Research Centre For Science and Technology

Economy | Business and Economy
Facebook ‘planning to rebrand
company’ with new name
CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to talk
about the name change at its annual
conference on October 28, but it could
be sooner.
Facebook is facing increasing US government
scrutiny over its business practices [File: Gabby
Jones/Bloomberg]
20 Oct 2021
Social media giant Facebook Inc is
planning to rebrand itself with a new
name next week, American technology
blog the Verge reported on Tuesday,
citing a source with direct knowledge
of the matter.
Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark
Zuckerberg plans to talk about the
name change at the company’s annual
Connect conference on October 28, but
it could be unveiled sooner, the Verge
reported.
In response, Facebook said it does not
comment on “rumour or speculation”.
The news comes at a time when the
company is facing increasing
government scrutiny in the United
States over its business practices.
Legislators from both parties have
excoriated the company, illustrating
the rising anger in Congress with
Facebook.
‘A metaverse company’
The rebranding would position
Facebook’s social media app as one of
many products under a parent
company, which will also oversee
groups like Instagram, WhatsApp,
Oculus and more, the Verge report
added.
It is not uncommon in Silicon Valley
for companies to change their names
as they bid to expand their services.
Google established Alphabet Inc as a
holding company in 2015 to expand
beyond its search and advertising
businesses, to oversee various other
ventures ranging from its autonomous
vehicle unit and health technology to
providing internet services in remote
areas.
The move to rebrand will also reflect
Facebook’s focus on building the so-
called metaverse, an online world
where people can use different devices
to move and communicate in a virtual
environment, according to the report.
Facebook has invested heavily in
virtual reality (VR) and augmented
reality (AR) and intends to connect its
nearly three billion user

North Korea has long sought the
means to deliver an atomic warhead
to the United States , its sworn enemy,
and its latest nuclear test followed
reports it could load a hydrogen bomb
onto an intercontinental ballistic
missile (ICBM).
Hydrogen bombs, or H-bombs, are far
more powerful than the relatively
simple atomic weapons North Korea
was believed to have tested so far.
As opposed to the atomic bomb – the
kind dropped on Japan by the US in
the closing days of World War II – the
hydrogen bomb can be 1,000 times
more powerful.
North Korea’s first three nuclear tests
from 2006 to 2013 were atomic bombs
on roughly the same scale as the ones
used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
which together killed more than
200,000 people.
However, the latest test is estimated to
have a yield of about 100 kilotons, 10
times stronger than last year’s test that
caused a 5.3 magnitude quake.
A jubilant North Korean newsreader
hailed the “unprecedentedly large”
blast on state television, adding it
“marked a very significant occasion in
attaining the final goal of completing
the state nuclear force“.
The hydrogen bomb, also called a
thermonuclear bomb, uses fusion – or
atomic nuclei coming together – to
produce explosive energy. Stars also
produce energy through fusion.
Atomic bombs rely on fission, or atom-
splitting, just as nuclear power plants
do.
The technology of the hydrogen bomb
is more sophisticated, and once
attained, it is a greater threat. It can
also be made small enough to fit on a
head of an ICBM.
“Such a device could evaporate the
entire city of New York completely – no
one would stay alive,” Andrei Lankov,
a professor of Korean studies at
Kookmin University in Seoul, told Al
Jazeera.
“With an atomic bomb, you can kill
half of Manhattan, at most.”
READ MORE: World leaders unite in
condemnation of North Korea
While much more potent, H-bombs are
also much more costly.
“For the North Koreans to have such a
powerful and expensive [device] is a
bit of overkill – it simply does not
mak

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