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'Ideas' conference to grapple with dark side of tech![]() San Francisco (AFP) April 9, 2018 At a conference where thinkers and luminaries gather to discuss world-changing ideas and innovations, the talk is shifting to the dark side. This year's theme of the annual Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference starting Tuesday in Vancouver is "Age of Amazement," but with a keen eye on unintended consequences. The gathering comes amid growing fears about a loss of privacy in the digital world, and a race to artificial intelligence and robotics which could spin out of control. ... read more  | 
 
NASA's Idea to Send Swarm of Robots to MarsMoscow (Sputnik) Apr 05, 2018 NASA has announced their intent to fund research which will send a swarm of Robot bees up to Mars to explore the red planet. Sputnik spoke to Sethu Vijayakumar, Professor of Robotics at the Universi ... more  
Cargo-packed Dragon arrives at space stationTampa (AFP) April 4, 2018 SpaceX's unmanned Dragon cargo ship arrived Wednesday at the International Space Station, packed with food, gear and science experiments for the astronauts living in orbit. ... more  
Russia's Robot FEDOR to Be the First to Fly to Space on Board New SpacecraftMoscow (Sputnik) Apr 04, 2018 The new Russian manned spacecraft Federatsiya (Federation) is designed to deliver people and cargo to low earth orbit, as well as to the moon. The first such spaceship is expected to be commissioned ... more  
Space Maid: Robot Harpoon and Net System to Attempt Space CleanupMoscow (Sputnik) Apr 05, 2018 Humanity has grown accustomed to autonomous cleaning robots since the Roomba's debut in 2002. Now, we might have an upgrade: scientists have sent a prototype satellite equipped with a net and harpoo ... more  | 
 
