The Columbian

Science & Technology

A full moon is seen behind the Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft, atop the mobile launcher, are prepared for a wet dress rehearsal to practice timelines and procedures for launch, at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 14, 2022. On Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, NASA said astronauts will have to wait until 2025 before flying to the moon and another few years before landing on it.

More delays for NASA’s astronaut moonshots

January 9, 2024, 5:14pm Nation & World

Astronauts will have to wait until next year before flying to the moon and at least two years before landing on it, under the latest round of delays announced by NASA on Tuesday. Read story

IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR INTEL - Intel debuts the latest AI PCs powered by the Intel Core Ultra mobile processor family – with partners including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and MSI at Intel’s Open House at the Consumer Electronic Show on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024 in Las Vegas.

CES 2024 updates: The most interesting news and gadgets from tech’s big show

January 9, 2024, 7:58am Business

CES 2024 kicks off in Las Vegas this week. The multi-day trade event put on by the Consumer Technology Association is set to feature swaths of the latest advances and gadgets across personal tech, transportation, health care, sustainability and more — with burgeoning uses of artificial intelligence almost everywhere you… Read story

Victor the polar bear plays in the snow Feb. 28, 2018, at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster, north England. Fabric modeled after polar bear fur is more insulating than down jackets, a new study found.

Polar bears hold secret to warmer clothing

January 9, 2024, 6:02am Life

It’s cold out. And our century-old way of staying warm — down jackets — may have just met its match. Read story

United Launch Alliance launches its next-generation Vulcan rocket on its maiden flight at 2:18 a.m. EST Monday Jan. 8, 2024, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Moon landing attempt by US company appears doomed after ‘critical’ fuel leak

January 8, 2024, 12:58pm Latest News

The first U.S. moon landing attempt in more than 50 years appeared to be doomed after a private company's spacecraft developed a “critical” fuel leak just hours after Monday's launch. Read story

13-year-old Willis Gibson plays a game of Tetris. Gibson, who in late December became the first player to officially “beat” the original Nintendo version of the game, is known as “blue scuti” in the gaming world.

13-year-old becomes first to beat ‘unbeatable’ Tetris

January 6, 2024, 6:04am Life

The falling-block video game Tetris has met its match in 13-year-old Willis Gibson, who has become the first player to officially “beat” the original Nintendo version of the game — by breaking it. Read story

The Peregrine lunar lander is seen in October at Astrobotic Technology’s facility in Pittsburgh. The expected launch date is Monday.

Two companies to attempt first U.S. moon landings since Apollo

January 5, 2024, 7:28pm Business

China and India scored moon landings, while Russia, Japan and Israel ended up in the lunar trash heap. Read story

Four species pose threat in Florida

January 5, 2024, 6:32am Life

Florida has long been home to an unnatural assortment of creatures from faraway lands and habitats, and these tourists turned permanent residents have wreaked havoc on the natural ecosystem. Read story

Space shuttle Endeavour’s giant orange external tank begins final journey

January 3, 2024, 7:51am Life

At long last, the final journey of the last space shuttle ever built, Endeavour, and its giant orange external tank are expected to begin this month — the capstone to a historic journey to an ambitious museum exhibit in Los Angeles. Read story

The Hanford LIGO facility near Tri-Cities is part of a network that includes a site 1,800 miles away in Louisiana.

Gravitational wave observatory in Eastern WA breaks quantum limit. Why it matters

January 3, 2024, 7:27am Editor's Choice

The LIGO Hanford Observatory near Richland is expected to detect 60% more cataclysmic cosmic events — like colliding neutron stars and black holes — thanks to a quantum limit breakthrough. Read story

Characters removed from a sign on the Twitter headquarters building are piled on a street in San Francisco on July 24. A little more than a year ago, Elon Musk walked into Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, fired its CEO and other top executives and began transforming the social media platform into what’s now known as X. (Godofredo A.

Social media soul-searches: Twitter dies, X and Threads are born and AI gets personal

December 30, 2023, 5:48am Business

We lost Twitter and got X. We tried out Bluesky and Mastodon. We fretted about AI bots and teen mental health. We cocooned in private chats and scrolled endlessly as we did in years past. For social media users, 2023 was a year of beginnings and endings, with some soul-searching… Read story