Do You Have 100 Terabytes of Free Storage? Download the Universe

Researchers have prepared the Uchuu simulation of the universe, the most detailed ever made so far. It contains 2.1 trillion “particles” in a space 9.6 billion light-years across.

The simulation models the evolution of the universe across more than 13 billion years. It doesn’t focus on the formation of stars and planets but instead looks at the behavior of dark matter within an expanding universe. The detail of Uchuu is high enough that the team can identify everything from galaxy clusters to the dark matter halos of individual galaxies. Since dark matter makes up most of the matter in the universe, it is the main driver of galaxy formation and clustering.

“Fortunately, if you don’t have that much spare change, you can access the data online. The Uchuu team has their raw data on skiesanduniverses.org, so you can explore their virtual universe all you want.”

Photo by Guillermo Ferla on Unsplash

FTC Reveals its Study on Acquisitions From Big Tech

The Federal Trade Commission will change the way it scrutinizes acquisitions from Big Tech. On Friday it released the findings of its decade-long study on deals that weren’t reported.

The FTC reviewed 616 transactions valued at $1 million or more between 2010 and 2019 that were not reported to antitrust authorities by Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. 94 of the transactions actually exceeded the dollar size threshold that would require companies to report a deal. The deals may have qualified for other regulatory exemptions. 79% of transactions used deferred or contingent compensation to founders and key employees, and nearly 77% involved non-compete clauses. 36% of the transactions involved assuming some amount of debt or liabilities.