A photo taken from the International Space Station in 2014 shows the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft on the left and the unpiloted ISS Progress 57 cargo craft. Six years later, private players have joined the space race.
Picryl
Over the coming decade, the arrival of constellations of small satellites will reshape the space industry. It constitutes a paradigm shift, particularly in terms of data gathering and processing.
The federal government has used military-grade border patrol drones like this one to monitor protests in US cities.
_ Jonathan Cutrer/Flickr
Researchers have made some of the most accurate clocks imaginable in recent years, but the trick is harnessing those clocks to electronics. Using lasers to tune microwaves bridges the gap.
A mylar balloon at Presqu'ile Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.
Lara O'Brien
Releasing balloons at weddings and other celebrations is festive, until they break into pieces and become plastic pollution. A citizen science project is spotlighting the problem.
John Delano, University at Albany, State University of New York
Scientific inspiration struck a geologist after many walks through the woods in New York and New England. These ruins hold the secret of where the compass pointed north when they were built centuries ago.
What does your phone know about you?
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com
Every device that you use, every company you do business with, every online account you create – they all collect data about you and analyze it to figure out minute details of your life.
Which is the right map for you?
Icatnews/shutterstock.com
Without their devices, regular GPS users take longer to negotiate a route, travel more slowly and make larger navigational errors.
Safety cards that allow victims to press a button to alert a 24/7 call centre have proved successful in protecting victims from further abuse.
Mavis Wong/The Conversation NY-BD-CC
We shouldn’t be telling victims of domestic violence to stop using technology. We should encourage them to use their digital devices to share their stories and seek the help they deserve.
The shipping industry has been slow to prepare adequate cybersecurity.
Alexandersonscc/pixabay
Keith Martin, Royal Holloway University of London and Rory Hopcraft, Royal Holloway University of London
Cyber vulnerabilities in shipping show how far the industry has to go. But proper cyber security of ships is more complex than you might initially think.
British space firms would get a shot in the arm from building a new GPS-style system if the UK is shut out of the EU’s programme.
Andy Thomas is one of the few Australian-born applicants who has became an astronaut. Will there be more with an Australian space agency?
Tracey Nearmy/AAP
Australia is playing a major role in developing legal guidelines that would govern how any war in space is played out. The authors of MILAMOS hope the manual is never actually required.