Sci-Tech

New fish-shaped underwater camera drone gets support online

Reuters — A technology company has created a fish-shaped underwater drone fitted with a camera, for exploring and filming underwater worlds. The drone, called BIKI, films in 4K resolution, avoids obstacles, has automated balance and Global Positioning System, which means it can find its way back to its user, company RoboSea said on the project’s crowdfunding page. Its page aimed to raise $20,000 but on Wednesday (May 31) had already reached more than $115,988. The […]

Robocop joins Dubai police to fight real life crime

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) — A robotic policeman who can help identify wanted criminals and collect evidence has joined Dubai’s police force and will patrol busy areas in the city, as part of a government program aimed at replacing some human crime-fighters with machines. If the “Robocop” experiment is successful, Dubai Police says it wants the unarmed robots to make up 25 percent of its patrolling force by 2030. Clad in the colors of […]

Lightning strike postpones SpaceX launch until Saturday

by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A lightning strike near Cape Canaveral forced SpaceX to delay until Saturday its first-ever cargo delivery to the astronauts living in orbit using a vessel that has already flown to space once before, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Thursday. The lightning did not hit any of SpaceX’s equipment but happened within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of the launch pad. The strike happened […]

ISS to welcome first Chinese experiment

  (Reuters) – The International Space Stations will welcome its first Chinese experiment, which is to be delivered aboard SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft. The Dragon is scheduled to be launched on Thursday from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch is to be done by SpaceX, a United States commercial aerospace manufacturer and transport services company. Scientists from Beijing Institute of Technology, a renowned university in China, are responsible for […]

Japan launches satellite for high-precision positioning system

                          TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Thursday launched a satellite to help build a high-precision geolocation system that will complement the United States-operated Global Positioning System. A H-IIA rocket blasted off at 9:17am (0017 GMT) from the Tanegashima space center in southern Japan carrying the “Michibiki” No.2 satellite, footage by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency showed. Satellite geolocation systems, initially designed for the US […]

Colossal rocket-launching plane rolls toward testing

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — A colossal aircraft capable of launching satellite-toting rockets into space is closer to testing, having been rolled out of a hangar in the desert, its creators said on Wednesday. The project backed by billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has been proceeding for about six years and was on track for its first launch demonstration as early as 2019, Stratolaunch Systems Corporation chief executive Jean Floyd said in a blog […]

Scientists look to genetically modified algae to help feed the planet

QUINGDAO, China (Reuters) — Algae, one of the smallest organisms on the planet, could soon be used to combat a looming global food crisis. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) hope genetically engineered micro-algae could be the food of the future, and they’ve taken a step closer to that reality with an outdoor field trial approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Algae geneticist Stephen Mayfield and his team inserted […]

Britain’s “Iron Man” breaks his own jet-suit speed record

ENGLAND, United Kingdom (Reuters) — The British inventor of an “Iron Man”-style jet suit has lofty hopes for powering his creation from a curiosity to a tool in industries ranging from entertainment to the military. Richard Browning, a 38-year-old former commodities trader with little experience of engineering, developed his jet suit with the help of friends over the last 18 months, just for fun. But Browning is aiming to turn his hobby into a business […]

US Navy uses virtual reality to simulate combat

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Brace yourself, you are about to experience military combat. Using virtual reality, civilians can feel like they are part of the action as they pilot a Navy Special Warfare Combatant-Craft as part of a rescue mission. The mission – to extract a Navy SEAL team pinned down under enemy fire. The US Navy began using virtual reality simulations last October as a way to engage prospective recruits about careers […]

New spacecraft data re-writes the books on Jupiter

Reuters — Jupiter’s atmosphere features colossal cyclones and rivers of ammonia welling up from deep inside the solar system’s largest planet, researchers said on Thursday (May 25), publishing the first insights from a NASA spacecraft flying around the gas giant. The cyclones were discovered as the Juno spacecraft made the first of at least 12 planned close encounters with Jupiter, which scientists believe set the stage for the development of Earth and other planets in […]

Wearable device to straighten out slouches

TEL AVIV, Israel (Reuters) — Slouching over screens could be a thing of the past thanks to a wearable gadget that reminds you to sit up straight. The Upright pro is a small device taped to the back that senses poor posture and vibrates to nudge the user to straighten up. It can be synched with a smartphone app to track posture data over time, monitor the user’s progress in a training program, and share […]

Jury out on North Korea link to ransomware attack

By Rob Lever Agence France-Presse Was North Korea behind the ransomware epidemic that hit global computer networks earlier this month? That’s the subject of heated debate in cybersecurity circles after analysts found similarities in the “WannaCry” worm to other malware attributed to North Korea, including the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures and a cyberheist of millions of dollars from the Bangladesh central bank. The security firm Symantec this week said the shared code makes it […]