A mission to send a nuclear-powered, autonomously-operating drone to one of Saturn’s moons will commence in 2026—and the craft, nicknamed Dragonfly, will arrive in Titan’s atmosphere in 2034. Then, the sedan-sized probe will investigate the lower-gravity surface’s dunes, mountains, rivers, and lakes—and report back instantly (though a transmission takes almost two hours from Titan to Earth). Another one of Dragonfly’s tasks will be to create …
The ultra-remote Havasupai reservation, which sits at the floor of the Grand Canyon, remains inaccessible to cars, trains and, until now, broadband internet. Thanks to Oakland-based non-profit MuralNet, seven Havasupai families from the 450-member tribe can finally use cell phones and connect to the web. With help from Flagstaff-based Niles Radio, MuralNet installed “microwave hops” at the rim of the canyon that transmit signals down …
From MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory comes a product that could calm the nerves of fickle consumers. PhotoChromeleon is a high-tech ink that changes color through “reprogramming.” This means exposing the ink to UV light to activate or deactivate some of its components, which include “a scientific mix of cyan, magenta, and yellow photochromic dyes,” according to Fast Company. The sprayable ink can …
