort's charges as he headed to trial. In each of these situations, Mueller found evidence that Trump took steps to harm an investigation, had the ability to harm an investigation and had a personal motivation to harm the investigation. The decision not to charge Trump with a crime means the President and his allies can claim a clean victory following the nearly two-year probe, but the evidence Mueller gathered and that Congress can still investigate suggests that conclusions about the President's actions could still come. 'Let Flynn go' The first time Mueller explains a circumstance where Trump could have obstructed justice, he goes the distance. Trump urged Comey to "let Flynn go" -- three times phrased differently in quick succession, Mueller notes -- and it was clear the President sought to end the FBI investigation into Flynn, Mueller wrote. That checked the box for the first part of the three-part legal test for obstruction. In the second part of the legal test, Mueller got there as well, finding evidence that Trump realized Flynn could face criminal prosecution for lying at the time he had the conversation with Comey. As for a personal stake in the investigation, the third part of Mueller's legal test, Mueller didn't find evidence that Flynn possessed information damaging to the President, leaving Trump's incentive for stopping the investigation not clear in that aspect. Yet Trump still had a personal stake in the investigation -- because he was motivated by how the Russia probe's findings could reflect on his electoral college election win. Prosecutors heard from multiple witnesses that Trump "viewed the Russia investigations as a challenge to the legitimacy of his election," Mueller wrote. Mueller noted that he found Comey's retelling of events to the public to be truthful -- and not Trump's. ...

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SpaceX Falcon Heavy booster tips over on drone ship, returns to port in pieces

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy Block 5 center core (i.e. booster) has completed a bittersweet return to shore aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You after apparently breaking in half during a wave-induced tumble. Local maritime and spaceflight fans Julia Bergeron and Stephen Marr were first to document the condition of the SpaceX rocket as it passed through the mouth of Port Canaveral. Although the lighting conditions were far from optimal, photos indicate that the Block 5 center core suffered a near-surgical removal of everything above its kerosene (RP-1) propellant tank. In other words, the liquid oxygen (LOx) tank and interstage are nowhere to be found, while Falcon Heavy B1055’s octaweb, nine Merlin 1D engines, landing legs, and maimed RP-1 tank are all safely resting on OCISLY’s deck.

Working on a new vantage point. I see booster butt! #FalconHeavy #SpaceXFleet pic.twitter.com/Wc3FfNZ4m2

— Julia (@julia_bergeron) 18 de abril de 2019

The port arrival of B1055’s severed aft section is not exactly the happiest ending to the story of Falcon Heavy Flight 2 but the booster’s demise will reportedly have no impact on SpaceX’s 2019 launch manifest. That includes Flight 3 of Falcon Heavy, scheduled to launch with both of Falcon Heavy’s flight-proven side boosters as early as late June. Thankfully, SpaceX has built a second brand new Falcon Heavy center core for the critical US Air Force mission, known as STP-2. Likely to be booster B1057, that fresh center core should have no difficulty supporting Falcon Heavy’s third launch, although SpaceX will probably ensure that the drone ship’s robotic recovery robot is Falcon Heavy-compatible this time around. ...

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'Overwatch' travels to Havana for its latest map

Overwatch's Storm Rising brawl kicked off this week in a new locale: Havana. As with last year's edition of the Archives event, which saw the debut of Rialto, Blizzard is bringing its gorgeous take on the Cuban capital to the standard modes. It's the second map to join the team shooter this year, following Paris. As ever in Escort maps, you'll need to guide a payload (this time a truck of rum barrels) to a trio of checkpoints or prevent it from reaching the end to pick up a victory. The map follows a similar path to Storm Rising, starting at a car garage and winding through a rum factory on the way to a sea fort -- albeit without the event's neat storm effects. Other than in Storm Rising, Havana is only playable on PC on the Overwatch public test region server for now. It should make its way to the full game on PC, Xbox One and PS4 within the next few weeks, and will likely pop up in Overwatch League matches after Stage 2 wraps up.

