A piece of asteroid has arrived on Earth from the other side of the solar system, in a major success for Nasa’s Osiris-Rex mission. The spacecraft has spent years flying to Asteroid Bennu, gathering up a piece of it, and bringing it back home so that it can be studied by researchers. It brings an end to a mission that took seven years, saw it travel 4 billion miles, and cost more than a billion dollars. Scientists hope that study can help reveal how planets formed and evolved, and might shed light on how life itself began. Since Bennu is around 4.5 billion years old, the sample is almost like a look back into the solar system during its early years and Nasa has referred to it as a “time capsule”. Asteroid Bennu is also notable as Nasa’s “most dangerous asteroid”, according to a scale used to measure how much of a hazard a given object poses. It is the first time that Nasa has brought back a piece of an asteroid, and the first time since 2020. It is also the biggest ever to be gathered, at around 250 grams. Nasa sent a team on board helicopters to gather the sample canister, extracting it to ensure that it did not become contaminated by the environment. Since the sample was directly from the asteroid, it will not have any trace of material from the Earth on it, unlike those that fall to Earth. That sample will be distributed between 200 people at 38 institutions across the world, including those in the UK. The Osiris-Rex mission left Earth in September 2016, and arrived at the asteroid in October 2018. It gathered samples in October 2020, and then left the asteroid in April 2021. Since then, both the sample and the spacecraft have been returning back from the other side of the solar system to Earth. The spacecraft then dropped off the sample to return home, while Osiris-Rex will carry on to study another asteroid called Apophis, where it will arrive in 2029. Apophis is also notable for its danger: at times, it has challenged Bennu at the top of the league table of most dangerous objects. But recent research has suggested that Apophis poses less of a danger. Ashley King, UKRI future leaders fellow, Natural History Museum, said: “Osiris-Rex spent over two years studying asteroid Bennu, finding evidence for organics and minerals chemically altered by water. “These are crucial ingredients for understanding the formation of planets like Earth, so we’re delighted to be among the first researchers to study samples returned from Bennu. ‘We think the Bennu samples might be similar in composition to the recent Winchcombe meteorite fall, but largely uncontaminated by the terrestrial environment and even more pristine.” Dr Sarah Crowther, research fellow in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Manchester, said: “It is a real honour to be selected to be part of the Osiris-Rex sample analysis team, working with some of the best scientists around the world. “We’re excited to receive samples in the coming weeks and months, and to begin analysing them and see what secrets asteroid Bennu holds. “A lot of our research focuses on meteorites and we can learn a lot about the history of the solar system from them. “Meteorites get hot coming through Earth’s atmosphere and can sit on Earth for many years before they are found, so the local environment and weather can alter or even erase important information about their composition and history. “Sample return missions like Osiris-Rex are vitally important because the returned samples are pristine, we know exactly w Read More Pieces of a distant asteroid are about to fall to Earth Nasa to return largest asteroid sample ever as UK helps with research Astronomers find abundance of Milky Way-like galaxies in early universe Pieces of a distant asteroid are about to fall to Earth Nasa to return largest asteroid sample ever as UK helps with research Astronomers find abundance of Milky Way-like galaxies in early universe

Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-implant company, has won US approval to test on humans. Here is what to know about the multi-billionaire's dream project to enable the human...

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday sued cryptocurrency firms Gemini, Genesis Global and Digital Currency Group

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 3, 2023--

Shares are mostly lower in Asia as optimism over a Wall Street rally was countered by worries about the Chinese economy

The NFL, NBA, and UFC have a live-streaming problem and they're asking the feds for

