Should a human life be ended just so we can harvest their organs for another person's use? It might be closer than you think!

Does it matter how "death" is defined, and who defines it?

How did our society become so accepting of a culture of death - from Dr. Jack Kevorkian, Terri Schiavo, and Planned Parenthood?

LG Display’s new free-form screen technology can expand from 12 to 18 inches, with a resolution of 100ppi. The display also uses a micro-LED light source smaller than 40 micrometers, so it can apparently be stretched over 10,000 times. While this probably isn’t your next smartphone, we could see the tech in clothing, car panels and more.

LG Display has pushed the boundaries of screen tech for a while, revealing folding screens before foldable phones appeared, roll-up TVS before roll-up TVs went on sale and transparent displays before they appeared in fancy stores, theme parks and elsewhere. So expect to see this Bop-it of displays somewhere, eventually.

— Mat Smith

The biggest tech stories you missed

The coffee-table book of Apple Music’s Best 100 Albums will set you back $450

The best travel gifts

Elon Musk will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, Donald Trump says

The best MacBook for 2024: Which Apple laptop should you buy?

Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Netflix’s ad tier has attracted more than 70 million subscribers

However, many have probably downgraded from a premium tier.

Netflix is crowing that its ad-supported tier now boasts 70 million global users. Amy Reinhard, president of advertising at Netflix, says the company continues “to see steady progress across all countries’ member bases.” But there isn’t any information about existing customers. It’s very possible a lot of people downgraded from a premium tier to an ad-supported tier.

Continue reading.

Fujifilm is developing a 102MP medium format cinema camera

With a new sensor 1.7 times larger than full frame.

Fujifilm is developing a medium-format, 102-megapixel cinema camera, the company said in a surprise announcement. Due next year, the GFX Eterna will carry a boxy, modular design reminiscent of Sony’s FX6. The new camera will have a medium format GFX 102-megapixel (MP) CMOS II HS sensor, the same one used on the GFX100 II. That sensor is 43.8mm x 32.9 mm in size — that’s 1.7 times larger than the full-frame sensor on the FX.

The benefits will be extra dynamic range, potentially high resolution and a very shallow depth of field, which should enable cinematic shots with the right lens. Having said that, Fujifilm currently has no GFX glass designed specifically for film production. It’s working on it, though.

Continue reading.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA's research center responsible for robotic space missions, will lay off more workers before the year ends due to budget constraints. JPL Director Laurie Leshin has announced in a memo addressed to employees that the reduction will affect 325 people, or about five percent of its whole workforce. Leshin explained that the lab took various measures to meet its budget allocation for the 2025 fiscal year and to minimize the adverse effects of a limited budget on its workers. In the end, though, JPL "reached the difficult decision" to make "one further workforce reduction."

The lab already cut 530 employees and cut over 100 contractors from its roster earlier this year because of uncertainty over the final budget that the Congress will give NASA for 2024. It also froze hiring in response to the dilemma. The main reason why the lab had to implement those measures was because the Mars Sample Return Program was allocated a much smaller budget than it needed. NASA had requested $950 million for the mission, but only $300 million was allocated for it. 

NASA's original plan was to bring home the samples collected by the mission in 2040. But its budget ballooned from $7 billion to $11 billion, and as The Washington Post notes, the government found the return date "unacceptable." For the 2025 fiscal year, NASA only requested $200 million for the project that could go through significant changes. The agency is now looking for ways to alter the mission and is even considering proposals from private companies. 

Leshin said that the layoffs will affect all areas of the lab, including its technical, business and support divisions. "[W]e had to tighten our belts across the board, and you will see that reflected in the layoff impacts," she said. JPL's director also said that the US presidential election results have nothing to do with the reduction that the "action would be happening regardless" of its outcome. 

Apple and art house film company A24 are in early development on a film about convicted crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried with a script written by Lena Dunham, Variety reported. The project will be based on the Michael Lewis book Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon that many critics found overly deferential to Bankman-Fried. 

The book describes the dizzying rise and equally vertiginous fall of Bankman-Fried and his FTX crypto exchange and Alameda hedge fund. However, it paints the FTX founder as a benevolent prodigy and glosses over the fact that he embezzled billions of dollars from customers and spent it on things like celebrity endorsements, political donations and high-end real-estate purchases.  

FTX was worth billions at its peak, but the exchange eventually collapsed and Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Most FTX customers will get their original investments back, plus interest, but that's based on a bitcoin price of around $17,000 — and the current price is nearly five times that.

Basing the film on Lewis's fawning hagiography isn't a promising start. Hopefully, Dunham or other writers will also draw on far better books (like Numbers Go Up by Zeke Faux) that show the dark, scammy side of crypto promoters like Bankman-Fried and the entire industry in general.

Apple Original Films and A24 have announced other collaborations recently, including the Spike Lee and Denzel Washington film High and Low. Other scripted FTX projects are also in the works, including a limited Amazon Prime series from the Russo brothers based on the 2022 FTX collapse. 

Dr. Christine Mangala Frost presents a series of reflections on the services of the Holy Week.

Metropolitan Kallistos Ware addressed the topic of "The Church in the Traditional Orthodox Countries" as the first session (out of two) on the larger theme of "Orthodoxy in the 21st Century." The lecture was delivered in Cambridge in the Institute's seminar room during the Community Lecture Day of 22 February 2014.

