Each time there’s a headline about driverless trucking technology, another piece is taken out of the old equation. First, an Uber/Otto truck’s safety driver went hands-off once the truck reached the highway (and said truck successfully delivered its valuable cargo of 50,000 beers). Then, Starsky Robotics announced its trucks would start making autonomous deliveries without... Continue Reading →
Feds: NY Man Planned To Blow Himself Up On National Mall On Election Day
A New York man is under arrest for allegedly plotting to blow himself up on the National Mall on election day. Paul Rosenfeld, 56, wanted to kill himself to draw attention to his “radical political beliefs,” authorities said. “As alleged, Paul M. Rosenfeld concocted a twisted plan to draw attention to his political ideology by... Continue Reading →
Google shutting down Google+ after exposing data of up to 500,000 users
A vulnerability in the Google+ social network exposed the personal data of up to 500,000 people using the site between 2015 and March 2018, the search giant acknowledged Monday. Google said it found no evidence of data misuse. Still, as part of the response to the incident, Google plans to shut down the social network... Continue Reading →
Innovative Single-Person Spacecraft Design Passes Leak Test (Exclusive)
A spacecraft designed to eventually replace many spacewalking astronaut activities passed two key pressure tests in September, representatives from the company building the spacecraft told Space.com in an exclusive interview. The spacecraft concept from Maryland-based Genesis Engineering Solutions is just big enough for one person; an astronaut would float inside the spacecraft for several hours... Continue Reading →
New autonomous farm wants to produce food without human workers
Iron Ox isn’t like most robotics companies. Instead of trying to flog you its technology, it wants to sell you food. As the firm’s cofounder Brandon Alexander puts it: “We are a farm and will always be a farm.” But it’s no ordinary farm. For starters, the company’s 15 human employees share their work space... Continue Reading →
Will Artificial Intelligence Kill Work?
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes better at performing narrow tasks traditionally done by humans, how will governments create policies to protect peoples’ livelihoods? Should it be up to governments to do so or will it create a new generation of entrepreneurs? Will AI create a new breed of welfare recipients or will it spur governments... Continue Reading →
Ground transport at 760 mph: New hyperloop passenger pod unveiled
Elon Musk's dream of hyperloop travel is getting closer to reality. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) unveiled its first full-size passenger capsule in Cadiz, Spain, on Tuesday. The company, one of several in the race to enact hyperloop technology, said the vessel had been built to scale to transport passengers at super-fast speeds through magnetic tubes.... Continue Reading →
Hayabusa 2 rovers send new images from Ryugu surface
The photos reveal new details of the surface of the space rock, which is known as Ryugu. On 21 September, the rovers were released on to the surface by the "mothership", Hayabusa 2. Hayabusa 2 reached Ryugu in June after a three-and-a-half-year journey. The pictures show in clear relief the rugged, boulder-strewn landscape of this... Continue Reading →
Underemployment Is the New Unemployment
Some major Western economies are close to full employment, but only in comparison to their official unemployment rate. Relying on that benchmark alone is a mistake: Since the global financial crisis, underemployment has become the new unemployment. In a recent paper, David Bell and David Blanchflower singled out underemployment as a reason why wages in the U.S.... Continue Reading →
EU, Russia, Iran, and China Unveil New Global Payment System Independent of US
In a stunning vote of “no confidence” in the US monopoly over global payment infrastructure, one month ago Germany’s foreign minister Heiko Maas called for the creation of a new payments system independent of the US that would allow Brussels to be independent in its financial operations from Washington and as a means of rescuing the nuclear deal between... Continue Reading →