Daily Tech News 24 October 2026

Top Story

NASA is planning to land astronauts on the Moon within two years. (AP News)

Likelihood of missing this target exceeds 100%. Though to be fair nobody has ever done this before, and we don't know all the complications involved in such a heroic effort.

Tech News

Speaking of things that nobody knows how to do a trailer has leaked for Mass Effect 4. (WCCFTech)

It had been in early development at BioWare when the storied company was shut down... In "early" development for six years.
Micron's next-generation flash chips are on their way with up to 400 layers. (Tom's Hardware)

And a 400% net margin.
Here's why you can't buy an RTX 5090 anymore. (Notebook Check)

China ate them.

I do love Phase Connect.

Disclaimer: I have intense bomb-igniting thoughts
They will create shockwaves in your brain
No matter what, the circus must go on
We're in this crazy world together, you and me.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 w00t

Posted by: m at October 24, 2026 04:01 AM (odBC9)

2 It's gotten very quiet over on the ONT.

Posted by: m at October 24, 2026 04:02 AM (odBC9)

3 I was just watching a video at asmongold:

Ethan Klein Just Ruined His Entire Life..

50:28

and I had, previously, never even heard of Ethan Klein!

Posted by: m at October 24, 2026 04:16 AM (odBC9)

4
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I would rather tidy up business on earth than go back to the moon. I sound so crotchety, but here I am at 29.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at October 24, 2026 04:17 AM (mmrXZ)

5 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at October 24, 2026 04:19 AM (ujjRM)

6 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at October 24, 2026 04:22 AM (Hbeqj)

7 G'mornin' everyone!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 24, 2026 04:27 AM (VyBeY)

8 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at October 24, 2026 04:32 AM (s1NDj)

9 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at October 24, 2026 04:45 AM (Ia/+0)

10 Young man saves 18 children after he jumps on school after driver has medical emergency . Sunny Skyz site:

https://tinyurl.com/2s9b8yep

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 24, 2026 04:54 AM (JrHfD)

11 from the video, it was a lucky break that the bus door was open (how did that come about?)
without that, rescue would have been impossible.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 24, 2026 04:57 AM (VyBeY)

12 Using legacy media to support your views is like saying you're a marine biologist because you watch SpongeBob.

Posted by: Thought For The Day at October 24, 2026 05:06 AM (ujjRM)

13 I'm not a big fan of much modern Christian music, but I liked this one: "How firm a foundation". Faith pot site :

https://tinyurl.com/33ndt72s

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 24, 2026 05:07 AM (JrHfD)

14 Go to the moon in maybe two years. Do we let AI calculate the trajectory on which way to go. It would take a powerful computer to do that or just use a slide rule and tape measurer I guess.

Posted by: Colin at October 24, 2026 05:08 AM (CiQE7)

15 Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 24, 2026 04:57 AM (VyBeY)

Maybe the driver had an attack just as they were stopping to let someone off or pick someone up?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 24, 2026 05:11 AM (JrHfD)

16 Morning, Tech Peeps

Posted by: fluffy at October 24, 2026 05:13 AM (V0/Sp)

17
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at October 24, 2026 05:14 AM (AMvSw)

18 We stopped going to the moon because we got bored with it.
Planted the flag.
Drove the dune buggy all around.
Played golf.
Ok, is that all there is?
We're done.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at October 24, 2026 05:17 AM (ujjRM)

19 >>> Birdbath status?

Liquid. I plugged in the heated birdbath last night.

We have wikkid bougie birds here at Chez fluffy.

Posted by: fluffy at October 24, 2026 05:19 AM (V0/Sp)

20 may be. lucky break, anyway !

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 24, 2026 05:19 AM (VyBeY)

21 Hello, everyone. I would like to ask prayers for a smooth nursing home service later today. A number of our regular attenders will be away, because the home is providing a bus to take them to the memorial service of a nice resident who died ( which was kind of them and they need traveling mercies as well) . Thanks.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 24, 2026 05:21 AM (JrHfD)

22 we stopped going to the moon because nasa had had time to develop into a bureaucracy of timeservers and featherbedders by that point. no one having power in the org had any vision beyond a nice fat pension, and no doubt worked hard to suppress anyone who did have that vision.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 24, 2026 05:23 AM (VyBeY)

23 We went to the moon to show that we could, an expression of National Pride that said there was no problem with e could not solve. We’ve lost that confidence.

