the digest(Page 191)

Latest in the digest

A study into Chinese censorship revealed that the nation doesn't want its citizens conversing about He Jiankui's genetically edited babies.

China Is Censoring “Genetically Edited Babies” on Social Media

By Kristin Houser

For the first time, a doctor remotely advised a surgery team via a 5G connection, which delivered his instructions in near real-time.

Health & Medicine

Doctor Directs World’s First 5G-Powered Surgery

By Kristin Houser

European military tech contractor Rheinmetall Defense successfully tested a laser turret capable of taking down drones and mortar fire late last year.

European Military Contractor Tests New Laser Weapon

By Dan Robitzski

What if an ai, paired with an app, can find you true love? That's what Netflix's new dystopian show Osmosis is imagining in a new trailer.

Artificial Intelligence

Terrifying Netflix Trailer Skewers The Horror of Algorithmic Love

By Victor Tangermann

Bill Gates believes cancer vaccines are a breakthrough technology poise to change the world, according to a piece he penned for MIT Technology Review.

Bill Gates: Custom Cancer Vaccines Will Revolutionize Medicine

By Kristin Houser

CEO Sam Altman: AI might well replace most jobs as we know them today, but the market will be flooded with new "sort of human to human jobs."

Artificial Intelligence

Y Combinator CEO: AI Will Replace Jobs, But Life Will be Awesome

By Victor Tangermann

ESA researchers have found evidence that Mars was once home to a planet-wide groundwater system — providing a new clue in the hunt for Martian life.

First Evidence of “Planet-Wide Groundwater System” on Mars Found

By Kristin Houser

A new study suggests that THC, the cannabis compound associated with feeling "high," has more therapeutic benefits than previously believed.

Health & Medicine

Study: THC Has More Therapeutic Benefits Than We Thought

By Kristin Houser

A new study finds a link between the amount of green space surrounding a person's childhood home and their mental health as an adult.

Study: Growing up Around Green Space Halves Mental Health Risk

By Kristin Houser

Security researchers have found that data streams between Amazon-Owned Ring doorbells and their accompanying app to be easily compromised.

Hackers Can Spy on and Hijack Amazon Doorbell’s Video Feed

By Victor Tangermann

An internal email obtained by The Verge reveals Faraday Future is still desperately looking for funding while extending the furlough.

Advanced Transport

Electric Car Startup Faraday Future Is Circling the Drain

By Victor Tangermann

NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Tries to Start Digging, But Hits Snag

NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Tries to Start Digging, But Hits Snag

By Victor Tangermann

Chinese company INNFOS recently demoed the abilities of its humanoid robot XR-1, which can complete a slew of tasks with remarkable dexterity.

Amazing Video: Nimble Humanoid Robot Threads Needle, Pours Drink

By Kristin Houser

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak concerned that the company has yet to release a foldable iPhone, but there's a chance one is on the horizon.

Robots and Machines

Apple Co-Founder: Where’s My Foldable iPhone?

By Kristin Houser

Documents list several Chinese government agencies as the funding sources for the CRISPR babies experiments conducted by He Jiankui.

Prosthetics and Devices

China May Have Helped Fund Gene-Hacked Babies Experiment

By Kristin Houser

Europe's rocket manufacturer Ariane Group and French space agency CNES came up with a new universalized "acceleration platform" called "ArianeWorks."

Europe’s New Reusable Rocket Design Borrows Heavily From SpaceX

By Victor Tangermann

Lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez noted in an Instagram Live video that young people might wonder if it's OK to have children in the face of climate change.

AOC: Facing Down Climate Change, Should We “Still Have Children?”

By Kristin Houser

A Russian journalist shared a map of Russia's nuclear targets in the United States if the U.S. or its allies decided to strike first.

Russian Media Says Kremlin Would Nuke These U.S. Targets First

By Kristin Houser

British design company Layer has partnered with Airbus to come up with an economy seat design that delivers on comfort and even fuel efficiency.

Advanced Transport

These Futuristic Airplane Seats Could Make Flying Economy Better

By Victor Tangermann

A new space imaging system could prevent satellite collisions by monitoring the sky with unprecedented resolution during daylight hours.

“Game-Changing” Camera Could Prevent Satellite Collisions

By Kristin Houser

U.S. cities are burning the recyclables that they used to ship to China, and the emissions could be wreaking havoc on Americans' health.

