With climate change and a booming population, humans may soon need an alternative food source. A team of researchers argues that bugs — specifically the yellow mealworm — is the ideal candidate for commercial harvesting. Mealworms are high in protein and could be used as an additive in various foods. The world’s human population is …
An autonomous ship named the Mayflower will attempt a journey across the Atlantic in early 2021. The solar-powered ship will be steered by artificial intelligence. Autonomous ships of the future could be used for shipping goods or military applications. The Mayflower brought pilgrims to the “New World” exactly 400 years ago. It was a historic …
Humans are headed back to the Moon and, eventually, Mars, and for space-faring astronauts, luxury is often the last thing on their mind. Still, orbiting the Moon or making a long trip to another world like Mars means dealing with cramped quarters for months on end. Being confined to a tiny space for an extended …
The NASA of today is a whole lot different than the agency that first sent humans to the Moon. While those projects were almost entirely in-house, today’s NASA relies heavily on commercial partners large and small to make its missions happen. Now, NASA is putting out yet another call for companies that can help it …
On its own, a single ant can only accomplish so much, but you toss it into the mix with a couple hundred of its peers and suddenly the capabilities of the group are exponentially greater than the sum of its parts. Could the same be true of robots? Some robotics researchers think so, and a …
As the relentless march of technology continues unabated, robots have grown more and more complex. They’re capable of mimicking humans with increasing accuracy, but there are still a few things that set us apart from our mechanical creations. Sure, robots can touch, see, and hear, but what about taste? A team of researchers from UC …
As NASA and other organizations begin to lay the groundwork for crewed missions to places other than an orbiting space station or even the Moon, they’re beginning to better understand the potential challenges such missions will pose. Keeping a crew alive and well for a long-haul space mission is going to be hard, but one …
The promise of flying cars has never been fulfilled. Sure, there are pint-sized airplanes you can also drive on land but let’s be honest here, those are nothing like how futurists in the 1950s imagined transportation would be like over a half-century later. It’s a disappointing reality, but some companies are trying to get us …
Drones have become big sellers in hobbyist circles and prices on them are now low enough that just about anyone with the desire to fly one can pick up a decent quadcopter for a reasonable cost. But drones aren’t just recreational in nature, and law enforcement agencies have begun to adopt them in greater numbers. …
As we’ve known for several months now, NASA is headed back to the Moon. The administration will be sending all manner of instruments to the lunar surface to study the natural satellite in greater detail, as well as prepare for the eventual return of a manned mission to the Moon. Now, with a rough schedule …
