Jamie Condliffe

Google has added some extra sites to the News section of its search listings, including—brace yourself—Reddit! We though we’d seen more kittens in the news recently.

Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida install one of the most important assemblies into its new Orion spacecraft: the launch abort system. Orion will carry astronauts to parts of the Solar System not yet explored by humans—like Mars. [NASA]

DOJ: It Was OK For a DEA Agent to Impersonate This Woman on Facebook

An overlooked Justice Department court filing explains that a federal agent had the right to commandeer a woman’s identity, set up a fake Facebook account using her details and even post provocative photographs of her found on a seized phone. Buzzfeed reports that a Drug Enforcement Administration agent stole the identity of Sondra Arquiett, who…

Earth Has Been Getting Warmer Way Faster Than We Thought

We know that the planet is getting warmer—but it turns out that it’s happening faster than we thought. Turns out scientists have been underestimating warming increases because of inaccurate temperature recordings taken in the southern oceans. New Scientist reports that a team from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has compared direct measurements from…

HP Is Splitting in Two

HP has officially announced that it’s splitting itself into two companies—one producing the consumer hardware and “new computing experiences,” the other pushing out corporate technology. Following rumors yesterday, the company has announced that the new consumer wing, HP Inc., will include a new business devoted to 3D printing, as well as teams working on those…

This Particle Is Matter and Antimatter at the Same Time

You might think that matter and antimatter aren’t the best of friends, cancelling each other out when they come into contact—but you’d be wrong. In fact, researchers have now discovered a particle that’s made up of both. Researchers, led by Ali Yazdani of Princeton University, have now imaged what they call a Majorana particle. They…

How the Alien Surfaces of Our Solar System Look, Side-by-Side

With Rosetta hanging out so closely with an asteroid, we’re getting better views than ever before of what the surface of an asteroid looks like. But compared to one another, how do the surfaces we’ve visited in our Solar System stack up? Fortunately, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab has put together this infographic which shows the…

No, this isn’t some kind of strange pool game: it’s the International Space Station’s reflection in an antenna on the Russian Zvezda module. It was snapped by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst. [ESA]

This Guitar Blogs

What happens when you give Steve Benford, the Professor of Collaborative Computing in at the University of Nottingham, a guitar and some time? He creates an instument that blogs is what. Inspired by a banjo with a rich history, Benford decided to bring the Internet of Things to a guitar. In doing so, he created…

The Wall Street Journal reckons that ESPN is about to launch a service that will allow you to stream live NBA games without needing a TV service. Which, if true, would be pretty neat!

Report: Google Is Making Yet Another Messaging App

The Economic Times is reporting that Google is working hard to launch a messaging service similar to WhatsApp. Because what the world definitely needs is another messaging app. While every tech company under the suns continues to try and crack messaging once and for all—without ever really seeming to know how to go about it—the…

The EU has finally officially approved Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp. Let the sexting continue.

Facebook Is Changing the Way It Governs Its Social Experiments

Remember how the whole Internet was outraged over Facebook’s social experiments earlier this year? Well, now the social network hasannounced that it’s changing the way its experiments will be run in the future. From now on, there will be more stringent guidelines in place. If a study peers into a specific demographic or relates to…

A Northrop Grumman engineer checks that the sunshield for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope unfolds properly before it has to do so in space. (Fortunately, it does.) [NASA]

You Can Test Drive the New Lexus RC F via Oculus Rift

The new Lexus RC Fis a car capable of squaring up to BMW’s venerable M3—and now you can take it for a spin using Oculus Rift. Lexus has built a virtual reality RC F using the genuine steering column and pedals from the car, an Oculus Rift, and no shortage of software. While it may…

Reuters: Facebook Is Working on Its Own Healthcare Services

Facebook already knows the most intricate of details about your life—but now, according to Reuters, it has plans to monitor your health, too. The newswire reports that Facebook, not far behind Google andApple, has started working on its own take on digital healthcare. Three people “familiar with the matter” claims that Zuckerberg & Co. are…

Engineered Yogurt Could Save You From Cancer

Yogurt, it turns out, might not just be good for you from a nutritional point of view. In fact, engineered yogurt bacteria could make spotting cancer as easy as taking a pregnancy test. Technology Review reports that a team of researchers from MIT is developing an engineered yogurt which includes synthetic molecules that interact with…

LG Appears To Be Developing a WebOS Smartwatch

WebOS has a rather chequered past but that doesn’t seem to bother LG. Now, it looks like the operating system is set to appear in a smart watch, according toa new developer site hosted by LG. Thenew site teases a software development kit for a webOS smartwatch. The odd little Bean Bird from LG’s webOS…

Titan Has a Huge Toxic Cloud Swirling Over Its South Pole

If you’re thinking of heading off on a spacecation, can we recommend that you don’t visit Titan’s south pole. Because not only is it cold and stormy—but new research also reveals that it’s toxic, too. The international Cassini mission has discovered a huge swirl of cloud above the south pole of Saturn’s largest moon. The…

This Is How Conan Thinks Texas Doctors Will Respond to Ebola

With the first confirmed case of Ebola diagnosed in the U.S. at a hospital in Dallas, Texas doctors now have their work cut out. Here’s how Conan reckons they’ll respond. Of course, there’s no point freaking out about the first case of Ebola in the U.S.. Instead, read about how scientists are working as hard…