Take stunning aerial shots with the Potensic D85 drone, now $270 on Amazon
If you’re itching to get that overhead shot of a stunning vista but unfortunately you can’t fly, you need to get yourself a drone. A low-cost introductory drone with an excellent camera, advanced safety features, and outstanding flight performance is the Potensic D85 quadcopter. Get it on Amazon for $270.
SpaceX’s Starhopper test rocket successfully completes its first hop
SpaceX successfully launched a test prototype of its future Starship rocket, called Starhopper, on Thursday. The test version of the rocket was launched from a location in Texas and was able to hover in the air for a few seconds before it returned to the ground and landed.
This groundbreaking bionic eye system restores lost vision with a retina chip
Clinical trials of a pair of smartglasses designed to help legally blind people to see again are currently taking place in the United States. The breakthrough glasses feature an embedded camera, which beams visual information to a microchip implanted in the wearer’s retina.
All systems nearing go: NASA fuels Mars 2020 rover’s plutonium power system
Preparations continue for the launch of the Mars 2020 rover, with NASA engineers now fueling its power system. The latest component to be readied is the rover's generator, the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, or MMRTG, which is essentially a nuclear battery, according to NASA.
Smart assistive driving tech allows one truck driver to control multiple trucks
Connected vehicle company Peloton Technology has developed some impressive new assistive driving technology that allows one driver to control multiple trucks at the same time. Here's how it works -- and why it could turn out to be a game-changer for the trucking industry.
Deepfake-hunting A.I. could help strike back against the threat of fake news
Deepfakes are an amazing use of A.I. technology in action. They're also a terrifying glimpse at the future of fake news. At Drexel University, researchers have developed a neural network which can spot these manipulated images with a high degree of accuracy.
Sony’s Reon Pocket is a smartphone-controlled wearable air conditioner
Sometimes it feels like there's no escaping extreme temperatures, especially when you have to venture outside and face the weather. Sony may have a solution in the form of a wearable air conditioner called the Reon Pocket. The small device fits in a pocket on an undergarment, with the temperature controlled via an app.
Attempt to pilot a flyboard across the English Channel ends in the water
It was going so well for French inventor Franky Zapata as he attempted to become the first person to fly 20 miles across the English Channel with a flyboard. But when he tried to make a brief refueling stop on choppy waters, he toppled off the boat and into the sea. Zapata says he’ll try again soon.
SpaceX’s latest resupply launch to the ISS was a success against the odds
SpaceX’s latest resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has been a resounding success, as one of Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 rockets took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Thursday afternoon, one day after the company had to scrap the launch due to poor weather
Watch as SpaceX again attempts to launch Falcon 9 rocket on a mission to the ISS
SpaceX will try again to launch its 20th Dragon spacecraft mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, one day after the planned launch was scrapped due to weather. You can watch the entire event live here. The mission will deliver new tools for the experiments and investigations on the ISS.
Ingredient found in red wine could help astronauts thrive on the Red Planet
How do future astronauts cope physically with a potentially nine-month journey to Mars in a cramped spacecraft, followed by extended periods on the Red Planet? Wine. Lots of wine. Well kind of. A new study suggests that an ingredient in wine could keep Mars astronauts healthy.
SpaceX’s latest Starhopper test goes up in a puff of smoke (again)
SpaceX wanted to send its Starhopper spacecraft skyward on Wednesday but had to abort the effort at the very last moment. It was only destined to travel 20 meters above the ground in what would have been its first untethered flight, but something went wrong as the engine fired.
SpaceX forced to cancel CRS-18 Falcon 9 rocket launch due to weather
SpaceX had to once again delay its latest Falcon 9 rocket launch on Wednesday, this time due to poor weather, delaying a planned supply run to the International Space Station. The company will try again on Thursday.
The next photo you see while shopping online may have been snapped by a robot
Can a robotic photo studio replace a professional photographer for product photography? Meet the $20,000 robot that snaps product photos for less than $10 as part of the new Square Photo Studio. The robot snaps product photos on a traditional white background and is designed for small businesses.
Secure one-touch control with the Alfred deadbolt smart lock
Security and convenience rank as the two most important reasons people buy smart devices for their homes. Entertainment value and cost-savings also matter in smart home uptake, but they're second-tier motivations. Alfred's new Alfred DB1 Smart Locks make your home safer and your life easier, checking the top two boxes.
Hands on with the CM Translator, a pocket powerhouse for translation
The CM Translator from Cheetah Mobile seems the answer to every traveler’s dream: It translates between half a dozen foreign languages, including Chinese, Spanish, and Thai, at the push of a button. And it does it all with the power of machine learning and A.I.
UPS sees a way forward for drone delivery and is going for it
UPS is getting serious about drone deliveries. The shipping giant has been exploring the idea for several years, and has even been testing a service delivering medical samples across a hospital campus in North Carolina. Now it has set up a new drone subsidiary called Flight Forward to take its plans to the next level.
