It's a lunar crater�in this case, a rather striking one found in the Bay of Rainbow's in the moon's northern hemisphere. But as the blazon of Chinese characters indicates, there's something different about this image. The probe Chang'e 2�named for the Chinese goddess who lives on the moon with her companion, the herbalist Jade Rabbit�is scouting sites for a planned Chinese robotic moon landing in 2013. The budget for Chang'e 2 is reportedly a mere $134 million.

When I heard that Netflix streaming accounted for 20% of all U.S. peak traffic, I was shocked. But just a little shocked. Nothing that was totally impossible to wrap my mind around. But those Canadians? They really, really love their instant streaming. Netflix instant streaming accounts for 95% of all peak evening hours in Canada. 95%! As in only 5% ...

After hearing that one of his friends had been stung upwards of 90 times while trying to exterminate wasps from his property, Professor Sekine of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, who was undoubtedly dealing with a wasp problem of his own, decided to come up with an easier way to conquer the problem of painful and potentially dangerous insect stings. Mohican, ...

Awhile back I heard a myth that the Gates family patriarch banned Apple products from his home. Since I had never seen proof of any sort of Apple ban, I put the idea aside as some sort of sick rumor sliced together by a bunch of Apple vs. Microsoft rival enthusiasts. And then I saw this interview, which paints Melinda ...

Lexus wants to keep you safe. And to keep you safe, Lexus researchers have built the world’s most advanced driving simulator in history, where unsuspecting employees will be subjected to the horrors of the road. Which is good, because I want to feel safe when my autonomous car drives me around. Located in Higashifuji, Japan, the domed simulator is about ...

Now PR2 doesn’t only fold your socks, but also doesn’t crush your bones when you shake its hand. PR2 by Willow Garage has been a robot in the spotlight since its creation in late-2006 by ex-Google employee Scot Hassan. PR2 has pooped up in the media a few time throughout the years, and he finds himself the subject of headlines ...

If you’re a Netflix subscriber you’ve undoubtedly seen the company’s gradual specificity of their genre recommendations. It probably has something to do with integrating the algorithms of those companies who were lucky enough to win the two original contests to improve the company’s recommendation engine. Recommendations have moved from days of stunning vagueness, the most basic of categorizations, to the ...

Google’s Lunar X competition is still alive and kicking. The mission? Land a robot on the moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded. The winner wins $30 million. The Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association team (ARCA) is hard at work on their ...

After years of rumors and months of procrastination, Blockbuster has finally filed for bankruptcy, effectively reducing their debt from $1 billion to $100 million. Blockbuster announced, via press release, a �pre-arranged��bankruptcy in order to �recapitalize� and �substantially reduce its indebtedness.� Unfortunately for most stock holders, your debt caused by Blockbuster is still your own. The Chapter 11 filing reads �Under ...

If you look back at Apple’s Newton PDA device, it’s pretty clear that it was a major inspiration for iOS. You could say that Newton was the iPhone’s grandfather. Now, through the Open Einstein project, iPhone users can run an emulation of the Newton OS right on their modern devices. Downloading the code from the Open Einstein project’s site allows ...