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Apr 28, 2018
Dream About the Future of Big Telescopes; Monster Space Telescopes That Could Fly by the 2030s
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: cosmology, space travel
With the recent launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) – which took place on Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 – a lot of attention has been focused on the next-generation space telescopes that will be taking to space in the coming years. These include not only the James Webb Space Telescope, which is currently scheduled for launch in 2020, but some other advanced spacecraft that will be deployed by the 2030s.
Such was the subject of the recent 2020 Decadal Survey for Astrophysics, which included four flagship mission concepts that are currently being studied. When these missions take to space, they will pick up where missions like Hubble, Kepler, Spitzer and Chandra left off, but will have greater sensitivity and capability. As such, they are expected to reveal a great deal more about our Universe and the secrets it holds.
As expected, the mission concepts submitted to the 2020 Decadal Survey cover a wide range of scientific goals – from observing distant black holes and the early Universe to investigating exoplanets around nearby stars and studying the bodies of the Solar System. These ideas were thoroughly vetted by the scientific community, and four have been selected as being worthy of pursuit.
Apr 28, 2018
A very large guide star
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: particle physics, space
Four lasers beam out from one of the Unit Telescopes of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), guiding your eyes to the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds beneath them.
The Four Laser Guide Star Facility (4LGSF) shines four 22-watt laser beams into the sky to create artificial guide stars by making sodium atoms in the upper atmosphere glow so that they look just like real stars. The artificial stars allow the adaptive optics systems to compensate for the blurring caused by the Earth’s atmosphere and so that the telescope can create sharp images.
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Apr 28, 2018
Janelle Monáe’s ‘Dirty Computer’ Short Film Speaks Truth to Power
Posted by B.J. Murphy in categories: computing, entertainment, media & arts
What do you get when you mix science fiction with music and some of the most powerful and important social issues to date? You get Janelle Monáe’s highly anticipated short film (or as Monáe astutely calls it ‘Emotion Picture’) Dirty Computer, which accompanied her new album by the same name.
A futuristic celebration of queer love, black and female power, and the nonconforming individual identity!
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Apr 28, 2018
MyEtherWallet users report stolen funds after an Amazon DNS attack [Update]
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: cryptocurrencies
It seems popular cryptocurrency wallet MyEtherWallet is having issues. A litany of concerned users are reporting their wallets have suddenly been drained out – without any notification or action on their side.
The unexpected withdrawals have caused many netizens to suspect that MyEtherWallet has been hacked. Despite speculation though, the issue might have to do with with a glitch in Google’s Domain Name System (DNS) protocol.
Speaking to Hard Fork, MyEtherWallets reps clarified that the popular app “is not hacked.” Instead, the company claims that the unusual activity “was a DNS attack on Google DNS servers.”
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Apr 28, 2018
Google’s Sergey Brin warns of the threat from AI in today’s ‘technology renaissance’
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: robotics/AI
Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin has written about the threat and promise of artificial intelligence in his annual letter to shareholders. The Alphabet president says AI has brought about a ‘technology renaissance’ but says problems raised by this tech demand ‘serious thought and research.’
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Apr 28, 2018
Ask Ethan: How Big Will The Universe Get?
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: cosmology
Apr 28, 2018
You Know That Romaine-Linked Outbreak? DNA Tech Is Fixing It
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, food, health
Whole genome sequencing is more precise than other methods, and it just keeps getting faster and cheaper. Joel Sevinsky, head of the Molecular Science Laboratory at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), told the Associated Press his lab can sequence the genome of a suspected pathogen in less than 72 hours.
Whole genome sequencing is already helping researchers address food-borne outbreaks, including a 2017 salmonella outbreak that stretched across 21 states, and the current romaine outbreak.
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Apr 28, 2018
Is Facebook And Social Media Psychologically Destroying This Generation?
Posted by Dave Holt in category: futurism
I have noticed that people are commenting on my article after looking at the picture and not even watching the videos or reading it. This is related to the point I’m making in this article about programming.
When the top executives, that helped create Facebook and make it popular, are warning people against the destructive and negative side of it and social media, we should be listening. Find out what they said and what really going on and why…
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Apr 28, 2018
Transparent eel-like soft robot can swim silently underwater
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: cyborgs, drones, robotics/AI, satellites, solar power, sustainability
Apparently needs a lot of work before it can actually operate like a eel/snake. But, i’d wrap this up in skin so it could look like a snake/eel. Give it solar power skin so it could recharge its own batteries; maybe try to use that system that was supposed to be able to eat organic matter to convert into power. Then, put a bunch of sensors on it, and HD cameras for eyes, and rig it so it could transmit to satellites. And you have a pretty impressive drone that can operate in any body of water and on land close to water.
An innovative, eel-like robot developed by engineers and marine biologists at the University of California can swim silently in salt water without an electric motor. Instead, the robot uses artificial muscles filled with water to propel itself. The foot-long robot, which is connected to an electronics board that remains on the surface, is also virtually transparent.
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