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As TikTok faces the possibility of a ban in the United States, a new study sheds light on the type of accounts US adults follow on the platform. According to the report, published by Pew Research, political content and news are only a small fraction of the accounts US adults follow in the app. The report is based on an analysis of 227,946 accounts followed by 664 TikTok users who participated in the study. Of those accounts, less than one percent were politicians, civic actors or traditional media outlets and journalists, Pew found, noting that the typical U.S. adult on TikTok follows no accounts in each of these categories. Instead, people were more likely to follow accounts that posted about entertainment and pop culture, humor and viral dance clips. To the extent Americans followed accounts discuss politics, it tends to be mixed with other topics, Pew writes. Some 43% of all followed accounts that discussed politics or current events during the study period also discussed entertainment and pop culture. Pew Research Center The content of users' following feeds doesn't offer a complete picture of what people see on TikTok. The app defaults to the algorithmic for you feed, which is made up mainly of recommendations. And even though most users may not choose to follow explicitly political accounts, previous research from Pew found that 45 percent of US TikTok users report seeing at least some content about politics or political issues in the app. The question of what US users see on TikTok has been more closely scrutinized over the last year. Some lawmakers stepped up calls for a ban of the app last fall after TikTok critics used hashtag data to suggest that the app was disproportionately recommending pro-Palestinian content. The company said such takes were the result of unsound analysis. TikTok stopped showing view counts for specific hashtags earlier this year. While Pews report doesnt touch on TikToks algorithmic recommendations, the authors note that follows are an important signal for the app. User interactions with posts from the accounts they follow play a nontrivial role in shaping their For You page, the report says. And studying these followed accounts can give us a better understanding on the content that users actively choose to look for on the platform.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/most-us-tiktok-users-arent-following-political-accounts-study-says-140053492.html?src=rss
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NASA and SpaceX are looking to undock the Crew-8 mission vehicle from the ISS on October 13, 3:05AM Eastern time. Crew-8's astronauts were originally scheduled to start making their way back to Earth on October 7, but since their spacecraft is going to splash down off the coast of Florida, NASA and SpaceX had decided to push it back "due to weather conditions and potential impacts from Hurricane Milton." They will hold another briefing on the situation on October 11 and could delay the mission's return further for the safety of everyone involved. The Crew-8 mission launched on March 4 this year with four members: NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut, Alexander Grebenkin. They conducted several experiments while on the International Space Station, such as sequencing the DNA of any antibiotic-resistant organism they could find on the ISS to look into how they adapted to the conditions out there. They also studied human brain organoids created with stem cells to look into Parkinson's disease and into how extended spaceflight affects the human brain. They printed human tissues, studied how microgravity affects drug manufacturing and worked with an Astrobee robot. NASA will most likely cover their flight back on a livestream. While Crew-8 has yet to leave the space station, SpaceX's Crew-9 mission astronauts have been on board since September 29. That mission only flew with two crew members, because it will be coming back home with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams who originally flew to the ISS on the Boeing Starliner. NASA said Wilmore and Williams have already tried on and tested their SpaceX Intravehicular Activity spacesuits and have completed all the work required to fly back to Earth with the Crew-9 vehicle. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/spacex-crew-8-astronauts-are-leaving-the-iss-on-october-13-133027531.html?src=rss
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Instead of cramming more technology into its Quest VR headsets, which would inevitably escalate their price, Meta has taken the opposite approach with the Quest 3S. It's a slightly bulkier, slightly less sharp version of the Quest 3 starting at $300, almost half off that headset's $500 launch price. The Quest 3S pitch is clear for consumers and developers alike: It's a more powerful and feature-rich budget device than the now defunct Quest 2, and since it has the same processor and GPU as the Quest 3, developers don't have to worry as much about supporting older headsets either. Based on my brief hands-on time with the Quest 3S (our full review is in the works), it's easy to see how this could be another hit for Meta. Despite its lower price, it doesn't look or feel inferior to the Quest 3 at first. The only noticeable external difference is that it uses a triangular array of sensors up front, instead of three pill-shaped modules. While it's a bit larger than the Quest 3, it still sits comfortably on my face, and is easily adjustable via its rear and top straps. I winced when I noticed it no longer had a 3.5mm jack, leaving you to use wireless headphones or a USB-C dongle instead, but its absence makes sense for a cheaper product. I'd wager the people who care most about a headphone jack would also opt for the Quest 3, instead. Meta cut corners all over the place to drive the Quest 3S's price down. There are only three lens adjustment positions to match your pupillary distance, whereas the Quest 3 has finer controls. And instead of pancake lenses, the Quest 3S uses Fresnel lenses which can lead to additional glare or other artifacts. Those also pair together with lower quality displays, which offer 1,832 by 1,920 pixels per eye (like the Quest 2), instead of the Quest 3's 2,064 by 2,208 resolution. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget What's more important for consumers is what Meta does include in the Quest 3S. It sports the same Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor and 8GB of RAM, and uses the same updated touch controllers. So while the Quest 3S might look a bit fuzzier than the Quest 3, it should perform the same. That's something I immediately noticed upon booting up the Quest 3S. Navigating its main menu and the Quest store felt effortless and snappy, with little lag between screens or apps loading. The touch controllers still feel very responsive, too, something I confirmed with a few Beat Saber sessions. While it does get a bit warm, like its pricier sibling, the Quest 3S trucked along without any noticeable slowdown while I was installing several large games. The mixed reality experience was also similar to that on the Quest 3 it's far from lifelike, but it's clear enough to read text on your monitor or phone in a pinch. Based on a few hours of testing, the Quest 3S clearly manages to deliver an immersive VR experience at a lower price point. But well have to spend a bit more time in virtual reality to determine how, exactly, it differs from the Quest 3. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/meta-quest-3s-hands-on-a-300-vr-headset-without-major-compromises-133012786.html?src=rss
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