the digest (Page 183)

Latest in the digest

Facebook has lifted the curtain on its robotics research, sharing details on three projects in a newly published blog post.

Facebook Finally Unveils Secret Robotics Projects

By Kristin Houser

Police in the Netherlands pulled over a drunk Tesla driver who fell asleep behind the wheel of his vehicle with Autopilot engaged.

Drunk Tesla Driver Relies on Autopilot, Gets Busted by Police

By Kristin Houser

The details of a newly filed SpaceX lawsuit against the U.S. are currently under wraps, but it may have something to do with an upcoming Air Force contract.

SpaceX Is Now Suing the United States Government

By Kristin Houser

Researcher from the University of Queensland figured out how to stamp an image of the "Mona Lisa" onto gaseous quantum matter.

Quantum Physics

Physicists Create Quantum-Scale “Mona Lisa,” Just for Funsies

By Kristin Houser

A new study suggests that consuming psychedelics, such as LSD or magic mushrooms, may help people overcome their alcohol dependency.

Health & Medicine

LSD Is Helping People End Their Alcohol Dependence

By Kristin Houser

Canada-based startup Dessa has unveiled a new AI that replicates the voice of Joe Rogan, and it's perhaps the best audio deepfake yet.

Artificial Intelligence

This AI That Sounds Just Like Joe Rogan Should Terrify Us All

By Kristin Houser

The 1998 trip-hop album Mezzanine by Massive Attack got an artificial intelligence makeover at an art exhibit in London.

Artificial Intelligence

An AI Remixed Massive Attack’s Classic Album “Mezzanine”

By Victor Tangermann

A Model 3 that crashed into the side of a tractor-trailer in Florida, killing the driver of the Tesla, had Autopilot engaged at the time of impact.

Report: Tesla Had Autopilot Engaged During Fatal Florida Crash

By Kristin Houser

We could mourn Grumpy Cat. Or we could embrace the latest in genetic technology and clone her, like Barbra Streisand's dogs.

Health & Medicine

Grumpy Cat Is Dead. We Have the Technology to Clone Her.

By Jon Christian

The House Appropriations Committee slapped down the White Houses's request for additional funds for a 2024 Moon Mission by NASA.

Congress Denies NASA Request for More Moon Mission Money

By Victor Tangermann

"Minecraft Earth," announced today, will allow users to collect items, blocks, and creatures while roaming around in the real world with friends.

New “Minecraft” Game Will Let You Build Stuff in the Real World

By Victor Tangermann

Google is working on a speech translation system that retains the original speaker's voice and cadence in the outputted audio.

Amazing Google AI Speaks Another Language In Your Voice

By Kristin Houser

An engineer built a robot that tries to punch him in real life while he fights a digital robot in a virtual reality video game.

This Robot Bludgeons You With Boxing Gloves While You Play Games

By Dan Robitzski

The College Board has announced plans to give each SAT taker an "adversity score" designed to reflect their socio-economic background.

Students Taking the SAT Will Now Get a Secret “Adversity Score”

By Kristin Houser

If any humans are alive in 5 billion years, they'll see the dying Sun engulf the Earth. Space Engineer Matteo Ceriotti suggests some possible escape plans.

Space Engineer: We Could Move Earth’s Orbit to Escape a Dying Sun

By Dan Robitzski

Radioactive waste may be leaking from a concrete-covered "coffin" in the Marshall Islands and into the Pacific Ocean, warns the UN's secretary general.

Science & Energy

UN: A “Radioactive Coffin” May Be Leaking Into the Ocean

By Kristin Houser

In a response to reports of its cars catching fire, Tesla has released a cautionary software update to ensure that batteries stay safe.

Tesla Releases Software Update to Stop Cars From Catching Fire

By Victor Tangermann

German startup Lilium has developed an air taxi capable of seating five people — and after two years of development, the craft finally took flight.

Advanced Transport

Watch a Five-Seater Air Taxi’s Maiden Flight

By Kristin Houser

Small, densely-packed exoplanets are most likely to survive when their stars die. The findings give astronomers new places to look for new planets.

These Are the Planets That Survive the Deaths of Their Stars

By Dan Robitzski

Cambridge biologists recreated a bacterial genome from scratch, breeding E. coli with the artificial genetic code instead of natural DNA.

Scientists Created This Organism’s DNA From Scratch

By Dan Robitzski

The U.S. Military Is Buying a $130 Million Laser Weapon

The U.S. Military Is Buying a $130 Million Laser Weapon

By Victor Tangermann

Optimistic scientists want to begin testing so-called "artificial wombs" that could house a developing fetus and embryo through birth.

