Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 192

AMD is currently on 7nm with both its Ryzen and Radeon products right now, NVIDIA is dabbling in 14/12nm with its GPUs and Intel -- well, Intel is being Intel with 14nm+++ (+++++++++++) and tipping its toes into 10nm. Well, TSMC is already forging ahead with 5nm, 3nm -- and now 2nm.

According to the latest rumbles, TSMC has just accelerated its R&D (research and development) into the next-gen 2nm node. TSMC is using its massive slush fund of $16 billion for R&D wisely, with 5nm planned to go into volume production in late-2020, while 3nm enters trial production in the first half of 2021 and should enter mass production in 2022.

TSMC is pushing faster with its future 2nm node, with the company acquiring more (and very expensive) EUV lithography (Extreme Ultra-Violet) machines for its new 2nm node. The investment into these bleeding edge EUV machines wasn't cheap, so TSMC's capital spending will not be revisited this year, and it will remain in the $16 billion range.

If you happened to miss it, SpaceX successfully launched two astronauts to the International Space Station. But that wasn't the only achievement SpaceX made that day.

When SpaceX successfully launched Crew Dragon to the ISS, it passed a milestone point with the use of the Falcon 9 booster designated for B1049. This launch by SpaceX with the Falcon 9 marked the fifth time the same booster was used, putting it completely ahead of all other companies developing reusable rockets. SpaceX didn't just magically get the Falcon 9 booster to be reusable, there were many failed attempts by the company and a lot of persistence on their part.

As Teslarati reports, SpaceX has dominated the competition in terms of the fastest orbital-class rocket or spacecraft in history to do five launches. The Falcon 9 has beaten out Space Shuttles Columbia (~27 months), Challenger (~24 months), Discovery (~22 months), Atlantis (~26 months), and Endeavour (~29 months) with launches in ~20 months. Falcon 9 is now the most flown operational rocket in the United States.

China recently announced that they are going to begin construction of their own space station next year, and to go with that new space station is a brand new telescope.

According to UniverseToday, this new telescope is very much like the Hubble Space Telescope, and will feature the same size mirror as the famous Hubble. What will be different with China's new telescope dubbed "Xuntian" is the field of view, as it will be far wider than Hubble's which will allow for observers to get a much better viewing angle of objects.

The new telescope will work in unison with the new space station, as both will share the same orbit and be positioned at the same altitude of 340-450 kilometers. The reasoning behind this is that if the telescope ever needs any maintenance it can dock with the new space station and repairs or upgrades can be simply made. China plans on executing these plans in 2021 and 2022, with the hopes of everything being up and running in 2023.

China's space agency has an extremely ambitious mission ahead of them, as they are about to embark on building their very own space station.

The Chinese space agency will be constructing their own space station that weighs in at 66-tons. China will also be getting the construction up and running quite quickly, as the Chinese space agency plans on doing 11 launches in just two years. When the new space station is complete, it will be able to house crews of three astronauts for up to 6 months at a time.

So what does the new space station entail? Well, when it opens for business in 2023, it will have three fully operational modules. These modules are the following: main living space, and two areas dedicated to experiments. As for experiments, astronauts will be testing biology in zero gravity, and other brand new space technologies that warrant attention. The first module of the new space station will launch in the first quarter of 2022, aboard the Long March 5B rocket.

In what feels like not-so-surprising news, Accountable.US -- an anti-corruption watchdog, is putting pressure on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Moderna.

Why? Oh, because the watchdog group thinks the company cashed in around $90 million worth of shares days after it shared vague "positive" data on its early COVID-19 vaccination clinical trial. The watchdog said that the timing of the trades are "suspicious" and has questions whether Moderna executives coordinated their stock sales before the release of data.

Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig wrote a letter to the SEC which reads: "This misconduct was particularly egregious because it involved not only financial fraud and manipulation of the financial markets, but also because it exploited widespread fears surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic".

Americans are finding ways inside of their homes, I'm guessing over social distancing and maybe cabin fever, to prevent themselves from getting COVID-19. Some are going as far as dunking their food in, and drinking bleach -- yeah, I'm being serious.

In a recent survey by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) there was an "unusual spike" in calls to poison control centers, and it was all over harmful levels of exposure to household cleaning products -- like bleach. The CDC surveyed 502 people in the United States, and used statistical weighting to make it representative of the entire population of the US.

You can see in the CDC data above that 4% of respondents "drank or gargled a household cleaner", while another 4% "drank or gargled diluted bleach solution". Hell, 6% of Americans "inhaled the vapor of household cleaners like bleach" while 10% of Americans "misted the body with cleaning spray or alcohol spray after being in public places".

I'm sure that you've all heard about the huge conspiracies around 5G (so much so that YouTube suppressed any videos linking COVID-19 to 5G) and how it will mind control you, or kill you -- or everything in between. But there are anti-5G extremists who are now targeting 5G towers with dangerous items to hurt people.

Engineers working on 5G towers are finding dangerous traps including razor blades and needles, where someone has hidden them on poles so that when they climb up and do maintainance, they're going to get (seriously) hurt. The UK seems like a hotspot for the attacks on 5G towers, but there have been reports of the same booby traps set on other 5G installations around the world.