Amazon is adding the same kind of brain that powers ChatGPT into Alexa. The new technology is intended to allow the virtual assistant to be more powerful and able to speak with its owners in more natural conversations. The announcement were part of a wide array of new devices launched by Amazon this week. It also revealed new tablets and Echos, including those with screens, as well as plans to use generative artificial intelligence to create art to show on those screens. Every year, Amazon announces a number of Alexa devices, which have in the past included everything from soundbars to microwaves. This year, much of its focus was on artificial intelligence. While Alexa was one of the first virtual assistants of its kind to go mainstream, Amazon has lagged behind rivals such as Microsoft and Google in integrating new large language models into those systems. The sudden rise of such technology has sparked greater scrutiny of AI from regulators, given its explosion into general use and concerns over its potential impact on human life as well as industry, jobs and education. During a live event to unveil its latest range of Alexa-powered devices, Amazon looked to reaffirm its position as a market leader in AI by showing off an update to the assistant that will allow for more natural conversations with Alexa, rather than just the transactional request fulfilment it currently runs on. In a live demonstration of Alexa’s new large language model (LLM), Amazon devices boss Dave Limp showed how the new version of the assistant will be able to be more expressive in its responses - for example sounding happier when returning a positive sporting result for a user’s favoured team. Based within a new section of the service called “Let’s Chat”, Alexa will respond without the use of a wake word first, be able to pick up a conversation after a break and still understand the context, as well as understand inferences and more vague prompts in a way that Limp said is “like talking to a friend”. For example, the new Alexa will respond to the prompt “I’m cold” by turning on the heating in a connected home. Amazon has not confirmed a general release date for the new version of Alexa, instead focusing on an early preview programme in the US to try out the new capabilities among some users. Technology expert Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, said it was “little surprise” to see Amazon discussing the power of its AI assistant in this way. “It undoubtedly knows that it needs to keep pace with rivals such as Google and Microsoft so articulating what it is doing in this area was essential for this event,” he said. “The upgraded way to talk to Alexa certainly makes it a more personal experience but success will depend on Amazon being able to get consumers to engage with the Echo devices in a very different way to the transactional and basic requests used today. “Some users may find it a little intimidating, but if successful it could make interactions a lot more conversational.” Elsewhere at its hardware event, Amazon unveiled a string of new hardware products, including several new Alexa-powered Echo smart speakers and smart home hubs, as well as new Fire tablets and updated Fire TV Stick devices. Read More Neuralink’s monkeys may have died due to brain implants contrary to Musk’s claims Facebook changes logo to ‘make F stand apart’ – but can you tell the difference? What is ‘Rumble’, where Russell Brand is posting videos? Neuralink’s monkeys may have died due to brain implants contrary to Musk’s claims Facebook changes logo to ‘make F stand apart’ – but can you tell the difference? What is ‘Rumble’, where Russell Brand is posting videos?

Players can throw a lob pass in Madden 24 by tapping the pass icon or key of the receiver they wish to throw the ball to.

BAD HOMBURG, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 13, 2023--

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he welcomed and expected more investment from global chipmakers, after meeting top executives on Thursday before a Group of Seven summit.

Google has announced a major update that will see thousands – potentially even millions – of accounts permanently deleted if they have not been used since 2021. The purge will include Gmail, Drive and Photos accounts that have not been used or signed into for at least two years. In a blog post announcing the update, Google said the new policy was primarily for security reasons, as older accounts are typically more vulnerable to threats like spam, phishing scams and hijacking. “Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have 2-step verification set up,” the post stated. “Meaning, these accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam.” The policy will only apply to personal accounts, with those associated with organisations like schools and businesses safe from being deleted. The tech giant said the update will be in effect from this week, however no accounts will be deleted until December 2023. “We will take a phased approach, starting with accounts that were created and never used again,” Google wrote. “Before deleting an account, we will send multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the account email address and the recovery email (if one has been provided).” Users can avoid being caught up in the purge by doing as little as reading an email sent to the account, or watching a YouTube video while logged in. Google hosts billions of user accounts, though it did not make public how many of them are inactive. It follows similar announcements from Twitter, with chief executive and owner Elon Musk recently rolling out a similar policy that will see usernames recycled if they are associated with accounts that have not been used “for several years”. Read More ‘Google is done’: World’s most powerful AI chatbot offers human-like alternative to search engines

Vietnam-based internet startup VNG Ltd. has decided to postpone its plans for a US initial public offering, according