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Make way for the mini flying machinesNew Orleans LA (SPX) Mar 23, 2018 Tiny floating robots could be useful in all kinds of ways, for example, to probe the human gut for disease or to search the environment for pollutants. In a step toward such devices, researchers des ... more  
Pipe-crawling robot will help decommission DOE nuclear facilityPittsburgh PA (SPX) Mar 23, 2018 A pair of autonomous robots developed by Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute will soon be driving through miles of pipes at the U.S. Department of Energy's former uranium enrichment plan ... more  
How accurate is your AIKyoto, Japan (SPX) Mar 23, 2018 As AI's role in society continues to expand, J B Brown of the Graduate School of Medicine reports on a new evaluation method for the type of AI that predicts yes/positive/true or no/negative/false a ... more  
New 'AR' Mobile App Features 3-D NASA SpacecraftPasadena CA (JPL) Mar 21, 2018 NASA spacecraft travel to far-off destinations in space, but a new mobile app produced by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, brings spacecraft to users. The new app, called Spac ... more  
A new way to combine soft materialsBoston MA (SPX) Mar 20, 2018 Every complex human tool, from the first spear to latest smartphone, has contained multiple materials wedged, tied, screwed, glued or soldered together. But the next generation of tools, from autono ... more  | 
![]() Scientists mimic neural tissue in Army-funded research  
360 Video: Tour a Mars Robot Test LabPasadena CA (JPL) Mar 12, 2018 NASA's InSight lander looks a bit like an oversized crane game: when it lands on Mars this November, its robotic arm will be used to grasp and move objects on another planet for the first time. ... more  | 
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Tokyo Tech's six-legged robots get closer to natureTokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 13, 2018 A study led by researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) has uncovered new ways of driving multi-legged robots by means of a two-level controller. The proposed controller uses a netw ... more  
Next NASA Mars Rover Reaches Key Manufacturing MilestonePasadena CA (JPL) Mar 14, 2018 NASA's Mars 2020 mission has begun the assembly, test and launch operations (ATLO) phase of its development, on track for a July 2020 launch to Mars. The first planned ATLO activities will inv ... more  
Scientists Share Ideas for Gateway Activities Near the MoonWashington DC (SPX) Mar 08, 2018 NASA is looking at how the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway can create value for both robotic and human exploration in deep space. In late 2017, the agency asked the global science community to submit ... more  
Self-driving robots collect water samples to create snapshots of ocean microbesHonolulu HI (SPX) Mar 14, 2018 For the first time, scientists from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Manoa) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) will deploy a small fleet of long-range autonomous underwat ... more  
Ag robot speeds data collection, analyses of crops as they growChampaign IL (SPX) Mar 14, 2018 A new lightweight, low-cost agricultural robot could transform data collection and field scouting for agronomists, seed companies and farmers. The TerraSentia crop phenotyping robot, developed ... more  | 
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Air Force contracts with SRC for drone supplies, services Washington (UPI) Apr 10, 2018  
 SRC Inc. has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Air Force for services in support of counter unmanned aerial systems. 
 The deal, announced Monday by the Department of Defense, is valued at $57.5 million under the terms of a undefinitized contract action. 
 The agreement enables SRC Inc., out of North Syracuse, N.Y., for counter unmanned aerial systems. 
 Work on the contract w ... more | 
Latest Updates from NASA on IMAGE Recovery Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 11, 2018  
IMAGE's signal remains too weak to achieve frame lock, which is necessary to retrieve data from the spacecraft. But important steps have been taken this week to be prepared in case of re-established contact. 
Last week, the engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, successfully established network connections with both the antennas at NASA's Wallops Flight Faci ... more | 
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Smaller and faster: The terahertz computer chip is now within reach Jerusalem (SPX) Apr 03, 2018  
Following three years of extensive research, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) physicist Dr. Uriel Levy and his team have created technology that will enable our computers - and all optic communication devices - to run 100 times faster through terahertz microchips. 
Until now, two major challenges stood in the way of creating the terahertz microchip: overheating and scalability. 
How ... more | 
Framatome displays year of powerful performance, supports 44 nuclear power outages in 2017 Paris, France (SPX) Apr 11, 2018  
Framatome successfully supported 44 scheduled outages at nuclear energy facilities across North America, including 16 emergent outages in 2017. The maintenance and inspection work, completed by over 3,600 passionate employees, enables these plants to continue efficiently and reliably generating electricity from the reactor fleet. 
Work during the outages included examinations, inspections,  ... more | 
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Arrest over suspicious packages sent to US military bases, CIA Washington (AFP) March 27, 2018  
 A 43-year-old man has been arrested after around a dozen packages containing potentially explosive material were posted to military and intelligence facilities around the US capital, the FBI said Tuesday. 
Thanh Cong Phan, who lives near the northwestern city of Seattle, was taken into custody after the FBI "determined that the packages contained potential destructive devices and appeared to  ... more | 
Carbon taxes can be both fair and effective, study shows Boston MA (SPX) Apr 11, 2018  
Putting a price on carbon, in the form of a fee or tax on the use of fossil fuels, coupled with returning the generated revenue to the public in one form or another, can be an effective way to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. That's one of the conclusions of an extensive analysis of several versions of such proposals, carried out by researchers at MIT and the National Renewable Energy Laborat ... more | 
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Scientists discover a link between superconductivity and the periodic table Moscow, Russia (SPX) Apr 11, 2018  
Scientists from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Skoltech have demonstrated the high-temperature superconductivity of actinium hydrides and discovered a general principle for calculating the superconductivity of hydrides based on the periodic table alone. The results of their study were published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 
High-temperature superconductivity ... more | 
China's 'space dream': A Long March to the moon Beijing (AFP) April 2, 2018  
 The plunge back to Earth of a defunct Chinese space laboratory will not slow down Beijing's ambitious plans to send humans to the moon. 
The Tiangong-1 space module, which crashed Monday, was intended to serve as a stepping stone to a manned station, but its problems highlight the difficulties of exploring outer space. 
But China has come a long way in its race to catch up with the United  ... more | 
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Take it from me: I'm not signing up to become a space tourist just yet Melbourne, Australia (The Conversation) Apr 11, 2018  
Elon Musk's SpaceX reportedly has two people signed up for a trip around the Moon (although these plans have been delayed slightly), and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has advanced plans to launch space tourists from 2018 for a mere US$250,000 each - hundreds of people have already registered. 
Is there anyone reading this who didn't want to be an astronaut when they were a child? I was  ... more | 
The Rock Outcrop 'Tome' Continues to Garner Interest On Mars Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 12, 2018  
Opportunity is continuing the exploration of "Perseverance Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. 
The rover is positioned about halfway down the approximately 656 feet (200-meter) valley near an apparent flow stream island. 
A set of outcrops is garnering great interest and discussion among the science team. The rover is position on a surface target called "Tome." 
The Alph ... more | 
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NEXT-C Advanced Electric Propulsion Engine Cleared to Begin Production Redmond WA (SPX) Apr 11, 2018  
Aerojet Rocketdyne's NEXT-C ion propulsion engine has successfully cleared NASA's critical design review (CDR), confirming the technology achieved all program requirements and is ready for final production of the flight units. 
NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster-Commercial (NEXT-C) was developed by NASA and is being commercialized by Aerojet Rocketdyne. NEXT-C has 7kW of maximum power and g ... more | 
Trouble in Paradise: Tourism surge lashes Southeast Asia's beaches Koh Phi Phi Ley, Thailand (AFP) April 11, 2018  
 Hordes of tourists clamber across the white sand with selfie sticks as Thai park rangers wade into turquoise waters to direct boats charging into the cliff-ringed cove.  
Made famous by the 2000 movie "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Maya Bay on the western Thai island of Koh Phi Phi Ley is now a case study in the ruinous costs of runaway tourism, swamped by up to 4,000 daily visitors. ... more | 
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US investigating fatal Tesla crash in California San Francisco (AFP) March 27, 2018  
 US federal investigators said Tuesday they were examining a fatal crash last week involving a Tesla electric automobile in California. 
The California Highway Patrol reported that a 38-year-old man died Friday after his 2017 Tesla Model X collided with a highway barrier near the town of Mountain View, according to The San Jose Mercury News. 
The vehicle caught fire before two other approac ... more | 
A treasure trove for nanotechnology experts Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) Mar 21, 2018  
2D materials, which consist of a few layers of atoms, may well be the future of nanotechnology. They offer potential new applications and could be used in small, higher-performance and more energy-efficient devices. 2D materials were first discovered almost 15 years ago, but only a few dozen of them have been synthesized so far. 
Now, thanks to an approach developed by researchers from EPFL ... more | 
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Latest Updates from NASA on IMAGE Recovery Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 11, 2018  
IMAGE's signal remains too weak to achieve frame lock, which is necessary to retrieve data from the spacecraft. But important steps have been taken this week to be prepared in case of re-established contact. 
Last week, the engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, successfully established network connections with both the antennas at NASA's Wallops Flight Faci ... more | 
Organic fertilizers are an overlooked source of microplastic pollution Washington DC (SPX) Apr 12, 2018  
Organic fertilizers from biowaste fermentation act as a vehicle for microplastic particles to enter the terrestrial environment, with the amount of microplastic particles differing based on pre-treatment methods and plant type, a new study shows. 
Recycling of organic waste through composting or fermentation, followed by application of the resulting fertilizer products to agricultural land, ... more | 
 
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