the digest (Page 190)

Latest in the digest

Konstantin Ignatov has been arrested for his role in OneCoin — a cryptocurrency the U.S. Department of Justice calls a "multibillion-dollar pyramid scheme."

Crypto Exec Arrested for “Multibillion-Dollar Pyramid Scheme”

By Kristin Houser

A mind-controlled drone will hit Kickstarter on Tuesday, giving anyone with roughly $282 the ability to fly a drone without a handheld controller.

A Drone You Control With Your Mind Is About to Hit Kickstarter

By Kristin Houser

Security company Gemalto invented a debit card that can make secure purchases through a built-in fingerprint scanner. UK bank Natwest will trial it soon.

A Bank Is Testing a Debit Card With Built-in Fingerprint Scanner

By Victor Tangermann

A quantum radio chip allows researchers to tune in to the smallest radio frequencies

Researchers Tune in to Smallest Radio Frequency in Quantum Mechanics

Fire Resistant Homes could help prevent extreme weather damage from climate change

New Fire-Resistant Homes the Next Line of Defense From Wildfires

A genetically modified salmon swims next to a normal salmon of the same age.

Science & Energy

FDA Allows Genetically Modified Salmon Imports in the US

That's why doctors are excited about a new experimental treatment that could provide broad protection against many strains of the flu.

Health & Medicine

A New Drug Might, Possibly, Have Cured the Flu

By Jon Christian

New data collected by NASA, using two space telescopes, shows that the vast majority of our galaxy's mass is dark matter.

New NASA Measurements: Milky Way Galaxy Is “On the Beefier Side”

By Jon Christian

A group of Tesla investors is suing CEO Elon Musk for what they say has been erratic behavior on Twitter that they say could harm the electric car company.

Tesla Investors Sue Elon Musk For Twitter “Misstatements”

By Jon Christian

Google parent company Alphabet is preparing to launch what the Australian Broadcasting Corporation says is the first commercial drone delivery service.

Residents Are Furious About Google’s Drone Delivery Service

By Jon Christian

To address the world's plastic problem, startup Loliware has created seaweed straws that can be composted or allowed to biodegrade in the ocean.

Seaweed Straw “Looks, Feels, and Acts Like Plastic,” Says Startup

By Kristin Houser

here are persistent rumors among workers at the social giant that the company's security staff installed a secret "panic chute" for Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg Said to Have “Panic Chute” for Escape From Facebook HQ

By Jon Christian

Police Arrest Vandal Who Trashed Tesla Supercharger

Police Arrest Vandal Who Trashed Tesla Supercharger

By Victor Tangermann

Local Motors demonstrates how its Olli self-driving shuttle reacts during crash testing in a pair of video shared exclusively with The Verge.

Self-Driving Vehicles

Watch a 3D Printed Self-Driving Shuttle Smash Into a Wall

By Kristin Houser

Mitsubishi’s New Hybrid Can Power Your Home During a Blackout

Advanced Transport

Mitsubishi’s New Hybrid Can Power Your Home During a Blackout

By Victor Tangermann

The positive benefits of ingesting psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, can last for up to a week, according to a new study.

Health & Medicine

Psychedelic Mushrooms Can Boost Creativity and Empathy for a Week

By Kristin Houser

Farmers in New Zealand have a new tool to herd sheep and cows, according to Radio New Zealand: drones outfitted with speakers so they can bark like dogs.

New Zealand Farmers Are Using Drones to Herd Sheep

By Jon Christian

NASA Is About to Test a Giant Solar Drone That Broadcasts 5G

NASA Is About to Test a Giant Solar Drone That Broadcasts 5G

By Victor Tangermann

On March 29, NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch will leave the ISS to embark on the world's first all-female spacewalk.

NASA Announces World’s First All-Female Spacewalk

By Kristin Houser

A new paper suggests that we could spot an alien civilization by looking for signs of starships powered by the radiation thrown off by small black hole.

New SETI Plan: Detect Alien Starships Powered by Black Holes

By Jon Christian

A Chinese official claims the nation is poised to wrap up construction on the HL-2M tokamak, a new "artificial sun," this year.

Science & Energy

China: New “Artificial Sun” Will Be Completed This Year

By Kristin Houser

Researchers believe the strange behavior of galaxies could be caused by the combined mass of untold zillions of photons and not dark matter.

