The gravitational lensed system BG1429+1202. This picture shows how strong gravitational lensing by a massive galaxy (red color) acts on the light of a very distant galaxy (with bluish color), producing in this case four separate images and increasing the total flux. Without this effect, the detailed study of distant galaxies like BG1429+1202 requires the next generation of extremely large telescopes, like TMT and E-ELT. Credit: Gabriel Pérez (IAC), GTC, Isaac Newton Group, andthe DECaLS project.

An international team has discovered one of the brightest “non-active” galaxies in the early universe...

The “Mama-Ope” (Mother’s Hope) kit, invented by Ugandan engineers, is a biomedical smart jacket and a mobile phone app that diagnoses pneumonia faster than a doctor (AFP Photo/ISAAC KASAMANI)

A team of Ugandan engineers has invented a “smart jacket” that diagnoses pneumonia faster than a doctor, offering hope against a disease which kills more children worldwide than any other. The idea came to Olivia Koburongo, 26, after her grandmother fell ill, and was moved from hospital to hospital before being properly diagnosed with pneumonia. “It was now too late to save her,” said Koburongo. “It was too hard to keep track of her vitals, of how she’s doing, and that is how I thought of a way to automate the whole process and keep track of her health.”

Koburongo took her idea to fellow telecommunic...

“Say hello to your personal courier. I’m here to deliver anything you need. Just tell me what, when and where and I’ll do the rest.”

“Say hello to your personal courier. I’m here to deliver anything you need. Just tell me what, when and where and I’ll do the rest.” “Your tireless delivery bot will always be on hand to lighten your load.” Wait, when did life become so comfortable? Wasn’t there luxury convenience in something called UPS? And what about wonderful Amazon? Well, some people are excited about a robot revolution in the wings, in a new era of instant, unscheduled delivery (think small orders and think local).

Starship Technologies was launched in 2014 by Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis. Its “engineering expertise, combined with our experience of co-founding Skype...

The column of material at and just below the surface of dwarf planet Ceres (box) – the top layer contains anhydrous (dry) pyroxene dust accumulated from space mixed in with native hydrous (wet) dust, carbonates, and water ice. (Bottom) Cross section of Ceres showing the surface layers that are the subject of this study plus a watery mantle and a rocky-metallic core. Credits: Pierre Vernazza, LAM–CNRS/AMU

New observations show that Ceres, the largest body in the asteroid belt, does not appear to have the carbon-rich surface composition that space- and ground-based telescopes previously indicated...