by Maria ANTONOVA MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday launched an unmanned rocket carrying a life-size humanoid robot that will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts on the International Space Station. Named Fedor, short for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, the robot is the first-ever sent up by Russia. Fedor blasted off in a Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft at 6:38 am Moscow time (0338 GMT) from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is […]
Sci-Tech
Singapore to trial driverless buses booked with an app
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore will next week begin a public trial of driverless buses that can be booked with an app, part of ambitions to roll out autonomous vehicles across the city-state. Well-organised and high-tech, Singapore has become a testbed for self-driving vehicles, developing home-grown technology and inviting foreign companies to trial their own. Four driverless mini-buses will follow a 5.7 kilometre (3.5-mile) route on the resort island of Sentosa from August 26 to November […]
Facebook launches tool to let users control data flow
PARIS, FRANCE (AFP) — Facebook, under pressure to ramp up privacy rules across its platform, said on Tuesday it was rolling out a tool allowing users to control data that it receives from other apps and websites about their online activity. The new tool is to give clients access to their so-called “off-Facebook activity” — fed back to Facebook with the aim of targeting advertisements — and give them the option of deleting it. “Off-Facebook […]
New planet discovered in orbit of young Milky Way star
PARIS, France (AFP) — A second planet has been discovered circling Beta Pictoris, a fledgling star in our own galaxy offering astronomers a rare glimpse of a planetary system in the making, according to a study published Monday. “We talking about a giant planet about 3,000 times more massive than Earth, situated 2.7 times further from its star than the Earth is from the Sun,” said Anne-Marie Lagrange, an astronomer at France’s National Centre for […]
WATCH: NASA descends on Icelandic lava field to prepare for Mars
BORGARNES, Iceland (AFP) — To prepare for the next mission to Mars in 2020, NASA has taken to the lava fields of Iceland to get its new robotic space explorer ready for the job. With its black basalt sand, wind-swept dunes and craggy peaks, the Lambahraun lava field at the foot of Iceland’s second biggest glacier, Langjokull, was chosen as a stand-in for the Red Planet’s surface. https://youtu.be/x1UJgbXvNQ8
Microsoft halts development of Minecraft update
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Microsoft has halted development of an ambitious update to Minecraft, throwing in the towel after concluding it was technically too complicated, according to a blog post by the team responsible for the hit adventure and construction game. Microsoft had unveiled the project, dubbed “Super Duper Graphics Packs,” to great fanfare in 2017, at E3, the world’s biggest video game trade show. “Unfortunately, the pack proved too technically demanding to […]
‘Majestic’ WWII Spitfire takes off on round-the-world flight
by Robin MILLARD © Agence France-Presse CHICHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) — An original Spitfire plane took off from Britain on Monday on an unprecedented attempt to fly the iconic World War II fighter around the globe. The gleaming silver aircraft set off from Goodwood Aerodrome outside Chichester near the south coast of England for the first leg of the epic four-month journey. The restored 76-year-old fighter served in World War II but has been de-militarized, […]
S.Korea tests drone delivery in remote regions
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Seoul began testing delivery by drone in the country’s remote regions Wednesday, with the hope of improving residents’ quality of life, the government said. The project, jointly launched by the interior and safety ministry and Korea Post, among other government agencies, aims to establish a “public drone delivery system” to serve the country’s dispersed population. A test operation on Wednesday transported medical relief items from Dangjin, a city 80 kilometers […]
Huawei still number two smartphone seller despite US sanctions
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Huawei remained the number two global smartphone vendor in the past quarter despite tough US sanctions imposed on the Chinese technology giant, market trackers said Wednesday. The Chinese firm managed to boost its sales even as the overall market declined, remaining on the heels of sector leader Samsung and ahead of US-based Apple. According to Strategy Analytics, overall global smartphone sales fell 2.6 percent to 341 million units in […]
Flying Frenchman to attempt pioneering Channel ‘flyboard’ crossing
SANGATTE, France (AFP) — A daredevil French inventor is Thursday to attempt a flight across the Channel standing on a jet-powered “flyboard”, in an ambitious crossing he sees as following in the footsteps of the aviation pioneers. Franky Zapata, a former jet-skiing champion, aims to soar above the Channel “like a bird” in the crossing from northern France to southern England, in a scene likely to resemble a science fiction film. In a tribute to […]
Hawaii plays important role in America’s space program, then and now
By Alfred Acenas EBC Hawaii Bureau KANEOHE, Hawaii (Eagle News) – Did you know that the Hawaiian Culture is known for its quest for explorations, both in the oceans and in space? Hawaii’s Windward Community College in Kaneohe hosted the Apollo 11 Family Spacefest on July 20, 2019, exactly 50 years to the day when astronaut Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” This one-day exhibit showcased moon rocks […]
Cradle of Aviation in NY celebrates Apollo at 50
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (Eagle News) — It has been 50 years since 600 million people around the world watched Apollo 11 land on the moon, considered one of the greatest technological achievements of mankind. The Cradle of Aviation Museum in Long Island, New York celebrates this achievement as well as the contributions of 9,000 Grumman workers who helped make it possible. (Eagle News Service)