New Theory: Mass of Photons Could Explain Effects of Dark Matter

By Jon Christian

Tesla has announced a trio of improvements that it claims will cut charging time by 50 percent, including its next-generation Supercharger system.

Tesla: New Supercharger Features Will Cut Charge Time in Half

By Kristin Houser

A planned space hotel will import its own water from Earth, so that guests won't be forced to drink recycled urine like on the International Space Station.

Luxurious Space Hotel Will Import Water Instead of Recycling Pee

By Jon Christian

Emotion detection systems are increasing in prevalence, but the AI supporting several systems has exhibited a troubling racial bias.

Artificial Intelligence

Tech That Can “Detect Emotion” Could Keep You From Getting a Job

By Kristin Houser

China is planning an underwater base that sounds like a bold initiative to learn more about the uncharted depths of the ocean.

Robots and Machines

Details Emerge About China’s Mysterious Underwater Base

By Jon Christian

Students at colleges across the U.S. can now study marijuana, a sign that universities have taken notice of the booming cannabis industry.

Marijuana Courses Are Cropping Up at Colleges Across the US

By Kristin Houser

This Jet-Powered Flying Motorcycle Is a Cyberpunk Dream Come True

Advanced Transport

This Jet-Powered Flying Motorcycle Is a Cyberpunk Dream Come True

By Kristin Houser

U.S. defense contractor Raytheon just signed a $63.3 million contract with DARPA to develop a "tactical boost glide" (TBG) hypersonic weapons program.

US Military to Develop Hypersonic “Tactical Boost Glide” Weapon

By Victor Tangermann

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a prescription treatment for depression that's based on ketamine, marking a new use for an old anesthetic.

FDA Approves Ketamine-Based Nasal Spray to Treat Depression

By Jon Christian

A third patient appears HIV-free following the same time of bone marrow transplant used to treat two others reportedly cured of the virus.

Health & Medicine

A Third Patient Is Now Reportedly Cured of HIV

By Kristin Houser

Amid a wave of controversy, the Army is now attempting to convince the public that its ATLAS program won't lead to the creation of autonomous killer robots.

US Military: Our “Lethality Automated System” Definitely Isn’t a Killer Robot

By Kristin Houser

A study of more than 600,000 children confirms what the medical community has been asserting for years: vaccines don't cause autism.

Health & Medicine

Massive Study Confirms That Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism

By Kristin Houser

Israel’s Moon Lander Just Got Photobombed by the Earth

Israel’s Moon Lander Just Got Photobombed by the Earth

By Victor Tangermann

New research shows that dosages of the drug DMT that are too low to cause hallucinations could indeed reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Health & Medicine

New Study: Microdosing DMT Reduces Depression and Anxiety

By Jon Christian

According to a new poll, more than a third of young people agree that couples should consider climate change before deciding to have children.

Climate Change Has Young People Questioning Having Kids

By Kristin Houser

Italian carmaker Pininfarina just revealed the Battista at this year's Geneva Motor Show: a road legal 1900 horsepower hypercar.

Artificial Intelligence

This Road-Legal Electric “Hypercar” Is as Fast as a Bullet Train

By Victor Tangermann

It's a strange, cyberpunk depiction of a robot goddess with exposed aluminum actuators and electronics and an androgynous human-like face.

People in Japan Are Worshiping a Cyberpunk-Looking Robot Goddess

By Jon Christian

The AI models that allow self-driving cars to detect objects are less accurate when tested on images of pedestrians with darker skin tones.

Self-Driving Vehicles

Self-Driving Cars May Hit People With Darker Skin More Often

By Kristin Houser

China has announced the "imminent launch" of the first mission to build its new orbital space station, according to state and local media.

China Announces “Imminent Launch” of New Space Station

By Jon Christian

Goodyear unveiled a concept tire that rotates to give lift to a flying car at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show on Tuesday.

Advanced Transport

Goodyear’s New Concept Tire Doubles as a Flying Car Propeller

By Kristin Houser

Researchers from Lousiana State University (LSU) have developed biodegradable Mardi Gras beads produced from algae that could reduce festival waste.

Science & Energy

Scientists Invent Biodegradable Mardi Gras Beads

A startup is claiming its electric car can charge almost as quickly as it would take to gas up a vehicle with a combustion engine.

