Read the latest articles from Futurism (Page 781)

While NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were trapped inside SpaceX's Crew Dragon for hours, they made several prank calls to pass the time.
NASA

Bored Inside Their Spacecraft, NASA Astronauts Made Prank Calls to Pass the Time

"Five hours ago we were bobbing around in a spacecraft making prank satellite phone calls to whoever we could get ahold of."

By Victor Tangermann

The 14 Least and Most Effective Kinds of Masks: Ranked! By Scientists!
Developments

The 14 Least and Most Effective Kinds of Masks: Ranked! By Scientists!

Wearing a bandanna might be worse than wearing no mask at all, according to this study.

By Victor Tangermann

According to a new study published today in the Journal of Adolescent Health, young adults who vape are way more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19.
Developments

Study: Young Vapers Far More Likely to be Diagnosed With COVID-19

"I did not expect it to be this strong of a relationship."

By Victor Tangermann

A London courtroom declared the South Wales Police's notorious use of mass facial recognition surveillance is unlawful due to a lack of safeguards.
Facial recognition

UK Court Slams Automatic Facial Recognition Tech as “Unlawful”

"We should all be able to use our public spaces without being subjected to oppressive surveillance."

By Dan Robitzski

Tesla competitor Lucid Motors claims its Air electric sedan has a whopping 517 miles (832 km) on a single charge, as certified by the EPA.
Tesla

Tesla Competitor, Lucid, Claims Their Car Will Have a 517 Mile Range

Is this the range anxiety killer we've been waiting for?

By Victor Tangermann

Russia Says It Has Approved an Untested COVID Vaccine
Developments

Russia Says It Has Approved an Untested COVID Vaccine

Its effectiveness and safety have yet to be proven.

By Victor Tangermann

New York's mass transportation agency, fed up with folks taking off their masks to unlock their iPhones, wants Apple to improve facial recognition features.
Artificial Intelligence

New York City Subway System Asks Apple to Improve Masked Face ID

The MTA just doubled-down on Apple.

By Jacob Banas

How much effort should we place on preserving World Heritage Sites threatened by climate changes brought on by human activity?
Climate Change

New Climate Paper: Maybe Let’s Let Venice Sink?

Should World Heritage Sites just succumb to time?

By Jacob Banas

The UK government has been funneling millions of dollars into a gun and knife crime prediction tool that uses artificial intelligence. Turns out it sucks.
Artificial Intelligence

Minority Report-Style Crime-Predicting AI Predictably Sucks At Its Job

It's basically unusable — and potentially dangerous.

By Victor Tangermann

The Department of Energy recently signed a contract with an AI lab to come up with a machine learning bird watcher to study bird around solar farms.
Artificial Intelligence

Scientists Are Using an “AI Bird Watcher” to Solve a Solar Farm Bird Massacre Mystery

Solar energy may be far more deadly than you might think.

By Victor Tangermann

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Could Revolutionize Off-Planet Exploration
Mars

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Could Revolutionize Off-Planet Exploration

If it succeeds, future missions could soar over alien landscapes — instead of crawling across them like bugs.

By Victor Tangermann

Havn Life wants to build a safe, standardized supply chain for psilocybin researchers in Canada in hopes of developing new medical treatments.
RX and Medicine

Meet the Woman Who Wants to Sell Psychedelic Drugs to Scientists

"We all had to hide for so long and grow massive crops in indoor spaces without being arrested."

By Dan Robitzski

The aerospace startup Hermeus won a contract to build a hypersonic version of Air Force One capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 5.
Advanced Transport

Air Force One’s Successor Could Go 5x the Speed of Sound

That's fast.

By Dan Robitzski

A new NASA simulation shows the ghostly ultraviolet flashes of Mars's "nightglow," represented by greenish hues in the Martian night sky.
Science & Energy

New NASA Animation Shows Mars’ Creepy Greenish “Nightglow”

This strange glow in the Martian night sky is "as bright in the ultraviolet as Earth’s northern lights."

By Victor Tangermann

Researchers showed that electrical stimulation through simple ear pieces improved adult participants' abilities to recognize foreign language tones.
Brain

Zapping the Brain Improved Language Learning Abilities by 13%

Learning new languages could become a lot easier in the future.

By Victor Tangermann

NASA is finally taking stock and getting rid of the various racist nicknames the space agency has granted objects in space over the years.
Science & Energy

NASA Says It Will Stop Using Racist Names for Space Objects

"Science depends on diverse contributions, and benefits everyone, so this means we must make it inclusive."

By Dan Robitzski

Bill Gates says that the long wait times for coronavirus test results render the whole thing useless. Or, in his words, the tests are "garbage."
Viruses

Bill Gates Called Most US Coronavirus Tests “Garbage”

"The majority of all U.S. tests are completely garbage, wasted."

By Dan Robitzski

A small UK-based DNA-testing company called DnaNudge has come up with a toaster-sized machine that can detect COVID-19 in just 90 minutes.
Prosthetics and Devices

Machine Detects COVID-19 in 90 Minutes

Health officials are already ordering thousands.

By Victor Tangermann

A team of astronomers have found new evidence suggesting there's a neutron star lurking in the center of the supernova 1987A that's only 33 years old.
Space

Astronomers May Have Found a Star That’s Just 33 Years Old

This star is a 90s kid. Really.

By Victor Tangermann

Scientists treated the Moon like a giant mirror to study the Earth's atmosphere, a trick they say could help search for inhabited worlds.
Science & Energy

Scientists Are Using The Moon as a Giant Mirror to Search For Aliens

They're looking at a reflection of the Earth — to see what a habitable planet would look like from far away.

By Dan Robitzski