Four People Walk Out of a Pretend Mars, an Old NASA Telescope Comes Home, and Apple's AI Arrives in China

Apple's AI is coming to iPhones in China, powered by Alibaba's Qwen

Alibaba said Saturday that its Qwen AI modelsA computer program trained on large amounts of data to recognize patterns and produce answers, text, images or actions. Chatbots such as ChatGPT and Claude run on AI models. In the Glossary will power Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence for Apple users in mainland China. Apple IntelligenceApple's set of AI features built into iPhones, iPads and Macs, such as writing help and photo clean up. In the Glossary is the set of AI features Apple builds into its phones and computers, and China's rules require that AI services there use models approved in China. Users choose whether to turn it on, and Alibaba says their requests will not be used to train its AI. Apple told developers the first test version, iOS 27.3 developer betaAn early test version of software given to app makers before the public gets it. In the Glossary, arrives this week, with the public release in December, MacRumors reports. In China it covers the iPhone 15 Pro and newer, with Writing Tools, Genmoji, Clean Up for photos, notification summaries, Visual Intelligence and Live Translation; the new Siri and Image Playground are not included yet. China's internet regulator cleared Apple Intelligence as one of 7 on-device AIAI that runs on your own phone or computer instead of a distant data center. It can be faster and keeps your information private. In the Glossary services in July, per CGTN.

Rocket Lab's 99th Electron puts another radar satellite in orbit

Rocket Lab's small Electron rocket lifted off from Mahia, New Zealand, at 11:41 AM ET Monday, early Tuesday morning local time, on a mission called "The Sea God Surveys." It placed WADATSUMI-II, a synthetic aperture radarA radar that builds a picture by sending radio pulses and timing their echoes. It works at night and through clouds. In the Glossary satellite for the Japanese company iQPS, into an orbit 575 kilometers up, chosen to pass often over Asia and the Pacific. Synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, sends out radio pulses and times the echoes to build a picture, so it works at night and through clouds. It was Electron's 99th flight, Rocket Lab's 20th mission of 2026 and its 10th straight successful launch for iQPS, with 8 more booked. The 100th Electron is set for no earlier than Nov. 14, per Launch Library 2.

Over the weekend, a Falcon 9 launched 27 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg at 12:04 AM ET Saturday; its boosterThe first and largest stage of a rocket, which gives the push for liftoff. SpaceX and others now land their boosters and fly them again. In the Glossary landed on a ship at sea on its 18th flight, and Space.com says StarlinkSpaceX's satellite internet service, delivered by thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit to small dishes on homes, ships and planes. In the Glossary now has more than 11,000 satellites. That makes 2 orbital launches since Friday evening and 255 so far in 2026, by the Launch Library 2 count.

NASA's Swift telescope comes home after almost 22 years of chasing cosmic explosions

NASA says its Swift observatory, about 3,200 pounds, should fall into Earth's atmosphere around 3:30 AM ET Wednesday, give or take 11 hours, based on Space Force tracking. Most of it will burn up. Any pieces that survive could land anywhere between 20.6 degrees north and south of the equator, and NASA puts the chance of anyone being hurt at about 1 in 2,100. Swift launched on Nov. 20, 2004, for a two-year mission. It caught more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts, the brightest explosions known, made when giant stars die or dead stars crash together. Thin air at the top of the atmosphere, which thickens when the Sun is active, dragged it down to 275 kilometers by Oct. 20, and NASA ended its work. A private rescue craft from Katalyst launched in July to boost it higher but failed and fell back to Earth in September. "Swift leaves us with an extraordinary archive," said NASA's Shawn Domagal-Goldman.

Florida's air taxi tryout moves from Tampa to Orlando and the Space Coast

After Friday's flight into Tampa International, Florida's part of the federal eVTOL Integration Pilot ProgramA U.S. government program that lets selected states and companies fly air taxis in real airspace before full approval, to gather data. In the Glossary is spreading across the state. Beta Technologies says its electric CX300 airplanes have flown 14 flights covering nearly 700 nautical miles around Tampa and Orlando, and it is supplying 34 chargers to the Florida Department of Transportation, with 9 sites already working. Joby plans to land its air taxi at a new vertiportA small airport or landing pad, sometimes on a rooftop, built for air taxis that take off and land straight up and down. In the Glossary, a landing pad for air taxisA small aircraft, usually an eVTOL, meant to carry a few passengers on short trips across or between cities, booked much like a ride-hailing car. In the Glossary, beside Orlando International's Terminal C and train station, with timing set by the weather, and the tour ends at Kennedy Space Center's old Shuttle Landing Facility on Nov. 7 and 8. A 2026 state law lets the transportation department pay up to the full cost of public vertiports, News4Jax reports. Beta's CEO Kyle Clark expects paid flights under the FAA's Part 135The FAA's rulebook for charter and commuter flights that carry paying passengers. Air taxi companies need it to sell rides. In the Glossary charter rules "probably late this year, early next year."

