the digest (Page 182)

Latest in the digest

By analyzing only a short audio clip of a person's voice, this artificial intelligence reconstructs what they might look like in real life.

Artificial Intelligence

Astounding AI Guesses What You Look Like Based on Your Voice

By Jon Christian

Experts: Brain-Stimulating Headsets Are Probably Snake Oil

By Dan Robitzski

The MOONRISE project plans to send a small laser system to the Moon in 2021, testing the device's ability to melt Moon dust into a usable building material.

Laser Project Aims to Melt Moon Dust Into a Lunar Base

By Kristin Houser

As they travel in the body, viruses like herpes can soak up proteins that they use to produce the amyloid plaques linked to Alzheimer's symptoms.

Health & Medicine

New Research: Herpes May Make You Get Alzheimer’s Earlier

By Dan Robitzski

Astronauts aboard the ISS used CRISPR in space for the first time, making edits in yeast's genome to mimic radiation-caused damage.

Astronauts Use CRISPR in Space for the First Time Ever

By Kristin Houser

Last week, SpaceX unleashed 60 tiny Starlink satellites to orbit the Earth at just 340 miles. Astronomers are worried they could ruin the night sky.

Astronomers: SpaceX’s New Satellites Are Ruining the Night Sky

By Victor Tangermann

New research suggests that a cascade of supernovae could have been instrumental in human evolution by creating an environment where bipedal animals thrive.

Bizarre Theory: Supernovas Kickstarted Human Evolution

By Dan Robitzski

About 10 second after launch, a massive bolt of lightning struck a Russian Soyuz 2-1b rocket — a remarkable sight captured on video by numerous spectators.

Watch Lightning Strike a Rocket as It Launches

By Kristin Houser

New York Times: Navy Pilots Baffled by UFO Encounters

New York Times: Navy Pilots Baffled by UFO Encounters

By Victor Tangermann

People interested in 3D-printed guns are sharing the files needed to build the firearms anonymously online, according to a troubling Wired story.

Anonymous Group of 3D-Printed Gun Makers Is Spreading Online

By Kristin Houser

Thousands of preschools are using a robot named Walklake that looks for signs of illness by scanning the faces and hands of students.

Health & Medicine

This Robot Scans Preschoolers’ Faces Daily for Signs of Sickness

By Kristin Houser

The Earth's oceans are gradually leaking into the interior of the Earth — though nowhere near fast enough to cancel out climate change.

Science & Energy

New Research: The Oceans Are Slowly Leaking Into the Earth

By Jon Christian

By studying the plasma in the Sun's atmosphere, we could learn how to control it here on Earth and finally make fusion energy a reality.

Studying the Sun’s Atmosphere Could Make Fusion Power a Reality

By Victor Tangermann

NASA has awarded Maxar Technologies a contract worth a maximum of $375 million to build the lunar Gateway's power and propulsion element.

NASA Just Hired the First Contractor to Build Lunar Space Station

By Kristin Houser

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' idea for giant off-world space colonies "makes no sense."

Elon Musk Ridicules Jeff Bezos’ Plan For Space Colonies

By Jon Christian

China has unveiled a prototype for a new high-speed maglev train that it believes could dramatically cut travel times in the nation.

Advanced Transport

See China’s Newly Unveiled Maglev Train

By Kristin Houser

NASA's Mars 2020 spacecraft just underwent a series of extreme tests to prepare it for the intense conditions on the Red Planet's surface.

Here’s How NASA Prepares Its Spacecraft for Mars

By Victor Tangermann

A NASA executive who was appointed only six weeks ago to lead the strategy for future missions to the Moon has resigned.

NASA’s Moon Mission Leader Just Quit After Only Six Weeks

By Victor Tangermann

Two Tesla Model 3s race in a new Boring Company video, with one taking the surface streets and the other opting for the company's underground tunnel.

Watch a Tesla in an Underground Tunnel Race One on the Street

By Kristin Houser

SpaceX Just Unleashed 60 Starlink Satellites Into Orbit

SpaceX Just Unleashed 60 Starlink Satellites Into Orbit

By Victor Tangermann

Saturday night, a mile-wide asteroid called 1999 KW4 will fly by the Earth, and when it does, it'll bring with it its very own moon.

Science & Energy

Asteroid Flying by Earth Is so Big It Has Its Own Moon

By Kristin Houser

The Senate just voted in favor of a bipartisan bill that could put an end to spam and unsolicited marketing calls once and for all.

