the digest (Page 146)

Latest in the digest

The European Space Agency's Mars Express, a camera-equipped Mars orbiter, is keeping close tabs on a mysterious, "elongated cloud" appearing on Mars.

Science & Energy

Strange, Giant Cloud Reappears on Mars

By Victor Tangermann

At exactly 7:50 am EDT this morning, NASA successfully launched its Perseverance rover mission to Mars from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

NASA Blasts Off Most Sophisticated Mars Mission in Human History

By Victor Tangermann

The Marine Corps just issued a memo banning all servicemembers from mining cryptocurrency like Bitcoin on government-issued devices.

Marine Corps Bans Service Members From Mining Bitcoin on Military Devices

By Dan Robitzski

A team of engineers developed a new kind of quantum computer architecture that uses artificial "giant atoms" instead of conventional qubits.

Quantum Physics

Engineers Built “Giant Atoms” That Enhance Quantum Computers

By Dan Robitzski

NASA just unveiled the winners of its "Exploring Hell" contest, in which it asked for designs for a rover that could survive a trip to Venus.

NASA Venus Rover Designed For “Exploring Hell”

By Dan Robitzski

DARPA recently deployed a tiny camera satellite that the agency hopes can take sharp images of exoplanets that are usually washed out of pictures.

DARPA Deploys Tiny Satellite That Could Take Best Pictures of Space Ever

By Dan Robitzski

In a sleek new video, SpaceX gave us a rare behind the scenes look at the development of its iconic in-house built spacesuit.

New Video Shows Inside Look at SpaceX Space Suit Lab

By Victor Tangermann

Scientists predict, based on current rates of deforestation and resource consumption, that civilization will likely collapse in 20 to 40 years.

Physicists Say There’s a 90 Percent Chance Civilization Will Soon Collapse

By Dan Robitzski

Activists Replace Confederate Statue With Amazing Hologram of George Floyd

Activists Replace Confederate Statue With Amazing Hologram of George Floyd

By Victor Tangermann

Bill Gates urged Elon Musk to stay in his lane and stop spreading "outrageous" misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic.

Bill Gates Slams Elon Musk For Spouting COVID Misinformation

By Dan Robitzski

NASA has assigned crew members for its Crew-2 mission, possibly the third time a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft will visit the ISS with astronauts on board.

NASA Announces Crew For Upcoming SpaceX Mission

By Victor Tangermann

The electric automaker Renault just gave every household in the tiny French town Appy a free lease on its electric cars to prove they work in rural areas.

Advanced Transport

Everyone in This French Town Just Got a Free Electric Car

By Dan Robitzski

Perseverance will be bringing a rock back to Mars that scientists believe to have originated on Mars roughly 600,000 to 700,000 years ago.

Science & Energy

Here’s Why NASA’s Next Rover is Bringing a Mars Rock Back to Mars

By Victor Tangermann

According to Musk's enthusiasm on Twitter, the exterior of Tesla's long-awaited Cybertruck could be heated and tempered to get a variety of colors.

Advanced Transport

Cybertruck Metal Can Be Etched, Heated Into a Rainbow

By Victor Tangermann

NASA is about to embark on its latest Mars mission, sending its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on its long journey to the Red Planet atop an Atlas V rocket.

Here’s How to Watch NASA Launch a Mars Mission This Week

By Victor Tangermann

In a Thursday emergency air worthiness directive, the FAA ordered the inspections of 2,000 Boeing 737 airplanes due to corrosion in their engines.

Advanced Transport

FAA Warns That After Pandemic, Long-Grounded Jets Could Experience Engine Failure

By Victor Tangermann

Scientists have a bizarre idea for protecting astronauts from cosmic rays: Shield them with the radiation-absorbing fungus near Chernobyl.

Fungus Growing at Chernobyl Could Protect Astronauts From Cosmic Rays

By Dan Robitzski

Researchers have found that seismic vibrations generated by humans fell by as much as 50 percent globally in 2020, according to a new paper.

Science & Energy

Thanks to COVID, the Earth’s Surface Is Shaking 50 Percent Less

By Victor Tangermann

The Pentagon's Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force is set to begin reporting some of its findings to the public in a matter of months.

The Pentagon’s UFO Task Force Is Finally Ready to Report Findings

By Victor Tangermann

A new, comprehensive study found that the worst-case, doomsday climate models are unlikely. But best-case scenarios are also out of the question.

Scientists: Climate Change Is Going to Suck, But It Won’t Be Armageddon

By Dan Robitzski

Disgruntled Facebook employees are reckoning with their company's multifaceted role in damaging "the fabric of our society."

