the digest (Page 199)

Latest in the digest

Musk: Tesla Pickup Truck Will Be Straight Out of “Blade Runner”

Musk: Tesla Pickup Truck Will Be Straight Out of “Blade Runner”

By Victor Tangermann

New AI Thinks Like a Scientist to Explain the Physics of Virtual Worlds

New AI Thinks Like a Scientist to Explain the Physics of Virtual Worlds

By Dan Robitzski

Cornell researchers created a shape-shifting robot that knows when it should reconfigure itself to complete various tasks.

Watch This Remarkable Robot Transform Itself to Tackle Various Tasks

By Kristin Houser

Clean coal doesn't exist, but burning it in as clean a way as possible could give us more time to adopt clean, renewable energy around the world.

Tweaking Coal Plant Emissions Could Slow Down Climate Change

By Dan Robitzski

Automakers Hyundai and Kia will beginning adding a solar roof to select cars in 2019, allowing the Sun's energy to help power the vehicles.

You’ll Be Able to Buy a Car With a Solar Roof in 2019

By Kristin Houser

Malta launched a new AI task force to develop a plan for safe, effective, beneficial AI. It will also determine how a robot might earn citizenship.

Artificial Intelligence

The Island Nation Malta Created a Citizenship Test for Robots

By Dan Robitzski

China is sharing its censorship and surveillance knowledge with other nations, including many in Africa, according to a new report.

China Is Helping African Nations Spy on Their Citizens

By Kristin Houser

Microsoft's underwater data center off the cost of Scotland could be the first of many the company deploys to support its cloud technology.

Science & Energy

Microsoft’s Underwater Data Center Is Actually Working, Says CEO

By Kristin Houser

Elon Musk claimed that Tesla's cars will soon be able to "follow you like a pet" and take directions "like a big [remote controlled] car."

Musk: You’ll Be Able to Remote Control Your Tesla Within 6 Weeks

By Jon Christian

New Image Confirms a Black Hole is Swallowing Our Galaxy

Science & Energy

New Image Confirms a Black Hole is Swallowing Our Galaxy

By Kristin Houser

With a spinal implant boosting paralyzed people's brains' commands, they were able to walk short distances for the first time since their injuries.

Health & Medicine

A Spinal Implant Is Helping Paralyzed People Walk Again

By Dan Robitzski

Federal research into universal basic income shows that regular cash payments don't reduce employment at all. In fact, it seems to help.

Universal Basic Income

A New Study Shows Basic Income Doesn’t Deter People From Working

By Dan Robitzski

NASA is hard at work on a "factory" that'd let future Mars missions — or even colonists — extract rocket fuel from Martian soil.

NASA Scientists Think They Can Extract Rocket Fuel From Martian Soil

By Jon Christian

Lime Recalled Thousands of Scooters Because They Were Catching Fire

Advanced Transport

Lime Recalled Thousands of Scooters Because They Were Catching Fire

By Victor Tangermann

A slew of tech billionaires, including Bill Gates and Richard Branson, are determined to make cost-effective nuclear fusion a reality.

Science & Energy

Tech Billionaires Are Pouring Money Into Fusion Research

By Kristin Houser

A recent poll, admittedly one with little scientific rigor, found that many people in tech sector think their companies are doing beneficial work.

Some Big Tech Employees Fear The Future They’re Creating

By Dan Robitzski

A vaping detection system with AI-powered sensors is alerting officials in the U.S. and Canada to the signs of vaping in school bathrooms.

Artificial Intelligence

Schools Are Installing Bathroom Surveillance Systems to Bust Vapers

By Kristin Houser

What Astronauts’ Tweets Could Tell Scientists About the Psychology of Space Travel

What Astronauts’ Tweets Could Tell Scientists About the Psychology of Space Travel

By Jon Christian

Waymo is the first company to receive a permit to test truly driverless cars — autonomous vehicles without a safety driver — on California roads.

Self-Driving Vehicles

Waymo’s Self-Driving Cars Will No Longer Have Safety Drivers

By Kristin Houser

Researchers from Ghent University have figured out a way to store data in a powder, and it could help us move away from magnetic storage solutions.

We Can Now Store Data in the Form of a Powder

By Kristin Houser

MIT wants to allow internet users to give commands to a real-life hired actor on Halloween. Terrible idea or fascinating social experiment?

Virtual Reality

MIT Will Let You Control a Real-Life Actor By Giving Them Commands

By Victor Tangermann

AI-Generated Halloween Music Is a Cool Idea, But it Sounds Awful

Artificial Intelligence

AI-Generated Halloween Music Is a Cool Idea, But it Sounds Awful

By Victor Tangermann

Veloce, a new astronomical tool that can spot Earth-sized planets tightly orbiting dim stars, was just installed in an Australian observatory.

This Upgraded Telescope Hunts Exoplanets Orbiting Dim Stars

By Dan Robitzski

JD.com's 40,000-square-meter automated warehouse is run completely by robots. The only human employs simply service the bots.

Take a Look at the World’s First Fully Automated Warehouse

By Kristin Houser

An eye scan that provides detailed images of the retina and blood vessels could help us detect Alzheimer's disease before symptoms appear.

Health & Medicine

An Eye Scan Could Detect Alzheimer’s Before Symptoms Appear

By Kristin Houser

NASA announced Tuesday that the Kepler Space Telescope, which has been orbiting Earth and looking for exoplanets since 2009, ran out of fuel. RIP.

NASA: Kepler Space Telescope is Out of Fuel

By Dan Robitzski

NASA's Parker Solar Probe just broke the world records for closest approach to the Sun and fastest speed relative to the Sun.

