Technology

Enlarge / A look at the lignin-free compressed wood. (credit: University of Maryland) Most of our building practices aren’t especially sustainable. Concrete production is a major source of carbon emissions, and steel production is very resource intensive. Once completed, heating and cooling buildings becomes a major energy sink. There are various ideas on how to …

Stronger than aluminum, a heavily altered wood cools passively Read More »

A Falcon 9 rocket is on the pad for Thursday night’s launch attempt. [credit:SpaceX ] After two launch attempts and a week of downtime, SpaceX has returned its Falcon 9 rocket to the launchpad for the Starlink mission. The 90-minute launch window opens at 10:30pm ET Thursday (02:30 UTC Friday), and the weather—including those pesky …

SpaceX returns its Falcon 9 to the pad for another Starlink launch attempt Read More »

Enlarge / Supporters of Julian Assange protest outside the Ecuadorian embassy as the WikiLeaks founder awaits a High Court hearing to determine whether he will be extradited to Sweden on sexual charges. Now, new US charges have been added to a previous indictment: 17 counts of espionage. (credit: Amer Ghazzal / Barcroft Media via Getty …

New Assange indictment adds 17 espionage charges Read More »

Maxar has been selected to build and fly the first element of NASA’s lunar Gateway. (credit: Maxar Technologies) NASA has chosen its first commercial partner for a proposed space station, known as the Lunar Gateway, to be built near the Moon. On Thursday, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Maxar Technologies would build the first component …

NASA officially orders its first segment of a lunar space station Read More »

Unlike this ceramic replica, video game loot boxes are not filled with real candy. (credit: ThinkGeek) Weeks ago, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) released an outline for the The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act, aimed at stopping randomized loot boxes and pay-to-win mechanics in the game industry. Today, Hawley was joined by Ed Markey (D-Mass.) …

GOP, Dem Senators officially introduce loot box, “pay-to-win” legislation Read More »

Enlarge / Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, and its owners, the Sackler family, are facing hundreds of lawsuits across the country for the company’s alleged role in the opioid epidemic. (credit: Getty | Drew Angerer) Infamous OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma used front organizations and sponsored research to deceive the World Health Organization and corrupt global …

Purdue infiltrated WHO, manipulated opioid policies to boost sales, report finds Read More »

Enlarge / A Comcast sign at the Comcast offices in Philadelphia, Penn. (credit: Getty Images | Cindy Ord ) Comcast may be harming its reputation by failing to reveal all of its lobbying activities, including its involvement in trade associations and lobbying at the state level, a group of shareholders says in a proposal that …

Comcast does so much lobbying that it says disclosing it all is too hard Read More »

Enlarge / Does he look happy or sad to you? (credit: US Fish and Wildlife) As social creatures, we subconsciously match moods with those around us—and not just when a cranky supervisor darkens your day (Editor’s Note: Is it something I said?). The scientific term for the spread of feelings is “emotional contagion,” a term …

A sad raven bums out its friends Read More »

That’s a good-looking vine, alright Star Trek fans briefly turned into Internet archaeologists today after CBS posted, then quickly took down, the first trailer for Star Trek: Picard. Earlier this morning, Entertainment Weekly appeared to have taken down a story about the reveal, but luckily for everyone else the trailer still showed up in Google results as “Star …

Now live post-leaks, Star Trek: Picard trailer asks why the “Admiral” left Starfleet Read More »

Enlarge (credit: Valentina Palladino) Greetings, Arsians! The Dealmaster is back with another round of deals to share. Memorial Day hasn’t arrived yet, but the holiday deals are already in full swing. Before you get out of town for the long weekend, you can snag big sales on some of our favorite Windows laptops from the …

Dealmaster: Save big on Windows laptops and smart TVs ahead of Memorial Day Read More »