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Emerging Tech

virtual reality zoom coronavirus socially distanced future

Why virtual reality will be a must-have for our socially distanced future

Videoconferencing platforms have exploded since coronavirus. But those looking for more dimensions are turning to virtual reality, and selling out headsets.
FIGLAB

In the future, touchscreens will be obsolete. This lab designs what’s next

The Future Interfaces Group at Carnegie Mellon has a simple mission: Invent the way we'll use computers in 25 years time. Doing it isn't so easy, of course.
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Learn a new skill while you’re stuck at home with MasterClass — now on sale

Learn new skills & passions with Masterclass right now with lifetime buy-one-get-one-free passes available for a limited time.
MIT Dormio Glove

Inside the MIT project that’s making Inception-style dream manipulation possible

Created by MIT's Dream Lab, Dormio is a wearable device that makes it possible to control dreams. Think of it like Inception, but real.
solar power

Lithium-ion is just the beginning. Here’s a peek at the future of batteries

Battery technology is booming right now. The pace of progress has picked up thanks to increased demand for portable power. What does the future hold?
RangerBot

Caretaker bots and starfish assassins: Meet the tech that protects Earth’s reefs

Coral reefs are dying everywhere. Can technology help reverse this tragic trend? Here are six examples of cutting edge tech that might assist with exactly that.
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Learn everything from C++ and Java to Python and React for free with Udacity

Udacity teaches valuable tech skills and right now, you can grab a free one-month trial with no financial commitment.
digital trends live episode 361 index

Digital Trends Live: Uber delivers, Facebook games, Apple rumors, and more

On this Digital Trends Live, we break down the top tech stories, including Uber’s delivery plans, new AirPod and MacBook Pro rumors, and more.
abcmouse free trial subscription deal

Keep your kids learning with ABCmouse — now 50% off with a free trial

Teach your kids with an ABCmouse 30-day free trial or discounted one-year subscription and enjoy learning together
robots consume metal keep going scrap

No batteries? No problem. These scavenger robots ‘eat’ metal to harvest energy

How do you keep robots powered up as they move through the world? By giving them the ability to 'consume' metal the way we might chow down on food, of course.
Curiosity Rover

NASA is operating its Mars Curiosity rover from workers’ home offices

NASA has revealed how its Mars Curiosity rover team is doing after the space agency asked its employees to work from home in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
nasa illustrations data hubble view of star forming region s106

See what the Hubble Space Telescope snapped on your birthday

NASA has launched an online tool that lets you see what the Hubble Space Telescope -- this year celebrating its 30th anniversary -- snapped on your birthday.
Smart patch arm 1

Sweat-analyzing patch could help spot biomarkers linked to COVID-19

Epicore's sweat-sensing smart patches could help track biometrics in athletes and a variety of other individuals — and even keep tabs on coronavirus patients.
Coronavirus dashboard john hopkins

New coronavirus dashboard offers astonishingly detailed data by county

Johns Hopkins University's new tracker shows county data for confirmed cases, recorded deaths, testing rate, fatality rate, hospital capacity, and more.
digital trends live episode 356 starship 2

Digital Trends Live: Apple and Google fight COVID-19; robot pizza delivery

On Digital Trends Live, we talk about the top tech stories, including Apple and Google battle COVID-19 (sometimes together), robot pizza delivery, and more.
This image was taken by Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 2727.

Even on Mars, the Curiosity rover needs to wash its hands

Here on Earth, we're taking care to wash our hands. But cleanliness isn't only important on Earth -- it's important for the Curiosity rover on Mars as well.
This artist’s concept shows the trajectory and configuration of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during Checkpoint rehearsal, which is the first time the mission will practice the initial steps for collecting a sample from asteroid Bennu.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to perform an asteroid sampling rehearsal

This week, NASA will perform a test run of collecting an asteroid sample from Bennu, bringing the OSIRIS-REx craft the closest it has ever come to the asteroid.
This false-color composite image shows auroras (depicted in green) above the cloud tops of Saturn's south pole. The 65 observations used here were captured by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer on Nov. 1, 2008.