Bill Nye’s Lightsail 2 is ready to surf through space on solar winds
LightSail 2, a crowdfunded spacecraft launched by Bill Nye the Science Guy’s nonprofit Planetary Society, has unfurled its solar sail in space. In doing so, it demonstrates the feasibility of so-called solar sailing, in which a spacecraft orbits the Earth using sunlight as its fuel.
Clever new haptic vest could let rescue dogs take commands from miles away
Researchers in Israel have developed a haptic vest for dogs. It allows owners to communicate instructions to their pooch through specific vibration patterns. In doing so, it could be possible to communicate information to dogs in scenarios when other forms of communication are not available.
Original videotape of Apollo landing sells at auction for a cool $1.8 million
An original videotape of the moon landing has sold at auction for $1.8 million. Sotheby's describes the tapes as the earliest, sharpest and most accurate surviving video images of man’s first steps on the moon, and offers them in original, unadulterated form -- unrestored, unenhanced and unremastered.
Flyboard Air inventor plans daring 20-mile flight over English Channel this week
Franky Zapata is planning to fly his jet-powered hoverboard across the English Channel on Thursday. The 20-mile trip is a big challenge, though, with the Flyboard Air inventor admitting he only has a 30% chance of succeeding. Zapata hit the headlines last week when he flew his board at France’s Bastille Day parade.
Toyota shows off mascot robots and tiny autonomous car for Tokyo Olympics
Toyota has shown off seven robots that it says will assist and entertain at the Tokyo Olympics next summer. The collection includes mascot and telepresence robots, as well as a tiny autonomous car to help in field events. The robots form part of Toyota’s efforts to broaden its business beyond just auto sales.
Elon Musk’s Hyperloop pod race sees German team zoom to victory (again)
A German team of student engineers has come first in the latest Hyperloop pod speed contest in California. The team's design reached 288 mph (463 kph) along a straight, three-quarter-mile test track, beating three rival teams. Next year’s contest will increase the challenge by using a much longer, curved track.
Jetpack pilot flies around Sydney Harbour and stays dry, unlike before
Ten years ago, a jetpack demonstration by Aussie entrepreneur David Mayman saw him end up in Sydney Harbour, but on Sunday he returned with a far more sophisticated design that this time kept him dry. The flight was part of promotional efforts for a new documentary about his ongoing quest to build the perfect jetpack.
Parrot retires its mini-drones to focus on its Anafi quadcopter
Parrot is retiring its mini-drones to focus on developing its more advanced Anafi quadcopter for the commercial market. The decision means an end to sales of devices such as the Mambo and Swing. The company recently won a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a drone for soldiers.
Three new astronauts join the International Space Station crew for Expedition 60
Exactly fifty years after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon, a new team of astronauts arrived at the International Space Station to begin their stay there. NASA's Andrew Morgan, Roscosmos' Alexander Skvortsov, and European Space Agency's Luca Parmitano will join the crew of the ISS.
NASA’s Artemis capsule is complete, will carry the first woman to the moon
The crew capsule which will carry astronauts to the moon as part of the Artemis project has been completed. The completion of the Artemis 1 capsule was announced by Vice President Mike Pence during a speech at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo mission.
China’s space station, Tiangong-2, has burned up in the atmosphere
China's space station, Tiangong-2, has burned up in the Earth's atmosphere as part of a planned deorbital maneuver. It was launched in 2016 as a test bed and was originally only scheduled to be in space for two or three years. But it survived longer than expected and spent nearly 1,000 days in space.
Harvard University has a bold new plan to make Mars livable for humans
Want to live on Mars? Researchers from Harvard University have a bold new way to make it happen. They suggest that an insulating material, referred to as a silica aerogel, could be used to make growing plants on Mars feasible. Here's why it makes more sense than many proposals.
Practically perfect in every way: Hubble shows galaxy with amazing symmetry
This week's Hubble image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 2985, located over 70 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear). Hubble scientists describe NGC 2985 as having near-perfect symmetry, showing tightly wound spiral arms which converge in the center of the galaxy.
Could Mars’ now-barren Gale Crater lake have once supported life?
The Gale Crater, the dried up lake bed on Mars on which the Curiosity rover landed, could once have supported life. Using data from Curiosity, a team of scientists from NASA and Penn State University were tasked with determining if life could ever have existed in the now barren Gale Crater.
Mars 2020 rover enters its final year of engineering before launch
The countdown has begun in the last year of development before the Mars 2020 launches. The launch window opens on July 17, 2020, and runs until August 5, 2020 for the launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Progress on finalizing the rover is right on track, according to NASA.
50 years later, the first camera on the moon is still collecting lunar dust
Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong weren't alone when they first stepped foot on the moon -- they had a Hasselblad camera in tow. Here, we look back at the camera that captured some of history's most iconic images, including our first steps on the moon and one of the best selfies to date.