Former Employee: “Facebook is Hurting People at Scale”

By Dan Robitzski

A recently uploaded video shows Japan's 60-foot Gundam robot taking its first tentative steps — despite still missing its head.

Watch a 60-Foot Mecha-Style Robot Take Its First Steps

By Victor Tangermann

Elon Musk is once again warning about the perils of unregulated AI, saying that people who think AI couldn't fool them are fooling themselves.

Artificial Intelligence

Elon Musk: If You Don’t Think AI Could Outsmart You, You’re an Idiot

By Dan Robitzski

Scientists developed a working model for a bizarre state of matter called "strange metals," and discovered that they behave similar to black holes.

Cornell Scientists Say “Strange Metals” Are Similar to Black Holes

By Dan Robitzski

Russia recently tested a weapon capable of shooting down satellites in orbit, which has the Pentagon concerned about off-world escalation.

Russia Just Tested a Military Satellite That Kills Other Satellites

By Dan Robitzski

Elon Musk announced that Tesla is about to try and enter the auto insurance business — and hopefully fare better than its dismal attempt last year.

Elon Musk Says Tesla Is Launching an Insurance Company

By Dan Robitzski

China has successfully launched its Tianwen-1 — Heavenly Questions — mission to Mars, including an orbiter, lander, and a rover.

China Just Launched a Mission to Hunt for Life on Mars

By Victor Tangermann

Finally, a lab-grown meat startup has figured out how to cultivate an approximation of bacon and pork belly out of cultured cells and plant products.

Science & Energy

Rejoice, Nerds! Lab-Grown Bacon Is Here

By Dan Robitzski

A full-scale SpaceX Starship prototype called SN5 is about to finally make its first-ever attempt at getting off the ground.

SpaceX to Attempt First Full-Scale Starship Test Flight This Week

By Victor Tangermann

Using a new toolkit that scientists are calling a "robot hotel," a robot just scanned the outside of the International Space Station for coolant leaks.

NASA Is Using a Robot to Search for Leaks Outside the Space Station

By Dan Robitzski

A team of scientists found out that the invasive weed Bidens pilosa a cheap source of enzymes that help make wine and cheese.

Scientists Made Wine and Cheese Using an Annoying Weed

By Dan Robitzski

After decades of work, scienitsts revealed a complete map of the universe. In doing so, they also may have solved a major debate among astronomers.

Science & Energy

Astronomers Release Largest Map of the Universe in History

By Dan Robitzski

A major ATM sales and services company is warning that thieves have found a new way of "jackpotting" ATM machines, causing them to spit out cash.

Robots and Machines

Clever Hackers Are Making ATMs Spit Out All Their Money

By Victor Tangermann

Researchers at a Chinese security lab have found a loophole that allows them to turn fast chargers for smartphones into a phone-killing device.

New Hack Makes Phone Chargers Kill Devices Plugged Into Them

By Victor Tangermann

Three historic joysticks used to control NASA's Apollo 11 command module have just sold for more than $780,000 at an auction, going against NASA's wishes.

Someone Just Sold Apollo 11’s Joysticks, Against NASA’s Wishes

By Victor Tangermann

GitHub sealed away its entire open-source depository in the Arctic World Archive, where it will hopefully survive society-ending catastrophes.

GitHub Just Sealed All Its Open Source Code in an Apocalypse-Proof Vault

By Dan Robitzski

A second stage of a Russian rocket that launched a mysterious spacecraft reentered the Earth's atmosphere over the weekend, burning up like a comet.

Texas Residents Spot Disintegrating Russian Rocket Booster in Sky

By Victor Tangermann

A class of exoplanets thought to resemble gas giants like Neptune may actually be rocky worlds covered in thick, heavily irradiated oceans.

Science & Energy

“Mini-Neptune” Exoplanets May Actually Be Covered in Radioactive Oceans

By Dan Robitzski

Uber drivers in the U.K. are suing the company for access to access to its logs on their performance, as well as info on how it's used.

Advanced Transport

Uber Drivers Are Suing to Learn How the Company’s Algorithm Works

By Dan Robitzski

With help from a Russian 3D printing startup, American fast food chain KFC wants to craft the "world's first laboratory-produced chicken nuggets."

KFC Is Working on 3D Printed, Lab-Grown Chicken Nuggets

By Victor Tangermann

NASA's Curiosity rover encountered a strangely-colored rock on Mars and did what any smart robot would do: blasted it with a laser to see what was inside.

NASA’s Mars Rover Spent the Weekend Shooting a Weird-Looking Rock With a Laser

By Dan Robitzski

According to Musk, brain computer interfaces in the future will allow us to ditch the headphones and beam music straight to our brains.

