Read the latest articles from Futurism (Page 777)

If there's a fundamental unit of time at the tiniest scales of the universe, it's too small to measure. But scientists found what its upper limit must be.
Physics

Physicists Say This Is the Smallest Unit of Time That Could Exist

Tick, tiick, tiiick, tiiiiiiiii...

Rather than addressing a deepening health crisis, the Trump Administration has chosen to come out against top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci.
Developments

Instead of Fighting COVID, the White House Is Attacking Anthony Fauci

With 134,000 Americans dead, is this a smart reaction to the pandemic?

Engineer Jau Tang has plans to clean up our act. His research shows how we could do away with fossil fuels, instead powering vehicles with plasma and air.
Advanced Transport

This Scientist Says He’s Built a Jet Engine That Turns Electricity Directly Into Thrust

If this plasma propulsion tech is real, it could change everything.

A new visualization by SpaceX enthusiast and Twitter user Neopork shows just how much room there is inside Starship's cargo fairing.
Starship

Here’s How Many Shipping Containers You Could Fit Inside SpaceX’s Starship

Getting this much cargo into space at a time could be "truly revolutionary."

Acclaimed musician Kanye West has been hanging out with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, according to a photo the "Jesus Walks" singer posted on Twitter.
Elon Musk

Kanye West Is Hanging Out With Elon Musk, For Some Reason

Elon Musk: "Kanye’s belief in himself and his incredible tenacity — he performed his first single with his jaw wired shut — got him to where he is today."

MIT permanently deleted a massive dataset used for training AI after learning that it was full of racist and sexist slurs.
Artificial Intelligence

MIT Deletes Database That Taught AI to Be Racist, Sexist

An MIT team says they "sincerely apologize" for an AI training database that labeled Black people with the N-word.

Scientists Say They’ve Found the Exact Center of the Solar System
Solar Power

Scientists Say They’ve Found the Exact Center of the Solar System

It could help us make vastly better gravitational wave recordings.

Dr. Fauci hasn't been able to brief President Trump on the coronavirus pandemic for two months. The two haven't even seen each other since early June.
Developments

Dr. Fauci Says Trump Hasn’t Talked to Him in a Month

In fact, Fauci says, the two haven't had a briefing in two months.

A team of astronomers from Harvard University and the Black Hole Initiative developed a new method to hunt for evidence of Planet Nine.
Science & Energy

Astronomers Want to Figure Out What the Hell Planet Nine Is Once and For All

Is it a gigantic planet five times the size of Earth — or an apple-sized black hole?

Astronomers have created a 3D map of a gigantic cosmic structure called the "South Pole Wall" that's 1.4 billion light-years across.
Science & Energy

Astronomers Discover Deep-Space “Structure,” 1.4 Billion Light Years Across

That's roughly 8,400,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles.

Mysterious ring-shaped objects deep in space have astronomers baffled: after ruling out some usual suspects, they think they're something brand new.
Science & Energy

Astronomers Baffled by Mysterious Ring-Shaped Objects in Deep Space

They're unlike anything astronomers have ever observed before.

According to a statement released by China’s embassy in Kazakhstan on Thursday, a deadly "unknown pneumonia" was spreading. Officials deny the claim.
Developments

Kazakhstan Denies China’s Claim of Disease Deadlier Than COVID-19

Did the Chinese embassy cry wolf?

Performing surgeries in space could end up being a pretty messy — and potentially dangerous — reality for astronauts on future missions to Mars.
Off-World

Scientists Ponder Gory Mayhem of Zero-Gravity Surgery

"One problem was that, during open surgery, the intestines would float around."

SpaceX is planning the first test flight of its Starship prototype as soon as next week if a Raptor rocket engine test goes according to plan.
Starship

SpaceX Is Planning Starship’s First Test Flight for Next Week

SpaceX is eager to get its rocket monstrosity off the ground.

If a spacecraft ferried passengers to new star systems, their language would evolve to the point of making communicating with Earth extremely difficult.
Space

On an Interstellar Flight, Language Itself Would Evolve

After several generations, language would become unrecognizable.

A company called Pioneer Astronautics just got millions in funding from NASA to develop a way to extract oxygen from beneath the lunar surface.
Science & Energy

NASA Pumps Funding Into Startup That Says It Can Harvest Oxygen From Lunar Regolith

Pioneer Astronautics has a plan to generate oxygen from the Moon's dusty surface.

In a video message recorded for the Shanghai World AI Conference (WAIC), Musk stated that Tesla will reach (basic) Level 5 autonomy this year.
Elon Musk

Elon Musk Brags That Tesla Is “Very Close” to Full, Level 5 Self Driving

"I'm extremely confident that level 5 or essentially complete autonomy will happen and I think will happen very quickly."

The coronavirus seems to kill more men than women for unknown reasons, but a new data tracker may help scientists get to the bottom of it.
Viruses

Scientists Still Don’t Know Why COVID-19 Hits Men and Women Differently

"The variability in death rates is immense."

Elon Musk's The Boring Company has decided to put on a fun competition, challenging the general public to dig a tunnel faster than a snail.
Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s Boring Company Announces Tunnel-Digging Contest

How fast can you dig a hole?

Sony has developed a wearable personal air conditioner that you can stick inside a specially-designed pocket sewn into an accompanying shirt.
Robots and Machines

Wearable Air Conditioner Could Stave Off Your Death In This Heat Wave

You'll have to take Sony's word that it actually works.