NASA wants to manufacture spacecraft parts in low-Earth orbit
Maxar Technologies will develop a system for NASA to manufacture and robotically assemble spacecraft parts in low-Earth orbit on the Restore-L spacecraft.
Spitzer’s last hurrah is a beautiful image of the spooky Tarantula Nebula
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has ended scientific observations after a sixteen-year mission. But its legacy lives on in an image of the Tarantula Nebula.
Europe’s newest planet-hunting satellite opens its eyes for the first time
The ESA launched the CHEOPS satellite in December. There was still one big challenge: Opening the telescope's cover, which protects the instrument during launch.
Roku reaches agreement with Fox to allow Super Bowl streaming
Football fans hoping to watch the Super Bowl via Roku tomorrow will be pleased to hear the platform has hammered out a last-minute agreement with content supplier Fox.
Zuckerberg spins Facebook’s indifference to truth as a commitment to ‘freedom’
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taken a defiant stand against his critics, saying the site would stand up for free expression, even if it pissed people off. Earlier this year, Facebook announced that it would not ban political ads that lie to voters, in what was seen as an abdication of responsibility.
How crazy, cross-continental coordination brought us the first black hole photo
Last April, hundreds of scientists came together to produce the first-ever image of a black hole. Digital Trends spoke with the team's leader about the challenges of bringing together so many people, institutions, and telescopes with one shared aim.
NASA’s James Webb Telescope faces a new challenge: Time
NASA's James Webb Space Telescopes is unlikely to meet its launch date later this year, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. The report, titled 'James Webb Space Telescope: Technical Challenges Have Caused Schedule Strain and May Increase Costs,' details the status of the troubled telescope.
NASA’s Spitzer telescope mission comes to an end after 16 years of investigating space
After a 16-year-long mission to image our galaxy and beyond, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope mission ended this week. The spacecraft will no longer collect data.
Can Voyager 2, exploring space beyond the solar system, survive a power glitch?
One of the most distant man-made objects in the universe, NASA's Voyager 2, has suffered from a power glitch. Can it be repaired while in interstellar space?
This is the most detailed photo ever taken of the surface of the sun
To learn more about the enormous nuclear reactor that is our sun, the National Science Foundation has debuted the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope. With a 13-foot mirror, it is the world's largest solar telescope. The telescope's first light image has been released, showing a close-up view of the surface of the sun.
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft could unravel the mystery of how the solar system formed
Next year, NASA launches the Lucy spacecraft to visit the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter. Digital Trends spoke with Hal Levison, principle investigator of the project, about how the mission could reveal clues about the formation of our solar system and could even offer insights into the origin of life on Earth.
Hundreds of Amazon workers criticize the company’s approach to climate crisis
Hundred of Amazon workers have spoken out against the company's handling of climate change issues. More than 300 Amazon employees from the group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice shared their views on Amazon's role in and response to the climate crisis in a Medium post published on Sunday.
Google’s antitrust woes continue as state officials meet with Justice Department
The antitrust investigation into Google may be about to kick up a notch. Both the Department of Justince and state attorneys general are probing whether the search giant acted in an anticompetitive manner in two separate investigations. Now, the two may be starting to share information on their respective probes.
This ancient dwarf star has oxygen from the Milky Way’s earliest supernovae
Astronomers studying one of the oldest known stars have found an unexpectedly high level of oxygen in its atmosphere. This suggests that oxygen was produced in the very earliest supernovae in our universe. The star is over 5,000 light-years away in the constellation of Lynx, and is a type called a halo star.
Hubble images dusty galaxy to learn about supermassive black holes
This week's image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1022, located in the constellation of Cetus. Scientists are observing this particular galaxy in order to study the relationship between the size of a galaxy and the size of the supermassive black hole at its center.
Google will charge law enforcement and government agencies to access user data
Google has begun charging law enforcement for access to user data, with fees of $45 for a subpoena, $60 for a wiretap, and $245 for a search warrant. With a high volume of requests from law enforcement agencies to hand over data, Google has decided to bring in charges to offset the costs of compiling this data.
ISS astronauts succeed in fixing $2 billion ‘unserviceable’ instrument
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have completed a spacewalk to repair a dark matter detection instrument previously considered unserviceable. NASA's Andrew Morgan and European Space Agency's Luca Parmitano spent 6 hours and 16 minutes performing repairs to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
Apple ordered to pay $85 million to WiLan in patent-infringement case
In a long and drawn-out case over patent infringement, Apple has been ordered to pay $85 million to Canadian company WiLan. This latest ruling comes from the U.S. District Court in San Diego. A jury ruled that Apple infringed patents and will have to pay WiLan's parent organization, Quarterhill Inc.
