Chinese space station Tiangong-2 is about to burn up over the Pacific
The final hours for China’s Tiangong-2 space station are at hand, as the 8-ton piece of hardware will fall to earth, or rather sea, some time in the next 20… Read more »
Category: Gadgets
Hero Labs raises £2.5M for its ultrasonic device to monitor a property’s water use and prevent leaks
Hero Labs, a London-based startup that is developing “smart” technology to help prevent water leaks in U.K. properties, has raised £2.5 million in seed funding. The round is led by… Read more »
Archinaut snags $73 million in NASA funding to 3D-print giant spacecraft parts in orbit
A project to 3D-print bulky components in space rather than bring them up there has collected a $73.7 million contract from NASA to demonstrate the technique in space. Archinaut, a… Read more »
These robo-ants can work together in swarms to navigate tricky terrain
While the agility of a Spot or Atlas robot is something to behold, there’s a special merit reserved for tiny, simple robots that work not as a versatile individual but… Read more »
Amazon said to be launch new Echo speaker with premium sound next year
Amazon is reportedly looking to offer an Echo that more directly competes with high-end speakers like the Sonos line of device of Apple’s HomePod, according to a new report from… Read more »
Amazon reportedly ramps development on Alexa-powered home robot on wheels
Bloomberg reported last April that Amazon was working on a home robot codenamed ‘Vesta’ (after the Roman goddess of the hearth and home) last year, and now the publication says… Read more »
YouTube lands on Fire TV and Amazon Prime Video arrives on Chromecast, Android TV
It’s nice when people can come together and work through their differences to make it easier to watch stuff. That’s exactly what happened today, when the long-standing detente between Google… Read more »
Mario creator Miyamoto counters cloud gaming hype (but don’t count Nintendo out)
Cloud gaming — however a company chooses to define that — is shaping up to be a big part of the next generation of consoles and other platforms. But Mario… Read more »
This drone swarm spray painted a jumbo-size graffiti mural
It’s Friday, so why not watch some good old-fashioned drone-powered graffiti? A design firm in Italy has put together a lovely little show that collected sketches from the art community… Read more »
Watch a plane land itself truly autonomously for the first time
A team of German researchers has created an automatic landing system for small aircraft that lets them touch down not only without a pilot, but without any of the tech… Read more »
This solar array expands itself at the right temperature
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a solar panel that’s only there when the sun shines on it? That’s the idea behind this research project, which uses shape-shifting materials to… Read more »
NASA picks a dozen science and tech projects to bring to the surface of the Moon
With the Artemis mission scheduled to put boots on lunar regolith as soon as 2024, NASA has a lot of launching to do — and you can be sure none… Read more »
This robot crawls along wind turbine blades looking for invisible flaws
Wind turbines are a great source of clean power, but their apparent simplicity — just a big thing that spins — belie complex systems that wear down like any other,… Read more »
The Raspberry Pi Foundation unveils the Raspberry Pi 4
The Raspberry Pi 4 is here — and it’s an awesome upgrade. Earlier rumors said that it would take a while before a major Raspberry Pi upgrade, but it’s available… Read more »
Crowdfunded spacecraft LightSail 2 prepares to go sailing on sunlight
Among the many spacecraft and satellites ascending to space on Monday’s Falcon Heavy launch, the Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 may be the most interesting. If all goes well, a week… Read more »
Tripping grad students over and over for science (and better prosthetic limbs)
Prosthetic limbs are getting better, but not as quickly as you’d think. They’re not as smart as our real limbs, which (directed by the brain) do things like automatically stretch… Read more »
This $99 AirPower knockoff is available for order now
There are a number of key differences between Apple’s AirPower and lookalike knockoff, AirUnleashed. The most pertinent one, however, is that one of the two is actually available for purchase…. Read more »
GoTenna is ramping up public sector mesh networking with a $24M C round
GoTenna is best known for its outdoors-oriented consumer products that let you text and share locations between smartphones off the grid. But the company has found that government work —… Read more »
AT&T cancels Samsung Galaxy Fold orders
AT&T has cancelled early orders for the Samsung Galaxy Fold. Tom’s Guide first reported the cancellation, noting that AT&T said the Galaxy Fold would be available again to order as… Read more »
Maker Faire halts operations and lays off all staff
Financial troubles have forced Maker Media, the company behind crafting publication MAKE: magazine as well as the science and art festival Maker Faire, to lay off its entire staff of… Read more »
KickSat-2 project launches 105 cracker-sized satellites
Move over, Starlink. SpaceX’s global internet play might have caught the world’s attention with its 60-satellite launch last month, but little did we know that it had already been upstaged… Read more »
Teams autonomously mapping the depths take home millions in Ocean Discovery Xprize
There’s a whole lot of ocean on this planet, and we don’t have much of an idea what’s at the bottom of most of it. That could change with the… Read more »
GPS Rollover is today. Here’s why devices might get wacky
The Global Positioning System time epoch is ending and another one is beginning, an event that could affect your devices or any equipment or legacy system that relies on GPS… Read more »
MIT’s ‘cyber-agriculture’ optimizes basil flavors
The days when you could simply grow a basil plant from a seed by placing it on your windowsill and watering it regularly are gone — there’s no point now… Read more »
Apple sells wireless charging AirPods, cancels charger days later
“Works with AirPower mat”. Apparently not. It looks to me like Apple doesn’t treat customers with the same “high standard” of care it apparently reserves for its hardware quality. Nine… Read more »
Mars helicopter bound for the Red Planet takes to the air for the first time
The Mars 2020 mission is on track for launch next year, and nesting inside the high-tech new rover heading that direction is a high-tech helicopter designed to fly in the… Read more »
Mobileye CEO clowns on Nvidia for allegedly copying self-driving car safety scheme
While creating self-driving car systems, it’s natural that different companies might independently arrive at similar methods or results — but the similarities in a recent “first of its kind” Nvidia… Read more »
How to watch the live stream for today’s Apple keynote
Apple is holding a keynote today on its campus in Cupertino, and the company is expected to talk about new services. Don’t expect any new device, today’s event should be… Read more »
Apple could charge $9.99 per month each for HBO, Showtime and Starz
The Wall Street Journal has published a report on Apple’s media push. The company is about to unveil a new video streaming service and an Apple News subscription on Monday…. Read more »
Apple could announce its gaming subscription service on Monday
Apple is about to announce some new services on Monday. While everybody expects a video streaming service as well as a news subscription, a new report from Bloomberg says that… Read more »