Accurately predicting the future in emerging technology fields that are constantly evolving is no easy feat. Too much changes too quickly and rare discoveries can become commonplace almost overnight. When we write our annual predictions for government and technology in the Nextgov/FCWwe generally limit our forecast to the next year, which allows for some protection, … Read more
NASA engineers have shut down one of Voyager 2’s science instruments due to the spacecraft’s power supply dwindling as it explores interstellar space. Voyager 2 launched into space on August 20, 1977 and left the solar system on November 5, 2018. It is currently 12.8 billion miles (20.5 billion kilometers) from Earth and is using … Read more
Voyager 2 Interstellar Probe Takes Off – NASA The Voyager 2 mission has been working to delay the shutdown as long as possible. Four other instruments aboard the interstellar spacecraft continue to operate. Mission engineers at NASA have turned off the plasma science instrument aboard the Voyager 2 spacecraft as the probe’s power supply gradually … Read more
It could take less than 1,000 years for an advanced alien civilization to destroy its planet with climate change, even if it relies solely on renewable energy, a new model suggests. When astrophysicists simulated the rise and fall of foreigner civilizations, they found that, if a civilization experienced exponential technological growth and energy consumption, it … Read more
As digital technology and artificial intelligence play an ever-increasing role in everyday life, Louisiana wants students from kindergarten through high school to learn the basics of computer science. In May, the state legislature passed a law that will eventually require all public schools to offer computer science courses. And next week, the state board of … Read more
People buried in avalanches are more likely to be rescued quickly and survive the experience today than four decades ago, a new study suggests. Avalanches can kill in many ways. Most people caught in these avalanches die from injuries received during the avalanche, drowning after being buried by the snow, or hypothermia that enters as … Read more
The two Voyager spacecraft have been hurtling through space since 1977, powered by decaying pieces of plutonium that produce less and less energy each year. With less electricity available, NASA has decided to shut down an experiment on Voyager 2, the plasma science instrument. This device measures the amount and direction of ionized particles passing … Read more
A student’s drawing and theory of how a Portuguese Moth Fly was found in their Australian schoolyard. Credit: CSIRO More than 60% of Australia’s known insects are unnamed and a mystery to science. Of the approximately 500,000 Australian species, approximately half are insects, but many are uncategorized. A group of sharp-eyed schoolchildren from Queensland are … Read more