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Rohingya refugees, fleeing for their lives in Myanmar, have found an unlikely ally—solar panels.In August 2017, the Myanmar army stepped up its decade-long harassment campaign of the Rohingya ethnic minority, forcing over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee from their homes with the U.S. Holocaust Museum saying there is “mounting evidence” of a genocide. Leaving northern Myanmar for Bangladesh is difficult trek, often a 5- to 15-day walk through muddy and clogged roads, but bringing solar panels along has proved to be a requisite for many....

The Russian Navy will likely be the first to yield hypersonic weapons, the Zircon cruise missile.Hypersonic weapons travel at speeds in excess of Mach 5, making them difficult to intercept. Zircon could be equipped with nuclear weapons to attack U.S. aircraft carriers or land targets.The Russian Navy will be the first to field a hypersonic weapon system, according to a prominent military analyst. The navy will test its new Zircon missile sometime next year, a missile that can allegedly fly at speeds in excess of 6,000 miles per hour....

China’s Tiangong-1 space station has been in a pretty precarious position for the past several months. The defunct station was decommissioned and deorbited as it was replaced by the newer Tiangong-2, but seeing as how China appears to have lost control of the station in late 2016, nobody knows for sure when the station is going to reenter the atmosphere, or where it will land.As the station continues to drop ever lower in its orbit, it becomes easier to predict its reentry date....

Glendale, California, isn’t exactly in a galaxy far, far away, but it’s here inside a beige building where Star Wars characters are brought to life. Within its nondescript walls, safe from the unseasonably chilly February day swirling outside, all eyes are on Hondo Ohnaka, a scheming pirate from Star Wars: Rebels. His head bobs up and down, shaking his long green alien braids. His foot appears to step forward, rattling his bronze belt....

As the number of wind turbines goes up, so too will the number of wind turbine technicians. Just like every other machine, wind turbines are exposed to natural wear and tear—and the occasional lightning strike—and sometimes someone has got to get up there for a little TLC. A video from YouTube channel Great Big Story shows how one woman ended up taking on the remarkable job.View full post on YoutubeWind turbine technicians might soon gain the notoriety of antenna maintenance workers, climbing hundreds of feet into the air to make repairs....

(Photo: Total lunar eclipse of a full moon at perigee, or a super blood moon, with the Seattle Space Needle, September 27, 2015.)Once in a blue moon is only once every few years, but once in a super, blue, blood moon is just once every few decades. This rare alignment of three different lunar phenomena—a total lunar eclipse, a full moon at perigee, and a blue moon—will be visible in the night and early morning skies for much of the world on Wednesday, January 31....

The United States and the Soviet Union both investigated the phenomenon known as bioluminescence to gauge if it could be used to detect submarines underwater. Scientists on both sides of the Iron Curtain thought that marine organisms which create their own light could tip off observers to the presence of nuclear-armed submarines, revealing their location.According to an article in Atlas Obscura, the effort to exploit marine bioluminescence was effectively an attempt to make tiny sea creatures submarine sensors....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn Monday, when the winner crosses the line in the 114th running of the Boston Marathon, one thing is for certain: Ernst Van Dyk will have covered the course faster. A lot faster. The 37-year old South African, who will be going for a record ninth win in the men’s wheelchair division, set the 2004 course record of 1:18.29. That’s almost 50 minutes faster than the 2:08:42 time posted by last year’s fastest male runner, Deriba Merga....

The fleet of ships from across the Asia-Pacific region that has assembled for 2018’s Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises have a familiar observer: a Chinese-intelligence gathering ship. The Dongdiao-class spy ship is operating off the Hawaiian islands, shadowing the exercises to collect information on U.S. and allied forces. The ship, according to U.S. Naval Institute News, is a Type 815 Dongdiao-class intelligence gathering ship. The Type 815 class is built to observe and recover debris from friendly (and not-so-friendly) missile tests....