When we are intentional in our listening and silence, we are in the best position to commune with Christ.

What does it mean to be constantly in the presence of God? Dr. Rossi explores the practical implications in today's episode.

Anger - express it or repress it? Dr. Al Rossi gives us guidance and helps us understand the healthy and Christ-like alternatives.

Part of becoming a healing presence is to share our lives with others without the expectation of reward or acknowledgement. Dr. Rossi shares the story of Johnny Appleseed as an example.

Dr. Rossi talks about the jungle of wicked thoughts in our minds and the need to not judge others.

Continuing the theme of the last episode which dealt with Orthodoxy as Paradoxy, Dr. Rossi talks about the need to embrace ambiguity.

Why is there suffering in the world? Is God trying to punish us? Dr. Rossi addresses this important topic and helps us understand that there is purpose in suffering.

Dr. Rossi interviews Fr. Nicholas Andruchow, Associate Director of Project Mexico.

Today Dr. Rossi reflects on this well-known hymn from both a personal standpoint as well as its place in Orthodox theology.

In an earlier podcast, Dr. Rossi dealt with our need to embrace ambiguity as a way to become a healing presence. After receiving an email from a listener, he continues with this theme today.

Dr. Rossi talks with iconographer Khouria Erin Kimmett about the icon most associated with the resurrection.

Dr. Rossi interviews Fr. James Parnell, a veteran who is a student at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary preparing to become a chaplain. They discuss the reintegration and healing of combat veterans and their families.

Dr. Rossi reflects on what is means to evangelize from an Orthodox perspective.

Dr. Rossi uses the analogy of his GPS to bring home a point about how the Lord guides our way.

Dr. Rossi reviews the new book by Fr. John Behr: Becoming Human.

Dr. Rossi visits with Fr. Alexander Atty at Antiochian Village and discusses Fr. Alexander's cancer diagnosis and how he has dealt with it. Part two of the interview.

Dr. Rossi has just returned from attending a wedding and his cup is overflowing with the intense significance and joy of the ceremony.

Today Dr. Rossi shares some of the material he uses in marriage enrichment seminars around the country.

Dr. Rossi interviews the parish priest at St. Justin Martyr Orthodox Church in Jacksonville about parish life, outreach, and evangelism.

Dr. Rossi talks about the pre-marital communications period and how important it is to understand your future spouse.

Dr. Rossi takes us to Taylor, PA, and share his experience with the myrrh-gushing icon at St. George Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church. He interviews a college student and plays a clip of the singing of the faithful gathered there.

Dr. Rossi talks with Fr. Joseph Purpura, Chairman of the Department of Youth and Parish Ministry for the Antiochian Archdiocese. Learn about how to best communicate with and serve our teens and young people.

After coming home from a visit with Matushka Juliana Schmemann, Dr. Rossi reflects on aging and the preparation for the next life.

Today Dr. Rossi reflects on the town of Nazareth in the New Testament and specifically on the life of Christ in that town.

Today we have the special treat of hearing several recordings obtained by Dr. Rossi of people singing the Jesus Prayer.

Dr. Rossi encourages us to see and call out the goodness in the lives of our children.

Dr. Rossi interviews Christopher and Jennifer Moore, who spent eight months as missionaries in Mongolia. Christopher is a first year student at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY.

Dr. Rossi share his experience with the Orthodox blessing of a child.

Dr. Rossi interviews Dr. Paul Meyendorff about the topic of healing and the Sacrament of Unction.

Dr. Rossi reflects upon an interaction that he had with his granddaughter and Jesus' call to become like a little child.

Dr. Rossi interview Simon Menya, a Ugandan student at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, on the topic of grieving.

Dr. Rossi shares a brief summary of his presentation titled "On Pain and Suffering" at the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology and Religion (OCAMPR) conference held at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA.

Dr. Rossi interviews Fr. Nicholas Solak, parish priest of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Stroudsburg, PA, on the topic of Clergy Peer Learning Groups in the life of a priest.

Today, Dr. Rossi interviews a wife and mother of two small children who is fighting cancer and has gone through several surgeries, treatments, and procedures. What can be learned from such an experience and where does God come into the picture?

Dr. Albert Rossi shares his insights from his summer experiences.

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Dr. Gayle Woloschak on the topic of bioethics. Dr. Woloschak is a professor of Radiation Oncology at Northwestern University in Chicago and an adjunct professor of Religion and Science at Lutheran School of Theology Chicago, and at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, as well as Professor of Bioethics at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY.

Dr. Albert Rossi talks about the meaning and importance of 'active listening.'

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Fr. Sergius Halvorsen on the topic of "Apologetics and Evangelization: The Dangers of Profiteering." Rev. Dr. J. Sergius Halvorsen is the Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY.

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Dr. Grant S. White, Assistant Professor of Liturgical Theology at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, on the topic of the Liturgy and a person's search for meaning in turbulent times.

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on how we can be a healing presence during these dark times in our world.

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on the life of St. Silouan and the great value of little things.

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Fr. Alexis Trader, author of Ancient Christian Wisdom, on the topic of overcoming impulsivity and the desire to control the world around us.