This Glove-Like Device Encourages Lucid Dreaming

Though still in development trials, the new “Dormio” device invented by MIT researchers shows potential for aiding lucid dreaming—or more specifically, hypnagogic microdreams. Using the “steel ball technique” (popularized a century ago and used by Salvador Dalí and Thomas Edison) as a starting point, the team built a biometric glove-like device that identifies the onset of sleep, and subsequently attempts influencing oncoming dreams based on …

Inside NASA’s Mars Rover Remote Control Rooms

Given the universal directive to practice social distancing, even NASA’s teams work remotely. That means those in command of the current Mars Curiosity Rover mission control it from their homes. The predicament forced NASA to accommodate less-capable hardware systems, deal with slower coding sequences, and ultimately send fewer commands to the Rover each day. But, as social media posts from the agency suggest, NASA is …

Scientist-Invented Carbon Nanostructure That’s Stronger Than Diamonds

Scientists from several institutions (including the University of California, Irvine) have conceptualized and fabricated a new class of plate-nanolattices (nanometer-sized carbon structures) that happens to be stronger than diamonds. They’ve done so through a complex 3D laser printing process referred to as “two-photon polymerization direct laser writing.” Scientists begin by focusing a laser on a drop of ultraviolet-light-sensitive liquid resin. It’s in the final material’s …