Health & Medicine

Scientists: We’ll Grow Babies in Artificial Wombs “In a Decade”

By Dan Robitzski

Famed biohacker Josiah Zayner has been accused of practicing medicine without a license — despite only ever experimenting on himself.

Prosthetics and Devices

This DIY Biohacker Is Under Investigation

By Kristin Houser

A tiny 11 pound solar sail spacecraft is finally launching into space on top of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket this summer.

SpaceX is About to Launch a Solar Sail Inspired by Carl Sagan

By Victor Tangermann

Americans are having fewer babies than they used to, and the dwindling birth rate could have dire implications for the economy in the future.

The American Birth Rate Just Fell to a 32-Year Low

By Kristin Houser

A NASA satellite managed to photograph the site where Beresheet, the Israeli lunar lander, crashed into the Moon last month.

NASA Found The Impact From Israel’s Crashed Moon Lander

By Dan Robitzski

Something punched gigantic holes through the Milky Way. There's little evidence at the cosmic crime scene, but scientists suspect it was dark matter.

A “Dense Bullet of Something” Blasted Holes in the Milky Way

By Dan Robitzski

A team of researchers has created CRISPR snails with shells that coil counterclockwise — a trait that is extremely rare in nature.

Science & Energy

Scientists Used CRISPR to Make Mirror-Image Snails

By Kristin Houser

China's lunar rover just analyzed samples of the Moon's mantle, revealing new information about how the Moon may have formed.

China’s Rover Collects First-Ever Samples From Under Lunar Crust

By Dan Robitzski

During a Senate hearing, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) argued that a Space Force is necessary to ward off space pirates and protect exploration efforts.

This US Congressman Is Seriously Worried About Space Pirates

By Victor Tangermann

The U.S. Army has set aside millions to invest in robotic exoskeletons that will make soldiers faster, stronger, and more resilient.

Prosthetics and Devices

The Army Is Spending Millions on Powered Exoskeletons

By Dan Robitzski

According to a report, the proposed independent branch of the U.S. military dubbed Space Force could rack up $1.3 billion in additional costs per year

Report: Trump’s Space Force Could Cost Billions More Than Expected

By Victor Tangermann

The Chinese government has extended its Wikipedia ban to include all available languages of the online encyclopedia, the Wikimedia foundation has confirmed.

China’s Government Just Blocked the Entirety of Wikipedia

By Kristin Houser

SpaceX recently began building a second Starship Hopper at a new construction site in Florida, hoping to determine which area is best-suited to the task.

SpaceX Was Secretly Building a Second Starship in Florida

By Dan Robitzski

NASA's upcoming crewed mission to the surface of the Moon will be named Artemis, after the Greek goddess of the moon and sister to Apollo.

NASA Just Gave the New Moon Program an Epic Name

By Dan Robitzski

Sentry Mode has caught yet another act of Tesla vandalism on camera, this time, two men keying a Model 3 in Old Sacramento, Calif.

Sentry Mode Just Busted Two Cackling Tesla Vandals

By Kristin Houser

NASA's "We Are Going" video, which is narrated by Star Trek actor William Shatner, details how the agency plans to pull off its ambitious 2024 Moon mission.

New Video Details NASA’s Plan to Return Humans to the Moon

By Kristin Houser

According to a new filing, the Air Force is investigating the development of an autonomous vehicle capable of transporting 2-4 personnel out of danger.

Self-Driving Vehicles

The Air Force Wants to Rescue Troops Using Autonomous Aircraft

By Victor Tangermann

A massive new study found that sentencing people to jail time doesn't deter future crime any more than putting them on probation does.

New Research: Prison Time Doesn’t Actually Deter Repeat Offenders

By Dan Robitzski

Chinese tech company Lenovo has unveiled a prototype of a foldable laptop it expects to begin selling to consumers in 2020.

Robots and Machines

Lenovo Unveils World’s First Laptop With Foldable Display

By Kristin Houser

Hundreds of Americans Are Naming Babies “Elon” and “Tesla”

Hundreds of Americans Are Naming Babies “Elon” and “Tesla”

By Victor Tangermann

Researchers from Japan and the U.K. have created a leech-like robot that's soft, flexible, and able to move freely on a wall.

Watch a Leech-Like Robot Crawl Its Way up a Wall

By Kristin Houser

By targeting "zombified" senescent cells that clog the brain, doctors think they may be able to prevent age-related medical conditions.