Plus there’s still no good reason to go back.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 24, 2026 05:23 AM (jTKPp)

24 4
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I would rather tidy up business on earth than go back to the moon. I sound so crotchety, but here I am at 29.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia at October 24, 2026 04:17 AM (mmrXZ)

Counterpoint: those problems will always be with us, whether we focus on them or not. If we make tidying up things here first a prerequisite for doing other things, then no other things will get done.

Posted by: SciVo at October 24, 2026 05:26 AM (ke3zm)

25 Man writes on "Quiet faithfulness in Christ"" - 1st Corinthians 15: 51-58: An "Our Daily Bread" devotional:

https://tinyurl.com/3y4vfayp

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 24, 2026 05:27 AM (JrHfD)

26 Pixy becomes the first moon-landing pre-denier. Pixy rocks!

Posted by: JM in Illinois at October 24, 2026 05:29 AM (PKL0q)

27 Good morning morons

I've heard of Ethan Klein but have no idea why.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 24, 2026 05:36 AM (RIvkX)

28 It is enormously expensive. Apollo was a dead end, from an engineering perspective. (The Saturn V itself was not, and there were plans for 100+ launches for other purposes).

That’s why the huge VAB also has four (4) huge doors, they had the ability to crank out rockets simultaneously that was never utilized. There was a spur road for another pad that was never built.

I suspect some of the “public is tired, lost interest” story is pure gaslighting. If you’re gonna slash a program, better have a good story behind it. William Proxmire and others in Congress.

Posted by: Common Tater at October 24, 2026 05:37 AM (UTyB6)

29 They never spent a dime on the Moon.

It was all spent on Earth. 400,000 directly employed at the peak. Countless other people and firms indirectly employed.

The first logical flaw among many. It is not an “either/or” choice. Not with modern government phony baloney confetti-buck borrow-spending budgeting anyhow.

Posted by: Common Tater at October 24, 2026 05:41 AM (UTyB6)

30 Ahhh he's an Adulterer.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 24, 2026 05:41 AM (RIvkX)

31 We stopped going to the moon because, of course, it's Trump's fault.

Posted by: JM in Illinois at October 24, 2026 05:46 AM (PKL0q)

32 Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 24, 2026 05:36 AM (RIvkX)

Good morning, San Franpsycho. Why are you up so early or you're having insomnia?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 24, 2026 05:51 AM (JrHfD)

33 Good morning {Fen} yes insomnia and anxiety pretty bad tonight.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 24, 2026 05:54 AM (RIvkX)

34 Whitey's up there.

https://youtu.be/goh2x_G0ct4

Posted by: Gil Scott-Heron at October 24, 2026 05:55 AM (ujjRM)

35 Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 24, 2026 05:54 AM (RIvkX)

I'm sorry, dear one. I will pray that the anxiety lessens .

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 24, 2026 05:56 AM (JrHfD)

36 Plus there’s still no good reason to go back.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 24, 2026 05:23 AM (jTKPp)
.
‐---‐

Waiting for China to announce that it's planning to build moon bases.

I'm sorry, but space travel beyond the moon seems pretty difficult, If not impossible, with current technology

Posted by: JM in Illinois at October 24, 2026 06:00 AM (PKL0q)

37
Hell, Elvis LIVES there...

https://youtu.be/wTbUmTAkxWM

Posted by: Lindisfarne at October 24, 2026 06:01 AM (ujjRM)

38 Yonder Horde

Restless morning. Spent most of yesterday afternoon water sealing half the deck. Knees did not much care for that.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 24, 2026 06:01 AM (RORbl)

39 @11/sock_rat_eez: "from the video, it was a lucky break that the bus door was open (how did that come about?)
without that, rescue would have been impossible."

There's a moment when you open the service door (in order to get the stop sign out with red flashing lights, and switch the alternating overhead lights from yellow to red).