This planet is so hot it tears apart the hydrogen molecules in its atmosphere
The extreme forces acting on huge planets close to blistering stars lead to unexpected findings, like a planet that is hotter than most stars. The exoplanet KELT-9b, was the target of more research which revealed it is prone to planetwide meltdowns so severe they tear apart the molecules that make up its atmosphere.
Could Enceladus, the icy moon of Saturn, be capable of supporting life?
New research using data from Cassini suggests Enceladus, the moon of Saturn with an ocean hidden beneath a thick layer of ice, could be capable of supporting life. Cracks in the icy surface of the moon let out plumes of gases and sea spray, and data about these plumes can reveal more about the ocean hidden beneath.
This vampire star is feeding on its companion to create a ‘super-outburst’
Astronomers have spotted a vampire star feeding on one of its brethren in a dwarf nova. A nova is marked by the sudden appearance of a bight, seemingly new star, which fades over a period of weeks or months. What is unusual about this particular nova is that the white dwarf is feeding on one of its own, a brown dwarf.
Curiosity rover adjusts its attitude to its Martian surroundings
Like a surly teenager, everyone's favorite Martian explorer, NASA's Curiosity rover, suffered from an attitude problem last week. Attitude refers to a rover's ability to locate itself spatially, and it is essential for the rover to have accurate attitude information to move around and perform operations safely.
NASA’S NESSI instrument can pick out the atmospheres of distant exoplanets
NASA has a new tool to help in the hunt for exoplanets. The New Mexico Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Instrument, or NESSI, is an instrument on the Hale Telescope in San Diego which has been in testing since February 2018. Now, it's ready to start investigating the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system.
Celebrating Spitzer: NASA’s infrared telescope retiring after a 16-year mission
This week, NASA is saying goodbye to one of its most storied and productive telescopes: The Spitzer Space Telescope. As this remarkable 16-year mission draws to a close, we look back over its achievements and how its legacy will continue to inform astronomy and space exploration for years to come.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai warns of dangers of A.I. and calls for more regulation
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has warned about the dangers of unchecked A.I. and has said in an op-ed in the Financial Times that he believes that the area should be more tightly regulated, citing concerns such as the rise of deepfakes and potential abuses of facial recognition technology.
Studio Ghibli movies are coming to Netflix, but not in U.S. or Canada
Japanese animation fans will be pleased to hear Studio Ghibli movies are coming to Netflix, but only for an international audience. U.S. viewers will be able to stream Ghibli movies on HBO Max, but viewers outside of Northern America and Japan will be able to watch the movies on Netflix starting next month.
Watch NASA astronauts spacewalk to replace space station batteries
Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station will shortly begin a spacewalk to perform upgrades, and you can watch the event happen live. Jessica Meir and Christina Koch will be suiting up and heading out of the station to replace batteries as part of a long-term project to update the station's power system.
Kyoto fireball was caused by a chunk falling off potentially hazardous asteroid
On April 29, 2017, something strange appeared over Kyoto, Japan: A bright, slow fireball streaking through the in the sky. At the time, astronomers were baffled as it what it could have been. But now, researchers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan have figured out what it was and where it came from.
Lexus concepts envision lunar transport in the year 2220
f you've ever found yourself wondering what transport of the future will look like, Lexus has some concept sketches to feed your imagination. Designers were invited to create a lunar mobility concept for everything from personal transportation for traveling across the moon's surface to spacecraft concepts.
The nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, may host a second planet
Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a second exoplanet in orbit around the nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri. The planet candidate is called Proxima c, its mass is around half that of Neptune, and it orbits its star at a distance 1.5 times greater than the distance between the Earth and the sun.
See video of Boeing’s Starliner orbital flight test from inside the capsule
Boeing's first Starliner orbital test flight might not have gone as planned, with the craft failing to reach the correct orbit. However, there's still plenty to be learned from the test. Boeing has released a video of highlights of the test, showing the interior of the capsule and the view from the window.
Terrifying Clearview app could be the end of anonymity in public places
New facial recognition technology could be used to identify anyone, anywhere, and it's already in use by police in the U.S. A tiny company called Clearview developed the app that can use an existing photo of a person to search for other photos of them online, along with links to where those photos are hosted.