New Law Could End Robocalling Once and For All

By Victor Tangermann

Artificial Intelligence

Can You Tell Which of These Models Is CGI?

By Victor Tangermann

We thought it would be fun to run some Elon Musk tweets through a neural network designed by OpenAI, the company he founded and quit.

Artificial Intelligence

We Asked an AI to Finish Real Elon Musk Tweets

By Jon Christian

A Chinese rocket failed to successful launch a satellite into orbit Thursday morning, marking the second failed rocket launch in the nation this year.

Chinese Rocket Fails Spectacularly, Raining Debris Back to Earth

By Kristin Houser

Las Vegas will pay the Boring Company $48.6 million to build the LVCC Loop, an underground tunnel system connected to the city's convention center.

Advanced Transport

Las Vegas Approves $48.6 Million Boring Company Tunnel

By Kristin Houser

Harvard professor Avi Loeb thinks finding signs of dead aliens could help humanity know what not to do if it wants to survive indefinitely.

Harvard Prof: Finding Dead Alien Civilizations Could Save Humans

By Kristin Houser

An investigation revealed that a quality assurance engineer at an aerospace parts company forged signatures for some 38 inspection reports.

SpaceX Component Engineer Charged With Faking Inspection Reports

By Victor Tangermann

The New York Times reports that some 25 percent of Google's controversial AI-powered Duplex robo-callers actually turn out to be humans.

Many of Google Duplex’s “AI” Phone Calls Are Made By Humans

By Victor Tangermann

Using a highly sensitive algorithm, German astronomers have discovered 18 new exoplanets, including one that "could offer conditions friendly to life."

Science & Energy

Newly Found Exoplanet “Could Offer Conditions Friendly to Life”

By Kristin Houser

At an annual shareholder meeting, a disgruntled Amazon investor brought their package up to Jeff Bezos, complaining about how hard it was to return things.

Someone Tried to Return an Amazon Package Directly to Jeff Bezos

By Dan Robitzski

Amazon says that it wants access to images of more diverse body types so it can improve its 3D model-rendering technology.

Amazon Will Give You a $25 Gift Card to 3D Scan Your Entire Body

By Dan Robitzski

Using a ransomware called RobinHood, cybercriminals have seized control of about 10,000 of Baltimore's computers, crippling its government.

Cybercriminals Are Holding an Entire US City Hostage

By Kristin Houser

NASA is offering the public something truly unique: an opportunity to send thier names to the surface of Mars, "stenciled on chips."

You Can Now Send a Souvenir With Your Name on it to Mars

By Victor Tangermann

An amazing new deepfake algorithm turns single frames into full-motion videos, reminiscent of photographs and paintings in the "Harry Potter" series.

Artificial Intelligence

Uncanny Algorithm Turns Still Portraits Into Full-Motion Videos

By Jon Christian

UC Berkeley's Salto robot is fast, agile, and smart — traits that would make the bot terrifying if it weren't less than a foot tall.

This Adorable Bouncing Robot Would Be Terrifying if It Was Huge

By Kristin Houser

A team of students from the University of Southern California just successfully launched a 13-foot tall rocket called Traveler IV to past the Kármán line.

For the First Time, a Student-Built Rocket Just Reached Space

By Victor Tangermann

Washington is now the first state to legalize human composting, giving citizens a more environmentally friendly way to dispose of their remains after death.

Washington Will Compost Its First Human Corpse in 2020

By Kristin Houser

Next year, NASA will launch a small spacecraft that will carry yeast cells into orbit around the Sun. Scientists hope to study how radiation affects DNA.

NASA Is About to Send the First Living Organisms Into Solar Orbit

By Dan Robitzski

Ford plans to use a bipedal bot called Digit as a delivery robot, pairing it with a self-driving car to bring packages right to customers' doorsteps.

Self-Driving Vehicles

This Two-Legged Robot Will Deliver Packages via Self-Driving Fords

By Kristin Houser

In order to kill antibiotic-resistant superbugs, scientists are gene-hacking viruses to target the bacteria and kill them from the inside.

Scientists Gene-Hack Viruses to Hunt and Kill Super-Strong Bacteria

By Dan Robitzski

Uber is seemingly launching a unlimited food delivery service called Uber Eats Pass, based on app code uncovered by a software engineer.

Uber Is Preparing to Launch a Netflix-Like Food Delivery Service

By Kristin Houser

Consumer Reports found that the latest version of Tesla's Autopilot that allows its cars to change lanes automatically "doesn’t work very well."

