The tech giant's Libra digital currency is attacked by senators who say the company is not trusted.

Enlarge / There's a lot going on near a young star, with at least two planets forming around it.

Up until the last few decades, our picture of what might reside around distant stars was shaped entirely by the planets, moons, asteroids, and other bodies in our own Solar System. But the discovery of thousands of exoplanets has dramatically improved our picture of what's out there in terms of large bodies. Comets and asteroids, by contrast, are well below our ability to image for the indefinite future.

Moons, however, are awkwardly in between. It should be possible to image them indirectly, as their gravitational influence will alter the timing with which their planets orbit the star. And we might get a more direct indication of their presence as they will sometimes add to the shadow cast as transiting planets pass in front of their host star. We've searched for these effects, but they'll be subtle, so it could be that it will take years of observations for them to rise above the noise.

But now scientists are suggesting that we've observed an exomoon in the making. By looking at some planets forming around a young star, they think they've spotted a disk around one of the planets that may ultimately condense into moons. And, as a bonus, they found an odd, diffuse structure around a second planet that they can't explain.

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Enlarge (credit: Mojang / Microsoft)

When Microsoft acquired Mojang, the maker of Minecraft, in 2014, we all feared the worst: a zillion cash-in video games. Turns out, Microsoft has been really smart about its Minecraft output in the past five years. Only one Minecraft-related game has launched since then (2015's solid Minecraft Story Mode), and 2020's Minecraft Dungeons felt ridiculously good to play at this year's E3. (Plus, Mojang has been allowed to keep polishing the original game on every console and smartphone in the world, instead of turning into an Xbox-only studio. Whew.)

Thus, it wasn't necessarily inevitable that Minecraft would get a clone to compete with every major gaming genre (no Super Steve Bros., no Minecraft Kart Racers). That got our hopes up for Minecraft Earth, Microsoft's first salvo in the "augmented reality on phones" war, which was unveiled in May of this year. It sure seemed like a clever move: take Minecraft's go-anywhere, punch-any-tree, build-anything philosophy, then dump it into the real world à la Pokemon Go.

After five days with the game's closed beta (which launched seconds ago as a closed, invite-only beta in the Seattle area), I must report that the game's early version is missing the series' magic—and Mojang is going to need to put some more pixellated blocks into place before calling this one a victory.

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Fifa 20 will be the first game in 25 years not to feature the licence for Serie A champions Juventus.

Enlarge / A Model 3 at a Tesla showroom on March 1, 2019 in California. (credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Tesla implemented across-the-board price cuts for its vehicles on Monday, making most versions of the Model S, Model X, and Model 3 more affordable. At the same time, Tesla eliminated the most affordable versions of the Model S and Model X, called Standard Range, from its product lineup.

The price of the Long Range Model S (now the cheapest Model S) dropped from $85,000 to $79,990. The Standard Range Model S cost $75,000 before it was discontinued.

The price of the high-end Model S Performance model actually increased from $96,000 to $99,990. However, that reflects the fact that "Ludicrous Mode" is now included as a standard feature for the Performance model. Previously, "Ludicrous Mode" was a $20,000 upgrade on top of the Performance model's $96,000 base price.

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Four years after the debut of "Windows as a service," Microsoft continues to tweak the Windows Update for Business rules. And if you don't know how to play the game, you're likely to be surprised with unexpected updates.

The best business tech deals at every retailer other than Amazon on Prime Day.

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)

Greetings, Arsians! Tuesday marks day two of Amazon Prime Day 2019, and the Dealmaster is still highlighting and compiling the better offers from that sales event in a separate jumbo-sized roundup. Today, though, we wanted to cater to those who want nothing to do with Amazon, the cost of a Prime membership, or made-up holidays, but would still like to get a good price on some gear before the holidays.

To that end, the Dealmaster has done his usual thing and rounded up the best tech deals of the day from non-Amazon retailers. Walmart, Best Buy, Newegg, Lenovo, and various other shops have all put out their own sales promotions to stem the tide of shoppers heading toward Amazon.

While the collective selection isn't quite as robust what's out there for Prime Day, to be frank, there's still a fair amount of noteworthy discounts to be had, including new lows for Google devices, Instant Pots, Samsung Galaxy phones, and the like. In some cases, the offers match the offers running on Amazon, meaning you can get the same discount without having to sign up for a month of Prime. You can take a look at our full list on "non-Prime Day" deals below.

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More than a million people RSVP to an event calling for people to break into the Nevada base.

A magistrate recommends Andrew Anglin recompense a Jewish woman over his harassment campaign.

Enlarge / A team of 10 designers and LEGO "Master Builders" spent nearly 300 hours designing and building a life-size LEGO model of Aldrin in his iconic pose on the lunar surface. (credit: LEGO)

Exactly 50 years ago today, a Saturn V rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the Moon. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin would land on the Moon and inspire a generation of young people to become scientists, engineers, and mathematicians.

The Apollo program's effect of inspiring America's children to pursue careers in STEM fields is one of the most powerful lasting legacies of the Moon race. Unfortunately, this effect seems to be coming to an end.

On the eve of the Apollo 11 anniversary, LEGO asked The Harris Poll to survey a total of 3,000 children in the United States, China, and the United Kingdom about their attitudes toward and knowledge of space. The results reveal that, at least for Western countries, kids today are more interested in YouTube than spaceflight.

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President Trump tweets he will look into allegations made by the tech billionaire Peter Thiel.