August 14, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

🍎 Apple Watch X expected 2024

🧲 A fifth force of nature

🔭 Stunning meteor shower

UP FIRST

A redesigned 'Apple Watch X' is coming next year

But the Mac Pro might be on its way out

Apple is reportedly preparing a brand new redesign of its Apple Watch, but it won't hit shelves until 2024. According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, the upgraded Apple Watch X could feature a thinner watch case and a new magnetic band attachment, which allows for more space inside the watch for other components like a larger battery.

The refresh is being worked on for the Apple Watch's 10th anniversary, which happens in 2024, and it could also offer updates like a more colorful microLED display plus blood pressure monitoring sensors. It's not clear which of these features will be ready for a launch next year, but all are reportedly being worked on at Apple right now.

In other Apple news, one shocker of the newly leaked Mac lineup is that the tech giant could be considering killing off the Mac Pro, possibly to focus on the Mac Studio instead.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Scientists are hunting for evidence of a new physics

There could be a fifth force of nature we don't yet know about

There's a big problem in physics: The current understanding of particle physics, called the Standard Model, explains three of the four fundamental forces that we know about (electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces) but it can't explain gravity or dark matter.

For decades, physicists have been looking for ways to expand this model, and one avenue has been searching for a fifth fundamental force. Researchers at the Fermilab particle accelerator have been experimenting with subatomic particles called muons, which are comparable to electrons but heavier, and seeing the way that they wobble in a magnetic field.

Recent results suggest a clash between theory and observation in terms of how much magnetism the muon has. The newest and most accurate results from the particle collider confirm that the muon has a different wobble from that predicted by the Standard Model. More measurements are planned for the next few years, with scientists working to understand this discrepancy.

EYES ON THE SKY

The best images of this weekend's Perseid meteor shower

Meteors were seen lighting up skies across the globe

This weekend saw the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower, when Earth passes through a cloud of debris in its orbit which was left by a comet called Swift-Tuttle.

The shower was particularly impressive this year due to the waning crescent moon, which meant darker skies with more meteors visible in skies around the world.

Images of the meteor shower were captured by skywatchers and show the bright streaks of light passing across the night sky as small pieces of debris burn up in Earth's atmosphere. Up to 100 meteors were visible per hour at the shower's peak on Saturday night.

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