Ex-Twitter employee sentenced over spying for Saudi Arabia

In a rare case of Twitter drama unrelated to its owner, a former employee convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia received a three-and-a-half-year sentence on Wednesday. Ahmad Abouammo was found guilty in August of taking bribes from an aide to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In return, he allegedly supplied sensitive account info that could help track and silence dissidents.

Abouammo, a US resident born in Egypt, received about half of the more than seven years prosecutors sought. The former Twitter media partnership manager said he was only doing his job, but evidence revealed that he received $300,000 and a $20,000 Hublot watch from bin Salman’s aide. A Twitter whistleblower suggested in late August that the scandal reflected a broader practice of lax data security at the company.

Two other men were charged in the scheme. Ali Alzabarah, a Saudi citizen, is another former Twitter employee who prosecutors say acquired personal info for over 6,000 accounts, including that of high-profile dissident (and Jamal Khashoggi ally) Omar Abdulaziz. A third man, Ahmed Almutairi, was also charged but didn’t work at Twitter. Instead, he allegedly served as a contact between Twitter staffers and the Saudi government. Of the three, only Abouammo was in the US to face charges.

Radiator leak from Russian ISS module leaves spacewalkers cooling their heels

Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, currently docked at the International Space Station (ISS), began leaking coolant Wednesday evening. According to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, the instrument and assembly compartment’s outer skin was damaged. Fortunately, the crew is safe, and they conducted normal operations afterward. NASA said in a blog post that “the external radiator cooling loop of the Soyuz is the suspected leak source.”

Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin were already in their suits, preparing for a nearly seven-hour spacewalk, when the crew noticed low-pressure readings. The cosmonauts postponed their walk indefinitely and weren’t exposed to the coolant. “Roscosmos is closely monitoring Soyuz spacecraft temperatures, which remain within acceptable limits,” NASA said. “NASA and Roscosmos continue to coordinate external imagery and inspection plans to aid in evaluating the external leak location.” The crew plans to investigate further using the station’s robotic arm.

The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 21st, carrying the two cosmonauts and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio. The Russian space agency added that “a decision will be made” about the cosmonauts’ future aboard the ISS. A spacewalk scheduled for Dec. 21 is postponed indefinitely as the investigation continues.

The ISS orbiting Earth.
NASA

Russia’s war in Ukraine has complicated (to say the least) the relationship between NASA and Roscosmos. Earlier this year, Russia said it would pull out of the ISS after 2024 and focus on launching its own space station. Although removing Russia from the ISS would throw a tremendous wrench into the program, the US reportedly had contingency plans even before the invasion.

‘Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’ arrives on PS5 next fall

Sony announced the release window today for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the sequel to 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man and 2020’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The PlayStation 5 exclusive will launch in the fall of 2023.

Insomniac Games’ sequel continues the stories of Peter Parker and Miles Morales as they take on Venom, briefly teased in the first two games. We still don’t know much about the web-slinging sequel, but at least we now have a narrower release window.

Last year’s reveal trailer sets up the action:

In the official PlayStation blog, Sony reiterated its 2023 roadmap beyond the superhero sequel. Square Enix’s role-playing game Forspoken is a frantic new IP arriving on January 24th. Hogwarts Legacy, the long-delayed Harry Potter adventure, finally hits the PS5 on February 10th and PS4 on April 4th. Meanwhile, Destiny 2: Lightfall, the game’s seventh expansion, launches for PS5/4 on February 28th, while the Resident Evil 4remake is heading to PS5/4 on March 24th. Final Fantasy XVI, introducing more in-depth combat for the series, launches for PS5 in the second or third quarter. PlayStation hardware is also coming next year, starting with Sony’s premium and customizable DualSense Edge Wireless Controller, launching on January 26th for $200. Finally, PS VR2, the follow-up to Sony’s six-year-old virtual reality headset, will cost $550 when it arrives on February 22nd.

Nothing Phone 1 is coming to America in Android 13 ‘testing program’

The Nothing Phone 1 is heading to the US, although not yet to the entire public. Founder Carl Pei tweeted this morning that the US will be part of a “testing program” for Nothing OS 1.5 Beta, the handset maker’s custom Android 13 software.

It’s Pei’s second public statement this month teasing a US phone release. Earlier this month, he said his company was “in discussions with some carriers in the US to potentially launch a future product there,” citing US wireless companies’ “unique customizations” for initially skipping it. Earlier this year, the company said the phone wouldn’t be coming to North America, and it isn’t clear if that changed or if he’s targeting an unannounced smartphone for the US market. With Nothing saying it’s sold 500,000 phones without stateside availability, it may be in a stronger position than it was a year ago to negotiate with Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T.

While US residents wait for more news about the program, those who already own the Phone 1 can sign up for the beta today, which includes Android 13 features like finer privacy controls and new Material You themes. Nothing says its beta software can load apps up to 50 percent faster.

The Nothing Phone 1 was launched earlier this year in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In Engadget’s review, Mat Smith praised its unique design, Glyph interface and solid specs for a mid-range price. The Phone 1 costs £399, which currently translates to $487.

