satellites

Google Takes Initiative to Find Extraterrestrials by 2012

MIT’s teaming up with Google to design the first satellite that can really, truly search the sky for planets similar to Earth in size and terrain, taking us a giant step closer to making contact with extraterrestrials. Google is funding the development of a six high-res, wide-field digital cameras with a 192-megapixel resolution for TESS—the…

io9 LISA KATAYAMA

Satellite-Eye-View of People Evacuating in Chad

This is what a mass evacuation from a city looks like from space. Using satellites orbiting over Africa, human rights groups published UNOSAT satellite imagery to show, in very simple terms, the human cost of violence in the Chadian capital city of N’Djamena. Over 10,000 people are crammed on a bridge, trying to escape into…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Don’t Blow Up Satellites, Catch Them in Gigantic Blankets

Sure, explosions are great and everything, but isn’t there a more gentle way to catch errant satellites and missiles? There sure is, according to a recent patent from SVC solutions. Rather than blow them up, we can just wrap them in a giant blanket and parachute them to Earth! Yes, it’s so stupid it comes…

Gadgets Adam Frucci

Operation ‘Blow Up a Satellite’ Update: We Have a Direct Hit

A quick update on the satellite story that we reported about earlier this evening: it looks like the weather cleared enough for them to fire, and they hit the satellite as intended. It only took one shot, and it hit a target moving at about 17,000 miles per hour. Impressive. They still need a day…

Gadgets Adam Frucci

Pentagon to Shoot Dead Spy Satellite Down with a Missile

That busted spy satellite that was going to fall to Earth and hopefully not kill anyone? Well, the Pentagon has decided to not just assume it’d land in an ocean somewhere, and they will take matters into their own hands. That’s right: they’re going to blow the thing right out of the sky. https://gizmodo.com/dead-us-spy-satellite-hurtling-towards-earth-wheres-yo-349573 The…

Gadgets Adam Frucci

Dead US Spy Satellite Hurtling Towards Earth; Where’s Your Car Parked?

A anonymous government official warned that a US intelligence satellite has lost power and could crash to earth sometime in February or March. When pushed on the matter, a National Security Council spokesman said this: “Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation. Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly.…

Space & Spaceflight Wilson Rothman

Russian Space Rocket Looks Totally Old-School

The Soyuz-FG launcher sticks to a 1950s snub-nosed aesthetic, even though it was built in 2001. The Soyuz is preparing to launch Dec. 14 from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome. Image by STR/AFP/Getty Images.

io9 Charliejane

XstreamHD Promises Full HD Movies from Satellite to Cheap Set-Top Box In Minutes

In November, we got a vague press release about XstreamHD, a new kind of satellite video service that claims it would go where DirecTV, Amazon, TiVo, Apple, and Netflix couldn’t, and deliver full 1080p movies with 7.1-channel sound to the home. Well, new details have come to light that make us hanker for a test…

Movies Wilson Rothman

China Will Win The Next Space Race

What will it take to launch another space age to replace the one that ended with the Cold War? Maybe another space race. China is ramping up its efforts to put people back on the Moon, launch more lunar orbiters, and build its own space station. Already, China is challenging the U.S.’ domination of space…

io9 Charliejane

Spy Satellite Diagnoses Cancer

Satellites will soon capture ultrasound images of unborn children in rural Nunavut and beam them all the way to Ontario. It’s just part of a new pilot program which uses technology developed for diagnosing astronauts from Earth. Already, doctors in Calgary can look at real-time ultrasounds of patients in Banff and figure out what ails…

io9 Charliejane

Sputnik Is Officially Old Fart Technology

Fifty years ago, the Space Age was born with the flight of Soviet satellite Sputnik, and with that came the age of Surveillance Paranoia. More Sputnik fetish photography available from your pals at NASA.

io9 Annalee Newitz

Sputnik Satellite’s 50th Anniversary Today

Today is the 50th anniversary of Russia’s Sputnik satellite. Sputnik translates into “Traveling companion of the earth”, was “23 inches in diameter and 184 pounds, with four feathery antennas swept back like a windblown comb-over from its high-gloss sphere.” Some credit the unexpected launch of Sputnik with kicking off the space race. Steven Winn’s piece…