The Verge has a lengthy story with multiple accounts of these anti-5G extremists, making it sound like it's much more than just some random people doing this. Also, surely there are cameras nearby that they can use to find out, track, or identify who is doing this?

A UFO and alien 'expert' has claimed that he has found proof that aliens do exist and that they have already built structures on the Moon's surface.

According to Scott Waring, an 'expert' in aliens and UFO's, proof has been found of alien structures on the Moon. This 'proof' has been published in the form of an essay on his website titled "100% Proof Of NASA Taking Images Of Alien Structures On Earth's Moon". According to Waring, "I was looking in the old Apollo 15 mission photos when I came across this huge structure. The building is about half a kilometre long and looks like a recently used base. I say recently used because the other structures near it are 90 percent covered in a thick layer of moon dust."

In the above image you can see that Waring has circled what he believes to be alien structures, and as Waring explains, "I often only point out the highest detailed structures to insure the readers can also see it, but today I will circle the others to show you a bit more." On top of these published findings, Waring also posted the image that can be seen in the entirety of this article. Waring claims this is even more proof of alien structures on the Moon, and that NASA is going out of their way not to report these discoveries to the public.

In what feels like it was ripped right out of a movie script, the former head of MI6 has said that coronavirus may have "started as an accident" in a Chinese laboratory.

According to Sir Richard Dearlove, who has cited an "important" new study by British and Norwegian researchers that he says could "shift the debate" on COVID-19. The new research suggests something conspiracy theorists said many months ago, that key elements were "inserted" into COVID-19's genetic sequence, and it might not have actually evolved naturally like we've had shoved down our throats from the media and experts for months.

The Telegraph reports that the new research was published in the Quarterly Review of Biophysics Discovery, where co-author John Fredrik Moxnes who is the chief scientific advisor to the Norwegian military, reportedly asked for his name to be removed from the paper.

CES 2020 came and went this year as it was before the entire world was under a global lockdown thanks to coronavirus, and while events after it were cancelled -- GTC, GDC, Computex, E3, and so much more -- it seems it will be business like usual for CES 2021.

In a new announcement, the Consumer Technology Association (the body that organizes CES) says that planning for CES 2021 was "underway". The post reads: Once again, we are focused on bringing you the most influential tech event in the world. Major brands are committed for the show, and we look forward to announcing another slate of top-tier speakers".

There will be many more livestreamed CES 2021 content, as well as "many other engaging digital and virtual opportunities, enabling you to connect with the world's leading technology innovators, thought leaders and policymakers. We will showcase our exhibitors' products, technology breakthroughs and ideas to the world, both physically in Las Vegas and digitally".

It was only a few days ago that SpaceX broke the space industry into a new era, and if you are yet to see the footage, you can find the historic moment below.

Luckily, Crew Dragon arrived safely aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and upon there arrival, the astronauts already aboard the ISS were impressed with the technology that got the Dragon there. Chris Cassidy, the current commander of the ISS even commented on the vehicle, saying "Then when we got that hatch open, you could tell it was a brand new vehicle, with smiley faces on the other side, smiley face on mine, just as if you had bought a new car, the same kind of reaction."

One of the astronauts, Doug Hurley, who was aboard the Crew Dragon commented on the experience of arriving at the ISS. The comments are well respected as both Hurley and Behnken (the other astronaut aboard the Dragon) have spent time aboard the Space Shuttle and can give a good comparison between their experiences with the Space Shuttle and Crew Dragon.

The US had a historic moment just days ago when SpaceX sent up two NASA astronauts into space, and into the International Space Station.

You can read more about that historic moment here, but today I have some interesting news. The Director of Communications for adult webcam company ImLive, emailed me and told me that they have invited the two NASA astronauts to become the first two people in the history of humanity to host an adult webcam session from space.

The email reads: "ImLive, an adult webcam company, is formally making the two brave astronauts an offer to make one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind by becoming the first people to conduct an adult webcam session from space. These webcam sessions can help facilitate human interaction and provide them with some...pleasure...while they're in orbit. ImLive will provide them with VIP passes to their site, which would allow them to privately webcam with the wide variety of models as often as they'd like. The girls can just chat with them about their experience in space, strip for them, dance for them, etc".

A restaurant in the Netherlands has introduced a new robot that is designed to greet customers upon their entry as well as reduce human-to-human contact amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Above, you can see an image of the red-and-white robots, and according to the Associated Press, these robots will be used to pick up dirty dishes from tables, greet customers, serving food and other general staff requirements. Due to robots not being able to get the coronavirus, the implementation of them will reduce human-to-human contact, and thus the overall transmission of the coronavirus.

The Netherlands restaurant that has implemented these robots is the Royal Palace restaurant in the town of Renesse. According to Leah Hu, whose family is the owner of the Royal Palace, "They help us with the work we do. We are often busy and cleaning tables and the robots give us an extra hand. We are not disappearing. We are still here. They will always need people in this industry."