Immediately afterwards, you switch the transmission to neutral and engage the parking brake (called "safing the bus"). At least, this was the training I received because I was told it was important to get that service door open as soon as I stopped the bus in order to get the red overheads and the stop sign out. You want traffic ordered to stop as soon as possible. You'd think they'd stop on the alternating yellows in order to not be caught blowing through the reds when they come out, but noooo. (Idjits. Every effing day.)*

That very brief moment between hitting the button to open the service door, and then switching the transmission from Drive to Neutral and engaging the parking brake is the very small window of opportunity for this type of thing to happen.

(more...)

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 24, 2026 06:03 AM (O7YUW)

40 (continued from previous)

If the steps were switched around so the driver stops, switches to neutral, engages the parking brake and then hits the button to open the service door, this scenario wouldn't have happened.

However, assume the medical emergency happens at the same moment in time. The driver reaches for the gearshift and experiences his seizure before getting the bus out of Drive. The bus starts moving again, with amber alternating lights on, and the service door CLOSED. Collision with another vehicle or stationary object now imminent, and there's nobody to warn the kids either. Our hero that jumped on the bus to get it stopped wouldn't be able to do what he did.

Nothing is perfect, you just go for the best option possible to try to ensure passenger safety.

{*} Don't be that guy. When a school bus activates its yellow alternating lights, treat them like reds and come to a stop (if you can). If you're JUST about to pass a bus in the opposite lane and the yellows come out, go past, that's normal, but if you CAN stop, PLEASE DO SO. Better for you, better for the kids, better for everyone.

This school bus driver thanks you.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 24, 2026 06:03 AM (O7YUW)

41 Thanks Fen hope I will get another hour or two later

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 24, 2026 06:04 AM (RIvkX)

42 Anybody seen Mitch?

Posted by: Mildly curious at October 24, 2026 06:04 AM (ujjRM)

43 @36

>> If not impossible, with current technology.

The problem with space is that’s it’s really big, everything is really far apart and there’s not anything in the general vicinity that’s worth the effort.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at October 24, 2026 06:07 AM (tdKgh)

44 I see a future of economic opportunity in space.
A lunar base is the first step to realizing that.

Very few people thought about the New World as being important in 1492, but look at where we are now.

That's kind of the way you have to look at it.
When the colonists of the New World disembarked from Europe heading west through a vast ocean to an undeveloped land with a harsh environment that had to be tamed, it was quite similar to the experience of going to the moon and building something there today. The difference on the moon being a complete lack of oxygen or an atmosphere, which complicates things considerably.

I think people in 500 years will look back on this time the same way we do with the fearless explorers and brave colonists who created great nations with determination and a lot of hard work.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 24, 2026 06:08 AM (6ydKt)

45 Posted by: Gil Scott-Heron at October 24, 2026 05:55 AM (ujjRM)

====
I saw you play that live when I was a yute.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 24, 2026 06:08 AM (RIvkX)

46 "Very few people thought about the New World as being important in 1492, but look at where we are now."

Speak for yourself.

Posted by: The ghost of Hernando DeSoto at October 24, 2026 06:09 AM (ujjRM)

47 Dave said Mitch's not here.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 24, 2026 06:10 AM (RIvkX)

48 Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Rejoinder: Nie moj zirk, nie moje malpy.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at October 24, 2026 06:11 AM (amcLV)

49 From the AP article about the proposed moon landing:

"NASA will keep its options open as long as possible before choosing between SpaceX and Blue Origin for the Artemis IV lunar lander, according to officials."

This feels like a "It's a fair competition" CYA statement more than anything. I don't take Blue Origin as a serious contender when comparing with SpaceX's achievements.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 24, 2026 06:11 AM (O7YUW)

50 I'm not surprised NASA is spinning its wheels trying to get back to the moon. Most of the knowledge is gone. The tech used in the 60's and 70's... gone. Engineers... gone. Whatever was saved/archived might as well be in an alien language to the people there now.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at October 24, 2026 06:13 AM (RORbl)

51 Evening and morning, Saturday toilers and early risers! I see there was a long discussion of DST, time zones in general, TV women of the Sixties, and boobs on the ONT. So, business as usual.

Still coolish here, so I plan to work out in a little while. In the meantime, coffee.

Whassup?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 24, 2026 06:14 AM (wzUl9)

52 Thanks for the explananation (from someone who knows the drill), G&R!

(and I work hard on not being that guy!)

