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For decades, the wall between PC and console has been a stark divide in gaming. Now, according to Windows Central, Microsoft might be looking to tear down that wall by adding keyboard and mouse support to the Xbox One. The blog reports that the Washington-based computer giant has tapped Razer, the Singaporean specialty hardware company, for a partnership. Razer’s neon mice are common in the competitive gaming scene, with models like the DeathAdder Elite ranking as one of the best mice of 2018....

Clues to life on Mars may be hiding in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, and a model Mars rover driving around there just found something interesting.The Atacama Desert is a sort of nexus of science research. The desert in Chile is dry as a bone, receiving less than an inch of rain per year, and a lot of astronomical observatories live out there because of the dry air....

The ocean holds hundreds of millions of tons of plastic, and none of it is going anywhere anytime soon. That’s especially true now that the only major project to clean up the oceans has failed. It turns out a test project launched three months ago designed to collect ocean trash hasn’t collected much of it at all.In early September, a ship headed to an area of the Pacific Ocean known as the Pacific Garbage Patch—a region where all the trash dumped in the Pacific ends up....

Its face is made of a white plastic casing and two cameras. Its black “eyes” focus relentlessly forward, using algorithms and machine learning rather than human reflexes and intuition to spot objects in its path. Two struts pumps the car’s pedals while a metal arm—its three robotic digits attached to the steering wheel—calmly transports human cargo to their destination. This is IVO, your robot chauffeur.IVO, short for Intelligent Vehicle Operator, is a different spin on the autonomous car....

Samsung is warning all owners of the Galaxy Note 7 to shut down their phones and return them for a refund. The initial batch of Samsung phones proved prone to explode, which lead to a wide recall, and the company to replace the troubled phones with supposedly less volatile counterparts. Still, these replacement phones are overheating and catching on fire, which has triggered a second warning and recall.Per Samsung: We are working with the U....

Researchers from the University College Cork in Ireland have discovered a new way to reconstruct the anatomy of ancient vertebrates by tracing melanin, which builds a map of a specimen’s internal organs and soft tissue.The team analyzed 10- and 50-million-year-old fossils in incredibly vivid scans showing traces of metals such as titanium and melanin pigments.Researchers at University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland have figured out how to reconstruct the bodies of extinct vertebrates by “analyzing the chemistry of fossilized melanosomes from internal organs....

Media Platforms Design TeamThese days scientists can see way down to the molecular level; they can observe living nerve cells at work and proteins interacting. But this ability wasn’t guaranteed: For years, researchers believed there was a physical limit to how small a person could see using a microscope.Today, three researchers won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work in bypassing that limit. Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell, and William Moerner will share the award....

It had already been a not-so-great couple of weeks for airlines, after an emotional support dog bit a child on a Southwest flight in Atlanta on February 21. This time American Airlines experienced a different kind of problem on a Monday flight from Charlotte Douglas International Airport bound for Cincinnati—a shirtless man chasing airport employees with a signal wand.According to a police statement, the passenger was warned that he’d be kicked off the flight due to his behavior, and that’s when he inexplicably tore off his shirt, ran down the tarmac, and attacked employees with a “plastic signal wand....

Sixty years ago this week a person standing next to Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge might have been witness to an amazing sight: a six engine U.S. Air Force nuclear bomber flying between the spans of the bridge, barely clearing the structure. The stunt was roasted in the local press, which declared the incident “capricious” and “foolish", and ended the military pilot’s flying career. The incident, which took place on April 28th, 1959, involved Air Force Captain John S....

Media Platforms Design TeamToday Bose launched a new series of single-speaker systems designed under one guiding principle—simplicity before all. The SoundTouch 20, 30, and portable are Bose’s official entry in the blossoming Wi-Fi-adapted audio and home entertainment market. This trio of speakers trims away unnecessary gear like Sonos’s Wi-Fi hubs used to connect multi-room systems, and streamlines usability down to the touch of a button. Bose definitely builds on what’s come before....

The Autobahn in Germany isn’t just for flooring it anymore. Now a small stretch of the highway can charge electric trucks while they’re transporting goods.The addition makes the Autobahn one of the world’s first ‘electric highways.’ This particular section has cables running above the highway that connect to trucks driving underneath. The cables carry electricity so the trucks can power up while driving.If more highways had this capability, we could start seeing electric trucks delivering products from place to place....

