1,529 results
- Planetary Science
China is about to collect the first moon rocks since the 1970s
The robotic Chang’e-5 mission, which landed on an unexplored region of the moon December 1, aims to gather samples and return them to Earth.
- Tech
Wiggling wheels could keep future rovers trucking in loose lunar soil
A rover that wriggles through soil could climb hills on the moon or Mars that are too steep for a simple wheeled bot.
- Science & Society
Can privacy coexist with technology that reads and changes brain activity?
An onslaught of new technology aims to listen to — and maybe even change — your brain activity. Readers, scientists and ethicists grapple with the ethical implications of new ways to get inside the skull.
- Life
‘PigeonBot’ is the first robot that can bend its wings like a real bird
Insights into the joint movements and feather surface structures that help birds control their wing shape could help robotic flyers move more deftly.
- Oceans
Stealthy robots with microphones could improve maps of ocean noise
Recordings from underwater microphones on stealthy robotic gliders could create a better “soundscape” of noises throughout the ocean, researchers say.
- Artificial Intelligence
A will to survive might take AI to the next level
Neuroscientists argue that the biological principle of homeostasis will lead to improved, “feeling” robots.
- Planetary Science
A century of astronomy revealed Earth’s place in the universe
The past century of astronomy has been a series of revolutions, each one kicking Earth a bit farther to the margins.
- Space
How do you clean up clingy space dust? Zap it with an electron beam
An electron beam is the newest addition to a suite of technologies for cleaning sticky and damaging lunar dust off surfaces.
- Space
Salty water might exist on Mars, but it’s probably too cold for life
Salty liquids may last for several hours on the Red Planet but be too chilly for any known microorganisms from Earth to survive, simulations suggest.
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Other worlds
The past century of astronomy has been a series of revolutions, each one kicking Earth a bit farther to the margins of the universe.
- Space
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx survived its risky mission to grab a piece of an asteroid
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft just tried to grab a piece of asteroid Bennu. If successful, the spacecraft will return the sample to Earth in 2023.
- Health & Medicine
Capturing the sense of touch could upgrade prosthetics and our digital lives
Haptics researchers are working on ways to add touch to virtual reality, online shopping, telemedicine and advanced artificial limbs.
