NASA has just flown a helicopter on Mars for the first time

All US adults are now eligible to get vaccinated 

Sponsored by Salesforce The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology A historic flight 04.20.21 Good morning! Today: NASA has flown an aircraft on another planet for the first time, and all US adults are now eligible to get covid-19 vaccinations. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. NASA has just flown a helicopter on Mars for the first time   The news: NASA has flown an aircraft on another planet for the first time. On Monday, April 19, Ingenuity, a 1.8-kilogram drone helicopter, took off from the surface of Mars, flew up about three meters, then swiveled and hovered for 40 seconds. The historic moment was livestreamed on YouTube, and Ingenuity captured the photo above with one of its two cameras. The details: The flight was a significant technical challenge, thanks to Mars’s bone-chilling temperatures (nights can drop down to -130 °F/-90 °C) and its incredibly thin atmosphere—just 1% the density of Earth’s. That meant Ingenuity had to be light, with rotor blades that were bigger and faster than would be needed to achieve liftoff on Earth. Why it’s significant: Beyond being a significant milestone for Mars exploration, the flight will also pave the way for engineers to think about new ways to explore other planets. Future drone helicopters could help rovers or even astronauts by scoping out locations, exploring inaccessible areas, and capturing images. What’s next: In the next few weeks, Ingenuity will conduct four more flights, testing the limits of Ingenuity’s capabilities. Ingenuity is expected to stop functioning around May 4. Its final resting place will be in the Jezero Crater as NASA moves on to the main focus of its mission: getting the Perseverance rover to study Mars for evidence of life. We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Many of us feel we've lost the art of small talk. This brilliantly fun piece will help you get it back.    + Running is a great way to exercise, but it's hard to get started. Here are some tips. (NYT $)    + Screaming at these ice cream bowls.   + This photo of Faye Dunaway in 1977 the morning after winning an Oscar is, as they say, a big mood.    + A reminder that Window Swap is one of the best things on the internet (thanks Penelope!) Sponsor Message Building customer relationships with conversational AI Artificial intelligence has developed to the point where chatbots and virtual assistants can have more nuanced interactions with humans—and that opens a wealth of possibilities. Learn more here. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 All US adults are now eligible to get vaccinated And more than 3 million doses a day are being administered. (Axios)   + Despite that, a fifth of seniors remain unvaccinated. (NYT $)   + People are posting post-vaccination happy dances on social media. (NPR)   + Which states have been worst affected by the pandemic? (Axios)   + Vaccines are great, but we need drugs that prevent people catching covid-19 too. (Wired UK)   + India is opening up vaccination eligibility for all adults as it battles a huge spike in infections. (Quartz)   + Senators want social media companies to do more about vaccine misinformation superspreaders. (Vox)  2 A union says Amazon broke the law in the recent vote It's filed an official legal complaint, asking for the "no" vote to be thrown out. (Wired $)   + Why Amazon workers didn't unionize. (NYT $)  3 Apple is going to reinstate Parler It says Parler has improved its content moderation practices enough to justify a return. (Bloomberg $)   4 The Clubhouse craze is slowing Downloads of the app fell by 72% last month. (The Wrap)   + That hasn't put off the investors. (CNBC)   + Reddit launched its Clubhouse competitor product yesterday. (The Verge)   + As did Facebook. (The Guardian)  5 New artificial neural networks can solve equations very, very quickly Impressive. (Quanta)   6 The UK will investigate the proposed $40 billion sale of chip design company Arm A mere seven months after the sale was announced. (FT $)   + Why the chip shortage is so hard to overcome. (WSJ $)  7 How to fix online harassment  If social media platforms let third parties build moderation and safety tools, that could do a lot of good. (Wired UK)   + A feminist internet would be better for everyone. (TR)  8 Facebook says it'll launch its digital currency this year But in a much more limited form that it originally envisaged. (CNBC)   + The UK is going to investigate launching its own digital currency too. (Engadget)  9 Could we create VR for senses other than sight? This is a tantalizing prospect. (Gizmodo)   10 This is the whitest paint ever This could be a useful little tool in the fight against climate change. (Earther) Innovative leaders from Google Cloud, Microsoft, GitLab, Cisco, and more are coming to EmTech Next. Join them as they share the latest technological advancements and trusted leadership strategies required to excel in the next 12 months. Register now. Quote of the Day “It’s like living in a city perpetually choked with smog, and suddenly one day you wake up and the sky is blue, the birds are singing, and you can finally take a full, nontoxic breath.” —Matt Leece, 29, a music professor, tells the New York Times how he feels now Trump's no longer on Twitter.  Top image credit: NASA Please send small talk to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up today Don't settle for half the story. Subscribe to MIT Technology Review for paywall-free access to our journalism. Subscribe now Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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