Elon Musk Says Neuralink Will Stream Music Straight Into Your Brain

By Victor Tangermann

Watch a 3D Printer Spit Out an Entire Two-Story House

Watch a 3D Printer Spit Out an Entire Two-Story House

By Victor Tangermann

According to new models, climate change may soon get so bad that working outside will put people at risk of organ failure.

Scientists: Climate Change Will Get So Hot Your Organs Shut Down

By Dan Robitzski

The Department of Homeland Safety has been circulating a memo about how masls could block facial recognition since Black Lives Matter protests began.

Government Leak: Cops Terrified Masks Will Block Facial Recognition

By Dan Robitzski

NASA is expecting to start returning SpaceX Crew Dragon pilots Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to Earth from the ISS on August 1.

NASA Just Picked a Date for SpaceX to Bring Back Its Astronauts

By Victor Tangermann

Geologists are using new techniques like precise GPS measurements to figure out what's driving apart three tectonic plates in Ethiopia.

Science & Energy

Geologists Say a New Ocean Is Opening up in Africa

By Dan Robitzski

National security contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation has won a Pentagon contract to turn its Shooting Star cargo spacecraft into a space outpost.

The Pentagon Is Quietly Working on a Military Space Station Outpost

By Victor Tangermann

A massive new study strongly links high blood iron levels with a longer lifespan, giving hope to new longevity treatments.

RX and Medicine

Scientists: Blood Iron Levels Strongly Correlated With Long Lifespan

By Dan Robitzski

German electric car subsidies are so high, that leasing a Renault Zoe EV is essentially free right now. Demand is sky-rocketing.

Advanced Transport

Subsidies Mean This Electric Car Is Literally Free in Germany

By Victor Tangermann

Science & Energy

This Black Hole Just Glitched

By Dan Robitzski

Scientists built a beetle-sized backpack camera that they can use to livestream the daily routine of an insect from the bug's perspective.

Robots and Machines

Scientists Build Tiny Camera For Beetles to Carry Around

By Dan Robitzski

This $25,000 gadget, in the shape of a Nintendo Game Boy, is a magic key that can emulate the signal from a whole host of car maker's key fobs.

Advanced Transport

This $25,000 Gadget Can Steal Almost Any Car That Starts With a Fob

By Victor Tangermann

Someone appears to have hacked the Twitter accounts of Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, and Kanye West.

Someone Apparently Just Hacked Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos and Kanye West

By Jon Christian

Disaster preparedness expert Jeffrey Schlegelmilch spends his time predicting megadisasters, but says the COVID-19 pandemic hasn't reached that point.

This Scientist Spends His Time Predicting the End of the World

By Dan Robitzski

Scientists discovered the first bacteria that chemosynthesizes the metal manganese, and they did it almost by accident while cleaning up an experiment.

Newly-Discovered Bacteria Can Eat Metal as Food

By Dan Robitzski

Someone found a new way to use deepfakes to spread disinformation online: using the tech to make up a fake journalist from scratch.

Artificial Intelligence

Someone Used Deepfake Tech to Invent a Fake Journalist

By Dan Robitzski

Google is investing heavily in new kinds of wearable technology, including high-tech tattoos that turn your body into a touchpad.

Google Is Working on Tattoos That Turn Your Body Into a Touchpad

By Dan Robitzski

Tesla's Berlin factory might have a secret killer feature: a possible "indoor/outdoor rave space on the roof," according to CEO Elon Musk.

Elon Musk Teases “Indoor/Outdoor Rave Space” on Berlin Tesla Factory Roof

By Victor Tangermann

The first lunar settlers might live in the space version of an RV, which is currently being developed by JAXA, NASA, and Toyota.

NASA Spokesperson Says Agency Is Working on an “RV for the Moon”

By Dan Robitzski

The newly-formed US Space Force is about to launch four reconnaissance satellites into orbit on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

The US Space Force Is Launching Four Top Secret Spy Satellites

By Victor Tangermann

With a bit of luck and great timing, astronomers managed to capture a fleeting gamma ray burst from ten billion years ago when its afterglow reached Earth.

Science & Energy

Two Neutron Stars Collided, Creating an Unbelievable Explosion

By Dan Robitzski

The higher state court in Munich, Germany ruled that Tesla's so-called Autopilot mode constitutes false advertising because it's not really autonomous.

German Court: Tesla’s “Autopilot” Is False Advertising

By Dan Robitzski

Russian space corporation Roscomosos chief Dmitry Rogozin had no kind words to spare about NASA's efforts to return astronauts to the Moon.

Russian Space Chief “Not Interested” in Working With NASA on Missions to the Moon

By Victor Tangermann