The drill is a cornerstone of the mission, able to breach the surface of interesting-looking rocks and determine what their insides contain. It can drill about 5 millimeters into Mars, which is enough to get some aspirin-tablet sized samples of dust for the rover’s instruments to ingest. The goal is to find out whether Mars could have ever been hospitable for life, and understanding the formation of Mars rocks will help answer that question....

The holy grail of small satellite launch is a cost of $1 million or less per launch, and DARPA’s been chasing it for years. The F-15 offered the potential to launch small satellites from anywhere the powerful fighter could reach, which was most places. But before the testing of fighter-borne launches could proceed, a specific rocket fuel had to work. And at two tests this year, that fuel failed spectacularly....

For years, Kepler focused intently on one part of the night sky, watching for faraway planets to pass in front of their host stars. It discovered more than 1,000 new planets that way, and 4700 suspected planets. Unfortunately, by 2013, 2 of the 4 wheels that aimed the telescope at that patch of sky failed, sending Kepler careening. Many thought it might spell the end of the planet-finding telescope, but NASA came up with a backup plan....

What we find interesting here is not the arbitrary-seeming naming convention but the steering technology: This is the first major production car to use steer-by-wire (although as @evchels reminded me, the EV1 used steer-by-wire back in the mid-1990s). It’s the automotive version of fly-by-wire; Infiniti calls it Direct Adaptive Steering. To vastly oversimplify, wires and processors and actuators, rather than mechanical linkages, relay the motion of the steering wheel to the actual wheels....

The so-called horny tortoise was one of three patriarchs at the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Center in Santa Cruz, Ecuador. The program had been running for six decades, but will close its operations now that the critically endangered species has reached a viable number, says Washington Tapia, a tortoise-preservation specialist at Galápagos National Park. When the program began in 1965, the giant tortoise had just 14 individuals remaining, down from 2,400 adults before humans started hunting them....

The biggest change was flipping around the exhaust system to direct hot gases through short pipes toward a central turbocharger and catalytic converter inside the “V” of the engine. This compact design harnesses more exhaust heat and requires fewer components than conventional V8s, which send exhaust through long manifold pipes that protrude from each side of the engine, taking up more space and losing heat before they reach the turbo....

Rumors take hold after every crisis, whether it’s a global pandemic or a climate-driven disaster. Social media makes it easy. Anyone can post any story, true or not, and count on others to share it, particularly if it inspires anxiety, fear or anger. While rumors can fuel stress, however, they are not meant to hurt other people, experts say. Rumors are simply a way for people to try to make sense of scary events, especially when they don’t have access to reliable sources of information....

The Elgato Wave:3 mic’s design Elgato packs some very well-optimized technology into the Wave:3’s lightweight design. Mounted in its very solid metal, padded-bottom desktop stand (included in the box), the rectangular Wave:3’s svelte good looks carry a tinge of vintage radio microphone vibes, yet its basic shape and all-black finish seem better suited to creators who don’t want a wild-styled microphone (such as the HyperX QuadCast S, which we reviewed) to steal any of their shine....

“We might have a word like ‘love’ in English and look it up in a translation dictionary in any language and find a comparable word,” says Joshua Conrad Jackson, a doctoral student in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lead author of the new paper, which was published online December 19 in the journal Science. “But whether those two words actually refer to the same underlying concept, that’s an open question and that’s what we were testing....

An EKHO wireless heart rate monitor included with the purchase sends data to the Entertrainer box, which functions essentially as a universal remote. Users enter their age and intended workout intensity while the Entertrainer calculates a heart-rate target zone. Users can also specify an exact rate they want to maintain. Every ten seconds, your heart rate is checked. If you slow down a bit, the television’s volume will decrease in 20-percent intervals, warning you that your slacker ways aren’t cutting it....

Introduction Tim Cook starts the presentation by trying to remind people about all the services Apple already offers. He mentions that all Apple services are designed for security, which gets applause from the audience. The first new service on the docket is Apple News. Apple News Hard to believe that Apple News has been around in its current form for three years. Apple News is now the number one news app in the world, which makes sense since it’s baked into the iPhone....

