Russia's attempt to land at the lunar south pole has failed, apparently because a loss of communication with the probe caused it to go into the wrong orbit and crash. Now India is trying to put a probe on the Moon.

An educator looks at how teachers may use AI systems such as ChatGPT productively in the classroom, as well as how to delineate the boundary between the legitimate use and abuse (especially plagiarism and cheating). The author recognizes that there need to be appropriate limits to ensure that students don't use AI tools as a substitute for learning ( Read more... )

Whole flocks are being stricken, and even with expert veterinary care, almost 40% die. Given that flying foxes (fruit bats) are also being stricken, it's believed to be a fungal infection on the fruits and flowers they consume.

Some actually have a terrifying grain of truth behind them.

Sometimes the more we learn about something, the more we discover we don't know.

The Apollo lunar landings enabled scientists to learn a great deal that wouldn't have been possible from telescopic observations, or even robotic missions. But in the process, those discoveries raised even more questions about key aspects of the moon's origins, ( Read more... )

In the modern industrial world, cheap coal tar dyes have given us a world of cheap, brilliant colors. But for much of history, pigments and dyestuffs have been so rare and precious that often they were legally restricted to the highest ranks of society: in the west the Tyrean Purple was synonymous with kingship, while in East Asia the Imperial ( Read more... )

Some more thoughts on yesterday's successful failure of the SpaceX Starship launch and its significance for future development.

Those of us who've worked with magnetic media are familiar with the dangers of having them too close to strong magnetic fields. But magnets can also be damaging to the subtle magnetic fields in meteorites, which can tell scientists a great deal about the ancient Solar System -- and that's a problem because a lot of meteorite hunters use powerful ( Read more... )

Big news for SpaceX -- the FAA has given them a launch license for Starship.

The San Francisco Police Department now has formal authorization to use robots to kill suspects. However, before anyone starts having visions of a robot rebellion, there is no sign these are autonomous robots. Instead, they appear to be similar to existing bomb-disposal robots that are remotely controlled by a human being, so go/no-go authority is ( Read more... )