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New Update Gives the Galaxy S10 a Real Night Mode

Almost every high-end phone has some kind of night mode nowadays: Google has Night Sight, LG has Night View, and Samsung has Bright Night. Unfortunately, Samsung’s version has some weird restrictions that only enables Bright Night in very low light conditions, instead of letting you turn it on whenever you want. It’s really annoying and something I called out in my Galaxy S10 review. But that’s no longer the case. Thankfully, it seems Samsung was listening because according to SamMobile, there’s a new update rolling out for the Galaxy S10 that will let you use Samsung’s Bright Night mode just by selecting the feature in the phone’s camera app. For now, the update only seems to be available in Switzerland, but since the software patch also includes the latest monthly Android security patch, we expect the update to begin showing up on phones in other regions soon. Previously, in order to trigger Bright Night mode, the phone needed to be in an environment with less than 1 lux of light or less, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of light you get from a single candle from one meter away. Only then would the S10's camera app automatically trigger Bright Night mode, giving you the choice to keep it on, or turn it off. In the new update, Bright Night will get broken out into a dedicated mode with its own tab so that you can activate the feature at will. This is a nice upgrade to the S10's photography, as it gives users much control and flexibility when it comes to tackling a shot in poorly lit environments. That said, it seems the mode itself is largely unchanged, which might be a bit of a bummer for some because, as I discovered, Samsung’s Bright Night Mode isn’t quite as powerful as Google’s Night Sight. But if Samsung can upgrade Bright Night mode to full-time status, here’s hoping more camera improvements are in the works as well. ...

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Popular Apps In Google's Play Store Are Abusing Permissions And Committing Ad Fraud

A host of popular Android apps from a major Chinese developer, including a selfie app with more than 50 million downloads, have been committing large-scale ad fraud and abusing user permissions, a BuzzFeed News investigation of popular Android apps has found. In several cases, the apps took steps that concealed their connections to the developer, DU Group, to users and failed to clearly disclose they were collecting and sending data to China. The investigation also raises questions about Google's policing of apps in the Play store for fraud and data collection practices. DU Group is a Chinese app developer that claims more than 1 billion users worldwide, and was spun off from Baidu, one of China’s largest tech companies, last year. At least six of DU Group’s apps, which together have more than 90 million downloads from the Google Play store, have been fraudulently clicking on ads to generate revenue, and at least two of them contain code that could be used to engage in a different form of ad fraud, according to findings from security and ad fraud researchers Check Point and Method Media Intelligence. The DU Group apps were identified after BuzzFeed News gathered a list of close to 5,000 popular apps from the Google Play store, along with associated information, such as the developer’s name, number of installs, and requested permissions. Apps that asked for a suspiciously large number of user permissions, or permissions deemed potentially “dangerous” by Android, were provided to researchers at several data analysis and security firms. (For a more detailed description of the methodology, see the bottom of this article.) The problem isn’t limited to DU Group, however. Other Android apps with a high number of unnecessary permissions identified by BuzzFeed News include a hugely popular TV remote app that says it might use a phone’s microphone to record sound while a user watches TV, a Chinese-language kids app that sent personal information without any encryption to servers in China, and a flashlight app that took dozens of unnecessary and potentially invasive permissions. Want to support more reporting like this? Become a BuzzFeed News member today. The findings demonstrate how Google’s Play store, the largest app store in the world, has been exploited by developers who easily conceal who they are from users, offer apps with invasive permissions, and use these permissions to commit ad fraud — all while collecting huge amounts of user data. The result is an app ecosystem that’s easily taken advantage of to abuse users and steal money from advertisers. Google told BuzzFeed News that it has blacklisted the six DU Group apps found committing ad fraud. This means they can no longer use any of Google’s ad products to earn money. ...

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Facebook scraped email contacts of 1.5 million users

Facebook "unintentionally" uploaded the email contacts of more than 1.5 million users without asking permission to do so, the social network has admitted. The data harvesting happened via a system used to verify the identity of new members, Facebook asked new users to supply the password for their email account, and took a copy of their contacts. Facebook said it had now changed the way it handled new users to stop contacts being uploaded. Data losses All those users whose contacts were taken would be notified and all the contacts it had grabbed without consent would be deleted, it said. The information grabbed is believed to have been used by Facebook to help map social and personal connections between users. Analysis: Rory Cellan-Jones, Technology correspondent Anyone who, like me, joined Facebook a decade or more ago, probably clicked "yes" when invited to upload all of their contacts. It seemed a good way of making the network more useful and, after all, what could be the harm? But after the various data scandals shattered trust in Facebook, we've become far more cautious. We've woken up to the harms that could come from handing over that precious information about our social connections - for journalists it could mean revealing their contacts, for whistleblowers their dealings with regulators, for just about anyone their contacts with people they might not want their partners to know about. Now we know that Facebook somehow scraped up the email contacts of 1.5 million people over a three year period without their agreement. Now every time the social network suggests "people you may know", we will wonder "How do you know that I may know them?" To many, the idea that they should trust Facebook with their data seems more old-fashioned by the day. Contacts started being taken without consent in May 2016, the company told Business Insider, which broke the story. Before this date, new users were asked if they wanted to verify their identity via their email account. They were also asked if they wanted to upload their address book voluntarily. This option and the text specifying that contacts were being grabbed was changed in May 2016 but the underlying code that actually scraped contacts was left intact, said Facebook. Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner, which oversees Facebook in Europe, is engaged with the firm to understand what happened and its consequences. ...