Why is Saturn’s atmosphere so warm? Cassini data could explain

A new analysis of data from NASA's Cassini probe suggests that auroras may be responsible for the unexpectedly high temperatures of the atmosphere of Saturn.
A user playing the new NeMO-Net game that helps NASA classify the world's coral from their own home

NASA recruits gamers to help identify and map the world’s corals

NASA has imaged coral ecosystems from the air for several years, and now this data needs to be identified and classified before it can be used for research.
50 years xerox parc alan kay

The 50-year old Silicon Valley lab that practically invented modern computing

Xerox PARC, the legendary Silicon Valley R&D lab, turns 50 years old in 2020. Here's what it's brought to the world of computing, and what it's up to today.
Mercury orbiter BepiColombo

Mercury mission BepiColoumbo takes its final glimpse of Earth

The joint European and Russian Space Agencies' mission to Mercury, BepiColombo, has captured a final image of Earth as it makes a final flyby of our planet.
On Friday, April 3, 2020, NASA and SpaceX completed an end-to-end demonstration of the teams' ability to safely evacuate crew members from the Fixed Service Structure during an emergency situation at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Watch SpaceX practice an emergency escape from its Crew Dragon capsule

See a video showing SpaceX performing an emergency egress test this week for its Crew Dragon capsule at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
The crewmembers of the Apollo 13 mission

Mark 50th anniversary of Apollo 13 launch by reliving events in real time

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 13, and in commemoration of the mission's launch, NASA has created the Apollo 13 in Real Time website.
Robotics engineer Jason Schuler performs a preliminary test to prepare for dust testing of various seals for the wheel motors on NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER

How NASA’s VIPER rover will tackle the problem of moon dust

NASA is preparing to send astronauts back to the moon by 2024. But there's one challenge of lunar exploration we haven't solved yet: How to deal with moon dust.
The Mars Helicopter and its Mars Helicopter Delivery System were attached to the Perseverance Mars rover at Kennedy Space Center on April 6, 2020. The helicopter will be deployed about two-and-a-half months after Perseverance lands.

Mars Helicopter attached to Perseverance Rover ahead of launch

NASA's Mars Helicopter has been attached to the belly of the Perseverance Rover where it will stay before the launch of the rover to Mars in a few months' time.
Outschool

Online school has a massive blind spot, and it’s hurting young learners the most

Teaching math and science online is easy, but when it comes to fundamental social skills like cooperation and sharing, online classes are grossly inadequate.
Tello

Best cheap drones to get you up in the air

We take a look at the best cheap drones to get you in the air without breaking the bank, from kid-friendly drones to aerial photography machines and more.
The JPL-led challenge is seeking tiny payloads no larger than a bar of soap for a miniaturized Moon rover.

NASA wants your help designing a mini payload for moon exploration

NASA is calling on the public to submit their designs for teeny tiny miniature rovers which could be used to explore the moon as part of the Artemis project.
Man cutting hair

Need a haircut? Professional barbers can guide you through the whole process

YouProbablyNeedaHaircut is a great solution during the lockdown. It shows your other half or housemate how to cut hair by connecting you to a barber via Zoom.
exosuits

Affordable exosuits are here, but they don’t look (or work) how you’d expect

Vanderbilt researchers have built a soft textile exosuit called HeroWear Apex. It promises to augment wearers' strength -- on an impressively low budget.
army use lasers power drones drone getty images

New Jersey cops use speaker-drones to help enforce pandemic lockdown

Following similar deployments in Spain and France, cops in the U.S. have started using speaker-drones telling people to stay home during the pandemic.
A helicopter plucks a dummy booster from the sky during a test run by Rocket Lab in 2020.

Watch Rocket Lab’s helicopter catch a dummy rocket in midair

Rocket Lab, like SpaceX, is developing a reusable rocket system to cut the cost of launches. But their methods of booster recovery are remarkably different.
emoji on laptop

Psychologists say using emojis is more important than ever right now. Seriously

Emojis might seem frivolous, but a psychologist from the U.K.'s University of Chichester says there is a good reason for using them in work emails right now.
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MasterClass Deal: Learn a new skill from masters like Gordon Ramsay on the cheap

MasterClass offers fantastic online courses. Right now, buy one all-access pass and you'll get one free to give to a friend or loved one.