Astronomers have spotted a moon forming around a proto-Jupiter
Astronomers have spotted a young planet with a disk of gas and dust around it which is believed to be similar to the one from which the moons of Jupiter were born. The planet PDS 70 b is a gas giant several times the size of Jupiter which is in the process of forming and is located 370 light-years away.
The Very Large Telescope captures the beautiful remnants of a dying star
This beautiful cosmic object is a planetary nebula named Abell 24, captured by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT). Located in constellation of Canis Minor (The Lesser Dog), it is a swirl of dust and gas which is illuminated by the core of a dead star.
See a gargantuan dust storm covering the north pole of Mars
An epic dust storm around Mars' north pole has been imaged by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. Smaller localized dust storms are common on Mars, but occasionally a storm will expand into a planet-wide event like this one or the one which caused the demise of the Opportunity rover.
Russia launches X-ray observatory capable of locating thousands of black holes
Russia has finally launched its X-ray observatory, Spektr-RG, after a delay caused by faulty batteries on board the spacecraft. The launch took place at 5:30 a.m. PT on Saturday, July 13. Spektr-RG was created in cooperation between the Russian Federal Space Agency and the German Aerospace Centre.
Professional poker players no match for A.I. in six-player Texas Hold ’em
Pluribus, an A.I. system created by researchers from Facebook's A.I. lab and Carnegie Mellon University, destroyed professional poker players in Texas Hold 'em. The bot won an average of $5 per hand with winnings of $1,000 per hour, with strategies that were very different from how humans played the game.
Impossible Foods looks to make another splash with fishless fish
Impossible Foods, the company behind the Impossible Burger, is currently developing fishless fish in response to the growing demand for plant-based food. The product will include heme, a protein from genetically modified yeast that was also used to copy the texture, taste, and aroma of beef.
Bouncing robot for low-gravity space missions has a spring in its step
If you've ever looked at astronauts bouncing on the moon and thought that looked a great way to get around, you're not the only one. The European Space Agency has created SpaceBok, a robot for low-gravity "dynamic walking". On the moon, SpaceBok could potentially jump as high as six and a half into the air.
Meet NASA’s climbing robots, able to move through the slipperiest environments
When it comes to exploring far off planets, robots need to be able to tackle all sorts of environmental challenges. NASA has been working on a series of climbing robots to take on different tasks in inhospitable environments, like LEMUR which can climb rock walls using fishhooks in its fingers.
Hubble spots unexpected disc around supermassive black hole
Hubble has discovered something odd: A disc of material around a supermassive black hole which was thought to be starving, but looks like what is seen in very active galaxies. The black hole in question lies at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 3147, which is 130 million light-years away from Earth.
Orbiter spots Curiosity from space, shows our rover friend on surface of Mars
If you've been wondering how Curiosity is faring on Mars, now you can see for yourself, thanks to this image of the rover captured from orbit by NASA's HiRISE camera. Curiosity is sitting pretty in a location called Woodland Bay, which is part of the clay-bearing unit that the rover has been exploring.
Autonomous ships are coming, and we’re not ready for them
Cars may dominate today’s discussion about the future of autonomous transportation, but some of the world’s largest maritime companies are betting big on autonomous shipping
Digital Trends Live: Alexa-enabled robot, Facebook plays poker, and more
On this episode of Digital Trends Live, host Greg Nibler and DT Producer Adrien Warner discuss the trending tech topics of the day, including Amazon’s Alexa-enabled robot, Facebook’s A.I. beats professional poker players, a bike lane delivery robot, Minecraft Earth, and more.
Bacteria could help mass-produce wonder material graphene at scale
Researchers from the U.S. and the Netherlands have figured out a way to produce wonder material graphene by mixing oxidized graphite with bacteria. Their method is cost-efficient, time-efficient, and sustainable -- and may just make graphene a whole lot more available in the future.
MIT whiz kids got a robot to take on the viral #BottleCapChallenge
What do the ultra-smart students at MIT CSAIL think about when they’re not hard at work? It turns out that it’s much the same stuff the rest of us ponder: namely, the latest silly viral meme challenge. Unlike us, however, they've managed to get a robot to take a shot at it.
The Rev-1 delivery robot is fast enough to hit the bike lane
Tootling into view is yet another wheel-based delivery robot, this one from U.S. startup Refraction A.I. The autonomous Rev-1 robot is designed for last-mile deliveries, has enough space for around five grocery bags, and is said to be faster and cheaper than many of its rivals.
What Skylab taught us about space research, 40 years later
Thursday was the 40th anniversary of Skylab falling back to Earth. While most people know it as America's first manned space station, its influence extends much further, inspiring space research and scientific curiosity for decades
Scientists use bounced lasers to determine whether a glass of water is pure
Scientists from the University of Missouri and Mexico’s Universidad de Guanajuato have come up with a high-tech way to work out whether water is pure using bounced lasers. The approach involves using a tattoo removal laser machine to flash out a series of brief bursts of light.
