**Asteroid Behaving Unexpectedly After NASA's Deliberate DART Crash**

One year ago NASA crashed its DART spacecraft into the asteroid "Dimorphos" (which orbits around a much larger asteroid named "Didymos"). The BBC calls the mission "part of an experiment to change the space rock's direction and test Earth's defences against asteroids in the future.

"However, a teacher and his class studying the rock have now discovered that since the collision, it has moved in a strange and unexpected way."
\[U\]sing their school telescope, a team of children and their teacher Jonathan Swift at Thacher School in California have found that more than a month after the collision, Dimorphos' orbit continuously slowed after impact... which is unusual and unexpected. As reported in the New Scientist, the team presented their findings at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

After discovering the unusual behaviour of Dimorphos, it's likely that Nasa will have to factor in the high school's findings, if they ever launch another asteroid redirection mission in the future...

One explanation for the asteroid's orbit continuing to change so long after the Dart collision is that material thrown up by the impact, including rocks several metres across, eventually fell back onto the surface of the asteroid, changing its orbit even more. The European Space Agency is launching a mission called Hera, which will arrive at Dimorphos in 2026 and could reveal more details as to what happened to the asteroid following the impact.

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**Whatever Happened to El Salvador's Bitcoin Experiment?  Two Years Later...**

Agence France-Presse reports that "Two years ago, El Salvador shrugged off a chorus of warnings and adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in a bid to revitalize its economy and improve access to financial services.

"It has not worked... Economist Cesar Villalona told AFP that Bitcoin 'does not exist in the local economy' in any significant way, because in El Salvador 'everything' is paid in dollars: wages, services and goods."

Bitcoin has lost more than half its value since then and though President Nayib Bukele is wildly popular for his clampdown on criminal gangs, his currency gamble has not gone down equally well... \[T\]wo years after El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as its currency, alongside the U.S. dollar, "the goals that were pursued... have not been achieved, people hardly use it, they don't have much trust" in crypto, economist and former Reserve Bank governor Carlos Acevedo told AFP. "The experiment has not worked, it is a crypto winter," he said.

There are no figures available on how many Salvadorans have taken up Bitcoin. But a poll conducted in May by the Central American University found that 71 percent believed the cryptocurrency "has in no way helped to improve their family economic situation."

On the streets of San Salvador, the verdict is harsh. "I don't see that money working, it's just propaganda. Where's the benefit? There's no benefit. It's a bad investment," newspaper vendor Juan Antonio Salgado, 65, told AFP. "It's robbery," he added, in reference to the currency's volatility.

Even a video report from Al Jazeera opens by asking "So has the experiment succeeded? The general verdict — not yet, at least."
They report that even though one fifth of El Salvador's GDP comes from remittances, less than 2% of its remittances went through crypto currency and digital wallets so far this year. Building has yet to begin on "Bitcoin City" — and the country has yet to actually issue the "Volcano Bonds" that would fund its creation.

And meanwhile, the government's bitcoin purchases have now lost an estimated $45.4 million.

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**Questions Raised about Quality of Reddit's New Moderators After Protest-Related Purges**

Reddit's forum about home food canning used to have two moderators with science-related master's degrees. And Reddit's home automation forum used to be moderated by a former IT worker with decades of networking experiencing — and some training from a professional electrician.

After the great Reddit protests, all three were removed from their positions. But now Ars Technica asks whether Reddit's replacement moderators will be as capable of spotting dangerous advice?
In response to concerns that the new r/homeautomation mod team could overlook posts with dangerous misinformation, one moderator requesting anonymity pointed me to the subreddit's sidebar, which has a disclaimer about the dangers of electricity. However, the disclaimer is only visible on old Reddit. The mod doesn't know why...

One of the top complaints I've heard about the Great Reddit Mod Purge is the company's alleged disregard for replaced mods' expertise. The swift, contentious nature of the mod replacements meant that old mods often didn't share advice with new mods. Meanwhile, the users Reddit chose to replace protesting mods may not have been properly vetted. That includes one of the new mods of the 3D-printing-focused subreddit r/ender3, who requested to only be referred to as the subreddit's top moderator. This person replied to a post by the Reddit employee going by u/ModCodeofConduct and requested to mod the subreddit as a "joke," they said. The user got the job despite telling me, "I have never touched a 3D printer in my life, and there is zero activity on my Reddit account related to 3D printing...." \[T\]hat mod will step down eventually, "as the joke is starting to wear off." But the story suggests that new mods weren't selected with the utmost care...

None of the forcibly removed mods I spoke with have worked with or plan to work with replacement mods to pass on knowledge gained through years of experience... In addition to lost knowledge, new and old mods are also dealing with the loss of third-party apps considered helpful for moderating.

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**WebAssembly 2023 Survey Finds Enthusiasm - and Some Challenges**

An anonymous reader shared this report from InfoWorld:
The uses of WebAssembly, aka Wasm, have grown far beyond its initial target of web applications, according to The State of WebAssembly 2023 report. But some developers remain skeptical.

