Nasa has received a signal from a spacecraft 10 million miles away. The message, delivered using a distant laser, could “transform” communications with spacecraft, the space agency has said. It represents a successful test of Nasa’s Deep Space Optical Communications or DSOC experiment. It is also the first time that data has been successfully relayed through a laser from further away than the Moon – and marks a rapid increase, at more than 40 times the distance from the lunar surface. At the moment, almost all communications with craft in deep space is achieved through radio signals, sent and received from vast antennas on Earth. They have proven reliable but their bandwidth is limited, meaning that it is slow or impossible to send large files such as high-definition photos and videos. Nasa’s work on DSOC is an attempt to use optical communications through lasers instead. The technology could improve data rates by as much as 100 times, the space agency says. The first attempt to test the technology beyond the Moon left the Earth on Nasa’s Psyche mission, which left Earth last month on a mission to study a distant asteroid. The spacecraft is carrying a laser transceiver than can both send and receive laser signals in near-infrared. Last week, that equipment locked onto a Nasa laser beacon in California. Nasa says that “first light” breakthrough is one part of a host of experiments that they hope will prove the laser technology can work. “Achieving first light is one of many critical DSOC milestones in the coming months, paving the way toward higher-data-rate communications capable of sending scientific information, high-definition imagery, and streaming video in support of humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars,” said Trudy Kortes, director of technology demonstrations for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at Nasa Headquarters in Washington. Nasa likens the precision pointing of the laser signal to trying to point a light at a coin from a mile away. What’s more, the laser and its target are constantly moving: in the 20 minutes it will take for the light to travel to Earth from Psyche’s furthest distance, both the planet and the spacecraft will have moved significantly. The team will now work to refine the systems that ensure the spacecraft is pointing its lasers in the right direction. When that happens, Nasa will try an experiment to demonstrate that the spacecraft is able to maintain high-bandwidth data transfer at different distances from Earth. It will do so by breaking the data into bits that can be encoded in the photons of light sent by the spacecraft. That light then arrives at the telescope on Earth and can be reassembled into images or other important data that will be sent by spacecraft – and perhaps humans – in the future. Read More SpaceX hints next Starship launch attempt could be soon SpaceX to launch world’s biggest rocket again after first attempt ended in explosion Nasa spots collection of shocking materials on distant planet

Apple is rumoured to be working on a brand new type of battery for its next iPhone, potentially signalling an era-defining transition for the smartphone industry. The stacked battery design will feature on the entire lineup of iPhone 15 devices, according to anonymous leaker @RGcloudS, setting the standard for smartphone manufacturers and transforming the way people use their phones. The next-generation battery technology could result in faster charging, greater capacity and an iPhone that can run for several hours longer between charges. So how does it work and why is it so important? What is stacking technology? The word ‘stack’ refers to the configuration of the elements within a battery cell. The positive and negative electrodes within a typical battery cell are rolled up in a process known as winding, whereas stacked battery cells folds the electrodes up into layers. This makes the most of the space available within a battery cell, while also reducing resistance to lower the amount of heat generated when charging or using the battery. The design allows for a significantly higher charge capacity without changing the form of the battery, meaning no other existing components need to be altered to fit it. Why would Apple change its battery design? Lithium-ion batteries have been the standard power units in smartphones since the first iPhone was unveiled by Apple in 2007. There have been iterative upgrades to improve performance and make them more durable, though the underlying design has largely remained the same. With Apple now working on brand new devices, such as its Vision Pro headset, it makes sense for the world’s richest company to explore new battery innovations. One of the biggest criticisms of its mixed reality device was the external battery pack, so improving capacity could overcome this deficiency. Who else is working on stacked battery technology? Larger lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles already use stacking technology, though condensing them into a size that fits in a phone has proved tricky. Reports emerged earlier this year that Samsung, Apple’s chief smartphone rival, was working on adapting the technology to fit in its flagship Galaxy S24 Ultra phone. The inclusion of a stacked battery could allow the South Korean electronics giant to maintain the battery capacity and performance of its current S23 range, while squeezing it into a smaller form factor. This could allow for new hardware to be added, from a new camera lens, to a major upgrade to the device’s GPU. Read More Battery breakthroughs are about to trigger a transport revolution Rare ‘Holy Grail’ iPhone sells for almost $200,000 Apple’s next iPhone may include new battery technology, report suggests You can now download the huge new iPhone update – if you dare

The chance to name a new car is precious, a billion-dollar branding exercise with decades of potential staying

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 17, 2023--

According to an ex-employee, Rockstar North were once planning to make a zombie survival game instead of 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'.

Coming from a family of fighters, Diaz rarely discusses his romantic relationship in public

When Tim Cook took over as Apple CEO from Steve Jobs nearly 12 years ago, some thought the company was already at its peak.

SAVE $17.97: As of May 19, Hulu is offering ad-supported subscriptions for just $2 per

KIYOSU, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 20, 2023--

Electric-vehicle sales are poised to more than double by 2026 but eliminating emissions from road transportation by the

DAKAR A group of hackers called Mysterious Team made multiple Senegalese government websites go offline overnight on Friday

Analog Devices forecast fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street targets on Wednesday, in a sign that the chip industry