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Color-changing smart skin gets an upgrade thanks to chameleons
Color-changing smart skin is nothing new, but scientists have had a hard time working out the kinks. Current smart skin is fragile and buckles after being exposed to varying temperatures. To help remedy that problem, scientists turned to analyzing detailed videos of chameleons' skin. This helped them develop a far more resilient take on this tech, which shows a more promising future for color-changing gear.
Scientists discover water vapor on an exoplanet with a rocky core
Water vapor is common in gas giants; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune all have H2O floating around in their atmospheres. But water on a rocky planet is exceedingly rare, making the discovery of water vapor -- and possibly even rain -- on the exoplanet K2-18 b a surprising breakthrough.
SpaceX confirms it's almost ready to test its orbital Starship
SpaceX isn't wasting much time now that Starhopper has completed its hover test. The company has filed an FCC communication permissions request that, as Elon Musk confirmed, prepares for test-flying the "orbit-class" Starship. The vehicle will fly much higher than its stubby predecessor, reaching an altitude of 12.5 miles before it comes back to the same landing pad used during earlier tests. It's not a true orbital test, then, but it's clearly much closer to SpaceX's goals.
University of Michigan's self-driving car lab now runs on Verizon 5G
Verizon (Engadget's parent company) is continuing its very gradual 5G rollout, but this time it's more about the future of transportation than the phone in your hands. The carrier's 5G network is now live at the University of Michigan's Mcity test facility to provide a boost to connected self-driving cars. In theory, the combination of abundant bandwidth with low lag will help autonomous vehicles share crucial data with each other, city cameras and traffic lights to make more informed decisions. A car could receive word of a crash ahead in time to maneuver out of harm's way, or use traffic lights to warn pedestrians before they cross the street.
The Morning After: 20 years later, the Dreamcast has a powerful legacy
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. It's iPhone day. While we prepare to cover Apple's big event this afternoon, you can catch up on Monday's news with a look back at the Dreamcast era, our review of Android 10 and a new update on The Last of Us Part II.
India found its missing Vikram lunar lander
India has located its Vikram lunar lander after losing contact, and the situation isn't looking great. Indian Space and Research Organization chairman K. Sivan said that cameras aboard the orbiter found the spacecraft and believed it had been a "hard landing." There were efforts in progress to contact the lander, Sivan said, although there hadn't been any sign of success as of this writing.
The Morning After: Preparing for Apple's 2019 iPhone event
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Welcome to your weekend! While we keep the news flowing from IFA, you can catch up on some new stories from Friday as well as a few highlights from earlier this week. Plus, it's the perfect time to prepare for Apple's iPhone event on Tuesday, and we've sorted through all of the relevant rumors ahead of time.
India's Vikram lunar lander lost contact during its descent
Today India attempted to become only the fourth nation to successfully soft-land on the surface of the Moon. That mission appears to have failed, when the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost contact with its Vikram lander at an altitude of 2.1km above the lunar surface. The space agency has said only that it is analyzing available data, and that the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft is still in orbit. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the nation at about 10:30 ET. If the mission is lost, then out of three soft-landing attempts this year it will be the second to go awry. China's Chang'e 4 reached the far side of the Moon in January, while the privately-owned Beresheet lander from Israel crashed in April after sending back one last photograph.
Sphero Mini Activity Kit offers a mini-bot and 15 lessons for $80
For years, Sphero has pushed to bring robotics into the classroom. Now, the company wants to bring robotics and coding lessons to the living room, too. Today, the company unveiled the Sphero Mini Activity Kit: 15 step-by-step activities that can be done at home, as well as app updates aimed at budding coders.
The first ever black hole image lands scientists $3 million prize
The scientists that captured the first image of a black hole are being rewarded with a $3 million prize. The Breakthrough prize, known as the "Oscars of Science," is sponsored by Silicon Valley execs such as Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin, and recognizes top scientists in fields including life sciences, physics and math.
These engineers and tech execs want to create a peaceful lunar settlement
A group of Silicon Valley tech executives and engineers want to create a peaceful, multinational lunar settlement. According to Bloomberg, the San Francisco-based Open Lunar Foundation plans to invest in hardware "to accelerate the exploration and settlement of the moon." And it's committed to creating a kind of cooperative that wouldn't be tied to one particular country or billionaire.
NASA ramps up its efforts to understand space weather
This week, NASA selected three proposals for missions that could help us better understand the Sun-driven space weather that occurs near Earth. Space weather, like solar flares, can impact spacecraft and astronauts, and it has the potential to disable utility grids on the ground. As NASA prepares to send more astronauts to space and we become increasingly reliant on technology, the need to protect both has become more pressing.
The company behind AR battle robots MekaMon is shutting down
So long, MekaMon. Reach Robotics, the company behind the customizable and kid-friendly spider robots, is closing its doors. In a LinkedIn blog post, co-founder and chief executive Silas Adekunle said the "consumer robotics sector is an inherently challenging space" and that the company, "in its current form at least," would not be moving forward. MekaMon, if you need a refresher, were gaming robots that battled each other and purely-digital enemies through an AR mobile app. The player's phone was both a controller and window into the otherwise invisible arena and blaster fire.
The Morning After: LG's 88-inch 8K OLED
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. As expected, Android 10 has arrived -- for a few devices. For everyone else, the MTA has some advice about hanging on to your AirPods, LG is ready to sell an 88-inch 8K OLED and Nikon has revealed a picture of its next flagship DSLR camera.
NASA and ESA will team up to deflect Earth-bound asteroids
If humanity is going to stop dangerous asteroids, countries will likely have to work together -- thankfully, that might just happen. NASA and ESA teams are meeting in Rome next week to discuss progress on on the Asteroid Impact Deflection Assessment, a joint research mission to study the viability of diverting an asteroid by crashing a spacecraft into its surface. The project aims to deflect the orbit of one of the two Didymos asteroids between Earth and Mars, with an observer craft gauging the effect of the impact more effectively than ground-based observers could manage.
SpaceX wouldn't move its satellite despite collision warning, ESA claims (updated)
There's a high-stakes traffic issue in the space around our planet. The European Space Agency's Aeolus Earth observation satellite had to perform a maneuver to prevent collision with SpaceX's Starlink satellite 44.
The ISS' spherical robot helper has returned to Earth
Humans are one step closer to having robot assistants in space. The IBM- and Airbus-made CIMON (Crew Interactive Mobile Companion) robot returned to Earth on August 27th after successful testing aboard the International Space Station. The spherical machine demonstrated both its AI skills (such as recognizing astronauts and offering instructions) as well as its ability to float through the ISS. Don't think this is the end to the experiments, though -- this is really just the start.
The Morning After: Galaxy Note 10 review
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Welcome to your weekend! As our US readers get ready for a Labor Day break, we'll check out all of Friday's news and some highlights from the last week. But first, you should see our review of the standard Galaxy Note 10 and find out why some Apple Watch owners could be in for a free screen repair.
Arecibo Observatory nets $19 million grant to search for dangerous asteroids
NASA has ensured the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico can continue its search for near Earth objects (NEOs) that pose a threat to the planet with a $19 million grant. The fund was awarded to the University of Central Florida, which operates the observatory on behalf of the National Science Foundation.
The Morning After: Apple set a date for the next iPhone event
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Ready to meet the rumored iPhone Pro? Apple has set a date for its annual unveiling event, and Microsoft is ready to let Android players try out its real-life Minecraft mobile game. Oh, and the new Nike Adapt Huaraches can talk to Siri.