Science & Technology

• SpaceX Launches 4 Amateurs on Private Earth-circling Trip
  
  SpaceX's first private flight streaked into orbit Wednesday night with two contest winners, a health care worker and their rich sponsor, the most ambitious leap yet in space tourism.It was the first time a spacecraft circled Earth with an all-amateur crew and no...
• Building Mars Bases to Require Astronauts' Blood, Sweat, Tears
  
  Building bases on Mars will literally require blood, sweat, and tears of astronauts, according to scientists developing a cheaper way to use Mars rock and soil to form a concrete-strength structure...
• Amazon Introduces Palm Reader at First Non-Amazon Venue
  
  Amazon's electronic palm reader has been launched at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, making it the first venue outside of an Amazon-owned property to feature the biometric reader.
• Apple Patches 'Zero-Click' Vulnerability Attributed to Hacker-for-Hire Firm
  
  Apple released an emergency software patch to fix a security vulnerability that researchers said could allow hackers to directly infect Apple devices without any user action.The researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab said the flaw allowed spyware from the...
• Ex-Pentagon UFO Chief Signs Book Deal
  
  The former chief of a secretive Pentagon UFO program has signed a deal for a tell-all on the mysterious and controversial work. Luis Elizondo, who headed the Department of Defense's Advanced Aerospace...
• Moderna Developing 1-Dose Booster for COVID-19, Flu
  
  Moderna Inc said Thursday it was developing a single-dose vaccine that combines a booster dose against COVID-19 and a booster against flu.
• Two More Victims of 9/11 Attacks Identified
  
  The remains of two more victims of 9/11 have been identified, thanks to advanced DNA technology, New York officials announced Tuesday, just days before the 20th anniversary of the attacks.The office of the city's chief medical examiner said it had formally identified the...
• Triceratops Skeleton Could Fetch at Least $1.4M in Paris Auction
  
  A bidder with a lot of money - and a lot of room - could be the owner of a 66-million-year-old full-sized skeleton of a giant triceratops going up for auction in October. The fossilized dinosaur...
• GAO: US Govt Expanding Use of Facial Recognition Technology
  
  Despite states moving to restrict the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) amid privacy concerns, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported 10 federal agencies are ramping up the use of the technology.
• Scientists Hope to Find Life on Earth-Like Planets in a Few Years
  
  Astronomers hope to discover life outside of this solar system on a newly identified class of Earth-like exoplanets with large oceans that are "bigger and hotter than Earth" in the next few years, CBS News reports.
• A 'True' Blue Moon to Appear Aug. 22
  
  A true blue moon will appear Aug. 22, bleeding into the dawn of Aug. 23.
• Scientists Question Evidence Behind COVID-19 Booster Drive
  
  The Biden administration's plan to provide COVID-19 vaccine boosters is based on concerns that a decrease in the vaccines' ability to protect against milder infections could also mean people will have less protection against severe illness.
• Facebook Says It's Securing Afghan User Accounts Amid Taliban Takeover
  
  Facebook Inc has temporarily removed the ability for people to view or search the friends lists of accounts it has determined to be in Afghanistan, the company's head of security policy said in a tweet on Thursday as Afghans feared for their safety amid the Taliban...
• The Sun, Not CO2, to Blame for Global Warming: Study
  
  Warmer temperatures in recent decades might be caused mainly by the sun and not carbon dioxide emissions, according to a new study by a team of international scientists. The study's findings...
• Apple Defends Child Pornography Image Matching Tools
  
  An executive of Apple on Friday defended its new child pornography image matching system that can identify images of missing and exploited children on Apple devices against a backlash criticizing the violation of users' privacy. ''It's really clear a lot of messages got...
• Security Expert: China May Have Dossiers on All US Adults
  
  China might have amassed enough digital information to have a dossier on every American adult, and possibly, children," former Trump administration Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger told a Senate panel last week.
• Harvard Professor Given Nearly $1.8M to Study UFOs
  
  A Harvard professor has been given nearly $1.8 million to study UFOs. Avi Loeb, a professor of science, is overseeing the Galileo Project, which will allow him to install a network of small telescopes...
• FDA Plans J&J Vaccine Autoimmune Disorder Warning
  
  Johnson & Johnson said Monday it was in discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about rare cases of a neurological disorder, Guillain-Barre´ syndrome, that have been reported following vaccination with the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.
• AI Helping Startups Develop Robots to Pollinate Some Farm Crops
  
  Advances in artificial intelligence are helping some startups develop robots to pollinate everything from blueberries to almonds, and in Australia, even tomatoes. Pollination robots could prove more...
• Large UK Study: Very Few Kids Need to Shield From COVID
  
  Most young people face an "extremely low" risk of illness and death from COVID-19 and have no need to shield from the virus, according to researchers behind a large U.K. study.
• Pfizer to Seek FDA's OK for 3rd Vaccine Dose in August
  
  Pfizer is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying Thursday another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant.
• Moderna Starts Human Trials of mRNA-Based Flu Shots
  
  Moderna officially started its human clinical trials Wednesday of its new mRNA-based influenza vaccines.
• Pew Poll: 65 Percent of US Adults Believe Aliens Exist
  
  Even before the congressional report at the end of June, a majority of Americans believed there is intelligent life on planets other than Earth, according to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center....
• NASA: Mars Helicopter Sets Records in Most Challenging Flight Yet
  
  The Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, completed its ninth and most challenging flight yet, NASA announced on Twitter. NASA added that Ingenuity flew for 166.4 seconds at a pace of five meters per second,...
• J&J Says Its COVID Vaccine Neutralizes Delta Variant
  
  Johnson & Johnson said its single-shot coronavirus vaccine neutralizes the fast-spreading delta variant and provides durable protection against infection more broadly.

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