Caltech wants to explore the ocean with swarms of bionic jellyfish
Engineers from Caltech and Stanford University have a plan to create bionically augmented jellyfish which may one day help explore the oceans.
NASA’s James Webb Telescope faces a new challenge: Time
NASA's James Webb Space Telescopes is unlikely to meet its launch date later this year, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. The report, titled 'James Webb Space Telescope: Technical Challenges Have Caused Schedule Strain and May Increase Costs,' details the status of the troubled telescope.
NASA’s Spitzer telescope mission comes to an end after 16 years of investigating space
After a 16-year-long mission to image our galaxy and beyond, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope mission ended this week. The spacecraft will no longer collect data.
Can Voyager 2, exploring space beyond the solar system, survive a power glitch?
One of the most distant man-made objects in the universe, NASA's Voyager 2, has suffered from a power glitch. Can it be repaired while in interstellar space?
Google deploys its SOS Alerts system for reliable coronavirus information
Google is helping to highlight verified information on the coronavirus by pushing it to the top of search results. Powered by Google’s SOS Alerts system, those using its search engine for information on the virus will see relevant news and safety tips from the World Health Organization at the top of the results.
Wild new ‘Trojan horse’ nanoparticle clears your arteries by gobbling up plaque
A hungry nanoparticle that eats away at your insides sounds like a nightmare straight out of a Michael Crichton novel. In fact, it could be a future defense against heart attacks, strokes, and potentially other fatal diseases -- as strange as that might initially sound.
Drone delivery: Medical supplies will soon be flying around San Diego
UPS and drone specialist Matternet are teaming up for a trial drone delivery service for health care facilities in San Diego. It follows a similar trial by the two firms in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2019. The San Diego effort will see medical samples flown between facilities.
Wawa data breach: Hacker is selling 30 million credit cards on the dark web
Credit card data from a security breach last year that affected Wawa, an East Coast convenience store chain, was discovered being sold in the corners of the dark web this week. The estimated 30 million credit cards affected makes it the third-largest credit card breach in history.
Feds ban Chinese-made drones over spying fears. Could your drone be next?
The U.S. Department of Interior essentially banned Chinese-made drones and drone parts because of the fear of these drones’ potential to be used for spying. The new no-fly rule is explicitly aimed at foreign drones and the only exceptions would be for responding to natural disasters or other emergencies.
Robot fry cook Flippy is getting a makeover to make it even more useful
Robot fry cook Flippy is getting a makeover. Here's how Miso Robotics' machine kitchen assistant is receiving an overhaul that will make it more useful than ever. While taking up a whole lot less kitchen floor space in the process. Coming soon to a burger joint near you?
This is the most detailed photo ever taken of the surface of the sun
To learn more about the enormous nuclear reactor that is our sun, the National Science Foundation has debuted the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope. With a 13-foot mirror, it is the world's largest solar telescope. The telescope's first light image has been released, showing a close-up view of the surface of the sun.
Two orbiting satellites could collide tonight over Pittsburgh
According to estimates based on a network of ground-based radars that are used to detect and track low-Earth-orbit objects, the chance of a possible collision between two satellites tonight is approximately one in 20. There will be no more than 40 feet between the two space bodies.
Microsoft wants to use A.I. to make health care better for everyone
Microsoft is bringing artificial intelligence into the health care world with the launch of a new program that aims to improve the health of people and communities around the globe. A.I. for Health will focus on advancing medical research, reducing health inequality, and compiling global health insights.
Google’s next virtual assistant could chat your ear off on just about any topic
In a new paper, Google detailed a "human-like" chatbot called Meena that can "engage in conversation on any topic." Meena, unlike its peers such as Google’s own Assistant, is an open-domain chatbot and is designed to contextually and constantly converse with you -- no matter the topic.
Get off the sidewalk! Lime’s new scooter aims to make you ride on the road
Lime is testing a novel way to gently persuade its riders to stick to the street and stay off the sidewalk. The scootersharing company has added sensors to its electric two-wheelers that can distinguish between a street and sidewalk, and will send notifications to riders if they spend too much time on the latter.
Meet the robot helping doctors treat coronavirus patients
There have been five confirmed cases of the quickly spreading coronavirus in the U.S. Since the coronavirus can transmit from person to person, doctors at a hospital in Washington treating one of the patients have taken extra caution to protect themselves by using a robot.
Chemists find a way to transform trash into wonder material graphene
Chemists at Rice University have developed a process that can transform trash or any large source of carbon into flakes of graphene, the all-around wonder material that promises all kinds of valuable applications. Here's how the process works -- and what they've got planned next.
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft could unravel the mystery of how the solar system formed
Next year, NASA launches the Lucy spacecraft to visit the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter. Digital Trends spoke with Hal Levison, principle investigator of the project, about how the mission could reveal clues about the formation of our solar system and could even offer insights into the origin of life on Earth.