Everything has an origin story—including stories themselves. The elven halls of Rivendell, the muddy Hobbit-holes of Bag End, and the twisted hellscapes of Mordor weren’t created whole cloth—they were experienced. And it’s that experience of J. R. R. Tolkien, a young man caught between love and war, that concerns the new biopic Tolkien.Opening decades before he would publish the ground-shaking works of fantasy that would cement his legacy, Tolkien (in theaters today) isn’t interested in the author most of us might typically picture—the aged English professor, debating the finer details of the elven language, perhaps while smoking a pipe....

Media Platforms Design Team1. This intrepid Saturday Mechanic isn’t taking any chances here. He’s got the car up on stands, the wheel is under the car, and he’s wearing a mask and safety glasses.Let’s say it’s time to replace the shocks. The job really isn’t that tough or inherently dangerous. But it does involve getting your car up in the air so you can work underneath it. And that’s where things can get troublesome–quickly....

What causes the condensation that forms on my bedroom ceiling?—Ted C., Charlotte, MichiganIt could be a lot of things, but the most common source of condensation is a poorly or unvented bathroom. If your bedroom has an attached bath, that could be the culprit. Years ago, builders thought putting a window in a bathroom was an adequate substitute for a fan, which is why many bathrooms have only one or the other....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn January 28, 1986—Twenty-four years ago today—the space shuttle Challenger launched and was torn apart, killing the seven crew members on board less than two minutes after liftoff. It was my birthday, and at the time I was working for Rockwell International, the company that developed the vehicle, in Downey, California, just east of Los Angeles. I was part of a team working on more advanced concepts, including follow-ons to the space shuttle....

As more and more smartphones are just becoming rectangles of screen, the race is on to find something new and strange and to convince you that it’s good and that you want it. Foldable phones? They are on the way. But what about a cylinder? Sure! Why not! Related StoryWon’t Anyone Fix What Is Really Wrong with Phones?The MagicScroll was developed by researchers at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada and is pretty impressive from an engineering standpoint....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt was the summer of 1969. Scientists in Rochester, N.Y., prepared to fire up an experimental laser. Everything was in place—from the cooling system to ensure the laser didn’t burst into flames to the warning lights informing other researchers to stay away. It was in every way a typical day in a typical laser laboratory, except for one fact: On this day, the laser doubled as a gin and tonic....

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker just signed into law a new fee that will be levied on ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft. Five cents of every 20 cent fee will go to a subsidy for traditional taxi services. The rest of the fee will be split among local municipalities and public transportation. This is the first fee of its kind in the United States.This small fee could be a major boon for the ailing taxi industry, making millions every year....

Studying deep space is hard. Not only is everything extremely far away, but when a scientist is trying to study one specific object in the vast void of the universe, other things can get in the way—things like stars, which are crucial to all known existence, but have a brightness that can be distracting.That’s why engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are working on what they call a “starshade,” which could block the light from stars outside the solar system to further research....

Lighthouse keeper might not have been a sought-after position twenty years ago, but it might be just what you’re looking for in 2019. New year, new you, maybe also a new job, if you can get it. The East Brother Light Station, on an unspoiled island in the San Pablo Bay, part of the larger San Francisco Bay, is seeking a new pair of lighthouse keepers. It’s not only a lighthouse, but a lighthouse turned bed and breakfast and for a salary of $130,000, split between two people, you’ll be expected to keep the historic tower up and running....

Media Platforms Design TeamLOS ANGELES — As oil prices spiked over the summer, consumers had exactly one choice if they wanted to buy themselves a supercar in terms of fuel economy: the Toyota Prius. There were so few options in the marketplace that Ebay saw record numbers of used economy cars and hybrids flood its auction pages. But what about a brand-new clean diesel ride? We drove the Volkswagen Jetta TDi in Europe right after VW introduced it here last fall—at which point many expected this would-be Prius-beater to arrive stateside in June....

View full post on VimeoPenguins can have fun in lots of ways—swimming, playing around on the ice, fishing. It turns out they love something else humans love: iPad games.At the Aquarium of the Pacific in California, two young Magellanic penguins have grown quite fond of iPad Games for Cats, despite the fact that—as the title would suggest—the app wasn’t exactly designed for them. The adorable scamps, Newsom and Jeremy, use their beaks to interact with the game....