NASA today released a so-called 'Blue Marble' image of Earth captured by the VIIRS instrument on NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite, the Suomi NPP. The composite image above "uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012." Larger sizes here (hello, new computer desktop image!)
On Sunday, Ingenuity—the small helicopter delivered to the surface of Mars by the Perseverance rover—will, hopefully, take its first flight. The distance between Earth and Mars means that lagtime precludes real-time remote control. The helicopter flies autonomously, but the helicopter's digital twin had a lot of practice in simulations back on Earth. At IEEE Spectrum,… READ THE REST
I've been following the work of military technologist Kelsey Atherton for years, and I've always enjoyed his insights into the most fascinating and horrifying aspects of the defense industry. In a recent article for Slate's Future Tense section, Atherton explored the theoretical future of Space Force, and how the Biden administration could potential handle the… READ THE REST
Spaceprob.es—created by Boing Boing contributor Ariel Waldman and Lisa Ballard—is a handsome catalog of our most far-flung machines, from Voyager 1 (now 22.75bn miles away and scheduled to swing by Gliese 445 in about 40,000 years' time) to Chang'e 5-T1, chilling out in lunar orbit. READ THE REST
Considering the explosion of robotic vacuum cleaners in recent years, is it really much of a surprise that now your front yard is getting into the act as well? If you can set a robo vac on standby to automatically start spinning around your house and gobbling up dirt and grime, it makes sense that the… READ THE REST
Worrying about data breaches isn't just for the Amazons and Facebooks of the world. Oh sure, you should be concerned if you're one of the 533 million who had info exposed in the latest Facebook breach. But a bigger worry is what happens if customer information, details that you're responsible for, somehow get exposed to… READ THE REST
There are plenty of top-notch quality knives and knife sets crafted all over the world, from Germany, France, and the heart of Europe, to plenty of premium craftsmen in the U.S. But there's definitely something about a finely honed blade made from Japanese steel that still absolutely stops knife shoppers dead in their tracks. For… READ THE REST