The science of how fireflies stay in sync
Scientists have discovered that male fireflies in a South Carolina swamp follow local interaction rules to synchronize their flashing mating displays. The research is being presented at a meeting of…
Tech
5 clever iPhone tricks you might not know
If youâve invested in an iPhone, what do you use it for most? Maybe itâs taking photos, or messaging friends and family, or just endlessly doomscrolling through whatever feeds you…
The best Kindles
Using a Kindle may seem unnecessary in a world where reading books, articles, and any other text on a phone or tablet is easy. Carrying around a dedicated mono-tasking device…
7 Kindle settings you should change
All of the Amazon Kindle models are intentionally designed to be straightforward to use. Grab your Kindle, tap the power button, and youâre back reading from the place you left…
Autonomous firefighting robot can drive straight into a 1,000 degree blaze
Firefighters in South Korea will soon start deploying alongside a massive, six-wheeled, self-cooling autonomous robot that could help keep them safe. Hyundai recently revealed the new, driverless ground drone, built…
Figuring out why AIs get flummoxed by some games
With its Alpha series of game-playing AIs, Google’s DeepMind group seemed to have found a way for its AIs to tackle any game, mastering games like chess and Go by…
Supply-chain attack using invisible code hits GitHub and other repositories
Researchers say theyâve discovered a supply-chain attack flooding repositories with malicious packages that contain invisible code, a technique thatâs flummoxing traditional defenses designed to detect such threats. The researchers, from…
âPokĂ©mon Goâ players have been unknowingly training delivery robots
Nearly a decade ago, PokĂ©mon Go turned the real world into a digital scavenger hunt, with virtual creatures hiding in plain sight. The early augmented reality smartphone app prompted hundreds…
Worldâs largest steam locomotive heads out on tour
The worldâs largest operating steam locomotive is hitting the roadâor tracks. Union Pacificâs Big Boy No. 4014 is heading out on its first coast-to-coast steam tour to celebrate the United…
Magnetars drag spacetime to power superluminous supernovae
Some of the most extreme explosions in the universe are Type I superluminous supernovae. âThey are one of the brightest explosions in the Universe,â says Joseph Farah, an astrophysicist at…