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The following is adapted from Lewis’ The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery, published by Simon & Schuster.

“It says, ‘No entrance,’ but you just enter,” physicist Andre Geim told me about the graphite mines in the mountains where he often hikes. His comment embodied the insouciance behind his Nobel Prize–winning physics experiment and his habit of experimenting deliberately outside of his area of expertise.

Geim, a Russian-born Dutch and British citizen and a professor at the University of Manchester, and his colleague Konstantin Novoselov won the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics for their experiments involving the single-atom-thick material called graphene—the thinnest, strongest, most conductive material in existence. It is predicted to replace silicon and transform the electronics industry as we know it.

Using superconductors, scientists can levitate small creatures such as fruit flies for long periods of time.


Scientists who want to study the effects of weightlessness have always had precious few options. There’s the “vomit comet,” NASA’s Weightless Wonder plane that creates a few seconds of weightlessness during parabolic flights. Or they could convince the space agency to actually launch their experiments into the great beyond.

But there might be an easier and cheaper way: levitation.

In a recent study, physicist Richard Hill and colleagues used superconductive magnets to levitate fruit flies for an extended period of time, allowing them to study the long-term effects of weightlessness on the insects’ biology. A fruit fly is a far cry from a human, but studying insects in weightlessness here on Earth is much cheaper than doing so inside a satellite 220 miles away in space, and even fruit flies could tell scientists something about how humans and their DNA will react to long-duration spaceflight.

OneWeb is set to resume launches with Arianespace in December to build out its Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite internet constellation. The satellite operator announced Monday that Arianespace will provide 16 more launches, each placing another 34 to 36 satellites into OneWeb’s constellation.

This update comes as OneWeb is in the midst of a restructuring deal with the U.K. government, Bharti Global Limited, and Hughes Network Systems after filing for Chapter 11 in March. The U.K. government and Bharti Global Limited announced in July they formed a consortium to acquire OneWeb, each providing $500 million. Hughes joined the consortium in July with a $50 million investment. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the Fourth Quarter of 2020.

OneWeb has 74 satellites in orbit and its return-to-flight launch in December will increase the fleet to 110 satellites. The company plans to complete the deployment of its constellation by the end of 2022, and start commercial services by the end of 2021. The initial service regions above 50 degrees North latitude will include the United Kingdom, Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, the Arctic seas and Canada.

Starlink Terminal Digital Illustration Created By: Erc X @ErcXspace via Twitter.

SpaceX is actively assessing the Starlink broadband network’s performance, it begun a private beta service for users across multiple U.S. states. Company employees received early access to the user terminal and Wi-Fi router device to connect and receive data from the Starlink satellites in space. To date, there are around 708 internet-beaming Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit, out of the 4,409 satellites SpaceX plans to initially deploy.

The 19-inch user terminal dish will not require a professional to install at home, like other networks. The customer will be able to easily install the service – “Instructions are simply: plug-in socket, point at sky,” the founder of SpaceX Elon Musk said. Early this year, he shared that the Starlink terminal dish features the ability to search for the satellite constellation –“Starlink terminal has motors to self-adjust optimal angle to view sky,” Musk shared. The device’s technology is advanced enough to find the signal on its own, users will not have to figure out where the Starlink constellation might be nor adjust the terminal as the satellites move across the sky.

It prevents galaxies from flying apart.


Two experiments hunting for a whisper of a particle that prevents whole galaxies from flying apart recently published some contradictory results. One came up empty handed, while the other gives us every reason to keep on searching.

Dark bosons are dark matter candidates based on force-carrying particles that don’t really pack much force.

From business to leisure to everything in between, technology can make our lives easier and more enjoyable. Further, tech can also be used to promote the common good and make a positive impact on humanity. When an innovation can do both, it’s something truly special and important that deserves our attention.

As industry leaders, the members of Forbes Technology Council stay on top of current trends and developments, including the most exciting and impactful new technology out there. Below, 15 of them share the coolest products and services they’ve seen that are making a real difference in the world.