New Ways of Seeing
A four-part series authored by journalist and artist James Bridle examining how technology is changing visual culture.
BBC
Astrobee: ISS Robotic Free Flyer
The Astrobee project is preparing to launch a pair of free-flying cube robots that will operate inside the International Space Station (ISS) alongside astronauts. Astrobee’s primary objective is to provide a zero-g research facility for guest scientists. The Astrobees will replace the SPHERES robots that have been on the ISS since 2006.
Evan Ackerman | IEEE Spectrum
After More Than a Century, the Cyclocopter Is Making a Comeback
The Russian Advanced Research Foundation is developing a cyclocopter drone, which flies using an “egg-beater wing” propulsion system.
David Hambling | Popular Mechanics
After Scarcity by Bahar Noorizadeh
"After Scarcity is a sci-fi essay film that tracks Soviet cyberneticians (1950s – 1980s) in their attempt to build a fully-automated planned economy. If history at its best is a blueprint for science-fiction, revisiting contingent histories of economic technology might enable an access to the future." —Bahar Noorizdah, Artist
via DIS
Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft
Stratolaunch Systems Corporation successfully completed the first flight of the world’s largest all-composite aircraft. The aircraft is a mobile launch platform that will enable airline-style access to space that is convenient, affordable and routine. The reinforced center wing can support multiple launch vehicles, weighing up to a total of 500,000 pounds.
Press Release | Stratolaunch
Pepsi Plans to Project a Giant Ad in the Night Sky Using Cubesats
A Russian company called StartRocket says it’s going to launch a cluster of cubesats into space that will act as an “orbital billboard,” projecting enormous advertisements into the night sky like artificial constellations.
Jon Christian | Futurism
Climate Chaos Is Coming — and the Pinkertons Are Ready
As they see it, global warming stands to make corporate security as high-stakes in the 21st century as it was in the 19th.
Noah Gallagher Shannon | The New York Times
NASA Invests in 18 Potentially Revolutionary Space Tech Concepts
Smart spacesuits and solar surfing may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but they are just two of the technology concepts NASA has selected for further research as part of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The program will fund 18 studies to determine the feasibility of early-stage technologies that could go on to change what’s possible in space.
Press Release | NASA
SpaceX has managed to land Falcon Heavy’s three rocket boosters for the first time
Two landed almost simultaneously back on Cape Canaveral (you can watch the video here). The third central booster, which had gone higher into orbit, landed on a ship platform in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Download | MIT Technology Review
Chinese scientists put human brain genes in monkeys—and maybe made them smarter
A study found eight modified monkeys did better on a memory test, and their brains also took longer to develop—as those of human children do.
Antonio Regalado | MIT Technology Review
Astronomers Capture First Image of a Black Hole
An international collaboration presents paradigm-shifting observations of the gargantuan black hole at the heart of distant galaxy Messier 87.
Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)
Screening Surveillance
Three short films speculating surveillance futures and the effects of deeply embedded and connected surveillant systems on our everyday lives, produced as part of a international multiphase project on Big Data Surveillance.
Surveillance Studies Centre
The Navy's plans for a fleet of unmanned 'ghost ships' are still shrouded in secrecy
As the Navy advances plans for a 10-ship "ghost fleet," leaders are assessing how much decision-making power to give large unmanned vessels that can operate without any humans aboard.
Gina Harkins | Military.com
DARPA Subterranean Challenge: Teams of Robots Compete to Explore Underground Worlds
The DARPA Subterranean Challenge will task teams of robots with autonomous exploration deep beneath the surface of the Earth.
Evan Ackerman | IEEE Spectrum
Gliding missiles that fly faster than Mach 5 are coming
The era of hypersonic, long distance weapons is almost upon us.
The Economist
This 3D-printed tower might be the future of architecture on Mars
Last week, NASA awarded the New York-based design studio SEArch+ and robotics company Apis Cor top prize in phase three of the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge for their conceptual tower.
Dianna Budds | Curbed
Could We Blow Up the Internet?
Is it possible to take down the internet by physically attacking its infrastructure?
Tim Maughan | Motherboard
Amazon plans to launch a massive constellation of more than 3,000 internet satellites
The plan, dubbed Project Kuiper, will send satellites up into orbit at three different altitudes. There will be 784 satellites at 367 miles (591 kilometers), 1,296 satellites at 379 miles, and 1,156 satellites at 391 miles, according to a filing with the ITU, which oversees global telecom satellite operations. Combined, these satellites will provide internet access to more than 95% of the global population, according to Amazon.
The Download | MIT Technology Review