Advanced Transport

Startup Says Its Electric Car Charges to 80 Percent in 5 Minutes

By Jon Christian

A group of Google employees believe the company is still working on Dragonfly, a controversial project to build a search engine in China.

Google Is Still Working on Chinese Search Engine, Say Employees

By Kristin Houser

Based on a new computer model, asteroids are stronger than previously expected, meaning we'd have a tougher time destroying one headed for Earth.

Destroying Incoming Asteroids Might Be Harder Than We Thought

By Kristin Houser

Weapons makers ranging from Boeing to Lockheed Martin are working on new anti-drone technologies — everything from laser cannons to heat-seeking missiles.

Military Contractors Are Churning out New Anti-Drone Weapons

By Jon Christian

The global sperm quality decline could be due in part to a pair of common household chemicals, according to a University of Nottingham study.

Health & Medicine

Sperm Quality Is Falling. Chemicals in Your Home May Be to Blame.

By Kristin Houser

China's $22.3 million Mars simulation base is now open, and in addition to inspiring the public, it might even help humanity reach the real Mars.

China Opens Its First Mars Simulation Base

By Kristin Houser

Tesla protests are breaking out overseas after the company slashed the prices of its EVs, causing the value of owned vehicles to drop overnight.

Tesla Owners Are Enraged That the Company Cut Its Prices

By Kristin Houser

On Friday, two former Facebook content moderators signed on to a lawsuit, alleging that they also suffered from symptoms of PTSD.

Former Content Moderators Are Suing Facebook Over PTSD and Trauma

By Victor Tangermann

Newborn baby in a hospital bed, machine-learning models can help detect sepsis in babies.

Artificial Intelligence

Machine-Learning Models Can Help Detect Sepsis in Newborns Earlier

A sensor the size of a watch battery could help track firefighters and those in dangerous working conditions.

Prosthetics and Devices

Self-Powered Sensor Helps Track Firefighters in Burning Buildings

Why Cellphone Carriers Are Dreaming of a World Without Wi-Fi

Why Cellphone Carriers Are Dreaming of a World Without Wi-Fi

Kai-Fu Lee, a venture capitalist who used to develop AI for Google and Microsoft, predicts that AI will automate 40 percent of the world's jobs in 15 years.

Artificial Intelligence

Controlling AI Weapons May Be Impossible, Warns Former US Secretary of State

An experiment about reporting news stories with machine learning just released its first effort — a deep dive into Lyft's IPO.

Machine Learning

Journalists Reported a News Story Using Machine Learning

By Jon Christian

The number of robot workers to join the North American workforce increased by 7 percent in 2018, according to the Association for Advancing Automation.

North America Put More Robots to Work in 2018 Than Ever Before

By Kristin Houser

Canada agrees to invest C$150 million in the U.S.'s Lunar Gateway, becoming the nation's first international partner in the ambitious space program.

Canada Commits $150 Million to NASA’s Moon-Orbiting Space Station

By Kristin Houser

Motif Ingredients is providing the building blocks of fake meat, taking complex R&D out of the hands of creatives bring meat alternatives to market.

New Startup Is Selling the Building Blocks of Fake Meat

Startups that sequence your DNA have a new target market, according to a new story in The Atlantic: your long-dead ancestors.

DNA Ancestry Startups Have a New Target Market: The Long-Dead

By Jon Christian

A newly unveiled Energizer smartphone supposedly contains "the highest capacity battery ever seen in a smartphone" — but it's also incredibly big.

Robots and Machines

Energizer’s Brick-Like New Phone Has a Battery That Lasts 50 Days

By Kristin Houser

MIT's mini cheetah robot is the first four-legged bot to execute a perfect backflip — and watching it learn that skill is incredible entertaining.

See MIT’s Robot Land a Perfect Backflip — and Mangle Many Others

By Kristin Houser

YouTube is disabling all commenting on videos of kids in an effort to stop the "soft-core pedophilia ring" exploiting its website.

To Fight Pedophiles, YouTube Disables Comments on Videos Featuring Kids

By Kristin Houser

Tesla Is Closing Its Dealerships to Only Sell Cars Online

Tesla Is Closing Its Dealerships to Only Sell Cars Online

By Victor Tangermann

By analyzing thousands of models of the distant solar system's evolution, astronomers think they've unraveled some of the mysteries surrounding Planet Nine.

Science & Energy

Astronomers Predict Planet Nine Has 5x the Earth’s Mass

By Kristin Houser