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Game on—the most metal of asteroid missions is back on the menu

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Artist's illustration of NASA's Psyche spacecraft, now set to launch in October 2023. The Psyche mission will explore a metal-rich asteroid of the same name that lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Enlarge / Artist's illustration of NASA's Psyche spacecraft, now set to launch in October 2023. The Psyche mission will explore a metal-rich asteroid of the same name that lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)

One year after NASA announced an indefinite delay of a much-anticipated mission to visit a metal-rich asteroid, the agency said Monday that the Psyche spacecraft is back on track. The Psyche mission is now scheduled to launch in four months on a Falcon Heavy rocket, and everyone involved in the project feels good about that date.

"We believe Psyche is on a positive course for an October 2023 launch," said Thomas Young, who chaired an independent review board that NASA convened last summer after the mission was delayed.

If the mission does launch this fall, the spacecraft will reach asteroid Psyche in August 2029. There, it will go into orbit for 26 months to gain insights into planetary formation, understand the interior of terrestrial planets like Earth, and examine a world that is made largely of metal. The mission is also of interest to the nascent asteroid mining community, which seeks to learn about the potential value harbored by these relatively rare, metallic asteroids.

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Manzabar
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Redditor creates working anime QR codes using Stable Diffusion

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An AI-generated image of an anime-style woman that also functions as a working QR code.

Enlarge / An AI-generated image of an anime-style woman that also functions as a working QR code. If you have trouble reading it, try positioning your camera farther away from the image. (credit: nhciao / Stable Diffusion)

On Tuesday, a Reddit user named "nhciao" posted a series of artistic QR codes created using the Stable Diffusion AI image-synthesis model that can still be read as functional QR codes by smartphone camera apps. The functional pieces reflect artistic styles in anime and Asian art.

QR codes, short for Quick Response codes, are two-dimensional barcodes initially designed for the automotive industry in Japan. These codes have since found wide-ranging applications in various fields including advertising, product tracking, and digital payments, thanks to their ability to store a substantial amount of data. When scanned using a smartphone or a dedicated QR code scanner, the encoded information (which can be text, a website URL, or other data) is quickly accessed and displayed.

In this case, despite the presence of intricate AI-generated designs and patterns in the images created by nhciao, we've found that smartphone camera apps on both iPhone and Android are still able to read these as functional QR codes. If you have trouble reading them, try backing your camera farther away from the images.

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Manzabar
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Illinois bans book bans

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Illinois has effectively banned banning books, passing a law that mandates local libraries follow the American Library Association's rules if they wish to receive state funding.

As per the bill, the $62 million of funding that goes to the state's libraries will only be eligible for said funding if they "adopt the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights" or "develop a written statement prohibiting the practice of banning books or other materials within the library or library system.

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Woman who shot neighbor through door charged with manslaughter

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A Florida woman who allegedly yelled racial slurs then shot a neighbor dead was finally arrested and charged with manslaughter after the story hit national media. The minimal viable response from local authorities came after further reporting suggested that Susan Lorincz, 58, had also assaulted the children of Ajike Owens, 35, throwing items at them. — Read the rest

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Mark Rober uses jumbotron to shame texting drivers at San Jose Sharks game

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@discovery

Maybe after getting called out on the jumbotron, they will think twice about texting and driving! #Prank #MarkRober #textinganddriving

♬ original sound – Discovery

Mark Rober, renowned for his anti-theft GlitterBombs, showed up at a San Jose Sharks hockey game to deliver a public service announcement. — Read the rest

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Manzabar
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Diaper Humor

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Hey Ted Cruz: fuck you

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