Inch-high astrobots are flying to Mars

Xeni Jardin 9:34 am Mon Jun 9, 2003

Florida Today says that the Planetary Society announced Saturday that Biff Starling will be the first astrobot to fly to Mars today. Biff was supposed to be a backup astrobot, but Sandy Moondust, the designated astrobot, suffered from a "freak zucchini accident." Here are the details about these robots, designed by the Planetary Society through a partnership with the LEGO Company. These robots are only 1.2 inch high and will land on Mars with a mini-DVD carrying the names of 4 million people who submitted their names before launch. This summary contains additional references and a nice picture of the happy Biff Starling and the adventurous Sandy Moondust.

Link, Discuss

Would you spend $650,000 to ride a transforming mecha?

Hey! Do you have $650,000 to spend? Not interested in pissing away that cash on feeding a school full of kids lunch for a few years or helping a couple… READ THE REST
Upcycle your old smart speaker with a new brain

The world is absolutely filthy with Google Home Minis. The wee smart speakers made their debut back in 2017 and were inexpensive enough to be given away by telecoms, banks… READ THE REST
France summons Musk for X criminal charges

Sam Schechner reports in The Wall Street Journal that French prosecutors have summoned Elon Musk to Paris to face preliminary criminal charges as part of their investigation into X. The… READ THE REST
If you're paying a la carte for AI models, this $60 lifetime pass gets you ChatGPT, Claude & more

Disclosure: Boing Boing earns a commission on purchases made through links in this post. TL;DR: ChatPlayground AI lets you compare GPT, Claude, Gemini, and more side-by-side in one tab—and lifetime access is… READ THE REST
Imagine never seeing a website hosting renewal email again after paying $149.99 once

Disclosure: Boing Boing earns a commission on purchases made through links in this post. TL;DR: Most web hosts treat your website like a subscription. PawnHoster's King Plan would rather take your money once… READ THE REST
This HP EliteBook delivers business-class performance for $400

Disclosure: Boing Boing earns a commission on purchases made through links in this post. TL;DR: This HP EliteBook comes with a range of professional features you can depend on and software… READ THE REST