📉 Carbon Capture Breakthroughs, Chrome Fixes & PlayStation Shuts Down Studio

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, October 30. Today we are covering:

• SpiralWave's pulsing plasma towers transform carbon dioxide into liquid fuel 

• Google Chrome adding 'Performance issue alerts' to desktop 

• PlayStation Shutters Studio Behind 'Concord' Video-Game Flop

• Visa, Coinbase Introduce Real-Time Crypto Funding for US & EU Customers

• Russia's 'Midnight Blizzard' hackers target government workers in novel info-stealing campaign 

Let’s dive in

---

SpiralWave's pulsing plasma towers transform carbon dioxide into liquid fuel 

By Tim De Chant via TechCrunch

• SpiralWave's plasma towers use a pulsing plasma system to transform captured CO2 into methanol, which can be used as fuel or for chemical production.

• Microwave pulses target different molecular bonds to convert CO2 and H2O into methanol, achieving an efficiency rate of 75-90%, far surpassing other CO2-based methanol production methods.

• Founders Abed Bukhari and Adam Amed plan to scale the technology, with future “Megabeam” and “Gigabeam” devices designed to capture gigatons of CO2 annually for combating climate change.

𝕏: You really gotta see this: SpiralWave, one of the TechCrunch Battlefield 20 competitors, has built a carbon-consuming tower that uses microwave-induced cold plasma to turn CO2 into methanol. - Tim De Chant (@tdechant)

---

Google Chrome adding 'Performance issue alerts' to desktop 

By Abner Li via 9to5Google 

• Google Chrome is introducing Performance issue alerts with a speedometer icon, identifying resource-heavy tabs and offering a "Fix now" option to deactivate them.

• Chrome's Memory Saver now includes Standard, Balanced, and Advanced modes, allowing users to manage resource use by adjusting how aggressively inactive tabs are deactivated.

• Additional customizations include disabling inactive tab indicators and memory usage previews, enhancing user control over browser performance.

---

The best way to reach new readers is through word of mouth. If you click THIS LINK in your inbox, it’ll create an easy-to-send pre-written email you can just fire off to some friends.

---

PlayStation Shutters Studio Behind 'Concord' Video-Game Flop

By Jason Schreier via Bloomberg

• Sony's PlayStation unit is shutting down Firewalk Studios, the developer of the shooter game Concord, which was taken offline shortly after its release.

• Additionally, Neon Koi, a mobile game studio under PlayStation that has yet to release a game, will also be closed.

• The closures impact approximately 210 jobs across both studios, as confirmed by a Sony spokesperson.

𝕏: According to two sources familiar with the agreement, Concord's development deal at Firewalk Studios was $200 million. That did not include marketing, the sale of IP rights, the acquisition of the studio, or game's delayed launch. - AmericanTruckSongs9 (@ethangach)

---

Visa, Coinbase Introduce Real-Time Crypto Funding for US & EU Customers

By Lora Pance via TechReport

• Visa and Coinbase are introducing real-time crypto funding for customers in the US and EU, allowing instant deposits and withdrawals that enable faster trading.

• The new feature, available to Visa cardholders linked to Coinbase, aims to simplify the crypto buying process, helping investors quickly seize market opportunities.

• This partnership could accelerate mass crypto adoption by bridging traditional finance with crypto and easing access for mainstream investors.

𝕏: Excited for Visa to partner with @coinbase to help them utilize Visa Direct to fund Coinbase accounts and enable real time cash outs - Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield)

---

Russia's 'Midnight Blizzard' hackers target government workers in novel info-stealing campaign 

By Jonathan Greig via The Record

• Russia’s Midnight Blizzard hackers (SVR) are targeting government, academia, defense, and NGO sectors with spear-phishing emails containing Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) configuration files that enable full device access.

• Microsoft reports that the RDP attachments allow hackers to map a victim’s local resources, access security keys, and potentially install malware, targeting thousands across over 100 organizations globally.

• Amazon and the Ukrainian Computer Emergency Response Team have also observed similar activity, with hackers using spoofed domains to capture Windows credentials rather than AWS credentials, aiming to compromise Russian adversaries.

𝕏: Russian threat actor Midnight Blizzard (NOBELIUM) launched a large-scale spear-phishing campaign using signed RDP files, targeting 100+ organizations, mainly in the UK, Europe, Australia, and Japan - Thomas Roccia (@fr0gger_)

---

Trending in AI

• More than a quarter of new code at Google is generated by AI

• Meta strikes multi-year AI deal with Reuters

• AI leads Python to top language as the number of global developers surges

• Samsung’s Sudden $122 Billion Wipeout Shows the Cost of Sleeping on AI

• How X users can earn thousands from US election misinformation and AI images

---

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit Daily fueled with highlights for your morning.

I hope you found it interesting and, needless to say, if you have any questions or feedback let me know by hitting reply.

Take care and see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

P.S. Want to advertise with us? We’d love to hear from you.

---

How was today’s email?

🫤 Not Great  |  🙂 Good  |  🤩 Amazing