The DSKY in action. NASA.
The Apollo guidance computer did a lot with a little, but the idea that your cell phone has more computer power is a little off. Yes, a smartphone can hold more information but it doesn’t exactly have the software to get you to the Moon. But the comparatively weaker Apollo guidance computer (AGC) did, and though it didn’t have a keyboard and monitor like your desktop, it did speak in the familiar language we use every day of nouns and verbs.
Schematic ...read more
From the ground, researchers measured laser signals that originated from a satellite and traveled through Earth’s gravitational potential and the turbulent atmosphere. (Credit: Earth, Google; satellite, ESO)
Veering from the path of their counterparts at other institutions, researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Germany say they’ve found an easier path toward large-scale, unhackable communication networks.
They demonstrated that it’s possible to distribute quantum infor ...read more
A Walmart employee experiences virtual reality training. Credit: STRIVR
Virtual reality technology that has helped train NFL quarterbacks could also soon provide virtual training experiences for hundreds of thousands of Walmart associates. By the end of 2017, Walmart plans to roll out virtual reality training to the 140,000 associates who complete the retail giant’s training academy program each year. The move by the largest private employer of American workers m ...read more
(Credit: Maluuba)
A Microsoft artificial intelligence has achieved the ultimate high score in Ms. Pac-Man, maxing out the counter at just under a million points.
With its randomly-generated ghost movements, Ms. Pac-Man has proven a tough nut for AI to crack, as it cannot simply learn the patterns that govern the ghosts’ movements. Maluuba, an artificial intelligence company recently acquired by the tech giant, succeeded in outwitting the hungry ghosts by breaking their gaming a ...read more
(Credit: Tony Campbell/Shutterstock)
Cougars, wolves, and bears (oh my!) all scour the landscape of Western Canada, ready to take out an elk if the opportunity arises. Although each of these predators poses a deadly threat to unsuspecting ungulates, elk have an even bigger problem to deal with: hordes of humans that invade the region every autumn armed with rifles, bows and arrows.
But as female elk grow older and wiser, researchers have found, they learn to outwit fervent hunters by changing ...read more
(Credit: isak55/Shutterstock)
When Donna Riordan first moved to the idyllic Orcas Island just off the coast of Washington state, she had no plans of doing any sort of research, despite her background in science and education policy. But a few years later, in 2012, she learned that Pacific International Terminals, part of marine and rail cargo operating company SSA Marine, planned to build the largest coal transport terminal in North America. She’d be able to see it from her home.
The pro ...read more
The “double-headed worm from space.” Look for the googly eyes. (Credit: Junji Morokuma/Tufts University)
Researchers have been sending animals to space for decades, and the growing roster includes everything from dogs and monkeys to scorpions and jellyfish. But a more recent animal space traveler returned to Earth with something never before seen: an extra head.
The newly bi-cranial creature is a flatworm of the species Dugesia japonica, one of 15 flown abo ...read more
An artist’s conception of TRAPPIST-1. (Credit: ESO)
If we detect alien life on a planet in the TRAPPIST solar system, there’s a chance they’ve already spread to one or more of the other six planets orbiting this ultra-cool, ultra-tiny star some 40 light-years away.
In May 2016, scientists made headlines when they discovered three, Earth-size, rocky planets (in February scientists announced they found four more) orbiting a red dwarf star that’s roughly the size of Jupite ...read more
A high-profile paper in Cell reports on a new brain stimulation method that’s got many neuroscientists excited. The new technique, called temporal interference (TI) stimulation, is said to be able to reach structures deep inside the brain, using nothing more than scalp electrodes.
Currently, the only way to stimulate deep brain structures is by implanting electrodes (wires) into the brain – which is an expensive and potentially dangerous surgical procedure. TI promises to make d ...read more
