Punjab Times

US-Israel-Iran war: Are 16 Indian-flagged vessels stranded in Strait of Hormuz? Indian Navy’s ‘Urja Suraksha’ rescues LPG carrying tankers from Gulf

Amid the intense struggle between opening of the Strait of Hormuz between the USA and Iran, total 16 Indian-flagged vessels have been said to be in perils in the Gulf prompting energy tensions back home. While many have been rescued by the Indian Navy, some have been still stranded. …read more

Can AI responses be influenced? The SEO industry is trying

Let’s pretend you work in IT and you’re looking for a new digital service desk platform to help your employees reset passwords or onboard new hires. You use Google’s AI Mode to search for suggestions, which quickly spits out a detailed answer listing companies to explore, their pricing, and what each option is best for. It helpfully cites more than a dozen websites, which AI Mode used to craft a response. The first source link is from Zendesk, a company that offers the exact service you’re looking for – but when you click through, something is entirely off.

A blog post attributed to the director of product marketing says Zendesk put togeth …

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Artemis II arrives in lunar space ahead of its trip around the Moon

NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon.

Artemis II and its four-person crew have entered the Moon’s “sphere of influence,” meaning the spacecraft is more affected by lunar gravity than the Earth’s pull. The transition occurred at a distance of 39,000 miles from the Moon, four days, six hours and two minutes into the mission. The next and most important phase will happen tomorrow when the craft loops around the Moon’s far side, taking humans deeper into space than they’ve ever been before.

At their apogee, Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen will be 252,757 miles from Earth. That will break the previous record held by the Apollo 13 crew by just over 4,000 miles. They’re the first humans to cross the lunar threshold since 1972’s Apollo 17 moon landing mission.

The crew spent this weekend carrying out preparations for their lunar flyby. That included manual piloting demonstrations, reviewing their science objectives for the six-hour observation period and evaluating their space suits, which are there for life support in the event of an emergency and for their return home. But, they’ve had plenty of time to take in the views, too — and those views sure are spectacular. …read more

NASA shares breathtaking images of Artemis II astronauts taking in the view from Orion’s windows

NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon.

The Artemis II crew is almost at the moon, and the astronauts spent this weekend carrying out preparations for their lunar flyby on Monday. That included manual piloting demonstrations, reviewing their science objectives for the six-hour observation period and evaluating their space suits, which are there for life support in the event of an emergency and for their return home. But, they’ve had plenty of time to take in the views, too — and those views sure are spectacular. In the latest series of images shared by the space agency, the astronauts are seen gazing at Earth through the windows of the Orion spacecraft

Orion will reach the moon’s vicinity shortly after midnight on Monday, April 6. Later that day, the crew is expected to reach a point farther than any humans have traveled from Earth, surpassing the record of 248,655 miles from Earth set by the Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970. 

Mission specialist Christina Koch takes in the view.
NASA

The lunar observation period will start at 2:45PM ET, and a few hours later, they’ll be behind the moon and briefly drop out of communication. The spacecraft’s closest approach to the moon is …read more

Los Thuthanaka’s Wak’a is a mellower follow-up to last year’s surprise Pitchfork favorite

Cover of Los Thuthunaka’s Wak’a featuring a cartoon moth, caterpillar, and eagle.

Los Thuthanaka basically came out of nowhere last year to capture Pitchfork’s album of the year with their self-titled debut. Because it wasn’t available on streaming, it largely flew under the radar. I honestly kind of forgot about it until Pitchfork gave it the number one spot in its year-end list. In retrospect, I’m not entirely sure how, though. Los Thuthanaka sounds like nothing else. It’s joyous, jagged, and sounds like it’s being blasted out of a broken Bluetooth speaker in your neighbor’s backyard – it’s glorious.

The follow-up EP Wak’a turns down the tempo and smooths some of the sharper edges. It uses the same sound palette of blo …

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