Google is planning to release a new Nest Hub in 2021 that will feature sleeping tracking powered by the company’s Soli radar technology. 9to5Google reports: Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group first unveiled Soli in 2015, but it did not launch on a consumer device until 2019. The sensor lets you perform air gestures over the Pixel 4 to play/pause and…
Tag: Radar
Video Taken By Pilots of What Could Be the Elusive Los Angeles Jet Pack Guy Emerges
We now have credible video of what appears to be the elusive “Jet Pack Guy” flying around at thousands of feet near Los Angeles International Airport. The Drive reports: The footage doesn’t come to us from some random Reddit board or YouTube channel, either. It was taken during an instructional flight from Sling Pilot Academy in the training area off Palos…
Capella Space Defends High-Resolution Satellite Photos Described as ‘Eerily Observant’
“A new satellite from Capella Space was described as “pretty creepy” by Bustle’s technology site Input: Like other hunks of metal currently orbiting Earth, the Capella-2 satellite’s onboard radar system makes it capable of producing ludicrously high-resolution visuals from its data. More unconventional is the service Capella has launched to match: the government or private customers can, at any time, request…
Want to find life on Mars? Look deep underground
A new study from researchers at Rutgers University suggests that the best place to look for evidence of life on Mars is deep underground, where geothermal heat melted subsurface ice. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-life-search-subsurface-ice-melted-by-geothermal-heat…
AI Just Controlled a Military Plane For the First Time Ever
On December 15, the United States Air Force successfully flew an AI copilot on a U-2 spy plane in California, marking the first time AI has controlled a U.S. military system. Dr. Will Roper, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, reveals how he and his team made history: With call sign ARTUu, we trained uZero…
Mount Everest, Earth’s Tallest Mountain, Just Got Taller By About a Meter
China and Nepal say they have determined the “most accurate height of Everest that we have ever had,” calculating it to be about 8,848.86 meters (29,031.7 feet) high. That’s almost a meter taller than the mountain’s previous recognized height. CNET reports: The two countries, which border each other at the mountain’s summit, shared the news in a joint virtual briefing Tuesday…
China’s Chang’e 5 mission is orbiting the moon!
China’s robotic Chang’e 5 will be the 1st sample-return from the moon since the 1970s. It launched successfully last week atop a Chinese Long March 5 rocket. Now it’s reported to have entered orbit around the moon. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/china-moon-mission-change-5-sample-return…
China Launches Ambitious Mission To Land On Moon and Return Samples To Earth
BeerFartMoron shares a report from CBS News: China launched its most ambitious moon mission yet Monday: a robotic spacecraft expected to land on the lunar surface by the end of the week. The spacecraft is expected to collect about four pounds of rock and soil samples, and return them to Earth next month for laboratory analysis. If successful, the Chang’e 5…
NSF says Arecibo telescope will be dismantled
Heartbreaking news. After 57 years as a world-class resource for astronomy, the iconic Arecibo telescope is to be decommissioned, or withdrawn from service, the NSF announced today. The dish-type radio telescope – built into a natural depression in the landscape in Puerto Rico – appears to be headed for a “controlled disassembly.” Source: https://earthsky.org/space/arecibo-telescope-to-be-decommissioned…
Does Jupiter’s moon Europa have geysers? If so, what’s their source?
If watery plumes do burst from Europa’s surface, they might originate not in the moon’s underground ocean, but instead in pockets of brine trapped in the moon’s crust. If that’s so, it could be a source of frustration for those who want to probe Europa’s ocean for possible life. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/jupiter-moon-europa-plumes-salty-water-in-crust…