Microsoft’s new 10,000-year data storage medium: glass
Archival storage poses lots of challenges. We want media that is extremely dense and stable for centuries or more, and, ideally, doesn’t consume any energy when not being accessed. Lots…
Tech
X-rays reveal kingfisher feather structure in unprecedented detail
In Qing dynasty China, artisans augmented decorative pieces by incorporating iridescent kingfisher feathers—a technique known as tian-tsui. Scientists at Northwestern University’s Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts have used…
The tiny tuxedo cat who became a naval hero
One day in March of 1948, George Hickinbottom, a British sailor, was walking around the docks of Stonecutters Island in Hong Kong. When the 17-year-old spotted a small black-and-white tuxedo…
A Second Cyclone Slams Madagascar
Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory A Second Cyclone Slams Madagascar Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth…
Hobbyist builds retro Apple Macintosh inside toy clock
The Apple Macintosh personal computer is an iconic piece of tech history—with an emphasis on the word history. Compared to the 32-bit PCs of yesteryear, today’s hardware is so advanced…
Password managers’ promise that they can’t see your vaults isn’t always true
Over the past 15 years, password managers have grown from a niche security tool used by the technology savvy into an indispensable security tool for the masses, with an estimated…
Most VMware users still “actively reducing their VMware footprint,” survey finds
More than two years after Broadcom took over VMware, the virtualization company’s customers are still grappling with higher prices, uncertainty, and the challenges of reducing vendor lock-in. Today, CloudBolt Software…
There’s a lot of big talk about sovereign launch—who is doing something about it?
No one will supplant American and Chinese dominance in the space launch arena anytime soon, but several longtime US allies now see sovereign access to space as a national security…
Scientists hunting mammoth fossils found whales 400 km inland
In a recent study, University of Alaska Fairbanks paleontologist Matthew Wooller and his colleagues radiocarbon-dated what they thought were pieces of two mammoth vertebrae, only to get a whale of…
Homemade chess board moves its own pieces. And wins.
It’s been nearly 30 years since chess champion Garry Kasparov lost to IBM’s Deep Blue, marking the first time a reigning world champion was defeated by a computer in a…