Even during times of conflict on the ground, space has historically been an arena of collaboration among nations. But trends in the past decade suggest that the nature of cooperation in space is shifting, and fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted these changes. I’m an international relations scholar who studies power distributions in space—who the main players are, what capabilities they possess, and whom they decide to cooperate with. Some scho
In 2021, an investment firm bought 2,000 acres of real estate for about US$4 million. Normally this would not make headlines, but in this case the land was virtual. It existed only in a metaverse platform called The Sandbox. By buying 792 non-fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain, the firm then owned the equivalent of 1,200 city blocks. But did it? It turns out that legal ownership in the metaverse is not that simple. The prevailing but lega
Embattled video game maker Activision Blizzard is once again in hot water, this time over allegations of insider trading. Late last week, the company announced that it had received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as a request for information from the Securities and Exchange Commission, both related to the question of whether three Activision investors engaged in insider trading just days before the company announced its sale to Microsoft for $68.7 billion. In a
Looking for good news about the planet’s future on Earth Day—an occasion often marked mainly by greenwashing corporate PR—can feel as doomed as fishing in the filthy, sometimes flammable rivers that spurred the first Earth Day in 1970. But if you may please pause your doomscrolling for a moment, cause for cautious optimism shouldn’t be far below the surface. American-made offshore wind power U.S. renewable energy adoption has lagged most visibly in offshore wind power
There’s nothing the video game world loves more than a good argument, and the rumored rise in interest in in-game ads on the PlayStation (and maybe Xbox) could be the industry’s next tempest in a teapot. Sony is reportedly working on a plan to put ads into titles on its platform, borrowing heavily from the model that has been so successful in the mobile gaming world. The goal of the initiative, reports Insider, is for the ads to be integrated into the games, such as appearing
Israel is one of the tiniest countries on Earth, but go hundreds of miles up and things look a bit different. Thanks to its homegrown orbital rocket, it is now the smallest of 16 countries with its own launch capability; a technology that was put on full display with the Beresheet mission of 2019, which made Israel just the fourth country to attempt a moon landing. (The attempt, which was partly privately funded, ultimately crashed into the lunar surface, but a second mission is planned for 2024
In January 2021, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez took to Twitter to declare his city the new cryptocurrency mecca. “The City of Miami believes in #Bitcoin,” he tweeted, “and I’m working day and night to turn Miami into a hub for crypto innovation.” Those weren’t just empty words: That same year, Suarez launched MiamiCoin, a crypto coin for the city that generated $5 million for the city since its launch. And with no state income tax and a corporate tax rate o
Kristine sat in a reclining chair, cocooned in an eyeshade and headphones, with a weighted blanket covering her lap. Incense burned in the background. She felt a pinch in her arm. “Okay,” the nurse said. “Have a nice trip!” Kristine peeled back her eye mask. “How long does it take to kick in?” she asked. “About 45 to 60 seconds,” the nurse said. “Okay, then. I’ll see you later,” Kristine said, bringing the mask back dow
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Like anyone, Mayuko Inoue craved a stable career, which she found working as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. She also found burnout. So, after nearly six years working for Intuit, Patreon, and Netflix, Inoue decided to become a full-time YouTuber in 2020. It’s certainly not lost on her that she essentially hopped out of the fire of
For decades, robots have worked alongside humans. In the auto industry, for example, they’ve long been the most precise and reliable welders and painters. Sitting in place and doing the same job, over and over, has historically been automation’s sweet spot. But, with the explosion in artificial intelligence, robots are coming to understand more complex, nuanced tasks. And they are increasingly able to navigate, both inside and outside. In agriculture, robots are not only plowing fi