Tag: aurora

Uber Sells Its Self-Driving Unit To Aurora

Uber’s self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), is being acquired by its start-up competitor Aurora Innovation, the companies announced Monday. From a report: The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, values ATG at approximately $4 billion. The unit was valued at $7.25 billion in Apr. 2019 when Softbank, Denso and Toyota took a stake. Uber CEO Dara…

What are ‘open’ star clusters?

Open clusters are young, loosely bound gatherings of stars that may still be surrounded by the nebula – or space cloud – in which they were born. The Pleiades, Hyades, and Beehive are well-known examples of open star clusters. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-examples-what-are-open-star-clusters…

Uber In Talks To Sell ATG Self-Driving Unit To Aurora

Uber is reportedly in talks to sell its $7.25 billion self-driving car unit, Uber Advanced Technologies Group, to competing autonomous vehicle technology startup Aurora Innovation. TechCrunch reports: Aurora Innovation, the startup founded by three veterans of the autonomous vehicle industry who led programs at Google, Tesla and Uber, is in negotiations to buy Uber ATG. Terms of the deal are still…

Aurora-chasing citizen scientists help discover a new feature of STEVE

In 2018, a new aurora-like discovery struck the world. From 2015 to 2016, citizen scientists reported 30 instances of a purple ribbon in the sky, with a green picket fence structure underneath. Now named STEVE, or Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, this phenomenon is still new to scientists, who are working to understand all its details. What they do know is…

The International Space Station is 20 and going strong

20 years ago, three astronauts stepped aboard the ISS. It’s since hosted residents from many countries, creating humanity’s first history of living in space. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/20-years-iss-what-its-future-holds-nov-2-2020…

Electric! Astronomers find sprites in Jupiter’s atmosphere

Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission say they have detected sprites or elves – electrical phenomena above thunderstorms on Earth – in the clouds of Jupiter for the first time. Unlike the red-colored earthly ones however, the Jovian ones are blue. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/sprites-or-elves-in-jupiters-atmosphere-lightning-juno…

‘How 30 Lines of Code Blew Up a 27-Ton Generator’

After the U.S. unveiled charges against six members of the Sandworm unit in Russia’s military intelligence agency, Wired re-visited “a secret experiment in 2007 proved that hackers could devastate power grid equipment beyond repair — with a file no bigger than a gif.” It’s an excerpt from the new book SANDWORM: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the…

Can you see the Big Dipper in autumn?

Sure, it’s easy to recognize, but sometimes the Big Dipper is low in the northern sky, or not visible at all. That’s the case now, in the evening. How to spot it. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/can-you-see-the-big-dipper-in-autumn…