Amazon is Using AI-Equipped Cameras in Delivery Vans

Amazon drivers at some U.S. facilities will soon have an extra set of eyes watching them when they hit the road to make their daily deliveries. From a report: The company recently began testing AI-equipped cameras in vehicles to monitor contracted delivery drivers while they’re on the job, with the aim of improving safety. Amazon has deployed the cameras in Amazon-branded…

How to see Sirius B

Sirius is a binary star, with a small white dwarf called the Pup orbiting the large primary star. It’s not easy to observe, but it is possible. Here’s how. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/how-to-observe-sirius-b…

As Google Eyes Australia Exit, Microsoft Talks Bing With Prime Minister

Software giant Microsoft is confident its search product Bing can fill the gap in Australia if Google pulls its search over required payments to media outlets, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday. From a report: Australia has introduced laws that would force internet giant Google and social media heavyweight Facebook Inc to negotiate payments to domestic media outlets whose content…

Astronomers find possible exoplanet-in-the-making within its own whirlpool

Astronomers have discovered a possible newly-born planet forming within its own “whirlpool” of dust and pebbles, in orbit around a young star 330 light-years from Earth. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/star-hd-163296-new-planet-seen-forming-within-whirlpool…

Top 12 brightest objects in the solar system

Can you name the top 12 brightest objects in the solar system? How many have you seen without the aid of binoculars or a telescope? Source: https://earthsky.org/space/what-are-the-brightest-objects-in-our-solar-system…

Hand sanitizer is causing an epidemic of chemical burns to children’s eyes

All that sanitizer people have been using since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic has led to more than just dry hands and eye-watering smells: It’s nearly blinding some children. Source: https://www.livescience.com/covid-19-pandemic-hand-sanitizer-burns.html

SDO spies its 1st lunar transit of 2021

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has been observing continuously the sun since its launch in 2010. From its vantage point above Earth, it sees the moon pass in front of the sun 2 to 5 times a year. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/sdo-spies-its-1st-lunar-transit-of-2021-jan13…

Newly found Comet Leonard might become 2021’s brightest

The first comet to be found in 2021 – labeled C/2021 A1 (Leonard) – might become the brightest comet of this year! Charts and more info here. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/bright-comet-c-2021-a1-leonard-2021-2022…

Japan’s NEC Corp Says New Facial Recognition System Isn’t Stopped By Masks

Japan’s NEC Corp. says face marks aren’t an obstacle to its facial recognition tech. Mashable reports: The Japanese company claims its new facial recognition system can identify people with face masks in less than one second, with an accuracy rate higher than 99.9 percent. The system works by closely examining the parts of a person’s face not covered by a mask,…

Neuroscientists’ New Theory: Dreaming Protects the Braincells For Eyesight

Writing in Time magazine, two neuroscientists share a surprising new theory on exactly how dreaming protects our brains: Neuroscience used to think that different parts of the brain were predetermined to perform specific functions. But more recent discoveries have upended the old paradigm. One part of the brain may initially be assigned a specific task; for instance, the back of our…