Surprising Science — December 23, 2009

Festive Space

The latest astronauts to reach the International Space Station have kicked off a Space-based Christmas by arriving wearing Santa hats, elf costumes and clutching a Christmas tree.

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The latest astronauts to reach the International Space Station have kicked off a Space-based Christmas by arriving wearing Santa hats, elf costumes and clutching a Christmas tree. “The latest three astronauts to reach the International Space Station, have brought with them some festive cheer. Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi and Timothy Creamer arrived from the Soyuz spacecraft wearing Christmas costumes, shortly after a successful docking procedure. There are currently five astronauts living in the space station.” In a video of the arrivals posted on the BBC’s website the trio are seen having trouble keeping their hats on and disentangling their Christmas tree from surrounding wires in the zero gravity conditions.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

The letters "AI" appear with a glitch effect in multicolored pixels against a black background.

The Present

AI skeptic Gary Marcus on AI’s moral and technical shortcomings

The cognitive scientist argues the current AI environment is failing us as consumers and a society. But it’s not too late to change course.

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The Future

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11 min

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with

Brian Klaas

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