One meter or two? The science behind social distancing
What constitutes a safe distance when it comes to the spread of COVID-19? The answer depends on where you live. China, Denmark and France recommend social distancing of one meter;...
Meteorologists highlight Earth’s stark, dramatic warming trend
2020 will be one of the hottest years on record. Meteorologists, who provide your increasingly accurate weather forecasts (sometimes astonishingly accurate), know Earth’s heating trend has been accelerating for the...
Startup Space Perspective plans space tourist ‘cruises’ using stratospheric balloons, with test flight set for 2021 – TechCrunch
There’s a new company that wants to get into the commercial space tourism business – with a unique spin that involves non-traditional launch vehicles. Space Perspective, a new startup founded...
These planets might host alien life, but we’d never know because they’re too dusty to see anything
Dusty worlds like the desert planet Arrakis from Dune may be common throughout the galaxy. Some of these worlds, harboring large quantities of dust in their atmospheres, maybe likely places to find...
Why gender-swap photo filters are still problematic
Welcome to TNW Pride 2020! All throughout June we’ll highlight articles that focus on representation for LGBTQPIA+ people in the STEM communities. Can we have a grown-up conversation about those...
New UK-US agreement allows US companies to launch from UK spaceports – TechCrunch
In a new move designed to encourage more economic and scientific collaboration between spacefaring nations, the U.K. and U.S. governments have signed a new agreement that would make it possible...
This AI tool helps people with speech difficulties to communicate
A new AI tool can help people with speech difficulties to communicate by reducing the number of keystrokes they need to type. Researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Dundee developed the system...
Arizona fires seen fuming from space
The biggest fire now burning in the U.S. can be seen raging from space. It’s now peak fire season in Arizona, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-16...
Microsoft employs experimental undersea data center in search for COVID-19 vaccine – TechCrunch
Part of the challenge in seeking out an effective treatment for COVID-19 is simply one of scale – protein folding is key to understanding how the virus that causes COVID-19...
Astranis reaches key milestone with MicroGEO communication satellite, aims for service to begin next summer – TechCrunch
Satellite telecommunications startup Astranis has achieved a key technical milestone with its MicroGEO product, a small geosynchronous communications satellite that it will use to launch its first commercial service starting...