NASA astronaut Anne McClain performs the first series of tests of an Astrobee robot, Bumble, during a hardware check. NASA There are some unexpected guests aboard the International Space Station (ISS): cute cube robots called Astrobees which help the crew with day to day tasks. Now the first Astrobee robot has undergone hardware tests to […]
Emerging Tech
Chang’e 4 mission may have found minerals from beneath the surface of the moon
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center China’s Chang’e 4 mission has been exploring the far side of the moon since it landed at the start of the year, and has already made discoveries about the temperature on the moon and sent back images of the moon’s lesser-explored regions. Now it has made a major discovery: pieces […]
See the impact site where Beresheet crashed into the moon
Left: Beresheet crash site. Right: A comparison of images taken before and after the crash, enhanced to show the subtle changes in the brightness of the surface. NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University SpaceIL’s Beresheet spacecraft might not have made the final hurdle to land on the moon, but it could still make a contribution to scientific knowledge. […]
Purdue’s robotic hummingbird is nearly as nimble as the real thing
[embedded content] In West Lafayette, Indiana, the renowned ornithologist Xinyan Deng stretches out her hand to serve as a platform for a magnificent turquoise and dark green hummingbird. It hovers just above her palm, wings beating rapidly to keep it airborne, but otherwise remaining perfectly stationary. Although several types of bird can hover in this […]
UV-activated superglue could literally help to heal broken hearts
Scientists at Zhejiang University in China have developed a new high-tech glue that’s capable of efficiently healing damage to organs, including the heart. While it hasn’t been tested on humans, the groundbreaking adhesive gel has been successfully demonstrated in animal tests involving pigs. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, scientists used a needle to puncture a small […]
SpaceX scraps second effort to launch 60 Starlink satellites
[embedded content] UPDATE: SpaceX has scrapped its second attempt to launch a fleet of 60 Starlink satellites that should provide low-cost, high-speed global internet coverage to the world — if only Elon Musk can get them aloft. The decision came a couple of hours before the opening of the launch window Thursday evening. In a […]
SpaceX calls off Starlink launch just 15 minutes before liftoff
SpaceX postponed the planned deployment of 60 Starlink satellites on Wednesday night, May 15, due to strong upper-altitude winds. The announcement came at around 11 p.m. ET on Wednesday evening, just 15 minutes before SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was due to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Standing down today due […]
Think your kid might have an ear infection? This app can confirm it
You may have heard about artificial intelligence algorithms which can smell diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Crohn’s or even liver failure. But here’s a new one: An A.I. smartphone app that’s able to hear ear infections. That’s something a team of researchers from the University of Washington have been working to develop. It works by detecting […]
San Francisco won the battle, but the war on facial-recognition has just begun
San Francisco has become the first city in America to ban facial recognition. Well, kind of. In fact, the ban — voted on this week by the city’s Board of Supervisors — bars only the use of facial recognition by city agencies, such as the police department. It doesn’t affect the use of facial recognition […]
Soaring on air currents like birds could let drones fly for significantly longer
Birds can fly by flapping their wings to achieve lift. But once they have achieved a certain elevation, they can sometimes do the aerial equivalent of freewheeling by gliding on rising air currents, known as thermals. This energy-saving technique could also be used by drones to allow them to remain airborne for longer. The U.S. […]
Volkswagen is launching a full range of EVs, but it doesn’t want to be Tesla
Ronan Glon/Digital Trends If Apple ever finally decides to make a car, it might end up looking a lot like the 2020 Volkswagen ID.3. This fully electric, Golf-sized hatchback puts an equal emphasis on cutting-edge, user-friendly technology and clean, simple design. It will not be sold in the United States, but much of the technology […]
Japan’s latest bullet train begins trial runs that will see it reach 248 mph
Previous Next Japan has started testing the latest version of its high-speed bullet train. Each new generation of Shinkansen, as it’s known locally, brings with it a design even more dazzling than the one that went before, and the new Alfa-X, which stands for “Advanced Labs for Frontline Activity in rail eXperimentation,” is certainly no […]
Amazon’s new fulfillment center machines pack boxes up to 5x faster than humans
From drone deliveries to checkout-free brick-and-mortar stores, Amazon has made no secret of its desire to automate as many parts of the retail experience as possible. While Amazon employs thousands of people in its fulfillment centers, it may be because it hasn’t yet figured out a way to automate their role. Until now, that is. […]
This is what 60 SpaceX internet satellites packed into a rocket looks like
SpaceX chief Elon Musk has unveiled the first batch of internet satellites that the company plans to fire into space from Cape Canaveral in the coming days. The 60 satellites, packed on a Falcon 9 rocket and ready to go, will mark the initial deployment for Musk’s attention-grabbing Starlink project that over time will send […]
The earliest galaxies shone brightly in the young universe
This artist’s illustration shows what one of the very first galaxies in the universe might have looked like. High levels of violent star formation and star death would have illuminated the gas filling the space between stars, making the galaxy largely opaque and without a clear structure. James Josephides (Swinburne Astronomy Productions) Observations from NASA’s […]