NASA’s Solar Probe Just Broke Two World Records

By Kristin Houser

Google just announced a $25 million contest that asks people to develop AI systems that actually benefit society for a change.

Google Wants You to Build AI That Benefits Society

By Dan Robitzski

Bitcoin mining alone has the potential to push us past the global warming limits set by the Paris Agreement, according to a new report.

Bitcoin Mining Will Only Cause a Climate Catastrophe if We Let It

By Kristin Houser

You can use a tablet screen to give instructions to this idiot-proof helicopter, which uses LIDAR and cameras to take off, land and avoid obstacles.

You Can Fly DARPA’s Idiot-Proof Helicopter With 45 Mins of Training

By Jon Christian

There's a lot of space junk orbiting the planet. The Air Force just put out a call for high-tech ways to keep track of it all.

The Air Force Wants Your Help Guarding Satellites From Space Junk

By Dan Robitzski

Scientists want to craft an updated version of the Arecibo Message, a radio communication that marked humanity's first attempt to talk to aliens.

Scientists Want Your Help Crafting a Message to Aliens

By Kristin Houser

We need to do something to address the problem of air pollution, according to the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO Director: Air Pollution Is the “New Tobacco”

By Kristin Houser

A retroactive look at a two year old study suggests that a type of photosynthetic bacteria interacted with individual photons at the quantum scale.

Scientists May Have Put Microbes in a State of Quantum Entanglement

By Dan Robitzski

Walmart-owned retail store chain Sam's Club announced it will open a cashier-less store in Dallas, Texas. But it will still employ human staff.

Walmart Is Opening a Store With Zero Cashiers

By Victor Tangermann

artificial moon

There’s No Way China’s Artificial Moon Will Work, Says Expert

By Kristin Houser

A Spanish company has figured out how to turn raw sewage into clean energy in the form of a coal-like fuel that burns without giving off carbon dioxide.

Clean Coal Startup Turns Human Waste Into Earth-Friendly Fuel

By Dan Robitzski

autonomous vehicles

Self-Driving Vehicles

Ford’s Self-Driving Cars Are About to Chauffeur Your Senator

By Kristin Houser

Spain is rolling out an AI lie detector called VeriPol at many of its police stations, which uses machine learning to flag false police reports.

Artificial Intelligence

This AI Lie Detector Flags Falsified Police Reports

By Jon Christian

A Toronto startup figured out how to get bacteria to turn food waste into biodegradable plastics. If it scales, it could prevent loads of methane emissions.

These Bacteria Digest Food Waste Into Biodegradable Plastic

By Dan Robitzski

Hoversurf's $150,000 Hover One hoverbike is now available for preorder with deliveries expected to occur in the third quarter of 2019.

Advanced Transport

You Can Now Preorder a $150,000 Hoverbike

By Kristin Houser

Tesla criminal probe

FBI’s Tesla Criminal Probe Reportedly Centers on Model 3 Production

By Kristin Houser

A brain floating against a space scene background.

Zero Gravity Causes Worrisome Changes In Astronauts’ Brains

By Dan Robitzski

We Aren’t Growing Enough Healthy Foods to Feed Everyone on Earth

By Kristin Houser

Science & Energy

Report Identifies China as the Source of Ozone-Destroying Emissions

By Kristin Houser

AI could help predict earthquakes

Artificial Intelligence

Scientists Are Hopeful AI Could Help Predict Earthquakes

By Jon Christian

A Stem Cell Transplant Let a Wheelchair-Bound Man Dance Again

Health & Medicine

A Stem Cell Transplant Let a Wheelchair-Bound Man Dance Again

By Kristin Houser

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Artificial Intelligence

AI Dreamed Up These Nightmare Fuel Halloween Masks

By Jon Christian

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Robot Security Guards Will Constantly Nag Spectators at the Tokyo Olympics

By Kristin Houser

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Self-Driving Vehicles

People Would Rather a Self-Driving Car Kill a Criminal Than a Dog

By Kristin Houser

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Scientists Say New Material Could Hold up an Actual Space Elevator

By Jon Christian

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Elon Musk Says Your Tesla Will Earn You Money While You Sleep

By Kristin Houser

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Artificial Intelligence

A Work of AI-Generated Art Just Sold For Vastly More Than Expected

By Jon Christian

A Microdose Of “Magic Mushrooms” Could Unleash Your Creativity

Health & Medicine

A Microdose Of “Magic Mushrooms” Could Unleash Your Creativity

By Kristin Houser

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Scientists: The Government Should Invest in Carbon Capture Now

By Dan Robitzski

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These Environmentally Friendly Bricks Are Made out of Human Urine

By Kristin Houser

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Former General: The US Will Likely Fight a War With China

By Dan Robitzski

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Virtual Reality

Facebook Sees a Future in Augmented Reality Glasses

By Jon Christian

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Self-Driving Vehicles

Poll: Cool Teens Think Self-Driving Cars Are Totally Lame

By Dan Robitzski

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Terminator 2’s Terrifying Villain Inspired a New Liquid Metal Robot

By Kristin Houser

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Artificial Intelligence

Here Are the Jobs of the Future That Robots Won’t Be Able to Fill

By Kristin Houser

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Artificial Intelligence

An IBM AI Invented Perfumes That’ll Soon Sell in 4,000 Stores

By Jon Christian

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Renewable Energy

Y Combinator Is Turning Its Attention to Carbon Removal

By Kristin Houser

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Experts: Ban Pesticides That Threaten Kids’ Brains

By Jon Christian