This chip will self-destruct in five seconds…

Picture the scene. You’re Tom Cruise… maybe a little taller. Someone has stolen your smartphone and you’ve got little hope of ever seeing it again. So you just remotely cook its processor, shattering it, the motherboard and probably the screen in the process. That’s the theory, with a company called PARC (owned by Xerox) recently demonstrating their self-destructing chips which shatter when given the correct command. The project is being funded by DARPA, so you know that the US military is keen (and why wouldn’t they be? It’d keep guidance systems out of the wrong hands) but it’s entirely possible that PARC’s exploding chip could become commercial. Hit up IDG.tv for a video overview of this military-grade tech.

Source: Xerox PARC via Gizmodo

This is a bit larger than a U2 album – Microsoft auto-downloading Windows 10 to some machines

Remember that time that Apple gave everyone a music album that nobody wanted? Good times… and now Microsoft seems to be giving some users an operating system that they haven’t ordered yet. To be fair, you kind of have to opt into it by having automatic updates turned on on your PC, where a little update known as KB3035583 will download the installation files for Windows 10. Even if you didn’t ask for it. Windows 7 and 8 users might find themselves with a little less drive space than previously expected. Microsoft’s not being secretive about this either, they’re upfront in saying that the auto-download is to “…help upgradable devices get ready for Windows 10 by downloading the files they’ll need if they decide to upgrade”.

Source: Ars Technica

NASA is one of those groups that definitely should have its own 4K TV channel

NASA should have its own 4K TV channel, right? The majesty of space, the power of spacecraft, the smarts of their physicists – these are all things that deserve to be seen in high resolution. Until they find a way to launch a reality TV ‘star’ into orbit using nothing but their own ego, that is. Glad you agree, because NASA have just launched a 4K TV channel in partnership with a company called Harmonic. The downside? It’s only launching in North America, in November this year. But that’s okay, there’s always NASA’s YouTube channel which also has some delectable 4K video content.

Source: NASA

The virtual reality space just got a new commercial contender – Canon

Facebook. HTC. Sony. Oculus. Valve. All of these companies are involved in creating commercial virtual reality headsets (a few of them in partnerships) and now we’re got a new entry in the arena – Canon. Kinda. At this year’s Canon Expo, a prototype VR headset was on display on the show floor, with a very high-res pair of 5.5-inch displays providing the visuals. This being a prototype, there are few pieces missing like audio and a proper head-mount but the camera company looks to be developing the tech at present. They don’t have a release date and, by the look of things, it could be a while before we see a fully-working Canon VR headset on the market. But they’re in the back room, getting suited up.

Source/Image: Engadget

Metal Gear Solid V was supposed to be longer than it is

We’re still eyeball deep in the final Metal Gear creation by Hideo Kojima and now it appears that there was supposed to be more of it. A fair bit more, with another chapter that seems to have been meant to conclude the game. The chapter, titled Peace, was located thanks to unused files in the PC version of the game which include assets for characters (like The Boss, whose character was apparently found but has not been used). There’s a lot of speculation that the missing chapter was never finished but it’s also possible that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is in for a biggish chunk of DLC – which we’d simultaneously love (because more MGS V) and hate (it wasn’t there at launch).