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New Microsoft Surface Hub 2S finally replaces original model

Microsoft's update to the original Surface Hub is finally coming. The tech giant announced the new Surface Hub 2S in New York City today with a launch date that will be a little more than a year after the company first teased the Surface Hub 2. The Surface Hub 2S will arrive in the US this June, with more markets to follow thereafter. Those additional markets will be ones where the original Hub was sold. The starting price in the US will be $8,999 (about £6,900, AU$12,680). In addition to a new form factor and updated specs and features, the Surface Hub 2S was announced alongside two mobility accessories that will be sold separately. The first is a rolling mount made in partnership with office furniture maker Steelcase, and the second is the APC Charge Mobile Battery that allows the Surface Hub 2S to be used without a connection to a wall outlet. Apple may support iPads as secondary Mac displays Here's what we expect from macOS 10.15 Check out our expectations for Computex 2019 What's new in the Surface Hub 2S The new Surface Hub 2S will have a 50-inch screen with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a 4K+ Pixel Sense display. The display will still be a touch panel with support for the Surface Hub 2 Pen, and it has an anti-glare coating. The display has narrow bezels, and has reduced its thickness by 60 percent compared to the original Surface Hub. It's also 40% lighter. Eight beam-forming microphones, dual speakers and a dedicated subwoofer are built into the Surface Hub 2S. The Surface Hub 2 Camera and Surface Hub 2 Pen are both included and attach to the device, with eight magnetic mounting points for the Pen. The camera has a 4K resolution and 90-degree FOV. The Surface Hub 2S is built around a computing core that includes an 8th-generation Intel Core i5 quad-core processor with integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. While the original Surface Hub models had display panels with 120Hz refresh rates and 100-point multi-touch, these details are currently missing from the Surface Hub 2S specs. Just a starting point The 50-inch Surface Hub 2S is just a starting point. A Surface Hub 2 Display is also coming that will not include it's own computing component. Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise configuration options are in the works as well. And, an 85-inch version of the Surface Hub 2S will go into testing in 2020. The computing component of the Surface Hub 2S is modular, making the device both serviceable and upgradeable. Eventually, the device can be updated to the forthcoming Surface Hub 2X by swapping the computing core, which will allow a multi-unit "tile" setup with multiple devices oriented vertically and placed side-by-side. A second set of dormant speakers and another array of microphones will be activated when switched into the new setup. ...

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Google Intros Gentle Sleep and Wake Feature for Google Home Devices

Google introduced a new feature for Google Home devices and Google Assistant in general this week called Gentle Sleep & Wake. With it, owners with Philips Hue lights in their bedroom can have their morning alarms paired with gradual lighting. As alarms go off, the lights in your room with increase in brightness, just like the rising of the sun. Ah, so peaceful, unlike my mornings where I wake up and just wish the world would go away. Depressing. Maybe I should try this. Moving on, here’s a full overview of what you can do with the new feature. What You Can Do “Hey Google, Turn on Gentle Wake up” to have your daily morning alarms pair with gradual brightening. Make sure to enable Gentle Wake Up on the same Google Home device you’ll set your alarms on. “Hey Google, Wake up my lights.” You can also say, “Hey Google, wake up my lights in the bedroom at 6:30 a.m.” This will start to gradually brighten your Philips Hue lights at the time that you set and can be set up to 24 hours in advance. “Hey Google, Sleep my lights.” You can also say, “Hey Google, sleep the lights in the living room.” This will gradually start to dim your Philips Hue lights and can be programmed up to 24 hours in advance. The Gentle Sleep & Wake feature is available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and India in English only.

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Israel election results too close to call

Netanyahu: "This is a night of great victory" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters, alongside his wife Sara, at his Likud party headquarters on election night. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the Likud party election headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night to crowds chanting "Bibi" and fireworks on stage. If Netanyahu was at all worried about his future after initial exit polls showed him in a tight race against rival Benny Gantz, he didn't show it. "This is a night of great victory," Netanyahu said, adding that Likud had seen an "amazing success." "I'm very touched that, for the fifth time, the people of Israel have believed in me." Despite his confident speech, the inconclusive exit polls mean a tense night beckons for Netanyahu as he waits to see if his dream of becoming Israel's longest ever serving leader will be fulfilled. He would pass the founder of the state, David Ben Gurion, during the summer. ...