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 24, 2026 06:15 AM (VyBeY)

53 The problem with (Earth) space is that’s it’s really big, everything is really far apart and there’s not anything in the general vicinity that’s worth the effort.
——

That’s what they thought about the other side of the Earth just a few hundred years ago.

The globe hadn’t been surveyed yet. Amazing really.

Posted by: Common Tater at October 24, 2026 06:16 AM (UTyB6)

54 NASA was viewed by the Dems as an expensive jobs program that benefited white middle-class engineers, etc.

By 1976, (remember Jimmy Carter) they wanted all that money to be wasted on other things.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at October 24, 2026 06:18 AM (LOvBA)

55 Have to get moving, not motivated today.

Posted by: Skip at October 24, 2026 06:19 AM (Ia/+0)

56 The problem with space is that’s it’s really big, everything is really far apart and there’s not anything in the general vicinity that’s worth the effort.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at October 24, 2026 06:07 AM (tdKgh)

They said the same thing about the North American continent for a very very long time.

Then we built the railroad to close those distances and make things thought unimportant very important.

I don't count out human ingenuity in closing those distances in space, in figuring things out we never thought of, and the economy of space itself necessitating the invention of technological advances that will propel the human race out into the cosmos to colonize planets and moons that can support life.

The Expanse TV show really does show a vision of the future that could become reality if we set our minds to it.
And it isn't pretty, but it's much more realistic than Star Trek and the like.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 24, 2026 06:20 AM (6ydKt)

57 The globe hadn’t been surveyed yet. Amazing really.
Posted by: Common Tater at October 24, 2026 06:16 AM

Check this out:

What3Words.com

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at October 24, 2026 06:23 AM (ujjRM)

58 ... patiently waiting for the Saturday morning meme drops ...

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 24, 2026 06:24 AM (VyBeY)

59 My opinion on DST: It does not save any energy.

Look at it. The sun in summer at the longest days, at least around here, is still beaming down at us at 8-something p.m. Most people don't go to bed until later than that. In relation to when we are up and active, then, the day lasts longer . . . so our air-conditioning units have to work harder and longer than they would if the sun went down at 7-something p.m. (You'll note that most of AZ doesn't bother with the DST nonsense. They know they have more heat and light than humans can stand already.)

If we were going to implement DST, it should have been during the winter, when we would *want* more sunlight falling on our homes to help heat them. *That* would save some energy, *not* the other way around, as it is now.

Plus I like it getting darker, and theoretically cooler, earlier in the evenings. But that's just me. When I move farther north, and maybe have a house that doesn't face west, I may change my mind.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 24, 2026 06:25 AM (wzUl9)

60 "BioWare's Canceled Mass Effect Universe Was Set 600 Years After Shepard, With an N7 Agent and Hitman-Style Missions, Says YouTuber"

I smell "Radiant" missions (procedurally generated, generic combat "defeat the enemy", repetitive, boring, and ultimately very annoying.)

"Another settlement needs your help!"

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 24, 2026 06:26 AM (O7YUW)

61 You learn something new every day.
Unless you're a historian.
Then you learn something old.

Posted by: Deep Thoughts at October 24, 2026 06:27 AM (ujjRM)

62 @43/Thomas Bender: "The problem with space is that..."

Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.

-- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 24, 2026 06:29 AM (O7YUW)

63 And it isn't pretty, but it's much more realistic than Star Trek and the like.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 24, 2026 06:20 AM (6ydKt)
=====
How dare you.

Posted by: Wesley Crusher at October 24, 2026 06:29 AM (RIvkX)

64 As for discussion of Sixties TV ladies, the comments I saw pretty much covered it re: Liz Montgomery, Barbara Eden, Dawn Wells, Mary Tyler Moore, Julie Newmar, Whitney Blake, etc. Not only were they sexy but they projected potential wife and partner qualities as well. As someone said, now, a sexy woman on TV is all too often presented as a skank.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 24, 2026 06:31 AM (wzUl9)

65 What are you downsizing today, Wolfus?

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at October 24, 2026 06:32 AM (ujjRM)

66 Shut up, Wesley!

Posted by: Captain Jean-Luc Picard at October 24, 2026 06:33 AM (VyBeY)

67 NASA is planning to land astronauts on the Moon within two years.

Tanned, rested, and ready.