Report: Tesla Autopilot “Far Less Competent” Than Human Driver

By Victor Tangermann

The next gene-hacked human is due to be born next month, and scientists are trying to sort out what that means for the future of humanity.

Prosthetics and Devices

Third Gene-Hacked Baby’s Impending Birth Has Scientists Scrambling

By Dan Robitzski

The app Juicebox developed an AI chatbot, named Slutbot, that flirts and sexts with people while helping them learn about consent and respect.

Artificial Intelligence

Here’s Where You Can Flirt With a Sexting AI Called Slutbot

By Dan Robitzski

Comcast is developing a healthcare device that will monitor everything from how often a person visits the bathroom to the amount of time they spend in bed.

Health & Medicine

Comcast’s New Smart Sensor Will Count How Many Times You Pee

By Kristin Houser

A new type of AI built by Amazon's Alexa team is better at picking up on emotions when people are talking. It could help Alexa better understand people.

Artificial Intelligence

Amazon Is Teaching Alexa to Analyze Your Emotions

By Dan Robitzski

DARPA has officially funded a program to come up with a brain-machine interface headset that could allow soldiers to control drones with their minds.

DARPA Wants Soldiers to Control Drones With Their Thoughts

By Victor Tangermann

Ride-hail startup Lyft is adding a "panic button" that automatically calls 911 when pressed to its app in an effort to improve rider safety.

Lyft Adds “Panic Button” to App to Make Your Rides Safer

By Kristin Houser

Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn has donated more than $1 million to various organizations attempting to prevent an AI takeover.

Artificial Intelligence

Skype Co-Founder Desperate to Stop AI From Destroying Humanity

By Kristin Houser

Scientists now know that subjecting people to microgravity affects eyesight and perception. A new study will attempt to uncover the extent of the effects.

A Zero-G Jungle Gym Will Test How Microgravity Affects the Brain

By Dan Robitzski

Scientists from Stanford University are arguing that we should be converting methane into more carbon dioxide to help with climate change.

Scientists’ Startling Idea to Fight Climate Change: More CO2

By Victor Tangermann

Stanford University students have unveiled a nimble robot dog called Doggo and shared the details on how a person could replicate their creation.

Stanford Team Tells You Exactly How to Build a Robot Dog

By Kristin Houser

As of Monday, a kilogram is now defined by the relationship between energy and mass as opposed to a metal cylinder in France.

Science & Energy

Scientists Just Redefined the Kilogram

By Kristin Houser

In order to prevent devastating hypersonic missile strikes, military contractor Raytheon is working towards a powerful laser capable of shooting them down.

Raytheon Says Laser Weapon Will Blast Nuclear Missiles From Sky

By Dan Robitzski

Mercedes-Benz just showed off a concept car at a that has a deployable robotic warning triangle built into its rear bumper.

Advanced Transport

Mercedes-Benz Prototype Can Deploy Tiny Robot to Direct Traffic

By Victor Tangermann

The U.S. Postal Service is about to test self-driving trucks on a thousand-mile stretch in an attempt to save money through automation.

Self-Driving Vehicles

The U.S. Post Office Is Testing Self-Driving Mail Delivery Trucks

By Dan Robitzski

A new study found that liquid-water subsurface oceans on Pluto are kept from freezing over thanks to an insulating layer of gas hydrates.

Scientists: Pluto May be Hiding Alien Life in Buried Oceans

By Victor Tangermann

By enabling communication between mini models of autonomous vehicles, Cambridge researchers improved traffic flow by 35 percent.

Self-Driving Vehicles

See Mini Self-Driving Cars Work Together to Improve Traffic Flow

By Kristin Houser

Impossible Foods has partnered with Little Caesars on a meatless sausage that will soon be available as a pizza topping in three states.

Little Caesars Adds Impossible Foods’ Meatless Sausage to Menu

By Kristin Houser

Putin: Russian Military Has “Science Fiction” Laser Weapons

Putin: Russian Military Has “Science Fiction” Laser Weapons

By Jon Christian

Virtual Reality

Watch a Real Pastor Baptize an Anime Girl in Virtual Reality

By Kristin Houser

A new AI tool called PetSwap uses a deepfake algorithm to morph photos of animals, or humans, into a variety of species, like Animorphs.

Artificial Intelligence

This AI Shows What You’d Look Like as a Puppy

By Natalie Coleman

The Artemis plan is an ambitious NASA plan not just to send Americans back to the Moon, but to move toward a permanent presence there.

NASA’s Plan for a Lunar Outpost Just Leaked

By Jon Christian