Health & Medicine

Scientists: Drugs That Kill “Zombie Cells” Could Prevent Aging

By Dan Robitzski

When Victor Vescovo broke the record for deepest ocean dive, he noticed what he believes was a plastic bag and some candy wrappers in the deep sea.

Diver Reaches Record Ocean Depth — and Finds a Plastic Bag

By Kristin Houser

Parked Teslas Keep Catching Fire for Seemingly No Reason

Parked Teslas Keep Catching Fire for Seemingly No Reason

By Kristin Houser

When the Starlink network goes live, SpaceX could potentially have the opportunity to restore net neutrality protections.

SpaceX’s Orbital Internet Could Restore Net Neutrality

By Dan Robitzski

A new truck built for the Chinese military is capable of launching up to 12 drones, sort of like a smart, precision artillery strike.

Chinese Military Truck Launches Killer Drones Like Artillery

By Dan Robitzski

NASA and the White House are asking Congress to add $1.6 billion to NASA's budget to enable the agency's Moon mission to meet its 2024 goal.

White House, NASA Request $1.6 Billion to Return Humans to Moon

By Kristin Houser

Plastic pollutants in the ocean can stunt the growth of a certain bacteria responsible for pumping the atmosphere full of oxygen, according to a new study.

Plastic Is Killing the Bacteria That Make 10% of Earth’s Oxygen

By Dan Robitzski

This AI Draws Horrifying New Pokémon

Artificial Intelligence

This AI Draws Horrifying New Pokémon

By Victor Tangermann

Design firm Mandalaki has unveiled the Birò O2, a concept car in which 80 percent of parts are made from recycled plastics.

Advanced Transport

This Tiny Electric Car Is Made From 80 Percent Recycled Plastics

By Kristin Houser

A research center at Cambridge University will explore how to fight climate change with geoengineering solutions like re-freezing the North and South Pole.

Cambridge Researchers Want to Re-Freeze the Earth’s Poles

By Dan Robitzski

Startup Flexa has released a new crypto app called SPEDN that allows users to pay for goods at several major retailers with cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin Payments Now Accepted by Whole Foods, Other Big Retailers

By Kristin Houser

New NASA-funded research could lead to a fully-electric jet plane powered by cyrogenically-cooled hydrogen instead of fossil fuels.

NASA Is Working on Electric Planes Powered by Cryogenic Hydrogen

By Dan Robitzski

The Abokado takeaway restaurant chain will become the first in the U.K. to feature edible insects on its regular menu starting on Tuesday.

This UK Fast Food Chain Wants People to Eat Crunchy Bugs

By Kristin Houser

Science writer Philip Ball donated some arm flesh to a lab that grew a miniature brain out of his cells. It made him question how we define humanity.

A Lab Grew a “Mini Brain” From This Guy’s Cells. Then Things Got Weird.

By Dan Robitzski

More than 180 nations, not including the United States, have agreed to new rules controlling the movement of plastic waste globally.

United States Refuses to Join Plastic Waste Pact

By Kristin Houser

Blazing Supersonic Plane Could Zoom From NY to Paris in 90 Min

Blazing Supersonic Plane Could Zoom From NY to Paris in 90 Min

By Victor Tangermann

Rolls-Royce unveiled a new hybrid power source for laser weapons. A combo of a battery and a helicopter engine, the system could fire a laser indefinitely.

Rolls-Royce Is Selling a Power System for Lethal Laser Weapons

By Dan Robitzski

SpaceX is about to launch the first batch of Starlink satellites. Experts say the artificial constellation could cause 67,000 space collisions per year.

SpaceX’s Starlink Satellites Could Make Space a Minefield

By Dan Robitzski

Gravity Industries founder Richard Browning straps on his company's Iron Man-style jet suit in a new video from Born to Engineer.

Advanced Transport

Watch a Daring Fellow Fly an Iron Man-Style Jet Suit

By Kristin Houser

Scientists suspect that one of the stars in the Big Dipper isn't native to the Milky Way. Instead, it likely got sucked up in a galactic collision,

This Star Drifted Into the Milky Way From Another Galaxy

By Dan Robitzski

The AIs used by Facebook and other social media companies to filter out extremist content may also be deleting valuable evidence of criminal activity.

Facebook’s AI May Be Helping Terrorists Get Away With Murder

By Kristin Houser

"Dalí Lives" uses deepfake AI technology to create an interactive art exhibit where Salvador Dalí interacts with museum guests.

Artificial Intelligence

A Salvador Dalí Deepfake Can Take Selfies With Museumgoers

By Dan Robitzski