There are limits to what a tape measure can do, such as give you the dimensions of a curved surface. Or add. But the new InstruMMents 01 ($149), despite its clunky name, can do nearly everything a traditional tape measure can and those other things, too. It uses a small rolling wheel built into the top of a pen. (It also converts to a pencil or stylus.) Line up your measurement with the 01’s laser guide, then roll the wheel to get your number....

The U.S. Army is on the verge of testing new specialized suits designed to let snipers approach their targets while blending in with their surroundings. The new improved ghillie system (IGS) will offer significant advantages over the older system while still making Army snipers look like vegetable men from another world.During World War I, Scottish marksmen wore what they called “ghillie” suits to camouflage themselves on the battlefield. Designed to break up the profile of an ordinary human and make the user look like a large bush, the “ghillie” (Scottish slang for “man”) were inspired by suits Scottish gamekeepers wore to catch poachers....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design TeamAfter a month-long hiatus induced by the Hollywood writers’ strike, Lost returned to the airwaves on Thursday with the same brain-bending action as the first half of Season Four. Wasting absolutely no time—but definitely rearranging it—“The Shape of Things to Come” finally answered one of the show’s burning (if less all-encompassing) questions: The freighter folk have absolutely no intention of saving the island folk.So you can score one for John Locke, but we really got the answer from a mod of that mysterious satellite phone courtesy of physicist Daniel Faraday’s DIY skills—and dentist Bernard’s proficiency in Morse Code....

Not all of the work done by defense contractors is creating new weapons. Contractors, eager to increase sales, have also cooked up ways of upgrading old weapons, giving them new capabilities. In other cases airplanes that were previously restricted to other roles, including carrying mail, can now carry the latest armaments to fight low-tech opponents.An article in The Washington Post describes the latest trend among defense manufacturers: upgrading older military gear or civilian gear to deal with modern threats....

Update: Wednesday, 9:16 AM Last night, Elon Musk tweeted this gorgeous photo of the Dragon supply ship returning after splashdown.Update: Tuesday, 7:52 PM ET: The SpaceX Dragon supply ship successfully splashed down, completing its four-week ISS mission.View full post on TwitterUpdate: Tuesday, 6:34 PM ET: The Dragon supply ship is continuing its descent — splashdown is slated for 7:45PM ET.You can watch it live now on NASA TV.View full post on IframeView full post on TwitterUpdate, 2:30 PM ET: The Dragon has safely departed from the International Space Station and is returning to Earth this evening....

I was jerked awake in my sleeping bag by a sharp, pinching pain centered on my nose. My eyes failed me, and I teetered on the edge of consciousness. I felt viscous liquid streaming down my neck. The only tangible thought I could muster was fear that my nose must have become stuck in a zipper. As a strained throat would later attest, I screamed hysterically.“A skunk was biting your face, hanging off your poor nose,” Starre Vartan, my girlfriend at the time, would later explain....

The Apollo astronauts all wore Omega Speedmasters to the Moon, but when they came back, all of them became property of NASA all over again, which then disseminated them to archives and museums the world over. But Apollo 17 astronaut Ron Evans attached one to a heat flow engineering experiment, different from the one he wore on his wrist. That watch wasn’t handed over at the end of the mission – and it’s the only Speedmaster in private hands....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt may be little more than a piece of molded plastic, but, boy, does the Zipfy Mini Luge roll down those hills. On a recent test of the sled on some pretty hardcore powder, this $40 toy brought back waves of snow-day nostalgia—and hints of amateur Olympic prowess.The handle works like a joystick, allowing for relatively easy turns—not that that’s saying much, considering how difficult it is to steer most sleds....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: Fall 2011Price: $88,400 (including the $7500 U.S. federal EV tax credit)Competitors: Porsche Panamera S Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTec, Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid, Tesla Model S Powertrain: Two AC permanent magnet synchronous motors energized by a 20-kilowatt-hour battery pack and a 260-hp onboard generator, 403 total hp, 981 lb-ft; single-speed transmission, rear-wheel drive Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 33/39; 50-mile EV-only range at 85 mpgeWhat’s New: Henrik Fisker, an automotive designer behind the gorgeous BMW Z8 and several Aston Martins, formed his own automobile company four years ago....