Science & Energy

US Cities Have Nowhere to Send Recyclables, so They’re Burning Them

By Kristin Houser

Startup Magic Leap envisions a future in which digital layers blanket the physical world — but building this "Magicverse" won't be easy.

Virtual Reality

Magic Leap Wants to Build AR “Layers” Over The Entire Earth

By Kristin Houser

In an interview newly published by Popular Mechanics, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared his thoughts on colonizing Mars — even how they might grow vegetables.

Elon Musk: Mars Base Will Have “Outdoorsy, Fun Atmosphere”

By Jon Christian

For an upcoming trial, researchers will inject people genetically predisposed to develop Alzheimer's with genes linked to a lowered risk.

Alzheimer’s Trial Will “Bathe” Patients’ Brains in Helpful Genes

By Kristin Houser

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos thinks humanity will "live in giant O'Neal-style space colonies," according to a recent interview rather than settling on planets.

Jeff Bezos: In the Future, We’ll Live In “Giant Space Colonies”

By Victor Tangermann

This Beast-Mode Electric Skateboard Goes a Ridiculous 45 MPH

Advanced Transport

This Beast-Mode Electric Skateboard Goes a Ridiculous 45 MPH

By Victor Tangermann

Certain electric vehicle advocates are excited about so-called "refillable batteries": lithium ion cells which can be refilled with charged electrolyte.

Science & Energy

Bold New Idea: Recharge Electric Cars by Filling Them at the Pump

By Jon Christian

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which touched down in 2014, experienced a "hiccup" while booting up last week. For now, it's back online.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Recovers After Serious Glitch

By Jon Christian

China says it's developing a non-lethal weapon that uses millimeter microwave radar tech to inflict horrible pain on targets.

China Says Its New Microwave Weapon Inflicts Horrible Pain

By Jon Christian

YouTube pulled programmatic ad placements on a number of anti-vaccination or anti-vax related channels, BuzzFeed News reports.

YouTube Starts Pulling Ads on Anti-Vaccination Videos

By Victor Tangermann

A fast food AI platform is taking orders at a drive-thru in Colorado, and it could be the latest sign that restaurants are prepared to lean on automation.

Artificial Intelligence

This Fast Food Drive-Thru Is Now Using AI to Take Orders

By Kristin Houser

The continued legalization and acceptance of marijuana could be a problem for the alcohol industry, according to a new report.

Legal Marijuana Could Threaten the Alcohol Industry, Says Report

By Kristin Houser

Chicago police claim data from Uber allowed them to crack their case against actor Jussie Smollett, whom they believe faked a hate crime against himself.

Police: Uber Data Helped Prove Jussie Smollett Faked Hate Crime

By Kristin Houser

Scientists have discovered a star in the Andromeda Galaxy that explodes every year — the first of its kind in the known universe.

Scientists Discovered a Star That Explodes Every Year

By Jon Christian

The University of Cambridge has launched a new center focused on finding ways to use AI to address problems with the environment.

Cambridge: AI Might Help Us Avoid “Environmental Catastrophe”

By Kristin Houser

Yerba santa, a plant dubbed the "holy herb" by native California tribes, could have a previously unknown medical use as an Alzheimer's treatment.

“Holy Herb” Shows Promise as Alzheimer’s Treatment

By Kristin Houser

China's state-run media outlet Xinhua adds a female AI news anchor to its news team, and she'll make her professional debut in March.

Artificial Intelligence

China Unveils the World’s First Female AI News Anchor

By Kristin Houser

A new NASA page beams weather data from the space agency's InSight lander, on the Red Planet, straight to your web browser.

NASA Lander Now Provides Daily Martian Weather Reports

By Jon Christian

The firm that won an international competition to design a robotics museum in Seoul plans to have robots "in charge" of the construction.

Robots Are Building a Robotics Museum

By Kristin Houser

The nonprofit Consumer Reports decided to pull its "recommended" rating today, citing new "reliability data" collected from a 2018 survey.

Tesla Model 3 Loses Coveted Consumer Reports Recommendation

By Victor Tangermann

Sean Dorrance Kelly, philosophy professor at Harvard, argues that artificial intelligence can never achieve true human creativity.

Artificial Intelligence

Philosopher: AI Can Never Create True Art

By Victor Tangermann

Just days after release, Nike released a software update for its self-tightening sneaker that ended up crashing the whole system.

Software Bug Immediately Crashes Nike’s Self-Lacing Sneakers

By Dan Robitzski

Researchers have finally figured out why Hippocamp, a tiny moon orbiting Neptune, is able to exist despite its close proximity to a much-larger moon.