Posted by: Gayle King and Katy Perry at October 24, 2026 06:35 AM (U/s6V)

68 - The moon
No breathable atmosphere
No water
Have you checked those surface temps?

The logistics, dollars and time involved in building and supplying any kind of base my small brain cannot even compute.
Even if it's only robots involved.

Posted by: TeeJ at October 24, 2026 06:35 AM (ix5nG)

69 How dare you.

Posted by: Wesley Crusher at October 24, 2026 06:29 AM (RIvkX)

Sorry Wesley, but I'm pretty sure space will be mostly for mining and resource extraction for a few hundred years instead of warp speed and green alien girls in bikinis.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 24, 2026 06:36 AM (6ydKt)

70 Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 24, 2026 06:03 AM (O7YUW)

Thanks for explaining all, Grumpy. FenSpouse agreed and said people sometimes go around the bus even when it's stopped and the lights are on . Some people on the road are crazy!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 24, 2026 06:36 AM (JrHfD)

71 Bookworm Room memes
https://tinyurl.com/2jh2dj2p

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 24, 2026 06:39 AM (RIvkX)

72 30 Ahhh he's an Adulterer.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 24, 2026 05:41 AM (RIvkX)
----------------
Please, we prefer the term "Stochastic Time-Delayed Polycule-adjacent."

Posted by: This is, after all, 2026 at October 24, 2026 06:39 AM (U/s6V)

73 memes are up at midwestchick and accordingtohoyt, woohoo!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 24, 2026 06:39 AM (VyBeY)

74 ooohh, moar! thx, SFp!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 24, 2026 06:40 AM (VyBeY)

75 Good morning Horde thx Pixy.
A brisk 32° in the Mid Hudson. Think I'll wait a bit before doing any walking

Posted by: Smell the Glove at October 24, 2026 06:40 AM (vJPf4)

76 The distances are truly astronomical.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at October 24, 2026 06:40 AM (LOvBA)

77 The moon
No breathable atmosphere
No water
Have you checked those surface temps?

The logistics, dollars and time involved in building and supplying any kind of base my small brain cannot even compute.
Even if it's only robots involved.
Posted by: TeeJ at October 24, 2026

***
Build Luna City partially or mostly underground. Good insulation. You've have to find a way to deal with the heat generated by lots of humans and their processes, but it could be recycled.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 24, 2026 06:41 AM (wzUl9)

78 68 - The moon
No breathable atmosphere
No water
Have you checked those surface temps?

The logistics, dollars and time involved in building and supplying any kind of base my small brain cannot even compute.
Even if it's only robots involved.

Posted by: TeeJ at October 24, 2026 06:35 AM (ix5nG)

I have not put too much thought into the specifics.
But there are many well-paid, brilliant, people who are thinking about these.

There is water on the moon, at the poles, in ice form.
Bases can be located nearby.
Temperatures, radiation, lack of oxygen are all problems that can be solved.

The cost is, of course, not cheap, but Elon is a paper trillionaire based on space so somebody, somewhere is already making money off of it.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 24, 2026 06:42 AM (6ydKt)

79 @70/FenelonSpoke: "Thanks for explaining all, Grumpy. FenSpouse agreed and said people sometimes go around the bus even when it's stopped and the lights are on . Some people on the road are crazy!"

That they do, and that they are. I had a cop blow through my ambers the other day (he could have stopped easily, he just chose not to. I was literally one second away from popping the reds.) I had an ambulance blow through my reds (he wasn't running with lights or siren on.) And that's just in the last two weeks.

*facepalm*

As I warn my wife every morning before we both head off to work: "Watch out for stupid out there, it's everywhere, and it's legion."

I expect stupid.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 24, 2026 06:43 AM (O7YUW)

80 - "...to colonize planets and moons that can support life."

Still looking boss.

Posted by: TeeJ at October 24, 2026 06:48 AM (ix5nG)

81
By 1976, (remember Jimmy Carter) they wanted all that money to be wasted on other things.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at October 24, 2026 06:18 AM (LOvBA)

Actually, it all started with Nixon and Cap Weinberger, pushed on by the whiny-asses who wailed, "Why are we spending money on space when there's so much poverty at home?" We know how that worked out. The amount of "poverty" has remained exactly the same, but there was more moolah to steal.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 24, 2026 06:48 AM (eRlcH)

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