US tech firm International Business Machines on Thursday launched a research partnership with Japanese industry to accelerate advances in quantum computing, deepening ties between the two countries in an emerging and sensitive field. Members of the new group, which includes Toshiba and Hitachi, will gain cloud-based access to IBM’s US quantum computers. The group will
Science
Pepper’s skill set includes making phone calls, identifying missing items in the kitchen and occasional aerobics instruction. Now, after a surge in loneliness among vulnerable groups during the coronavirus pandemic, this robot’s potential as a companion have earned her a role in a Scottish university’s assisted living experiment with artificial intelligence. Scientists at Heriot-Watt University
NASA’s latest Mars rover Perseverance launches Thursday on an astrobiology mission to look for signs of ancient microbial life — and to fly a helicopter-drone on another world for the first time. Take-off is scheduled for 7:50 am (5:20 pm IST) from Cape Canaveral, Florida on board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. If
China’s first Mars probe has beamed back a photo of the Earth and the Moon as it heads toward its destination, the country’s space agency said Tuesday. The image, which shows the two celestial bodies as small crescents in the empty darkness of space, was taken 1.2 million km away from Earth three days after
Scientists have successfully revived microbes that had lain dormant at the bottom of the sea since the age of the dinosaurs, allowing the organisms to eat and even multiply after eons in the deep. Their research sheds light on the remarkable survival power of some of Earth’s most primitive species, which can exist for tens
Passengers flying Virgin Galactic on suborbital trips into space will be able to see themselves floating weightless against the backdrop of the Earth below while 16 cameras document the adventures, the company said Tuesday. Highly detailed amenities to enhance the customer flight experience were shown in an online event revealing the cabin of the company’s
With eight successful Mars landings, NASA is upping the ante with its newest rover. The spacecraft Perseverance — set for liftoff this week — is NASA’s brawniest and brainiest Martian rover yet. It sports the latest landing tech, plus the most cameras and microphones ever assembled to capture the sights and sounds of Mars. Its
Two teenage girls from India have discovered an Earth-bound asteroid by poring through images from a University of Hawaii telescope, an Indian space education institute said on Monday. The asteroid is presently near Mars and its orbit is expected to cross that of Earth in about one million years’ time, said SPACE India, a private
Robotic-Assisted Surgery (RAS) is a surgical procedure that involves robotic instruments to treat patients with diseases such as colorectal cancer. As opposed to the traditional surgical methods, robotic surgeries are deemed less “painful” with “fewer complications” according to Intuitive India, one of the companies that has been working in this space since 1995. This surgical method
The U.S. wants to build nuclear power plants that will work on the moon and Mars, and on Friday put out a request for ideas from the private sector on how to do that. The U.S. Department of Energy put out the formal request to build what it calls a fission surface power system that
US officials and scientists have begun laying the groundwork for a more secure “virtually unhackable” internet based on quantum computing technology. At a presentation Thursday, Department of Energy (DOE) officials issued a report that lays out a blueprint strategy for the development of a national quantum Internet, using laws of quantum mechanics to transmit information
Hopes that the rise in average global temperatures by 2100 might be capped below 2.5-degree Celsius can be all but ruled out if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, new research reassessing the atmosphere’s sensitivity to carbon dioxide(CO2) suggests. The study, under the Geneva-based World Climate Research Program, offers the first clear progress
Fitbit and other wearable devices typically linked to exercise are being studied as ways to identify people who are potentially infected with COVID-19 before symptoms appear, when they can unknowingly spread the disease. Changes in heart rate, respiratory rate, and other biometrics measured constantly by the devices may flag the early stages of virus infection,
China launched a rover to Mars on Thursday, a journey coinciding with a similar US mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space. The two countries are taking advantage of a period when Earth and Mars are favourably aligned for a short journey, with the US spacecraft due to lift off on July
China launched an unmanned probe to Mars on Thursday, aiming to demonstrate its technological prowess as it makes a bid for global leadership in space with its first independent mission to visit another planet. Here are some facts about missions to Mars by China and other countries: China’s unmanned Mars probe, named Tianwen-1 after “Tianwen”,
Researchers from University of Warwick in the UK rediscovered the planet named NGTS-11b using the Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) telescopes in Chile. The planet was originally found in 2018 using data from NASA’s TESS telescope, which scans for a dip in light from the star to identify it as a planet. At the time, due