Science & Energy

Meet Hippocamp, “The Moon That Shouldn’t Be There”

By Kristin Houser

Samsung Just Revealed a $1,980 Folding Smartphone

Robots and Machines

Samsung Just Revealed a $1,980 Folding Smartphone

By Victor Tangermann

A new gene therapy tested on mice can treat a specific kind of congenital deafness by repairing a faulty inner-ear protein.

Scientists Used Gene Therapy to Cure Deafness in Mice

By Dan Robitzski

Earlier this month, Google inadvertently revealed that its home security device, Nest, contained a secret microphone. Now it says secrecy was a "mistake."

Google: Secret Nest Microphone “Never Intended to Be a Secret”

By Dan Robitzski

Vampire Clinic That Sold Young Blood to the Wealthy Closes Shop

Health & Medicine

Vampire Clinic That Sold Young Blood to the Wealthy Closes Shop

By Dan Robitzski

As of March 1, drivers in Queensland, Australia will be able to include one of five emoji in their license plates — a startling break from tradition.

Advanced Transport

Australian License Plates Can Now Include Emoji

By Victor Tangermann

New research has uncovered a stellar stream comprising 4,000 stars flowing through the Milky Way remarkably close to the Earth.

Science & Energy

Scientists Found a “River of Stars” Flowing Through the Milky Way

By Kristin Houser

WHO Says UN Should Reclassify Marijuana as Less Dangerous

Health & Medicine

WHO Says UN Should Reclassify Marijuana as Less Dangerous

By Kristin Houser

President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive 4 (SPD-4) today, organizing all military space functions under a new Space Force.

Trump Signs Directive: Space Force Will Be Run By Air Force

By Victor Tangermann

The benefits of lab-grown meat will depend on scientists' ability to produce it sustainably, and right now, we don't know if that's even possible.

Lab-Grown Meat Could Be Worse for the Environment

By Kristin Houser

Rather than attempt to interpret emoji and emoticons in online communications, some courts simply choose to ignore the symbols.

Judges Are Struggling to Interpret Emoji in Court Cases

By Kristin Houser

Using the Netherlands-based Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), astronomers have added another 300,000 galaxies to our map of the universe.

Science & Energy

Scientists Just Discovered 300,000 New Galaxies

By Kristin Houser

"Swarm squadrons of network-enabled drones capable of confusing and overwhelming enemy air defenses" could fight alongside fighter jets in the British army.

The British Military Is Working on Anti-Aircraft Drone Swarms

By Victor Tangermann

This weekend, Elon Musk took to Twitter to confirm that he'd left the research group OpenAI — citing disagreements with the group's direction.

Artificial Intelligence

Elon Musk Quits Research Group That Built “Fake News” Generator

By Jon Christian

The Australian government is gearing up to plant a billion new trees, as part of a vast campaign aimed to meet the climate targets.

Australia Is Planting a Billion Trees to Fight Climate Change

By Jon Christian

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover's last words weren't literally that "my battery is low line," the reporter behind the viral tweet clarified.

The Dead Mars Rover Didn’t Actually Say That “My Battery” Thing

By Jon Christian

The Navy just awarded Boeing a contract to build a giant robot submarine, which it says will prowl the depths of the ocean autonomously.

Navy’s Giant New Robot Sub Will Prowl Ocean For Months Autonomously

By Jon Christian

CEO Elon Musk confirmed in a tweet that a "Party and Camping Mode" would roll out in "probably a month or two."

Teslas Are Getting a “Party and Camping Mode”

By Victor Tangermann

A team of engineers at the University of Surrey launched a 4.9 foot harpoon from a satellite at a piece of space debris to catch it out of the sky.

Watch a Harpoon Attached to a Satellite Spear a Piece of Space Debris

By Victor Tangermann

Scientists developed a piece of machine learning software that can predict the prognosis of ovarian cancer and at a higher accuracy.

This AI Can Predict Survival of Ovarian Cancer Patients

By Victor Tangermann

This self-sustaining livable yacht has everything you'd need to live off the grid if climate change rendered the land uninhabitable.

Ride out Climate Change in This $5.5 Million Self-Sustaining Yacht

By Kristin Houser

Hung-Chun Chang, the scientist who created five monkey clones of a gene-edited animal, defends his research in an interview with New Scientist.

Science & Energy

Scientist Defends Controversial Cloning of Gene-Edited Monkeys

By Kristin Houser