Tech Digest daily roundup: British scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock honoured with Barbie doll
A British scientist known for her work with the largest space telescope ever made has been honoured with her own Barbie doll. Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock has been immortalised as a one-of-a-kind plastic toy in her likeness in recognition of her achievements making space and science accessible to girls. The 54-year-old, recently appointed chancellor of the University of Leicester, is a former British Science Association president and the first black woman to win gold at the Physics News Awards. She is best known for presenting the BBC’s The Sky At Night. Sky News
A Twitter employee has appealed to Elon Musk on the platform to ask whether he had been sacked. In a tweet to the firm’s chief executive, Halli Thorleifsson said: “Your head of HR is not able to confirm if I am employed or not”. Mr Musk responded by asking: “What work have you been doing?” Mr Thorleifsson told the BBC that nine days after being frozen out of Twitter’s accounts he did not know whether he had been fired or not. After a series of follow-up questions and answers with Mr Musk, that read like a live interview for his job, Mr Thorleifsson said he received an email confirming that he had been sacked. BBC
Meta plans another round of layoffs that could affect thousands of workers, according to a Bloomberg News report published Monday evening. The job cuts could start this week and represent an additional round of layoffs, adding to the 13% of Meta workers who were laid off as part of a major cost-cutting plan announced in November. A Meta spokesperson declined to comment to CNBC about the report. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously indicated that the social networking giant would be concentrating this year on efforts intended to lower the company’s costs, pitching 2023 as the “Year of Efficiency.” CNBC
Sky Stream, the standalone streaming puck from Sky, is no longer owned by customers who buy it. Instead, the puck is now a loan from Sky – and if you lose it, you’ll have to pay a non-return charge. This also means customers will no longer be able to sell the Sky Stream puck – as it no longer belongs to them. These changes to Sky’s terms were made recently, but customers who bought Sky Stream before February 23, 2023, do still own their Stream pucks – and therefore can do with them as they please. Cordbusters
Apple will turn to BOE to supply the OLED panels for next year’s iPhone SE 4, per supply chain sources. BOE was reportedly dropped from the supply for the iPhone 15 and the OLED iPad due to reported quality concerns on Cupertino’s side. Samsung Display and LG Display will supply those displays.
The iPhone SE 4 will inherit the iPhone 14 body and some of its components, which means it will be the first OLED SE model. It will use a 6.1-inch LTPS (low-temperature polycrystalline silicon) TFT (thin film transistor) display, which is easier to produce than the LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) panels on the Pro models. GSM Arena
Japan’s second attempt to launch its next-generation H3 rocket failed after liftoff on Tuesday, with the spacecraft forced to self-destruct after the command centre concluded the mission could not succeed. The failure is a blow for Japan’s space agency JAXA, which has billed the rocket as a flexible and cost-effective new flagship. Its launch had already been delayed by several years, and then a first attempt last month failed when the solid rocket boosters did not ignite. Yahoo
