NASA Chooses SpaceX to Deorbit ISS by 2030 in $843 Million Deal NASA has awarded SpaceX $843 million to develop a vehicle capable of deorbiting the International Space Station (ISS) for its planned destruction around 2030. This task was originally intended for Russia’s thrusters. New Deorbit Vehicle Under this new contract, SpaceX will build the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, designed to safely guide the ISS into Earth’s atmosphere. NASA will own the craft and manage the deorbiting process to mitigate risks to populated areas. The ISS, primarily managed by the United States and Russia, has been continuously staffed by government astronauts…
Author: Arushi Pandey
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Brussels’ Cartoon Industry Battles AI: Artists vs. Algorithms Home to animated heroes like Tintin and the Smurfs, Brussels proudly displays its cartoon heritage through mammoth murals that adorn the city’s streets. However, all is not well in the self-declared capital of comics. European cartoon artists are now facing a real-life adversary: artificial intelligence (AI). Legal Grey Area of AI-Generated Art AI-generated art currently operates in a legal grey area, leading to novel intellectual property disputes. Copyright laws in the European Union do not explicitly cover AI-generated art, causing uncertainty among artists about whether AI will help or hinder creativity. There…
NASA Delays Boeing Starliner’s Return to Earth NASA Extends Starliner’s ISS Stay Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which carried its first astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), will now return to Earth on June 26, according to a NASA official. The spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, experienced several issues during its flight, prompting the delay. Flight Challenges and System Failures Starliner launched on June 5 and encountered four helium leaks and five thruster failures during its 24-hour journey to the ISS. Despite these challenges, the spacecraft successfully docked at the ISS. This mission marks a critical test…
Germany’s Solar Power Installations Surge by 35% in Early 2024 Germany’s solar power installations saw a 35% increase year-on-year in the first four months of 2024, driven by growing demand for industrial, commercial, and ground-mounted photovoltaics, according to the solar power association BSW. Legislative Push for Solar Expansion In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent decline in Russian fossil fuel exports, Berlin has enacted several laws to speed up solar power expansion. This effort is part of Germany’s strategy to cover 80% of its energy needs with renewables by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2045. Significant…
Nigeria’s Multilingual AI Tool to Boost Digital Inclusion Introduction When the Nigerian government announced plans to develop a multilingual AI tool to enhance digital inclusion, 28-year-old computer science student Lwasinam Lenham Dilli was thrilled. Dilli had struggled to find datasets to build a large language model (LLM) in his native Hausa language for his final-year project at university. Challenges and Importance of Local Language LLMs Dilli faced difficulties finding clean data in Hausa and English online. He needed these texts to create an LLM for AI chatbots. He believes that creating local language LLMs ensures that local dialects and languages…
Voyager 1 Resumes Normal Science Operations After Technical Issue Technical Issue and Resolution NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has resumed normal science operations for the first time since encountering a technical issue in November 2023. The team initially addressed the problem in April, allowing the spacecraft to start transmitting engineering data regarding its health and status. On May 19, the mission team sent a command for the spacecraft to return science data. Two of the four science instruments immediately resumed normal operations, and the remaining two required additional work. Now, all four instruments are successfully returning usable science data. Science Instruments…
G7 Summit Concludes with Focus on China and Historic Papal Appearance China Tops G7 Agenda The G7 leaders wrapped up their annual summit on Friday, with China being the primary topic of discussion. This year, the summit saw a historic appearance by Pope Francis, who addressed the group on artificial intelligence (AI). The G7 opened its doors to leaders from other nations to shed its image as an exclusive club. The attendees included the prime minister of India and the king of Jordan, among others. Ukraine Aid Agreement On the first day of the summit, held in southern Italy, the…
AI Technology Helps Pet Owners Monitor Feline Health Pet Owner Turns to AI for Cat’s Wellbeing Mayumi Kitakata, 57, is concerned about the health of her aging cat, Chi. To ensure Chi’s well-being and longevity, she has turned to artificial intelligence. Kitakata is one of the early users of CatsMe!, an AI-driven smartphone application that helps detect when a cat is in pain, reducing unnecessary trips to the veterinarian. Importance of AI in Pet Care “Chi is at an age where more diseases are likely to appear,” Kitakata explained. The app allows her to consult with the vet while minimizing…
Tesla Shareholders Vote on $56 Billion Pay Package for Musk Approval for Musk’s Pay Package and Texas Move Tesla shareholders are voting on a $56 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk and the relocation of the company’s legal home to Texas. Musk announced the vote on social media on Wednesday, June 12, stating that the approval was by wide margins. Musk’s Social Media Announcement “Thanks for your support!!” Musk posted on X, indicating strong shareholder backing for the largest remuneration package in U.S. corporate history. Impact of Shareholder Approval This overwhelming approval could ease investor concerns about Musk’s future…
Apple Partners with OpenAI and Google to Boost Siri’s AI Capabilities On Monday, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a significant deal with OpenAI to integrate its advanced artificial intelligence model into Apple’s voice assistant, Siri. The Role of Google’s Technology Amidst the excitement, a technical document released by Apple highlighted another key player in this AI development: Alphabet’s Google. To create Apple’s foundational AI models, the company used its own framework software along with a mix of hardware. This included Apple’s own on-premise graphics processing units (GPUs) and Google’s cloud-based tensor processing units (TPUs). Google has been developing TPUs for…
