Category Archives: Science and Technology
Watch Robot Dog Deliver A Package From Autonomous Shuttle [VIDEO]
![Watch Robot Dog Deliver A Package From Autonomous Shuttle [VIDEO]](https://austincountynewsonline.com/wp-content/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
At CES 2019, the transport firm Continental pushed the boundaries of autonomous vehicle technology, showed how a driverless utility van could be used to stage and deploy delivery robot dogs, taking packages from the vehicle to a customer’s doorstep. Automating the last mile serves as a warning that thousands of gig-economy jobs are about to be eliminated…
Read more
NASA’s Voyager 2 Probe Enters Interstellar Space [VIDEO]
For the second time in history, a human-made object has reached the space between the stars. NASA’s Voyager 2 probe now has exited the heliosphere (the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the Sun) and entered Interstellar Space. Voyager 2 is now slightly more than 11 billion miles from Earth.
Read moreListen To Martian Wind: In Historic First, NASA Captures Audio Of Mars Surface [VIDEO]
What does Martian wind sound like? Now we know as for the first time in history sound has been recorded on another planet’s surface.
Read moreThe FCC is Right: Cities are Delaying 5G
The cost of 5G deployment is already high, but some big cities are making it worse by charging telecommunications providers ridiculous fees just to attach wireless equipment to electric poles.
Read moreSocial Media Linked To Loneliness And Depression, New Study Finds
The most recent study linking poor mental health conditions to social media use has added even more evidence to back up the theory “Using less social media than you normally would lead to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness. These effects are particularly pronounced for folks who were more depressed when they came into the study. It is a little ironic that reducing your use of social media actually makes you feel less lonely,”
Read moreGoogle Concealed Data Breach Over Fear Of Repercussions; Shuts Down Google+ Service
Google opted not to disclose to users its discovery of a bug that gave outside developers access to private data because, they stated, it found no evidence of misuse. However, in response to being busted, Google is set to announce broad privacy measures which include permanently shutting down all consumer functionality of Google+ which “effectively puts the final nail in the coffin of a product that was launched in 2011 to challenge Facebook, and is widely seen as one of Google’s biggest failures.”
Read moreAstronomers Find First Evidence of Possible Moon Outside Our Solar System [VIDEO]
Using NASA’s Hubble and Kepler space telescopes, astronomers have uncovered tantalizing evidence of what could be the first discovery of a moon orbiting a planet outside our solar system.
Read moreWatch: Japanese Rovers Record First Video Ever Shot On Asteroid’s Surface
A pair of Japanese rovers have sent back a group of photos and the first-ever video recorded on the surface of an asteroid.
Read moreYou Gave Facebook Your Number For Security. They Used It For Ads
A group of academic researchers found that Facebook harvests user phone numbers for targeted advertising instead of for security purposes, contrary to Facebook representatives’ own previous statements.
Read more1 In 4 Facebook Users Delete Facebook App As Millennial Exodus Continues
Americans’ relationship with Facebook has shifted to “It’s Complicated.”
Read moreRobots Won’t Take Our Jobs—But They Will Make Us Like Our Jobs More
Precisely because “robots” will erase so much of its drudgery, work will be about humans showcasing their unique skills and intelligence.
Read moreWill Autonomous Vehicles Drive Us Into Endless Sprawl?
It won’t be AVs that single-handedly bring about that future on their own.
Read moreMicrosoft Rolls Out “Election Defense Technologies”
The new feature is part of Microsoft’s “Defending Democracy Program”
Read moreSpacecraft With Revolutionary Heat Shield Will “Touch The Sun”
The closest that planet Mercury ever gets to the sun during its orbit is approximately 29 million miles, allowing surface temperatures to reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 °C). And Earth’s average distance to the sun is 93 million miles. But, NASA has unveiled a “cutting-edge heat shield” that will make it possible for a space probe to “touch the sun” — or at least get a spacecraft to within 4 million miles of it…
Read moreMoon Fuel: A New Multi-Trillion Dollar Treasure
Helium-3 is a source of waste-free nuclear energy that is quite rare on Earth. However, there is an estimated 1 million metric tons of helium-3 embedded in the moon (though only about a quarter of that realistically could be brought to Earth). Still, being able to tap into this resource would be enough to meet the world’s current energy demands for at least two, and possibly as many as five, centuries. Many countries are interested in bringing it back to Earth with India vying to be on the forefront of this race. Whoever can figure out how to get it back to Earth could make, what is estimated to be, worth trillions of dollars.
Read moreMassive Data Leak Could Affect 300 Million Americans
“It seems like this is a database with pretty much every US citizen in it,”
Read moreThe First Burger Restaurant Run By A Robot Is Opening In San Francisco [VIDEO]
A San Francisco based restaurant will become the first to serve burgers cooked and assembled by a robot. The burger will be assembled and cooked in a machine that contains 20 computers, 350 sensors, and 50 actuator mechanisms – and zero human interference, other than having somebody present to hand the finished burger to customers.
Read moreJudge Rules Twitter Can Be Sued For Falsely Advertising They Allow Free Speech
A California judge has ruled that social media giant Twitter can be sued for falsely advertising free speech yet bans users for “any or no reason.” The judge also ruled that Twitter could be sued on the basis of misleading its users, due to the platform’s promise not to ban accounts on the basis of viewpoint or political affiliation, which is frequently violated.
Read moreNASA Finds Ancient Organic Material, Mysterious Methane on Mars
NASA’s Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current life on the Red Planet.
Read moreFacebook Use Among Teens Plummets 30% In Three Years
Facebook, which has until recently dominated the social media landscape among America’s youth, is now just the fourth most popular online platform among teens between ages 13 and 17, with just 51% saying they use it, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center.
Read more