Imagine a future where humans live in huge'space oases' on Mars – luxury indoor habitats made of heat-reflective material that grow their own food. Robots are sent into the vast Martian wilderness, where they explore without the risk of exhaustion, radiation poisoning or dust contamination. Enormous space stations and satellites are manufactured in orbit, AI is trusted to make critical decisions, and the whole solar system is connected by a vast internet network. While this sounds like science-fiction, the European Space Agency (ESA) hopes it will become a reality in just 15 years. In a new report, the agency – which represents more than 20 countries including the UK – outlines an ambitious vision for space exploration by 2040.

At the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, an exhibit called The Home of Tomorrow laid out a vision of a futuristic living space. It included outlandish predictions including personal helicopter pads, but it also foreshadowed central air conditioning, automatic dishwashers, and other innovations that have become integral parts of modern life. As we envision the home of the future, it's easy to get caught up in sci-fi-inspired predictions of fully autonomous homes serviced by robotic butlers and disembodied virtual assistants that remove the humanity from our living spaces. Here at Popular Science, we reject that vision. For the inaugural Home of the Future Awards, we have selected 25 products that augment life at home by making it more efficient, affordable, accessible, and--ultimately--more enjoyable. We test, preview, and evaluate hundreds of products per year and these products deserve a chance to cohabitate with you and the people who matter to you. A flat top grill is one of the most versatile ways to cook just about anything from pancakes to burgers, but temperature control is key.

TL;DR: Windows 10 reaches end of support on Oct. 14. Get Windows 11 Pro for a one-time 14.97 and enjoy performance boosts, built-in AI tools, and gaming upgrades. The countdown is on--Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 on Oct. 14, 2025. That means no more critical updates, no security patches, and no more excuses to put off upgrading. If you're still clinging to your current setup, now's the time to make the switch to Windows 11 Pro.

For many people, sitting back in the dentist's chair can already be a terrifying experience. But now a trip to the dentist could get a whole lot scarier as an AI-powered robot completes its first unsupervised procedure on a live human. The robot, developed by US-based company Perspective, successfully carried out a crown replacement in just 15 minutes - eight times faster than a human specialist. To carry out the procedure, the patient's mouth was first mapped with a 3D scanner before an AI planned and carried out the operation autonomously. Dr Chris Ciriello, CEO and founder of Perceptive, says: 'This medical breakthrough enhances precision and efficiency of dental procedures, and democratizes access to better dental care, for improved patient experience and clinical outcomes.'

OpenAI just announced that it recently conducted a small-scale preview of a new tool called Voice Engine. This is a voice cloning technology that can mimic any speaker by analyzing a 15-second audio sample. The company says it generates "natural-sounding speech" with "emotive and realistic voices." The technology is based on the company's pre-existing text-to-speech API and it has been in the works since 2022. OpenAI has already been using a version of the toolset to power the preset voices available in the current text-to-speech API and the Read Aloud feature. There are a bunch of samples on the company's official blog and they sound eerily close to the real thing.

As technological advancement is in full swing and making the shift towards digitization, IT technology developers are making efforts to develop software to ease the work which is being done by manually. In this regard, one such technological advancement is Intelligent Automation, a unification of artificial intelligence and automation. The eruption of intelligent automation has revolutionized the way data is handled and processed. Intelligent automation systems sense and synthesize huge volume of information and automate entire processes and operational workflows in an organization and adapt it. Already, it is assisting a large number of business enterprises in order to meet the demand, intensify efficiency and implement new business models.

Drones are being used to carry Covid-19 test samples and other medical materials up to 40 miles (64km) across four locations in western Scotland. London drone firm Skyports has become the first operator to receive permission from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to carry diagnostic specimens by drone. Cargo – including test samples, medicine, personal protective equipment (PPE) and Covid-19 testing kits – is being transported by the drones in the Argyll & Bute region. A whole fleet of the drones are carrying up to 3kg of the supplies each, improving services for patients and healthcare staff in one of the UK's most remote areas. Drones can complete a journey that takes a whopping 36 hours by road and ferry to just 15 minutes, while increasing the frequency of pick-ups.

Automata, a robotics firm in London, thinks it can fix this lag in uptake. Its robotic arm costs just $7,500 and is sold under the name Eva (yes, it is named after the robot in WALL-E). The company hopes to widen access to robots by focusing only on the more basic functions that small firms actually need. It is backed by $9.5 million from several investors, including robotics giant ABB.

Despite concerns over facial recognition's impact on civil liberties, public agencies have continued to apply the tool liberally across the U.S. with one of the biggest deployments coming to an airport near you. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that it plans to expand its application of facial recognition to 97 percent of all passengers departing the U.S. by 2023, according to the Verge. By comparison, facial recognition technology is deployed in just 15 airports, according to figures recorded at the end of 2018. In what is being referred to as'biometric exit,' the agency plans to use facial recognition to more thoroughly track passengers entering and leaving the country. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that it plans to expand its application of facial recognition to 97 percent of all passengers departing the U.S. by 2023 The system functions by taking a picture of passengers before they depart and then cross-referencing the image with a database containing photos of passports and visas.