SpaceX has just made history by safely delivering two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) via a commercially-made spacecraft.

If you happened to miss out on the news, SpaceX has just made a massive mark on the future of the space industry as the company just launched the first commercially-made spacecraft to the ISS. So what does this mean for the future of space travel? It means that space has been opened up to the public, commercial contracts, and won't primarily be used by governments any more. For example, SpaceX has already partnered with a space-tourism business that is responsible for taking passenger trips to space.

On top of this opening up the space industry, this is also the very first mission with astronauts for SpaceX, and we are happy to report that astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have safely arrived aboard the ISS (see above video). SpaceX has now provided companies with an alternative solution for accessing space, and due to the Dragon 2 spacecraft being designed to deliver seven astronauts to space, it has dramatically reduced the cost-per-seat of a round trip to the ISS.

SpaceX has just recently made its mark on space history forever, as now the United States will have continued access to the International Space Station without having to rely on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Not only has this launch marked history in this way, but it is also the first successful launch to the ISS for SpaceX. The two astronauts aboard the Falcon 9 rocket are Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, and are now the first NASA astronauts from Florida to journey to the ISS since 2011. At the time of writing this, the astronauts are about 1 hour out from docking with the ISS, so if you want to watch this historic moment via a livestream video, you can do so above.

It has previously been reported that seats aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft comes in at a cost of $90 million per seat, and SpaceX has now provided an alternative that is cheaper to launch at $60 million. On top of that, SpaceX has changed commercial space forever as it has already partnered with a private company called Space Adventures, and this company is responsible for passenger trips to space. This move by SpaceX somewhat assists in tourism coming to space, and truly is a mark on space history as we know it.

I can't believe I'm typing this news seriously, but here we go: a gang of monkeys have attacked a medical official in India -- and stolen blood samples of people who had tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus.

The attack happened when the laboratory technician was taking a walk through the campus in Meerut, which is around 285 miles (460 km) north of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. Those monkeys sure were lucky... get it? Anyway, A top official at the college, Dr. S. K. Garg, explained: "Monkeys grabbed and fled with the blood samples of four COVID-19 patients who are undergoing treatment ... we had to take their blood samples again".

We don't know of the monkeys had spilled the blood, or if they took it into areas where there are people -- spreading fear that the virus could be out in the open. Garg told Reuters: "No evidence has been found that monkeys can contract the infection".

SpaceX was due to launch the first NASA astronauts into space from American soil in 9 years just a couple of days ago, and will do in the next 24 hours -- but work doesn't stop for the US space agency.

In some new testing, SpaceX was working on its Starship project -- successfully completing a static fire test on its new SN4 prototype. Except, it all went wrong and it exploded right there on the test stand. The Starship SN4 prototype exploded at around 1:49PM CDT (2:49PM EDT, or 6:49PM GMT) at SpaceX's own test facility near Boca Chica, Texas.

Space.com reports that SpaceX's Starship SN4 vehicle is the "latest in a series of stainless steel prototypes SpaceX has built to test technologies required for a truly massive space launch system: the 165-foot-tall (50 meters) Starship rocket and its Super Heavy megabooster. That vehicle is the one SpaceX hopes will carry up to 100 people at a time to space and, eventually, on to Mars".

3D printer fans will probably have ELEGOO's new Saturn machine on their radar -- which is about to release with pre-orders beginning on June 6. Check out the video below:

ELEGOO has just announced that its new resin printer will be up for pre-order on June 6 at 10AM EST, with a retail price of $400. The company is doing something special: the first 200 machine sold will be discounted by $100 with ELEGOO offering an early bird discount.

The ELEGOO Saturn 3D printer has a 4K monochrome LCD built-in, and a large 8.9-inch build plate for your 3D-printed creations.

Everyone, including the President of the United States, was excited for SpaceX's first astronaut launch to the International Space Station, but at the last minute, the launch was canceled.

Elon Musk's space company, SpaceX, was scheduled to launch its first-ever crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 27th, but unfortunately, the launch was delayed just 20 minutes before liftoff due to bad weather rolling in. The launch has now be rescheduled for May 30th at the earliest, and hopefully, on May 30th, there are clear skies.

If there aren't clear skies on May 30th, SpaceX has said that it will attempt to launch again on May 31st at precisely 3 p.m EDT or 1900 GMT. The two astronauts that SpaceX plans on sending are NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. This mission to the ISS will mark the first orbital human spaceflight from the U.S since NASA retired its space shuttle fleet in July 2011.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has announced that it has raise $84 million in a second round of Series A funding, with the MIT spin off using the funds to continue its work on commercializing fusion energy.

The company has now raised $200 million since it first opened its doors in 2018, with the first round of funding seeing CFS secure $115 million in June 2019. Commonwealth Fusion Systems is all-systems-go towards meeting its goal of making commercial nuclear fusion a reality, and that could be much sooner than you think.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems boss Bob Mumgaard explains: "We're in a unique position where it's still something that's far enough in the future that any of the recovery models are not going to affect the underlying needs that the world still has a giant climate problem".