NASA video celebrates the discovery of the 4,000th exoplanet
Exoplanets are celestial bodies outside of our solar system, with some potentially able to sustain life. A new NASA video celebrates the discovery of 4,000 exoplanets by powerful space telescopes since 1992. The now-retired Kepler telescope found most of them, but the new TESS satellite is expected to find many more.
Hayabusa2 probe collects first-ever subsurface samples from an asteroid
It can be hard waiting for news from 200 million miles away, but on Wednesday night, Japan's space agency said it believes its Hayabusa2 probe had successfully collected the first subsurface material from an asteroid. Now comes the tricky job of getting it back to Earth.
Move over, Spot. Anymal is a four-legged dog robot with all kinds of new tricks
Boston Dynamics isn’t the only company building impressive dog robots. Swiss robotics company Anybotics has also created its own quadruped robot -- and it's pretty darn impressive. Here's what it's capable of, and the kinds of jobs that it excels at performing.
Virgin Orbit took a major step toward launching satellites from a Boeing 747
Virgin Orbit launched a rocket from a specially-modified Boeing 747 on Wednesday, clearing the way for the company to launch a similar rocket into space later this year. A spinoff of Virgin Galactic, it plans to launch small satellites into low-Earth orbit from a plane instead of from the ground.
U.K. military is getting serious about lasers and other energy weapons
The U.K.’s Ministry of Defense is cranking up its investment into cutting-edge laser weapons in an effort to revolutionize the battlefield for the 21st century. Here is what you can expect from the next generation of laser and radio frequency directed-energy weapons!
This wearable sensor sips sweat to work out whether a person is dehydrated
A new smart sensor can tell whether a person is becoming dehydrated by analyzing the potassium and sodium in their sweat. Here's how it works -- and how it could be a possible game-changer for everyone from athletes to soldiers to those individuals who work outside jobs.
Researchers made a tiny polarization camera that sees what humans can’t
How well can the cameras in self-driving cars see camouflaged or transparent objects? A new polarization camera developed by researchers at Harvard could help improve the accuracy of machine vision, as well as aiding in the facial recognition inside a smartphone, aiding atmospheric studies and more.
Digital Trends Live: Google and Amazon call truce, IBM foldable watch, and more
On this episode of Digital Trends Live, we discuss the biggest trending tech stories of the day, including a Google and Amazon video service truce, an IBM foldable watch, Waymo’s robo-taxi perks, Amazon moves to be your home internet provider, Donkey Kong celebrates a birthday, and more.
Researchers have built a robot whose sole mission in life is to pick lettuce
Researchers at the United Kingdom's University of Cambridge have developed an A.I.-powered robot that’s able to identify and pick iceberg lettuce. It joins the growing number of robots that are designed to help harvest fresh produce, ranging from strawberries to cucumbers.
Amazing smart glass can recognize numbers, no added tech required
What if it was possible to carry out facial recognition using just an ordinary piece of glass, with no added sensors or other tech? It sounds crazy, but that’s exactly what researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have been working to bring to life. Here's how it works.
Digital rights group Fight for the Future wants to ban facial recognition
Fight for the Future, a digital rights group, announced a campaign on Tuesday calling for a complete ban on government use of facial recognition surveillance software. The campaign, BanFacialRecognition.com, asks visitors to the site to contact their lawmakers about the issue.
Moment Air brings an anamorphic lens to DJI’s drones for cinematic flair
Moment Air is the latest project from Moment, which includes an anamorphic lens for the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic 2 Zoom. It also includes ND and CPL filters for the camera on the drones and the lens, as well as an ultrathin iPhone case that works with Moment's M-series mount.
SpaceX wins contract to launch NASA’s new X-Ray observatory in 2021
NASA has announced it will be contracting SpaceX to launch its newest X-Ray observatory into space. This is the sixth contract the company has won through NASA's Lunch Service Program, which oversees the launch of rockets carrying satellites for scientific missions by contracting with commercial companies.
Amazon takes another step toward being your home internet provider
Amazon subsidiary Kuiper Systems filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday to obtain permission to launch 3,236 broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit. The goal of the satellites would be to cover the majority of the United States with broadband internet
Japanese researchers use deep learning A.I. to get driftwood robots moving
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have figured out a way to take everyday natural objects and get deep reinforcement learning algorithms to figure out how to make them move. Here's how they did it -- and why it's such an exciting development for robotics as we know it.
The best robot kits for kids
Every kid loves a good toy, but when it comes time for presents, wouldn’t you like to give them something that will also help them learn? These robotics kits represent the best of both worlds, and allow your child to learn the basic principles of engineering and programming while they play.
This robot arm for a wheelchair does everything from open doors to apply makeup
Canadian tech company Kinova Robotics has developed a lightweight, carbon fiber robotic arm which attaches to wheelchairs. Boasting three fingers and six degrees of freedom, it can be used for carrying out a wide range of everyday tasks that a lot of would take for granted.