A Huntington's gene therapy gets a fast FDA review

The FDA accepted uniQure's application for AMT-130, a one-time gene therapyA treatment that gives the body new or corrected genetic instructions, often carried into cells by a harmless virus. Some are meant to be given only once. In the Glossary for Huntington's disease, under priority reviewThe FDA's goal of deciding on a drug within 6 months instead of the usual 10, for medicines that could be a big step forward for a serious disease. In the Glossary, which means the agency aims to decide in 6 months instead of 10. The decision date is May 1, 2027, and the FDA plans to hold a meeting of outside experts. Huntington's is an inherited disease that slowly destroys brain cells, taking away movement, thinking and mood, and no treatment yet slows it. The application rests on three years of results from its early trials, in which 51 patients have been treated so far, compared with similar untreated patients from a registry rather than a placebo group, and a larger confirming study of about 200 patients is planned. The data are debated: a four-year update in 12 patients showed 44% slowing that was not statistically significant, BioPharm International reports. The same morning, the FDA issued final rules on testing that each batch of a cell or gene therapy works.

The U.S. clears $2.1 billion in Patriot missiles for Ukraine

The State Department approved a possible sale of 500 PAC-3 MSEThe newest missile fired by the Patriot air defense system, built by Lockheed Martin to hit incoming missiles head on. In the Glossary Patriot interceptors to Ukraine, with spare parts and support, for an estimated $2.1 billion. An interceptorA missile or drone built to catch and destroy an incoming threat, such as an attack drone, in the air. In the Glossary is a missile built to hit an incoming missile in the air. Lockheed Martin is the main contractor. No U.S. money pays for it: Ukraine pays with donations from Canada, Germany and Norway and with funds backed by a European Union loan. The missiles are not built yet, and delivery is not expected until the early 2030s, two people briefed on the decision told Reuters, Defense News reports. It is a Foreign Military SaleA government to government sale of U.S. weapons or services, approved by the State Department with Congress told. The buying country pays. In the Glossary, a government to government deal that Congress is notified about.

Election Day puts data centers on the ballot in 10 states

On Tuesday, voters in 10 states decide 41 local measures about data centers, the giant buildings full of computers that run AI and the internet, according to Ballotpedia's count reported by Smart Cities Dive. Seventeen would ban new data centersA building full of computers that store data and run online services. Data centers for AI use large amounts of electricity. In the Glossary and 8 would let local governments allow them. Ohio has 21 of the measures, and at least 138 Ohio towns and townships have paused approvals. All 6 such measures decided earlier this year limited building. Ads mentioning data centers drew more than $45 million from January to September, NPR found. In Tennessee, a federal judge let the NAACP's clean air lawsuit over gas turbines at xAI's Memphis area data center go forward. Mark Muro of Brookings said, "The mutiny is about the way this technology is being introduced."

Hong Kong's tokenized money starts moving around the clock

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city's central bank, said Monday that its EnsembleTX platform now settles real transactions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. SettlementThe moment money and the thing bought actually change hands. Faster settlement means less waiting and less risk. In the Glossary is the moment money and the thing bought actually change hands. Approved dealers completed trial trades of tokenized Exchange Fund BillsShort-term debt issued by Hong Kong's monetary authority, much like U.S. Treasury bills. In the Glossary, short-term Hong Kong government debt similar to U.S. Treasury billsA short-term loan to the U.S. government, repaid in a year or less; together with longer Treasury notes and bonds, they are called Treasuries. They are seen as one of the safest places to keep money. In the Glossary, and trials with licensed stablecoinsA digital token designed to stay worth a fixed amount, usually one U.S. dollar, backed by cash and safe assets such as Treasury bills. In the Glossary come next. The same day, Standard Chartered launched tokenized deposits for business clients in Hong Kong, and HSBC's Hong Kong dollar stablecoin passed 50,000 users. The HKMA also gave banks a toolkit to prepare for quantum computersA computer that uses the rules of quantum physics to solve certain problems, such as breaking some codes or simulating molecules, far faster than ordinary computers. Today's machines are still small and make many errors. In the Glossary that could break today's codes. HKMA chief Eddie Yue said the city is "well placed to capitalise on new growth opportunities in fintech." Tokenized real-world assetsIn blockchain finance, a traditional asset that exists outside the blockchain, such as a Treasury bill, a loan or a building, represented by a token on one. Often shortened to RWA. In the Glossary total $39.05 billion, per RWA.xyz.

The AI chip boom gives South Korea its biggest export month ever

South Korea exported a record $115.3 billion of goods in October, up 93.7% from a year earlier, the government said Sunday morning Korea time. Computer chips were $56.4 billion of that, up 259%, about half of everything the country sold abroad. Most of those are memory chips, which AI computers need in huge amounts. Exports to the U.S. rose 185.8% to $24.9 billion, and to China 133.6% to $26.98 billion. From January through October, exports passed $900 billion for the first time, and the government says the year could top $1 trillion as soon as November. "The global trade environment remains uncertain," Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said.