Science & Technology
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SpaceX blasts off on 35th Space Coast launch of the year
SpaceX keeps lining them up and knocking them out with an afternoon launch from Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying another 23 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites lifted off at 2:42 p.m. Eastern time from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A.
It’s the second launch this week after a Starlink launch midday Monday from...Read more
SpaceX launch today marks 35th on the Space Coast
SpaceX keeps lining them up and knocking them out as it targets an early afternoon launch from Kennedy Space Center today.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying another 23 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites is aiming for 2:10 p.m. liftoff, having passed over initial opportunities, from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A with backup options until the end...Read more
Balls, orbs or neurons: the pioneering tech helping a rural utility company manage transmission lines
Steady gusts of wind swept across a field in Maple Grove, Minnesota, last week as Warren Grange of Heimdall Power flew a drone to attach what looks like a high-tech cantaloupe on to a power line.
The small sphere, which the Norway-based company officially calls a "neuron," has drawn nicknames like "magic ball" or "orb." Whatever the name, ...Read more
'Essentially a gas station,' fishy feast draws sea lions to Pier 39 in numbers not seen in 15 years
They're big, loud and smelly — and they have taken over San Francisco's touristy Pier 39.
In recent days, some 1,100 to 1,200 anchovy-breathed, blubber-bodied sea lions have been counted flopping on and around the docks, Harbormaster Sheila Chandor said Tuesday. That's the highest number recorded in 15 years.
The pinnipeds — who are ...Read more
Meta will let advertisers create campaigns using new generative AI tools
Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms Inc. is testing new tools that will let advertisers create marketing material, including images and messaging, using generative AI prompts.
If an advertiser uploads a photo of their product, Meta’s artificial intelligence tools can now generate new, different images of that product for ...Read more
Jim Rossman: AirPods sound quality depends on the fit in your ears
I received a question this week from a friend about wanting to upgrade his AirPods from the original AirPods Pro to the AirPods Pro 2.
I have both versions, and my friend asked me about the noise cancellation feature introduced with the AirPods Pro 2. Specifically, he wanted to know if I thought the noise canceling was worth the upgrade cost....Read more
Supercell’s newest game ‘Squad Busters’ launches worldwide May 29
Few companies have been as success in the mobile market as Supercell. The makers of “Clash of Clans,” “Boom Beach” and “Brawl Stars” know how to make accessible games that hook players with a simple premise and turn them into obsessions.
For its 10th anniversary, Supercell wanted to do a mashup game. One that brings all their ...Read more
Gadgets: Car-phone adapter
No CarPlay, no problem. The new Carluex Air is an in-car wireless CarPlay/Android auto adapter connectivity device.
The pocket-sized adapter with a car-shaped design wirelessly bridges the gap between your smartphone and a vehicle's audio system. Every time you get in the car, there's no need to plug in wires and wait for a connection. With ...Read more
World extends run of heat records for an 11th month in a row
April was the Earth’s 11th consecutive month of record-breaking heat, with warmer weather already sweeping across Asia and a hotter-than-usual summer expected in Europe.
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said last month’s temperatures globally were 1.58C (2.8F) above historical averages and marked the hottest April on...Read more
'Lost' satellite orbited Earth undetected for 25 years -- until now, scientists say
An experimental spy satellite that was deemed “lost” after eluding detection for decades has finally been found.
“The S73-7 satellite has been rediscovered after being untracked for 25 years,” astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell said in an April 29 post on X, formerly Twitter. He says it reappeared on April 25, citing Space Force data.
...Read more
Why did Boeing Starliner scrub and when will it launch?
A pair of NASA astronauts were ready to go, but a single valve caused a scrub of their ride on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on Monday night. The next shot to fly won’t be until Friday but could be delayed further.
“I know everybody was eager to see a launch,” said NASA’s Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the Space Operations ...Read more
As climate change amplifies urban flooding, here’s how communities can become ‘sponge cities’
“When it rains, it pours” once was a metaphor for bad things happening in clusters. Now it’s becoming a statement of fact about rainfall in a changing climate.
Across the continental U.S., intense single-day precipitation events are growing more frequent, fueled by warming air that can hold increasing levels of moisture. Most ...Read more
Google updates $499 low-end Pixel phone, cuts tablet price
Alphabet Inc.’s Google rolled out a new version of its $499 lower-end Pixel smartphone, aiming to entice budget-minded shoppers with an updated screen and artificial intelligence features.
The Pixel 8a device, which comes a year after the 7a model, adds a faster processor, brighter screen, an option for double the storage and new AI features...Read more
Billionaire's 2nd SpaceX trip featuring spacewalk aims for early summer launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Billionaire Jared Issacman, who flew to space once with SpaceX, is already set for launch No. 2 in early summer.
The mission calls for new spacesuits introduced this past weekend designed so the crew can survive the plan to suck out all of the air of the spacecraft and allow Issacman and a crewmate to make the first ...Read more
Grizzlies are returning to Washington's North Cascades. How will that work?
SEATTLE — Among the jagged peaks of the North Cascades, lush alpine meadows rich with berries and wildflowers blanket valleys carved by glaciers, some threaded with trickling creeks.
But these idyllic landscapes are missing one big thing that had helped sustain them over the millennia: grizzly bears.
That will soon change after federal ...Read more
First attempt of Boeing Starliner mission with humans aboard is scrubbed
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner will have to wait at least another day for its first human spaceflight as teams scrubbed a Monday night launch attempt.
With just over two hours on the countdown clock before a planned 10:34 p.m. Eastern time liftoff, an issue with an oxygen relief valve led to the call while NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni ...Read more
White House environmental official tours PFAS-site in Minnesota
A member of President Joe Biden's administration stopped in the city of Lake Elmo, Minnesota, on Monday to talk PFAS with local officials, visiting an area that's been at the forefront of contamination just three weeks after the Biden administration released the first-ever drinking water standards for the so-called "forever" chemical.
Brenda ...Read more
'Nothing is untouched': DDT found in deep-sea fish raises troubling concerns for food web
LOS ANGELES — For several years now, one question has held the key to understanding just how much we should worry about the hundreds of tons of DDT that had been dumped off the coast of Los Angeles:
How, exactly, has this decades-old pesticide — a toxic chemical spread across the seafloor 3,000 feet underwater — continued to reenter the ...Read more
Boeing's 1st Starliner mission with humans set for historic Space Coast launch tonight
The stage is set for some space history to be made tonight as two veteran NASA astronauts aim to launch in a spacecraft that has never flown with humans before.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will climb aboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule and lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station�...Read more
What are nanoplastics? An engineer explains concerns about particles too small to see
It’s become common to read that microplastics – little bits of plastic, smaller than a pencil eraser – are turning up everywhere and in everything, including the ocean, farmland, food and human bodies. Now a new term is gaining attention: nanoplastics. These particles are even tinier than microplastics – so small that they’re ...Read more
Popular Stories
- 'Lost' satellite orbited Earth undetected for 25 years -- until now, scientists say
- Gadgets: Car-phone adapter
- Jim Rossman: AirPods sound quality depends on the fit in your ears
- Supercell’s newest game ‘Squad Busters’ launches worldwide May 29
- As climate change amplifies urban flooding, here’s how communities can become ‘sponge cities’
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