How Star Wars’ BB-8 Droid Works

While Star Wars might take place in a galaxy far, far away, the technology behind one of its breakout stars, the adorable rolling BB-8 droid, is actually available right here on Earth. Instead of relying on CGI to animate the droid in the upcoming “Force Awakens” film, director JJ Abrams decided to build out an actual, working model and enlisted the help of start-up Sphero. …

Mapping Every Street Light with SeeLight

Only 10% of traffic lights are currently accompanied by either audio cues or tactile paving, making it difficult for blind pedestrians to navigate busy intersections. Hoping to change that, a new app called SeeLight—which is available for free on the iTunes app store—is on a mission to map out every single street light in the world. The app can then send helpful information to the …

NASA Mimics Mars on Earth

Three men and three women have just begun a year-long period of isolation atop Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano in order to test how a mission to Mars might affect the human psyche. Organized by NASA and the University of Hawaii, the long-term test will force the volunteer crew to live as if they’re on the red planet; they’re only allowed to leave their small dome …