From Descartes to The Matrix, the idea that reality might be a simulation has long fascinated and terrified humanity. Elon Musk recently argued that the simulation hypothesis is most likely true. But if that’s the case, might there be a way to escape back to the real world? Join leading computer scientist Roman Yampolskiy as he argues that if we are living in a simulation, we can also hack our way out of it.
Category: space – Page 134
Redmond’s rocket maestros power the next moon-bound adventure
L3Harris engineers were celebrated for their critical role in the upcoming Artemis II mission.
Move over Mercury—Chiron is in retrograde: What even is Chiron?
You might have seen an interesting phrase popping up in your social media feeds lately: “Chiron is in retrograde.” If you’re anything like me, you’ve never heard of Chiron before—and I’m a professional astronomer.
So what is Chiron, and what does it mean to be in retrograde? The short answer is that Chiron is an asteroid-slash-comet orbiting somewhere past Jupiter and Saturn. And until January 2026, it’s going to look like it’s going backwards in the sky. If you can spot it.
But there’s a bit more to the story.
3I/ATLAS Is Fastest Interstellar Comet Ever Recorded, Clocking 130,000 MPH
It’s crossing the Solar System at 58 kilometers per second.
Meet IDEA: An AI assistant to help geoscientists explore Earth and beyond
A new artificial intelligence tool developed by researchers at the University of Hawai’i (UH) at Mānoa is making it easier for scientists to explore complex geoscience data—from tracking sea levels on Earth to analyzing atmospheric conditions on Mars.
Called the Intelligent Data Exploring Assistant (IDEA), the software framework combines the power of large language models, like those used in ChatGPT, with scientific data, tailored instructions, and computing resources.
By simply providing questions in everyday language, researchers can ask IDEA to retrieve data, run analyses, generate plots, and even review its own results—opening up new possibilities for research, education, and scientific discovery.
The AI workspace that works for you
A tool that connects everyday work into one space. It gives you and your teams AI tools—search, writing, note-taking—inside an all-in-one, flexible workspace.
The Europa Clipper Mission Tests it Radar Instrument at Mars
NASA’s Europa Clipper, the largest interplanetary probe, tested its radar during a Mars flyby. The results show the kind of detailed imagery the probe will capture once it arrives at Jupiter’s moon Europa.
Ultra-metal-poor star discovered in Milky Way’s halo
By analyzing the data from ESA’s Gaia satellite, astronomers from the University of Chicago, Illinois and elsewhere, have identified a new ultra-metal-poor star. The newfound star, designated GDR3_526285, turns out to be one of the most metal-poor stars detected so far. The finding was announced in a research paper published August 8 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Solar-Powered Device Turns Moon Dirt Into Bricks, a Potential Breakthrough in Lunar Construction
A new invention could make a sustained presence on the Moon more feasible.
NASA finds multi-billion-year-old ‘coral’ on Mars
NASA’s Curiosity rover has snapped black and white images of a rock on the Martian surface that looks remarkably like a piece of coral.