News - Miles O'Brien

Authoritative insight & opinion on technology, science, aviation, space and the environment.

December 17, 2018

The challenge of robots and artificial intelligence, a retrospective – with AI pioneer Marvin Minsky

Help us improve this podcast: take our short survey. Marvin Minsky is often regarded as the father of modern AI, but when Miles visited him in 2010, Minsky wasn’t a proud father. In fact, Minsky was disappointed with the lack of progress in the field and had reservations about its future. Unfortunately, Minsky is no…
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December 14, 2018

Climate denial at COP24, water found on Bennu, Virgin Galactic reaches space: science roundup

From climate denial at COP24 meeting to water found on asteroid Bennu, here’s the best science news of the week.
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December 7, 2018

Successful Mars landing, OSIRIS-Rex arrives at asteroid, gene editing scandal: science roundup

Here’s a look at the most interesting happenings in science, with stories you don’t want to miss. Landing on the Red Planet to study marsquakes Mars is hard. The odds of a safe landing on the surface are less than 50-50. But last Monday, the team at NASA/CalTech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory once again made it…
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December 6, 2018

The robots are coming. Will they work with us?

In the latest installment of our Future of Work series, PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O’Brien visits MIT’s Interactive Robotics Laboratory to understand the “new species” of robots scientists are designing to work alongside humans safely. Though the devices often excel at repetitive tasks, will they be able to function just as well in dynamic…
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December 5, 2018

How and why we’re sampling asteroid Bennu – with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx team

Help us improve this podcast: take our short survey. How did our early solar system form? What are the origins of life? How likely are we to get hit by a dangerous asteroid? A daring NASA mission called OSIRIS-REx hopes to find the answers to these big questions at an asteroid named Bennu. This week,…
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November 29, 2018

How this spacecraft will sample an asteroid’s rocks, without even landing on it

More than two years after it launched, a spacecraft called OSIRIS-REx is approaching its target, an asteroid named Bennu. Scientists hope that rock samples from Bennu will provide insight into the likelihood of life on other planets, as well as the risk the asteroid poses to earth. PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O’Brien explains the…
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November 26, 2018

Why Europa is the most likely spot we’ll find aliens – with NASA’s Kevin Peter Hand

Jupiter has many moons, but none are quite like Europa: it has a thick crust of ice and a huge amount of liquid saltwater underneath its surface. In fact, many believe it’s the best place in the Solar System that we could find other lifeforms. To dive deeper into the mysteries of this icy world–and…
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November 15, 2018

Why wildfires are getting so big, science wins in midterms, new Chinese space station: science roundup

Here’s a look back at the most interesting happenings in science, with stories you don’t want to miss. (By the way, we will be taking some time off for Thanksgiving next week–this newsletter and the Miles To Go podcast will be back after!) California is on fire–here’s why The Camp Fire in Northern California this…
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November 14, 2018

The science behind California’s surging wildfires

As three major fires blaze in California, we consider some of their causes, both human and meteorological. PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O’Brien has been filming a NOVA documentary on megafires and witnessed the Camp Fire not long after it began. He joins William Brangham to describe that stunning experience, along with the broader scientific…
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November 2, 2018

Jet stream accounting, natural Martian batteries, paralyzed patients walk again: this week in science

Here’s a look back at this week in science, with stories you don’t want to miss. Current climate models struggle to capture effects of weak jet stream New research published this week is refocusing attention on the polar jet stream and its impact on climate change. Renowned climate scientist [and good friend] Michael Mann co-authored…
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