Tech News Brian Lam

ASTRO Becomes First Robotic Satellite Repair Man

Now that they’re poised to take over the planet, robots are turning to outer space thanks to the folks at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects) who have just launched their first satellite repair bots into space. Dubbed ASTRO, the repair bots are designed to patch up other satellites without any human guidance, instead they rely…

Space & Spaceflight Louis Ramirez

Hollywood to Beam Digital Films to Movie Theaters

Nothing sucks more than being shut out of a movie premiere just cause you didn’t make it to the box office on time. Well, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. are teaming up with Digital Cinema Implementation Partners to make that scenario a thing of the past. They want to give theaters the ability to play…

Movies Louis Ramirez

Masquerade Speakers Cover Your Satellites with Paintings

I’ve always liked being able to see my speakers, but if the Mrs. is nagging you about your set up, Masquerades wall-mountable speakers replace your satellite’s front grilles with works of art so no one will know you’ve got a 5.1 set up going. You can choose from various different paintings or send them an…

Gadgets Louis Ramirez

Exploded Satellite-Launching Seacraft Finds its Way Home

Remember last week when that un-manned satellite launch didn’t go so well? The large Sea Launch launch pad that the satellite exploded on is actually making its way back to land under it’s own power. The massive explosion had me thinking that this seacraft would have an underwater burial, but I was wrong. Too bad…

Gadgets Travis Hudson

ESA To Debut Satellite-Based Multimedia Radio

Radio listeners in Europe may need to thank the European Space Agency if all goes according to plan. The ESA is set to debut a new type of multimedia radio tomorrow that makes use of currently existing satellites and a low profile antenna affixed to cars’ roofs (seen here). The new and improved (!) radio…

Gadgets Nicholas Deleon

China Space Attack: Unstoppable

Though it sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick, Defense Tech is reporting that China has successfully tested an anti-satellite weapon. They conducted the test by demolishing an old Chinese weather satellite over 500 miles above the earth. What does this mean for us? Well, unless we can get a real-life Jack Bauer over…

Space & Spaceflight Louis Ramirez

Eclipse TD508II Time Domain Speakers

Speakers keep getting smaller and smaller as their sound gets bigger, and here’s a pair of swank satellites that fit the bill perfectly, the Eclipse TD508II Time Domain speakers. Successor to the TD508 model from Eclipse, the TD508II offers greater dynamic range by using high-density zinc components inside. You gotta love that bullet shape, too,…

Tech News Charlie White

Google Takes Initiative to Find Extraterrestrials by 2012

Satellite-Eye-View of People Evacuating in Chad

Don’t Blow Up Satellites, Catch Them in Gigantic Blankets

Operation ‘Blow Up a Satellite’ Update: We Have a Direct Hit

Pentagon to Shoot Dead Spy Satellite Down with a Missile

Dead US Spy Satellite Hurtling Towards Earth; Where’s Your Car Parked?

Russian Space Rocket Looks Totally Old-School

XstreamHD Promises Full HD Movies from Satellite to Cheap Set-Top Box In Minutes

China Will Win The Next Space Race

Spy Satellite Diagnoses Cancer

Sputnik Is Officially Old Fart Technology

Sputnik Satellite’s 50th Anniversary Today

ASTRO Becomes First Robotic Satellite Repair Man

Hollywood to Beam Digital Films to Movie Theaters

Masquerade Speakers Cover Your Satellites with Paintings

Exploded Satellite-Launching Seacraft Finds its Way Home

ESA To Debut Satellite-Based Multimedia Radio

China Space Attack: Unstoppable

Eclipse TD508II Time Domain Speakers

‘Chainsaw Man’ Briefly Returns in ‘Dandadan’

Meta Smart Glasses Can Now Track All the Food You Put Into Your Mouth

Artemis 2 Day 3: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Here’s Who the Mysterious Main Characters Are in ‘Disclosure Day’

Rubin Observatory Spots Over 11,000 Asteroids in Record Haul

Volkswagen CEO Is Standing Up for Physical Buttons in Cars

Nespresso Vertuo Pop+ by Breville Hits Its Lowest Price, Now One of the Cheapest Coffee Machines Under $100

That Teenage Bout of Mono May Have a Troubling Second Act

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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