Take a tour of the space station from the comfort of your own sofa
If you’ve ever wondered what it's like to stay on the International Space Station, then this fascinating video tour should give you a good idea. Astronauts Luca Parmitano and Drew Morgan kindly take us on a leisurely journey through the orbiting outpost, visiting an array of interesting features along the way.
Boeing hails first test flight of 777X, world’s largest twin-engine jet
Boeing on Saturday sent its new 777X jet on its first test flight ahead of deployment in 2021. Described as the world’s largest twin-engine plane in terms of length and width, the jet features specially designed folding wings that will enable it to operate at all of the airports that handle existing models of the 777.
This ancient dwarf star has oxygen from the Milky Way’s earliest supernovae
Astronomers studying one of the oldest known stars have found an unexpectedly high level of oxygen in its atmosphere. This suggests that oxygen was produced in the very earliest supernovae in our universe. The star is over 5,000 light-years away in the constellation of Lynx, and is a type called a halo star.
Hubble images dusty galaxy to learn about supermassive black holes
This week's image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1022, located in the constellation of Cetus. Scientists are observing this particular galaxy in order to study the relationship between the size of a galaxy and the size of the supermassive black hole at its center.
ISS astronauts succeed in fixing $2 billion ‘unserviceable’ instrument
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have completed a spacewalk to repair a dark matter detection instrument previously considered unserviceable. NASA's Andrew Morgan and European Space Agency's Luca Parmitano spent 6 hours and 16 minutes performing repairs to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
This planet is so hot it tears apart the hydrogen molecules in its atmosphere
The extreme forces acting on huge planets close to blistering stars lead to unexpected findings, like a planet that is hotter than most stars. The exoplanet KELT-9b, was the target of more research which revealed it is prone to planetwide meltdowns so severe they tear apart the molecules that make up its atmosphere.
Could Enceladus, the icy moon of Saturn, be capable of supporting life?
New research using data from Cassini suggests Enceladus, the moon of Saturn with an ocean hidden beneath a thick layer of ice, could be capable of supporting life. Cracks in the icy surface of the moon let out plumes of gases and sea spray, and data about these plumes can reveal more about the ocean hidden beneath.
This vampire star is feeding on its companion to create a ‘super-outburst’
Astronomers have spotted a vampire star feeding on one of its brethren in a dwarf nova. A nova is marked by the sudden appearance of a bight, seemingly new star, which fades over a period of weeks or months. What is unusual about this particular nova is that the white dwarf is feeding on one of its own, a brown dwarf.
Curiosity rover adjusts its attitude to its Martian surroundings
Like a surly teenager, everyone's favorite Martian explorer, NASA's Curiosity rover, suffered from an attitude problem last week. Attitude refers to a rover's ability to locate itself spatially, and it is essential for the rover to have accurate attitude information to move around and perform operations safely.
NASA’S NESSI instrument can pick out the atmospheres of distant exoplanets
NASA has a new tool to help in the hunt for exoplanets. The New Mexico Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Instrument, or NESSI, is an instrument on the Hale Telescope in San Diego which has been in testing since February 2018. Now, it's ready to start investigating the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system.
Celebrating Spitzer: NASA’s infrared telescope retiring after a 16-year mission
This week, NASA is saying goodbye to one of its most storied and productive telescopes: The Spitzer Space Telescope. As this remarkable 16-year mission draws to a close, we look back over its achievements and how its legacy will continue to inform astronomy and space exploration for years to come.
Astronauts discover how to bake the perfect cookie in space
Future astronauts heading to Mars will likely be baking chocolate chip cookies during the trip. The crew aboard the International Space Station recently made some of the cookies in the first-ever space-based baking experiment. The cookies returned to Earth last week and are now being inspected by scientists.
New Apple self-driving car patent could turn Siri into your personal chauffeur
Apple wants to patent a new technology that would allow you to use voice commands to tell your self-driving car where you want to go, with the car doing the navigation, driving, and parking for you. The end result would be a Siri-like system for controlling your self-driving car.
What if your smartphone could sweat? Sounds odd, but it could be a game changer
Do we want smartphones that sweat like nervous teenagers around their crush? Researchers from China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University think so. And they've developed a special sweating sorbent coating to prove why it could turn out to be so useful. (Spoiler: It's for cooling.)
CRISPR gene editing could help stop a common poultry virus in its tracks
Researchers at the Czech Academy of Sciences may have successfully used CRISPR gene editing to create chickens that are resistant to avian leukosis virus (ALV), a common but deadly virus whose symptoms range from emaciation and dehydration to depressed behavior. Here's how they did it.
Seattle’s vote-by-phone system could be a game changer, but only if it’s secure
For the King Conservation District Board of Supervisors, Seattle and other cities will allow residents to vote by phone using technology created by Democracy Live, in a pilot funded by Tusk Philanthropy, that hopes to increase mobile voting. Security issues are obvious, but some say it will increase turnout.