Tag: technology

NASA building new rover for Mars 2020 mission

Reuters — NASA gave a sneak peek on Tuesday (November 28) of the rover being designed for their 2020 mission to Mars. Relying on many of the systems created for the 2012 Curiosity rover, the new rover looks similar, but will have seven new instruments, redesigned wheels, and more autonomy, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The 2020 mission plans to study areas of the planet considered to have once been habitable, searching for […]

Costa Rica unveils its first hydrogen fuel cell electric buses

LIBERIA, Costa Rica (Reuters) — Costa Rica is test-driving its first hydrogen fuel cell electric buses as the Central American nation looks to move towards 100 percent renewable energy. According to reports, solar panels and a wind turbine will be turned into hydrogen gas to then power the bus. The vehicle has a capacity for 40 passengers and can reach an approximate range of 338 kilometers (210 miles) on 38 kilograms (83 lbs) of compressed […]

Tumblr founder leaving Yahoo-owned blogging platform

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Tumblr founder and chief David Karp on Monday announced he is leaving the nearly 11-year-old blogging platform — with his departure coming in the wake of Verizon buying parent-company Yahoo. Karp said that he will leave by the end of this year and chief operating officer Jeff D’Onofrio will take his place at the helm of Tumblr. “I beg you to understand that my decision comes after months of […]

Intelligent Vehicle Future Challenge opens in east China city

CHANGSHU, China (Reuters) — The 2017 China Intelligent Vehicle Future Challenge opened Saturday in Changshu City of east China’s Jiangsu Province, attracting 25 teams from famous universities, scientific research institutions and companies nationwide. After various competitions in nine consecutive years, the annual event has become the highest-level competition for driverless intelligent vehicles with the largest number of competing teams in China. The competitors this year are required to finish a road test and an off-line […]

Volvo to supply Uber with self-driving cars

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars said Monday it has signed an agreement to supply “tens of thousands” of self-driving cars to Uber, as the ride-sharing company battles a number of different controversies. Volvo — which is owned by China’s Geely and has yet to build a self-driving system — said in a statement that it would supply Uber with “autonomous driving compatible base vehicles between 2019 and 2021.” Uber would then add […]

Engineers get the feeling for robotic fingers

LA JOLLA, California (Reuters) — All hands are on deck at this lab at the University of California San Diego, where researcher Michael Tolley’s team are working on a human-like robotic gripper. Its three fingers are made of three flexible pneumatic chambers that move when air pressure is applied, allowing each digit to manipulate the object it’s holding. “These fingers are unique in that they can bend in any direction so we have enough degrees […]

China makes progress in core, high-end electronic, basic software products

(Reuters) — China has achieved a series of breakthroughs in core electronic devices, high-end universal chips and basic software products in the past decade. China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, together with Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, held a press conference to release the achievements Monday in Beijing. In the past decade, the gap between home and abroad core electronic devices has shortened from over 15 years to five years. Independent support rate of […]

Google, Facebook join news organizations in ‘Trust Project’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Google, Facebook and other tech firms joined global news organizations Thursday in an initiative aimed at identifying “trustworthy” news sources, in the latest effort to combat online misinformation. Microsoft and Twitter also agreed to participate in the “Trust Project” with some 75 news organizations to tag news stories which meet standards for ethics and transparency. “In today’s digitized and socially networked world, it’s harder than ever to tell what’s accurate […]

US approves first pill with digital tracking device

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US regulators have approved the first pill that contains a digital tracking sensor to alert doctors and caregivers as to whether a patient is taking a medication as scheduled. The pill, called Abilify MyCite (aripiprazole tablets with sensor), is designed for patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. A patient ingests the pill, and a sensor inside the pill activates when it […]

China maintains reign over world supercomputer rankings: survey

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China now has more high-performance supercomputers than ever before, again besting the United States in global rankings, a supercomputer tracking organization said. The standing corresponds to China’s growing reputation as the global leader in supercomputers, as the Asian power prepares to launch in June 2018 a prototype exascale computing machine — a “super supercomputer.” Some 202 of the world’s fastest supercomputers are in China — compared with 143 in the US […]

UN to host first talks on use of ‘killer robots’

by Ben Simon Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations is set to host the first-ever talks on the use of autonomous weapons, but those hoping for a ban on the machines dubbed killer robots will be disappointed, the ambassador leading the discussions said Friday. More than 100 artificial intelligence entrepreneurs led by Tesla’s Elon Musk in August urged the UN to enforce a global ban on fully-automated weapons, echoing calls from activists […]

Huge solar plant aims for brighter Brazil energy production

PIRAPORA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil has lagged far behind in the shift to solar power, but the biggest facility on the continent now being built in the south-east aims to give the country its place in the sun. The plant in Pirapora, in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais, has 1.2 million solar panels, covering the equivalent of more than 1,200 soccer fields. It first began producing power in September, with the second of three phases […]