CATEGORIES

Weather Satellite Rockets to Orbit to Monitor US West

America’s newest weather satellite blasted off Tuesday to improve wildfire and flood forecasting across the western half of the country.

HEAT WAVE A GLIMPSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE'S IMPACT IN N. AMERICA

The U.S. Pacific Northwest was in the throes of a record-shattering heat wave last summer when a woman in her 70s was wheeled into an emergency room with symptoms of a life-threatening heat stroke.

EUROPE'S JOINT MARS MISSION WITH RUSSIA POSTPONED BY WAR

The launch of a joint Europe-Russia mission to Mars this year is now “very unlikely” due to sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine, the European Space Agency said this week.

CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON TO END SCHOOL MASK MANDATES

Schoolchildren in California, Oregon and Washington will no longer be required to wear masks as part of new indoor mask policies the Democratic governors of all three states announced jointly this week.

MIT SEVERS TIES WITH RUSSIAN SCHOOL AFTER UKRAINE INVASION

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is severing ties with a research university it helped establish more than a decade ago in Russia, citing the country’s “unacceptable military actions” in invading Ukraine.

FORD'S FORK IN THE ROAD: EV, INTERNAL COMBUSTION ARE SPLIT

Ford will split its electric vehicle and internal combustion operations into two individual businesses to accelerate its adaptation of new technology and the Detroit automaker said that its transformation into an EV company is accelerating.

FITBIT RECALLS 1 MILLION IONIC WATCHES AFTER BURN INJURIES

Google-owned Fitbit has recalled 1 million of its Ionic smartwatches after dozens of users reported burn injuries after the battery overheated.

HOW TECH COULD HELP OUT ENDANGERED LANGUAGES LIKE CHEROKEE

By itself, being able to read smartphone home screens in Cherokee won’t be enough to safeguard the Indigenous language, endangered after a long history of erasure. But it might be a step toward immersing younger tribal citizens in the language spoken by a dwindling number of their elders.

Biden Wants to Cut Into China's Electric Battery Dominance

President Joe Biden highlighted his efforts to counter China’s dominance of the electric battery market as he touted domestic efforts to mine and process lithium and rare metals necessary to create the technology that powers cars, electronics, wind turbines and more.

TRUMP'S SOCIAL MEDIA APP LAUNCHES YEAR AFTER TWITTER BAN

Former President Donald Trump’s social media app that he hopes will rival Twitter launched Monday as he seeks a new digital stage to rally his supporters and fight Big Tech limits on speech a year after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

USPS GETS FINAL SIGNOFF TO ORDER NEW DELIVERY VEHICLES

The U.S. Postal Service said it cleared the final regulatory hurdle to placing orders for next-generation mail vehicles — and getting some of them on delivery routes next year — despite pushback from the Environmental Protection Agency.

NEW YORK PLANS CYBERSECURITY HUB TO COORDINATE RESPONSES

New York wants to improve its cybersecurity defenses and will open a joint operations center in the coming months to coordinate between government agencies, critical businesses and utilities, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

BIDEN'S FULL PLATE: UKRAINE, INFLATION, LOW PUBLIC APPROVAL

On the same day that President Joe Biden called out Russia and and issued harsh sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, his only other public appearance was an event focused on the need to unkink the supply chain for minerals used in batteries, electronics and other technologies.

DIGITAL AD TAX ARGUED IN MARYLAND FEDERAL COURT CASE

Attorneys in a federal court challenge to Maryland’s first-in-the-nation digital ad tax argued about whether the law is a tax or an unconstitutional penalty targeting Big Tech.

US NAVY PLANS LAUNCH OF MIDEAST DRONE FORCE ALONGSIDE ALLIES

The U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet announced the launch of a new joint fleet of unmanned drones with allied nations to patrol vast swaths of the region’s volatile waters as tensions simmer with Iran.

US CONSUMER CONFIDENCE DIPS SLIGHTLY BUT REMAINS HIGH

U.S. consumer confidence declined modestly this month but remains high, even as prices for just about everything continue to rise.

MUSK, LAWYER ESCALATE WORD FIGHT WITH SECURITIES REGULATORS

Elon Musk and his lawyers are escalating their fight with U.S. securities regulators, with a lawyer accusing them of leaking investigative information, and the Tesla CEO alleging on Twitter that government corruption is being exposed.

Biden Takes Half-steps On Electric Vehicles

Eager to show benefits from his policies, President Joe Biden is overstating the number of electric vehicle charging stations that would be built with his infrastructure law and claiming a speedy shift to electric in the federal fleet that isn’t so.

Starship

Full steam ahead for space domination - Part 2

BILLIONAIRE WHO FLEW SPACEX LAST YEAR GOING BACK INTO ORBIT

The billionaire who launched on his own SpaceX flight last year is headed back up, aiming for an even higher orbit and the chance to take part in a spacewalk.

INTEL SAYS IT WILL BUY TOWER SEMICONDUCTOR FOR $5.4 BILLION

Intel said it is buying Israeli company Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion in a deal that could give the California chipmaking giant an edge in the business of making customdesigned chips.

EXPLAINER: WILL BURGLAR ALARMS STILL WORK AFTER 3G SHUTDOWN?

As telecom companies rev up the newest generation of mobile service, called 5G, they’re shutting down old networks — a costly, years-inthe-works process that’s now prompting calls for a delay because many products out there still rely on the old standard, 3G.

NASA'S NEW SPACE TELESCOPE SEES 1ST STARLIGHT, TAKES SELFIE

NASA’s new space telescope has captured its first starlight and even taken a selfie of its giant, gold mirror.

SPACEX SATELLITES FALLING OUT OF ORBIT AFTER SOLAR STORM

SpaceX’s newest fleet of satellites is tumbling out of orbit after being struck by a solar storm.

MACRON: EUROPE NEEDS TO DEFEND ITS SOVEREIGNTY IN SPACE

Europe needs a bolder space policy, French President Emmanuel Macron declared this week, warning that Europe’s sovereignty is at stake if it falls behind rival powers in a key field for technology, science and military competitiveness.

RED BULL FORMULA ONE TEAM SIGNS CRYPTOCURRENCY SPONSOR

Red Bull’s Formula One team has signed what it described Wednesday as the most lucrative annual cryptocurrency sponsorship in sports.

TRIPWIRE FOR REAL WAR? CYBER'S FUZZY RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

President Joe Biden couldn’t have been more blunt about the risks of cyberattacks spinning out of control.

Gatik Ceo Sees Future of Autonomous Trucking in Short Hauls

Late last year, autonomous vehicle startup Gatik announced a big step: it eliminated the safety operator from behind the wheel of two selfdriving trucks as part of its partnership with discounter Walmart. Now, the Mountain View, California firm is looking to speed up the process of fully driverless truck operations in the next few years.

iPHONE TO ACCEPT TAP-TO-PAY WITHOUT MORE HARDWARE

Apple is expanding the iPhone’s capabilities to accept contactless payments, making it easier for merchants to conduct tap-to-pay transactions without having to buy additional hardware.

SpaceX Ruling the future of the space industry - Part 1

There’s no denying that SpaceX has revolutionized the space sector, transforming the way we think about interplanetary spaceflight and the future of humankind. With SpaceX Starship scheduled for its first full-stack flight in late February, it’s time to review the phenomenal progress it’s made so far, and see where it’s headed next.