August 4, 2013

First Talking Robot to Go to Space

The humanoid robot, named Kirobo, is scheduled to blast into space around sunrise from an island off southern Japan on board a supply ship bound for the International Space Station.

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The humanoid robot, named Kirobo, is scheduled to blast into space around sunrise from an island off southern Japan on board a supply ship bound for the International Space Station.

Read more here.

The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Silhouettes of two people face each other closely, with warm light casting their shadows on a wall.

The science-backed guide to having better sex

“Virtually everything we’re taught about sexuality for the first two decades of our lives is wrong.”

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01:25:59 min

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with

Emily Nagoski

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Could the CMB arise from galaxies, not the Big Bang?

The CMB has long been considered the Big Bang’s “smoking gun” evidence. But after what JWST saw, might it come from early galaxies instead?

Microscopic view of several rod-shaped bacteria floating against a blue background.

Books

Why your microbiome may matter more than DNA for your lifelong health

In “The Microbiome Master Key,” Brett and Jessica Finlay argue that we need to stop waging war on all germs and start working with the microbes that make us who we are.

Collage featuring a snail, two hands gripping a baton symbolizing succession, and a boat, overlaid on a pink and black grid pattern with the text "THE NIGHTCRAWLER" at the top.

Business

Inside the subtle art of succession

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A magnifying glass focusing on concentric circles against a plain teal background.

Brian Cox: The Planck scale is where physics breaks

“It’s a very, very beautiful calculation, but it’s the best example I know of the relationship between these rather abstract quantities perhaps and something that you can look at in a telescope.”

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19 min

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with

Brian Cox

Up Next

If You’re Not Looking Up To the Sky This Month, You’re Missing Out

Saturn, Venus, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter will all be visible in the August night skies, as will the annual Perseid meteors. A number of nebulas will also be easy to find among the constellations.