A prototype of SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded during a landing attempt minutes after a high-altitude experimental launch from Boca Chica, Texas, yesterday, in a repeat of an accident that destroyed a previous test rocket. The Starship SN9 that blew up on its final descent, like the SN8 before it, was […]
Science & Technology
Inauguration Day marks both a grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic and a new chapter in the U.S. response to it. On January 19, the United States surpassed 400,000 coronavirus deaths. A day later, newly sworn-in President Joe Biden was poised to launch an ambitious plan to tackle the public […]
WASHINGTON: NASA’s deep space exploration rocket built by Boeing briefly ignited all four engines of its behemoth core stage for the first time on Saturday, cutting short a crucial test to advance a years-delayed US government programme to return humans to the moon in the next few years. Mounted in […]
Facebook’s human moderators have focused on election and Covid-19 misinformation this year, so the company has leaned more on artificial intelligence algorithms to monitor other areas of the platform. New York-based businesswoman Ruth Harrigan usually sells her honey and beeswax products in souvenir shops. But with Covid-19 pausing tourism, she’s […]
Officials said online platforms bring huge benefits for businesses and society, but there is growing consensus in the UK and abroad that the concentration of power within a small number of tech companies is curtailing growth in the tech sector, reducing innovation, and potentially having negative impacts on the people […]
The UK government said that it’s setting up a “Digital Markets Unit”, scheduled to launch in April, will oversee a new regulatory regime for tech companies that’s aimed at spurring more competition. Britain plans to create a new watchdog to police big tech companies including Google and Facebook to counter […]
The spirited songbirds can rapidly memorize the signature sounds of at least 50 different members of their flock In findings recently published in the journal Science Advances, these boisterous, red-beaked songbirds, known as zebra finches, have been shown to pick one another out of a crowd (or flock) based on […]
The Dragon capsule on top — named Resilience by its crew in light of this year’s many challenges, most notably Covid-19 — was due to reach the space station late Monday and remain there until spring. SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on Sunday on the first […]
The fur oThe fur of Australia’s iconic oddity fluoresces under ultraviolet lightf Australia’s iconic oddity fluoresces under ultraviolet light Between the electricity-sensing bill, venomous heel spurs and egg laying, the platypus was already one of the strangest mammals alive today (SN: 5/8/08). Now, researchers have found that this Australian oddity […]
A 45-year-old British man has been left with permanent hearing loss after developing Covid-19. UK doctors say it is the first such case they have seen linked to the pandemic coronavirus. Although rare, sudden hearing loss can follow other viral infections, such as flu. The ear-nose-and-throat experts told BMJ Case […]