Released September 6 by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and SlashData, in collaboration with the Linux Foundation, the report finds mostly optimism among software developers about future adoption of Wasm for web and non-web environments... However, about 22% of participants in the report indicated pessimism about Wasm adoption for either the web or non-web environments. Further, 83% of the respondents reported challenges with Wasm including difficulties with debugging and troubleshooting, different performance between runtimes, lack of consistent developer experiences between runtimes, lack of learning materials, and compatibility issues with certain browsers.

The report finds that respondents are using WebAssembly across a wide range of software projects including data visualization (35%), internet of things (32%, artificial intelligence (30%), games (28%), back-end services (27%), edge computing (25%), and more. While Wasm is still primarily used to develop web applications (58%), this is changing thanks to WASI (WebAssembly System Interface), which provides a modular interface for Wasm...

Other findings of the State of WebAssembly 2023 report:
\- When migrating existing applications to Wasm, 30% of respondents experience performance benefits of more than 50%.
\- JavaScript is the most popular language used with Wasm applications. But Rust stands out in popularity in Wasm projects compared to other use cases...

The article says WebAssembly developers were attracted by "faster loading times, the ability to explore new use cases and technologies, and the ability to share code between projects. Improved performance over JavaScript and efficient execution of computationally intensive tasks also were cited."

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**NASA's 'MOXIE' Experiment Successfully Generated 122 Grams of Oxygen on Mars**

CNN reports:

The first experiment to produce oxygen on another planet has come to an end on Mars after exceeding NASA's initial goals and demonstrating capabilities that could help future astronauts explore the red planet. The microwave-size device called MOXIE, or Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, is on the Perseverance rover.

The experiment kicked off more than two years ago, a few months after the rover landed on Mars. Since then, MOXIE has generated 122 grams of oxygen, equal to what a small dog breathes in 10 hours, according to NASA. The instrument works by converting some of Mars' plentiful carbon dioxide into oxygen. During the peak of its efficiency, MOXIE produced 12 grams of oxygen an hour at 98% purity or better, which is twice as much as NASA's goals for the instrument. On August 7, MOXIE operated for the 16th and final time, having completed all its requirements...

Bigger and better versions of something such as MOXIE in the future could supply life support systems with breathable air and convert and store oxygen needed for rocket fuel used to launch on a return trip to Earth.

In a statement NASA applauded the performance of the MIT-created experiment. "When the first astronauts land on Mars, they may have the descendants of a microwave-oven-size device to thank for the air they breathe and the rocket propellant that gets them home...

"Rather than bringing large quantities of oxygen with them to Mars, future astronauts could live off the land, using materials they find on the planet's surface to survive."

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**Small Protest Against Cruise Robotaxis Cites Concerns for Safety - and Displaced Workers**

Last Monday the U.S. celebrated Labor Day, the federal holiday honoring America's labor movement and the contributions of U.S. workers. On that day a small protest was held outside Cruise's headquarters in San Francisco — featuring taxi drivers and mass transit workers.

CBS News spoke to Edward Escobar, a Bay Area Uber driver and director of the Alliance for Independent Workers. They report that Escobar orchestrated the protest "to convey their concerns about the potential impact of robotaxis on their jobs.

"There isn't any dialogue happening. It's pretty much one-sided. It's being dictated by the tech titans, Waymo, which is Google, and General Motors, which is Cruise," Escobar said. "And they're pretty much dictating the terms, and the California Public Utilities Commission is allowing that to happen."

Cruise, however, insists that it is taking steps to protect workers through partnerships with local labor unions. In a statement, the company said, "Cruise was proud to sign industry-first jobs agreements with local labor — IBEW Local 6 and SEIU Local 87 — whose workers will install chargers and support our facilities across San Francisco." Cruise also highlighted its commitment to the community by emphasizing that the construction of a major EV charging facility on Cesar Chavez Street was carried out by 100% Bay Area union labor. It included electricians, carpenters, and ironworkers, representing over 100 jobs.

Despite these efforts, Escobar remains deeply concerned about the future of drivers like himself. "We're looking at automation, self-driving technology in the new age of AI and looking at permanent displacement of many workers. If you look at transport workers alone in the state of California, UC Berkeley came out with a study, and they said approximately 600,000-plus transport workers in California will be displaced."

One local newscast shows only a handful of activists in its video from the protest. The local news anchor summarized the protesters' message as "The robots are taking over and taking your jobs.... \[And\] making things more dangerous..."

"The people of San Francisco, the workers of San Francisco have to take a stand now," said Steve Zeltzer with United Front Committee for Labor Party... The group who rallied Monday also said Cruise's driverless taxis not only violate vehicle codes, but also are not advanced enough to know when to pull over for responding emergency vehicles. Every time they are on the road, they violate the law," Zeltzer said. The speakers at the Labor Day protest said so-called "robo workers" and artificial intelligence are chipping away at jobs. And before we know it, demonstrators claim, a flood of high-tech human replacements will steal the jobs of the masses.