“Juul has ignored the law, and very concerningly, has made some of these statements in school to our nation’s youth,” said acting FDA commissioner Ned Sharpless in a press release. Companies can petition the FDA to be able to label their tobacco products as ‘modified risk,’ meaning they pose less of a health risk than traditional cigarettes. However, the agency has never approved an application for that status. In its warning letter to Juul, the FDA says the company marketed its tobacco products as modified risk without agency approval....

Much like crowdfunding sites Kickstarter and Indiegogo, Facebook’s Fundraisers will allow charities to “tell their campaign story, rally supporters, collect donations and visibly track progress” for specific campaigns, such as “year-end drives, themed campaigns and special projects such as building a clean water well or funding a clothing drive.” Posts that share these campaigns will also feature a donate button, so anyone who sees the post will be able to contribute directly from their News Feed or Timeline....

Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, is a bacteria that causes cramping, nausea, and diarrhea. It can be particularly dangerous when it recurs and is linked to roughly 15,000 to 30,000 deaths a year. Those over the age of 65 are at an increased risk for contracting CDI, but other risk factors include hospitalization, a weakened immune system, and a previous history of CDI. Some patients may get the infection again following recovery and the risk of additional recurrences increases with each infection....

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine booster is available to anyone 12 and older at least two months after a completed primary vaccination or those who received the third booster shot that only targets the original strain, like the previous boosters from 2021. The Moderna vaccine is available to anyone over 18 at least two months after the first two doses or if you received a third shot without the booster. It is important to check vaccination records or with a healthcare provider with any questions about when to receive a booster....

If you’re thinking about joining the smart home revolution, stop for a minute, though—there are a few things you need to know before giving your lights brains. Colors and automation—the prettiest side of the smart bulb First and foremost, smart lights are fun—especially the changing colors. It’s so nice to have dim red lights in the early morning; bright white ones when you’re working, and warm orange ones when it’s time to chill....

According to the CDC’s Flu View, as of November 5, nearly 14,000 positive flu tests have been reported, more than 12 times the number reported at the same time in 2019. Additionally, there have been an estimated 1,300 deaths from the flu, including at least three children. This flu transmission is happening earlier than usual, as the winter flu season typically heats up in December and January. Hospitalizations for flu at this rate and month in flu season haven’t been this high since the 2009 swine flu pandemic, according to the CDC....

Coffee works its magic on sleep-deprived folks everywhere because it contains heavenly caffeine molecules extracted from coffee beans. That extraction process varies depending on the type of drink you want to make (hello espresso, drip coffee, french press) but they have the same general steps. Raw coffee beans are roasted, ground, and then mixed with hot water. The resulting filtered liquid, when done right, can make many a day better....

The barren, windswept McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica are widely considered the most inhospitable environments on Earth. Powerful winds scrape clean the snow and ice and leave bare rock in a landscape cold, dry, and desolate. Yet even there life persists. Tucked in the rocky crags live particularly hardy creatures known as cryptoendolithic microorganisms. Among them are the two species of black fungi that rode on the ISS. The species, known as Cryomyces antarcticus and Cryomyces minteri, were collected from the windy valleys by particularly enterprising individuals for the ESA and, once blasted into space, were carefully inserted into the EXPOSE-E platform....

Part of what makes the timing of each flu season unpredictable is that scientists still don’t understand exactly why we have one at all. There have, of course, been lots of theories: One theory is that flu peaks in winter because people spend more time indoors, with the windows closed, breathing each other’s air: Other scientists have argued that the darkness (i.e. lack of Vitamin D and melatonin) and cold of winter weaken our immune systems, making us more susceptible to the virus: A third theory is that–regardless of how we deal with the cold–the flu virus thrives in the cold, dry air of winter, but suffers in the warm, humid air of summer....