Communications

SpaceX has just launched 20 of its Starlink satellites up into Earth's orbit, enabling direct-to-cellphone connectivity anywhere on the planet. That completes the constellation's first orbital shell, following a test of six satellites back in January.

Back in August 2021, Portl launched a 7-ft-tall hologram projection box for life-like remote communications. Now renamed Proto, the company has revealed that its Epic technology is allowing cancer patients to consult life-size virtual specialists.

A fascinating new insight into elephant communication has been uncovered, revealing that males will harmonize rumbles, from one to the next, to signal that it's time for everyone to move on. Researchers liken it to a barbershop quartet.

Wild elephants have exhibited a rare ability among animals: communicating with others in their social circle using individual ‘names.’ The new research suggests that their human-like communication may mean elephants are capable of complex thought.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, farther away than the Sun, has sent data through a laser over a record-breaking distance, and done so even faster than expected. The breakthrough could help establish high-speed communications with human colonies on Mars.

Because GPS doesn't work underwater, divers usually can't track their real-time position on a digital map. The new Diver Navigation System (DNS) gets around that problem, however, using both floating and wearable acoustic transponders.

Figure has demonstrated the first fruit of its collaboration with OpenAI to enhance the capabilities of humanoid robots. In a video released today, the Figure 01 bot is seen conversing in real-time.

An experimental new wearable could allow people such as stroke victims to communicate via subtle hand movements. The device takes the form of a relatively thin patch that is temporarily adhered to the skin on the back of the wrist.

Meeting aliens rarely goes well for humanity in movies. Scientists have been practicing by trying to chat to whales in their own language – and judging by early results, we should probably beef up security around the Eiffel Tower and the White House.

The eggplant emoji may be more famous in the digital world than in real life, but it's not the case for most organisms. Biologists have made the case for 'animal underdogs' to have better emoji presence to aid real-life conservation and biodiversity.

Everybody wants a faster internet connection, and now engineers in Japan have shattered the record for data transmission. The team managed to transmit more than 20 times the global internet traffic per second through a single optical fiber.

Sure, they're from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but words and phrases from Star Wars have taken on a life of their own in modern English. For the first time, a study reveals how deep-rooted offerings like "to the dark side" truly are.