Planetary space travel has always been an idea that has lingered in the realm of sci-fi. Sure, we may have set foot on the moon, but that was only once and has never been replicated again. But, with billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos investing heavily in rocket technology, we could potentially experience space exploration in our lifetimes. In a recent interview on the Lex Friedman podcast, Musk talked about a wide range of topics such as AI, technology etc, but one thing that he stated really struck out. He mentioned that we could, in a best-case scenario, transport actual humans to the surface of Mars in about 5 years! Humans on the surface of Mars in 5 years?  We currently have 5 rovers on the surface of Mars. Called Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance, the rovers have been collecting data and sending back images of the red planet to earth. Technically, we humans already have a presence on Mars, so a future like the show The Expanse isn’t...

The LG Ultra Gear 17G90Q is the first gaming laptop from the brand in a long time. LG isn’t a brand known for making gamer-focused products. They’re mostly known for making the thin and light “Gram” series and their value for money TV sets. Beyond that, LG generally focuses on manufacturing home appliances. However, times are changing and now eSports gaming tournaments could very well see sponsorships from LG, the makers of your favourite fridge. Nonetheless, here’s everything you need to know about the LG Ultra Gear 17G90Q.  LG Ultra Gear 17G90Q Specs and Features First and foremost, the LG laptop comes with an Intel 11th Gen Core i7 Tiger Lake processor. Our best guess would be an Intel Core i7-11800H featuring 8-cores and 16-threads along with 4.60GHz max turbo frequency and 24MB Intel smart L3 cache. In terms of GPU, the LG Ultra Gear G17G90Q will feature an Nvidia RTX 3080 Max-Q graphics card. This particular GPU features a massive 16GB GDDR6 of visual me...

As the world moves towards smaller and smaller electronics, it looks like OmniVision Technologies Inc may have just hit the ball out of the park with the world’s smallest medical camera. It's actually the size of a grain of sand. The tiny camera measures in at a whopping 0.65 x 0.65 x 1.158mm. The OmniVision OV6948 has also just entered the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest commercially available image sensor in the world. Although it outputs a 40,000-pixel image, the resolution of the camera isn’t anything to write home about. But, for medical professionals who require a closer look at the human body, these cameras are a godsend.  What can the OmniVision camera be used for? These cameras can be used in a variety of medical use cases such as helping with delicate surgery and even delivering a more precise diagnosis since doctors are able to get a better look at the problem. It even comes with a 120-degree FOV and an aperture of f/2.8. The camera also produces significa...

As if autonomous robots weren’t enough, scientists have now unveiled the worlds first living robots. What are living robots you ask? Living robots are essentially artificially created organisms that have the ability to reproduce and create more copies of themselves. And no, they’re not just clones that are replicating but are actually reproducing. Researchers have noticed that these living robots can jumpstart a bunch of single cells, building them into an approximation of the parent robot. Within a few days, these ‘offspring’ even start looking like their parents. It’s a breakthrough discovery that has major implications in the medical world and further.  What are 'living robots'? Called a Xenobot, the organism is built using organic material and not the usual metal robots that we’re used to seeing in popular media. Although a nanobot swarm is somewhat similar to what these Xenobots can achieve. But, not to fear though, most of these robots will be used to clean microplastic...

Last year, former Facebook data scientist, Sophie Zhang, published a memo detailing the way Facebook is used to influence global politics. She spoke about sophisticated systems in place in India that were used to try and influence the 2020 Delhi Elections, along with similar systems in other developing countries throughout the world. Now, on the heels of her memo and a recent controversy surrounding Facebook’s policies and impact on politics, the Parliament has summoned officials representing Facebook India to discuss citizens’ rights and womens’ safety.  The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT) will be held on November 29, with Congress leader Shashi Tharoor appointed as the Chairman of the same.  "To hear the views of representatives Of Facebook India on the subject safeguarding citizens rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space," the committee agenda r...

Augmented Reality is still in its nascent stages of development, but even at such an early stage, the applications and uses of this technology are moving beyond even the boundaries of the Earth. In a new report on the official NASA website, the space agency has stated that the astronauts aboard the International Space Station could soon be using AR to actually repair and perform maintenance on the space station. This will essentially bypass the need for astronauts to be in constant communication with ground control, freeing them up to focus on the task at hand.  From what we can see, the applications of this kind of technology are boundless as maintenance is a key component of space travel since you’re essentially stuck in the cold darkness of space with little to no real resources. So, keeping your spacecraft intact and function will be of utmost importance. Without the need for communication with ground control, astronauts will be able to make decisive and necessary decisions w...