A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule left the International Space Station on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016. The capsule is carrying 3,000 pounds of cargo after a month at the outpost. CAPE CANAVERAL -- A SpaceX Dragon capsule is on its way back to Earth after staying more than a month at the International Space Station. A robotic arm released the unmanned capsule packed with 3,000 pounds of cargo at 6:11 a.m. and fired thrusters several times to move a safe distance away. That began a journey expected to culminate in a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles off the coast of Baja California, before noon ET.

BARCELONA, SPAIN – Newfound enthusiasm for the latest technologies, such as drones and smartphones, to improve the way aid is provided to people in disasters may be overblown, experts warn. The annual World Risk Report from the United Nations University (UNU) highlights the growing interest in new technologies to improve emergency response -- from drones that can survey crisis-hit areas to social media networks that allow survivors to communicate with the wider world. These can provide important information to the logisticians who organize aid delivery or health workers trying to track deadly diseases like Ebola in no-go areas, the report said. But Matthiasƒ Garschagen, a risk management expert with the UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), said it could not substitute for the basic infrastructure some countries have lacked for decades. "Too many people see technology as the main panacea for solving all the problems you have after disasters strike," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In a previous post I advised data scientists in training to build stuff. This post gets more specific. Here's what I mean when I say I'm doing data science. The raw stuff of data science is a collection of numbers and names. Measurements, prices, dates, times, products, titles, actions--everything is fair game. You can use images, text, audio, video and other complex data too, as long as you have a way to reduce it to numbers and names. The mechanics of getting data can be quite complex.

More than 60 years after it was blown up by two atomic blasts then later sunk off the cost of California, the wreckage of the historic USS Independence has been seen for the first time. After being found in April this year, the Ocean Exploration Trust (OET) has now explored the wreck with robotic submarines, and released the first close-up images of how the ship looks now. This exploration is revealing the ship holds war secrets, including a fighter plane within the sunken aircraft carrier. After being found in April this year, a team of divers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) has now explored the wreck with robotic submarines, and released the first close-up images of how the ship looks now. Walkway leading to personnel hatch near'gun tub' hanging over walkway on starboard side of ship is pictured USS Independence (CVL 22) operated in the central and western Pacific from November 1943 until August 1945.

Scientists have released incredible pictures of sunken light aircraft carrier USS Independence that were taken by underwater robots exploring the wreck. The historic ship, which served in World War II and was used in the atomic tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, was intentionally sunk off California in 1951. The 622-foot-long Independence sits in 2,600 feet of water in the Greater Farallones National Maritime Sanctuary. Experts on the research vessel E/V Nautilus are using two Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to study the ship, which has been described as "amazingly intact" by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists. The robots' initial dive began on Monday and they have already sent back a number of eerie images from the wreck.

Naturalist Charles Darwin believed the expanse of open ocean in the Pacific was an'impassable barrier' that separated species living on its east and west coasts. This, he argued, accounted for the differences seen in animals on each side of the ocean in much the same way as a mountain range or a desert may split habitats and lead to different species evolving on either side. Now researchers have proved him correct after showing that coral living in the eastern tropical Pacific are completely isolated from the rest of the ocean. Researchers have simulated how coral larvae spread across the Pacific Ocean using computer simulations. While coral themselves are invertebrates that form large static reefs fixed in place by their hard exoskeletons, they can spread by producing swarms of larvae that can colonise new areas.

Threat of AI taking over humankind could be one step closer to reality, as China is building a range of killer cruise missiles. The missiles, dubbed'death drones, will be equipped with artificial intelligence to guide them in flight and potentially even choose new targets. The country is leading the world in the development of AI weapons, a senior designer said today. China is building a range of killer cruise missiles which will be equipped with AI. President Xi Jinping is overseeing an ambitious military modernisation programme, including developing stealth fighters and building aircraft carriers.

Startup Civil Maps has a plan to get human-piloted cars to hasten their own demise. Autonomous vehicles like those being tested by Google, Uber, and major automakers rely on 3-D maps that record the position of curbstones and traffic lights with high accuracy. The maps are usually created by driving around in vehicles outfitted with expensive sensors. Civil Maps wants to use consumer cars as a low-cost mapping workforce instead, taking advantage of the sensors being added to premium models for advanced cruise control and crash avoidance. Those cheaper sensors can't match those in a dedicated mapping vehicle.

For the past several years, Google and other companies have been testing out self-driving car technology on public roads. But if you were a member of the general public, there was no way for you to ride around in a self-driving car. Uber is about to change that. Later this month in Pittsburgh, the ride-hailing company will offer the first self-driving car service that's available to the general public. It represents a big step toward transforming self-driving cars from a research prototype into a commercial service.

Ride-booking company Uber plans to offer customers self-driving cars in Pittsburgh soon. The vehicles will come with human backup drivers. Ride-booking company Uber plans to offer customers self-driving cars in Pittsburgh soon. The vehicles will come with human backup drivers. Uber is plowing ahead with its ambitious plan to make self-driving cars a reality.