The Race to Get Tourists to Suborbital Space Is Heating Up
Space: final frontier or ultimate tourist destination? Possibly both—provided you have the cash. Already, you can buy tickets for (as-yet-unscheduled) flights aboard SpaceShipTwo, the crew vehicle developed by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. And at a NewSpace conference in Seattle last month, Blue Origin—helmed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos—announced that it has plans to sell tickets…
Bitcoin Mining Guzzles Energy—And Its Carbon Footprint Just Keeps Growing
This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. If you’re like me, you’ve probably been ignoring the bitcoin phenomenon for years — because it seemed too complex, far-fetched, or maybe even too libertarian. But if you have any interest in a future where the world moves beyond fossil fuels, you and I should…
These Beating Mini-Hearts Could Save Big Bucks—And Maybe Lives
Crack open the door of the incubator at Novoheart’s Hong Kong headquarters and you’ll find about a dozen pea-shaped, pulsating blobs submerged in a warm, salty-sweet broth. They’re 3-D human heart organoids—a simplified, shrunk-down version of the real thing—and are the first ever to contain a hollow chamber, like one of the four that’s beating…
The Tale of the Painting Robot That Didn't Steal Anyone's Job
The arrival of the robotic arm was not a happy affair at Professional Finishing in Richmond, California, just across the bay from San Francisco. In contrast to the hulking factory arms that have traditionally labored in isolation, this robot was meant to work right alongside humans, delicately sanding and painting things like speaker cases or…
How Kids Can Use 'Screen Time' to Their Advantage
I don’t think I’m the only parent who frets about their kids’ screen time. The Phineas and Ferb binges. Saturday nights playing Uncharted. It’s all turning their brains to sausage, right? Developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik wants us to take a deep breath—and focus less on how much kids use tech and more on how kids…
Fun Ideas That Keep Kids Learning Even After School's Out
For some people, summer means warmer weather and outdoor activities. But what about the kids that are out of school? What will they do all summer? For most parents, they just want their kids to do something other than video games or watching endless videos. So for you, I'm going to give a few suggestions…
If There's Life on Saturn's Moon Enceladus, It Might Look Like This
Saturn’s moon Enceladus has become an alien-hunting hot spot, and not just for the tinfoil hat crowd. Thought to be a barren cue ball until NASA’s Cassini mission found both active geysers and a liquid ocean beneath its frozen surface, the icy little moon is now one of the likeliest places to encounter extraterrestrial life…
A Robotics Startup Perishes, and It’s Got Tales to Tell
TickTock has run out of time. Don’t fret if you don’t know what that is—after all, the startup launched just a year ago. But in that time the company cycled through four different consumer robot concepts in the hopes of shaping the future of the home, moving beyond simpleton Roombas to truly intelligent machines. After…
Thank Colleges for Imminent Carbon Taxes (No Seriously, Thank Them)
We can all agree that taxes are no fun. But taxes are also what fund public education so our kids can read good, and what keep firefighters employed so our houses don’t burn down. And it’s looking more and more likely that taxes could help our planet from burning down too, with something called a…
Facebook Opens Its Private Servers to Scientists Studying Fake News
This much is obvious: What the world needs now is less fake news. In general, sure, but particularly on the planet's leading source of information: Facebook. The thing is, to separate the informational wheat from the disinformational chaffe, what you actually need is a better definition of fake news. And that's … well … less…