"We're talking about millions, if not billions, of people being displaced," said Edward Escobar with Alliance for Independent Workers. "Not just here locally, but nationally and globally."

The Verge adds:
GM's Cruise is "just days away" from regulatory approval to begin mass production of its fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals, the company's CEO, Kyle Vogt, said at an investor conference Thursday...

But Vogt may have spoken too soon. "No agency decision to grant or deny the petition submitted by GM has been reached nor has a deadline been set for such a decision," a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesperson told The Verge.

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**Startup Building Zinc-Based Alternatives to Lithium Batteries Granted $400M Loan from the US**

Popular Science reports that America's Department of Energy "is providing a nearly $400 million loan to a startup aimed at scaling the manufacturing and deployment of a zinc-based alternative to rechargeable lithium batteries."

 If realized, Eos Energy's utility- and industrial-scale zinc-bromine battery energy storage system could provide cheaper, vastly more sustainable options for the country's burgeoning renewable power infrastructure... Unlike lithium-ion and lithium iron phosphate batteries, alternatives such as the Eos Z3 design rely on zinc-based cathodes alongside a water-based electrolyte, notes MIT Technology Review. This important distinction both increases their stability, as well as makes it incredibly difficult for them to support combustion. Zinc-bromine batteries meanwhile also boast lifespans as long as 20 years, while existing lithium options only manage between 10 and 15 years. What's more, zinc is considered the world's fourth most produced metal...

The U.S. Department of Energy also notes that "over time," Eos expects to source almost all of its materials within the U.S., thus better insulating its product against the market volatility and supply chain issues. While the Department of Energy previously issued similar loans to battery recycling and geothermal energy projects, last week's announcement marks the first funding offered to a manufacturer of lithium-battery alternatives.

MIT's article notes that Eos's semi-autonomous facility in Pennsylvania already produces around 540 megawatt-hours annually — and it isn't operating at full capacity. This new loan could boost factory toward full-power. The $398-million loan funds "up to four state-of-the-art production lines," according to the announcement from the U.S. Energy Department.

It notes that the technology is "specifically designed for long-duration grid-scale stationary battery storage that can assist in meeting the energy grids' growing demand with increasing amounts of renewable energy penetration."
If finalized, the project is expected to manufacture 8 GWh of storage capacity annually by 2026. That is enough to provide electricity to over 300,000 average U.S. homes instantaneously or meet the annual electricity needs of approximately 130,000 homes if fully charged and discharged daily. The project is expected to create up to 50 union contractor construction jobs and as many as 650 new operations jobs when at full operational capacity...

Critically, Eos batteries are non-flammable and do not require active cooling to operate. The batteries can achieve 100% depth of discharge...

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**It's the 50th Anniversary of 'Star Trek: the Animated Series'**

Star Trek: The Animated Series was a half-hour Saturday morning cartoon that premiered exactly one half century ago — yesterday. You can watch its opening credits sequence on YouTube — with its strange 1970s version of the theme song. CBS's YouTube channel also offers clips from various episodes.

Starting in 1973, it ran for two seasons — a total of just 22 episodes. But the BBC notes it kept Star Trek in people's minds after the original series had been cancelled in 1969:

While The Original Series had struggled in the ratings during its initial run, the show thrived in syndication, and created the phenomenon of fan conventions (think Comic-con in the present day). Because of this, studios were interested in more Star Trek, but there was a problem: the sets had been scrapped, the costumes were gone, and it would have been cost-prohibitive to rebuild everything from scratch. NBC settled on a different approach: an animated series.

According to The Fifty-Year Mission by Mark Altman and Edward Gross (an oral history of Star Trek), Gene Roddenberry wasn't overly interested in an animated show in and of itself. However, he was willing to go along with it because he saw it as a stepping stone to another live-action show or a feature film. An animated show would energise fans, he thought, so he agreed on the condition that he would have full creative control of The Animated Series. After a fight, the network gave in. The full, regular cast returned, with the exception of Walter Koenig's Pavel Chekov, who was cut for budget reasons...

\[I\]t was very much conceived of as a continuation of The Original Series. Some of the episodes were direct sequels, such as More Tribbles, More Trouble, which is a continuation of the classic The Trouble with Tribbles, and featured the return of Cyrano Jones... \[Another episode was a sequel to The City on the Edge of Forever.\] Dorothy (DC) Fontana led a group of writers from the original show who mostly wrote for a traditional, adult Star Trek audience. That's why the show didn't catch on — while it was well-received by critics, it might have done better in prime time. The show won a Daytime Emmy for best children's series, but it was cancelled after two years because of low ratings. Roddenberry then moved on to work on another live-action series, called Phase II, which would eventually become Star Trek: The Motion Picture...

Whatever is decided regarding "the canon", The Animated Series sits firmly within Star Trek's guiding ethos: Gene Roddenberry's vision for a utopian future where humans coexist peacefully with aliens as part of a Federation, and there's no poverty or war.

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