Audio from a Martian dust devil captured for the first time

NASA announced today that the Perseverance rover has captured audio from a Martian dust devil for the first time. But the clip not only treats us to the novelty of hearing an extraterrestrial vortex; it could also help scientists better understand how dust might affect future Mars missions.

The rover’s microphones picked up the dust devil on September 27th, 2021. To the casual ear, it sounds similar to a microphone picking up a wind gust on Earth, but scientists can learn much more. “As the dust devil passed over Perseverance we could actually hear individual impacts of grains on the rover,” Naomi Murdoch, planetary scientist and the author of new report, toldThe Washington Post. “We could actually count them.”

Dust is a significant factor in planning for Mars missions. It can erode a spacecraft’s heat shields, damage scientific instruments, incapacitate parachutes and smother solar panels.

Scientists estimate the recorded whirlwind measured about 82 feet wide by 387 feet high. (Although that may sound intimidating, this relatively minor storm didn’t damage the rover.) As you can hear below (via Science News), the clip includes a brief pause in the turbulence as the dust devil’s eye passes over the rover.

Perseverance also captured images (also included in the recording) of the approaching storm. Scientists had to coordinate their instruments to boost the odds of recording a storm. The rover only records sound snippets lasting under three minutes and only does so eight times per month. That meant timing them for when dust devils are most likely to hit while pointing its cameras where they’re most likely to approach. In this case, that preparation — and no small degree of luck — paid off.

“I can’t think of a previous case where so much data from so many instruments contributed to characterizing a single dust devil,” said John Edward Moores, a planetary scientist at York University. “Had the [camera] been pointing in a different direction or the microphone observation been scheduled just a few seconds later, key pieces of the story would be missing. Sometimes it helps to be lucky in science!”

The roughly 10-ft.-long Perseverance rover launched on July 30th, 2020 and touched Martian soil on February 18th, 2021. NASA uses the vehicle to explore the Jezero crater and search for signs of ancient microbial life as part of the Mars 2020 mission.

IMDb now lets performers remove their age and personal details

IMDb announced today that entertainment professionals can now choose whether to display their age and other demographic information on their profiles. Screen performers’ union SAG-AFTRA had pushed for the change for years, viewing it as a front in the war on ageism in Hollywood.

The new policy lets anyone with an IMDb page claim their profile and choose whether their age and birth year, birth name, alternate names and other demographic information show on their profiles. Although performers’ ages will remain on places like Wikipedia, the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA believes the policy will discourage age-based discrimination.

In a letter to union members (reported by Variety), SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said she worked closely with IMDb for several months to influence the policy shift. “This means professionals can choose how they want to represent themselves to fans and industry decision-makers,” she wrote. “And it will make it easier for casting directors, producers and others to discover and hire talent from all backgrounds for their project.” In addition, Drescher noted that the new policy covers free and paid IMDb accounts.

IMDb, which Amazon owns, spent years resisting the change. In 2016, California passed a law barring websites from publishing the ages and birthdates of performers. It was a popular law with performers, as over 2,300 people asked IMDb to remove their ages in the three months following the bill’s passage. However, IMDb refused to oblige, filed an injunction based on First Amendment rights and won. (SAG-AFTRA and the state of California appealed, but an appeals court upheld the initial ruling.) Apart from Drescher’s note about working with IMDb, it’s unclear what factors led to Amazon’s about-face.

Although ageism isn’t limited to any single industry, Hollywood is a textbook example — especially towards women. Dame Helen Mirren hasn’t minced words on the subject, describing the practice as “fucking outrageous” in a 2015 interview. “We all watched James Bond as he got more and more geriatric, and his girlfriends got younger and younger. It’s so annoying.”

‘Hogwarts Legacy’ delayed for Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today delayedHogwarts Legacy yet again, but the most demanding versions of the game are spared. Instead, the postponement pushes the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions back to April 4th, 2023, with the Nintendo Switch variant arriving on July 25th.

Previously, the last-gen versions were scheduled to launch on February 10th alongside the PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC iterations. Although today’s delay will disappoint Harry Potter fans with older consoles, you need to look no further than Cyberpunk 2077 for an example of a game that just wasn’t ready for last-gen hardware. This latest reshuffling should give developer Avalanche Software time to polish the Harry Potter-themed game for older systems.

Warner Bros. initially slated the wizarding title for a 2021 launch but later pushed it back to this year and, finally, to 2023. Starting on February 7th, people who buy the Deluxe Edition for PS5, Xbox Series X/S or PC will have 72 hours of early access to start their adventure. However, the delayed versions won’t have an early-access period.

A student practicing magic in a gameplay still from 'Hogwarts Legacy'
Avalanche Software/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world action RPG set in the 1800s. You play as a custom-created Hogwarts student in the century before the events in the Harry Potter books and movies. You will craft potions, learn spells and make friends while embarking “on a dangerous journey to uncover a hidden truth of the wizarding world.”

Warner Bros. notes that the game isn’t a new story from author JK Rowling, but it collaborated with her team to ensure it remains true to her original vision. However, the RPG’s character creator may let you make transgender characters, a welcome departure from Rowling’s opinion on that topic.