Menu

Blog

Page 4891

Apr 23, 2022

This exquisitely sensitive machine can hear a single bacterium die

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, materials

Apr 23, 2022

Beyond the standard model? Here’s what a heavy W Boson means for the future of physics

Posted by in categories: futurism, particle physics

Apr 23, 2022

Transport could burn up the EU’s entire carbon budget

Posted by in category: futurism

Apr 23, 2022

Elon Musk accuses Bill Gates of shorting Tesla on Twitter, then mocks him

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

Apr 23, 2022

Ad Astra: The Past, Present, and Future of Rockets!

Posted by in category: space travel

Apr 23, 2022

Who owns space? Here’s what laws govern space exploration

Posted by in category: space

Apr 23, 2022

What Can You Actually Do in the Metaverse?

Posted by in category: futurism

How much fun can you have on a Friday night with nothing but an VR headset?

Apr 23, 2022

A self-driving revolution? We’re barely out of second gear

Posted by in categories: government, mobile phones, robotics/AI, transportation

“Britain moves closer to a self-driving revolution,” said a perky message from the Department for Transport that popped into my inbox on Wednesday morning. The purpose of the message was to let us know that the government is changing the Highway Code to “ensure the first self-driving vehicles are introduced safely on UK roads” and to “clarify drivers’ responsibilities in self-driving vehicles, including when a driver must be ready to take back control”.

The changes will specify that while travelling in self-driving mode, motorists must be ready to resume control in a timely way if they are prompted to, such as when they approach motorway exits. They also signal a puzzling change to current regulations, allowing drivers “to view content that is not related to driving on built-in display screens while the self-driving vehicle is in control”. So you could watch Gardeners’ World on iPlayer, but not YouTube videos of F1 races? Reassuringly, though, it will still be illegal to use mobile phones in self-driving mode, “given the greater risk they pose in distracting drivers as shown in research”.

Apr 23, 2022

Meteorologists get key upgrade just in time for 2022 hurricane season

Posted by in categories: climatology, satellites

The official start of Atlantic Hurricane Season is less than six weeks away, and forecasters will be getting an essential upgrade just in time for the season to begin.

New technology from the University of Wisconsin will help with preparation of more detailed forecasts and provide more reliable information to meteorologists and emergency planners, which should ultimately result in better, safer outcomes for public safety.

The Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) is a satellite-based method for determining tropical cyclone intensity. Planned upgrades include the use of full-resolution images from weather satellites, better identification of the location of each storm’s eye and the ability to better analyze hurricanes occurring outside tropical regions.

Apr 23, 2022

Nuclear expert cautions against unfamiliar new nuclear age

Posted by in categories: military, nuclear energy

High-tech advances in weapons technologies and a return of ‘great power nuclear politics’, risk the world ‘sleepwalking’ into a nuclear age vastly different from the established order of the Cold War, according to new research undertaken at the University of Leicester.

Andrew Futter, Professor of International Politics at the University of Leicester, makes the warning in a for the Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace (HOPe), published today (Friday).

While stockpiles are much reduced from the peak of up to 70,000 nuclear weapons seen in the 1980s, progress in a number of new or ‘disruptive’ technologies threatens to fundamentally change the central pillars on which nuclear order, stability and risk reduction are based.