The latest plan to clean up space junk? Blast it with lasers and talcum powder
Earth has a problem with orbiting space junk. These unorthodox solutions could create a just-in-time collision avoidance system for rockets.
Mutant bacterial enzyme can break down plastic bottles in just hours
In a proof of concept, a new mutant enzyme was used to break down a ton of waste plastic bottles to the point where they were 90% degraded in only 10 hours.
Need a haircut? Professional barbers can guide you through the whole process
YouProbablyNeedaHaircut is a great solution during the lockdown. It shows your other half or housemate how to cut hair by connecting you to a barber via Zoom.
Psychologists say using emojis is more important than ever right now. Seriously
Emojis might seem frivolous, but a psychologist from the U.K.'s University of Chichester says there is a good reason for using them in work emails right now.
Mayo Clinic is using autonomous shuttle buses to transport COVID-19 tests
Mayo Clinic in Florida is using autonomous vehicles to transport vital medical supplies and COVID-19 tests from a nearby drive-thru testing site.
Affordable exosuits are here, but they don’t look (or work) how you’d expect
Vanderbilt researchers have built a soft textile exosuit called HeroWear Apex. It promises to augment wearers' strength -- on an impressively low budget.
Meet the sci-fi startup building computer chips with real biological neurons
Australian startup Cortical Labs is building brain-inspired neural networks using actual neurons. Here's why the company thinks that's a big deal.
MIT researchers say 6 feet may not be far enough while social distancing
According to researchers from MIT, we may have been greatly underestimating the distance that coughs and sneezes can travel. Guidelines may have to change.
How risky is air travel right now? A new supercomputer model has answers
How likely are you to contract a virus on a flight? Researchers from the Department of Computer Science at the University of West Florida investigated.
Groundbreaking A.I. brain implant translates thoughts into spoken words
Researchers from UC San Francisco have built a brain implant which uses deep-learning artificial intelligence to transform thoughts into complete sentences.
Urine luck: Astronauts’ pee could be the secret ingredient to future moon bases
A mix of astronaut urine and moon dust could be used to create a material for 3D-printing future moon bases. It sounds crazy, but could make perfect sense.
Three words: Robot. Talent. Agency.
The company promises to do for 'robot actors' what talent agents do for human performers: Pair them up with producers and take a cut of any proceeds generated.
Pizza vending machines are coming, and they’re perfect for the pandemic era
How many people have touched your takeout before you eat it? This pizza-serving vending machine may turn out to be the perfect solution in the age of COVID-19.
Pandemic drones that can detect fevers and coughing will soon take to the sky
Draganfly will be launching pandemic drones capable of detecting fever and coughing from the air to fight the coronavirus crisis. First stop: Australia.
A.I. could help spot telltale signs of coronavirus in lung X-rays
Could A.I. analyze x-rays of patients’ lungs to spot signs of potential coronavirus-induced lung damage? That's a problem multiple groups are working on.
Worried about bills during the coronavirus pandemic? This A.I. lawyer can help
The DoNotPay A.I. lawyer tool has helped tens of thousands dispute parking tickets and fight robocall scammers. Now it's helping delay imminent bill payments.
Why everyone is binge-watching pandemic movies right now
At a time when coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, is sweeping the world, why are many of us tuning into movies, shows, and video games about pandemics?
Always-on illness detection system could help prevent future viral outbreaks
FluSense is a portable surveillance device powered by machine learning, and it could one day be used to track viral outbreaks to help stop them from spreading.
Can a supercomputer save us from the coronavirus? We spoke to the man who knows
At the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researchers are using an IBM supercomputer to lay the groundwork for a coronavirus vaccine.
3D-printed ventilator valves help out Italian hospital rocked by coronavirus
What do you do when a crucial component of a life-saving piece of medical equipment is in hopelessly short supply? You 3D print yourself a supply, of course.
Deep-learning A.I. is helping archaeologists translate ancient tablets
Cutting-edge A.I. is helping translate 2,500-year-old clay tablet documents from Persia's Achaemenid Empire. Here's what researchers have developed to assist.
We’ve hit peak millennial internet culture. Want proof? Meet MSCHF
MSCHF, a cutting-edge, Brooklyn, New York-based ideas factory, seems to have somehow stumbled upon the magic formula for capturing meme lightning in a bottle.
U.S. Navy’s robot submarines could carry out autonomous attacks
New reports show the U.S. Navy is in the process of developing armed robot submarines, which could theoretically be used to kill without direct human oversight.
Someone just uploaded open-source nuclear power plant blueprints to the web
It sounds like the diabolical scheme of a James Bond villain. In fact, it could be a game-changer for sustainable clean energy in the future. Here's why.
In China’s hospitals, robots are helping to halt the spread of coronavirus
As the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic continues to spread, hospitals in China have turned to a trio of robots to help fight the spread of the flu-type virus.
This Google robot taught itself to walk, with no help whatsoever, in two hours
Remember that scene in Walt Disney’s Bambi where the titular fawn learns to stand up and walk under its own power? Like that, basically, but with a robot.
Airplane Wi-Fi could get a massive upgrade in the near future
If planes were as reliable as inflight Wi-Fi, we’d never get on a flight again. Thanks to industry group Seamless Air Alliance, it could be about to get better.
Astronomers discover the biggest explosion in space since the Big Bang
It was powerful enough to punch a cavity in the super-hot gas surrounding the black hole large enough to fit 15 Milky Way galaxies lined up next to each other.
Scientists make artificial and biological neurons communicate over the internet
Rat neurons and artificial neurons just talked to each online. That might sound crazy, but it could one day help to change lives. Here's what you need to know.
Repair robot swims through oil pipelines and welds cracks — without exploding
This repair robot will weld oil pipeline defects from the inside while it's submerged in continuously flowing oil. Coming soon to an oil field near you.
This robot will change your tires in a fraction of the time a mechanic can
RoboTire is building robots which can change the tires on a car in a fraction of the time it takes a mechanic to do it. Here's what the company has planned.
Urine test could detect bladder cancer traces 10 years before other signs appear
More research is needed, but this urine test could be a breakthrough for non-invasively spotting signs of bladder cancer a decade before other signs appear.
Flippy the burger-flipping robot is changing the face of fast food as we know it
A robot that flips burgers is coming to a fast food joint near you. And it can do a lot more than that, too. Meet Flippy, the robot superstar of Miso Robotics.
New drilling tech could tap Earth’s geothermal energy by melting through rocks
An abundant source of geothermal energy exists far beneath our feet, but accessing it isn’t exactly easy. A a new type of enhanced drilling system may help.
New green device generates electricity by capturing moisture from the air
A device invented by scientists at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst could generate electricity from moisture in the air, aided by a natural protein.
U.S. military facial recognition could identify people from 1 km away
The Advanced Tactical Facial Recognition at a Distance Technology project started back in 2016. A working prototype of the tech was shown off late last year.
Neural implant turns regular grasshoppers into cyborg bomb-sniffers
Everyone knows sniffer dogs, but how about bomb-sniffing grasshoppers? Here's why they're a promising idea.