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Tesla Model 3 becomes best-selling car in Switzerland – not just electric

Tesla Model 3 became the best-selling car in Switzerland last month – beating not just other electric vehicles, but all passenger vehicles period. Over the last few months, Model 3 has become the best-selling electric car in virtually all markets it has been introduced in, but it is also starting to become the best-selling car period in some markets. Like in Norway, but electric vehicles are always topping the charts in Norway. Now Tesla is also dominating the market in Switzerland with the introduction of the Model 3. Based on registration data, Tesla delivered 1,094 Model 3 vehicles in Switzerland in March – beating the long-standing bestsellers Skoda Octavia (801) and the VW Golf (546). The Model 3 has helped Tesla already push its 2019 delivery numbers past its full-year 2018 delivery results: Switzerland has long been an important market for Tesla. The automaker has often delivered more vehicles in the small market than in the much bigger neighboring German market. The Tesla Model S was often at the top of the best-selling electric cars in Switzerland. Electrek’s Take As I like to mention when discussing Tesla’s Model 3 deliveries in Europe, that’s just with the two most expensive versions of the Model 3. Those numbers should go way up when Tesla introduces some less expensive versions of the vehicle later this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if Model 3 is in the top 5 of the bestselling vehicles in the most important auto markets in Europe several months later this year. I don’t think it will be consistent due to Tesla’s cyclical production and deliveries in Europe, but the numbers should still be extremely impressive.

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See Apple's unreleased 1993 W.A.L.T. phone in action

A 1993 prototype of Apple's W.A.L.T phone, or "Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone" can now be seen in a new video from Australian iPhone leaker Sonny Dickson. Apple unveiled the W.A.L.T. phone at 1993's MacWorld in Boston but it was never sold to the public. The early ancestor of the iPhone looked like a tablet but functioned as both a phone and a fax machine. The video shows you a fully-functioning W.A.L.T. phone, complete with a touchscreen, a built-in address book, caller-ID and an attached stylus. The device had handwriting recognition, online banking access and even allowed you to customize ringtones. The W.A.L.T. came in both the classic white Mac color (a prototype which sold on eBay for $8000 in 2012) and the office-like gray shown in the video. The device had its own hard drive that ran on Mac OS 6 and was produced from Powerbook 100 parts. Apple's W.A.L.T. phone was designed in partnership with BellSouth, a telecom company which was later acquired by AT&T. Before the days of email, fax machines were ubiquitous in American offices in the early 90s. Even though it looks primitive by today's standards, Apple's W.A.L.T. phone would have been cutting edge technology at the time.

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New model accurately predicts harmful space weather

A new, first-of-its-kind space weather model reliably predicts space storms of high-energy particles that are harmful to many satellites and spacecraft orbiting in the Earth's outer radiation belt. A paper recently published in the journal Space Weather details how the model can accurately give a one-day warning prior to a space storm of ultra-high-speed electrons, often referred to as "killer" electrons because of the damage they can do to spacecraft such as navigation, communications, and weather monitoring satellites. This is the first time researchers have successfully predicted those killer electrons across the whole outer belt region. "Society's growing reliance on modern-technology infrastructures makes us especially vulnerable to space weather threats," said Yue Chen, a space scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and lead author of the study. "If our GPS or communications satellites fail, it could have wide-reaching, negative impacts on everything from air travel to bank transactions. So being able to accurately predict space weather has been a goal for a long time. This model is a firm step towards being able to do that." At the Earth's equator, the outer radiation belt—also called the outer Van Allen belt—begins approximately 8,000 miles above the Earth and ends beyond 30,000 miles. High-speed high-energy electrons inside this belt are known for their high variability, especially during solar storms, when new particles from the sun enter the Earth's space environment—making them extremely difficult to predict. This model takes the unique approach of connecting the dots between the killer electron population and the measurements made by a Los Alamos National Laboratory geosynchronous equatorial orbiting satellite, as well as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite in low-Earth orbit within a 3.5-year period. By establishing a correlation between the electrons and satellite measurements in low-Earth orbit, Chen and his colleagues were able to identify the informational triggers needed for predictions and develop a reliable model to forecast changes of high-energy electrons within the outer belt.

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