The HPCMS Chronicle

By Gabriella Wilson What’s that? The 1st picture InSight took of Mars On November 28, 2018, InSight Lander, one of NASA’s spacecrafts that was commissioned to study and research Mars’ interior landed. InSight is planned to stay on Mars for almost two years (728 days) or in Mars time, one year and 40 sols (709 sols). According to The New York Times , this accomplishment has opened a door to answers of questions that astronomers and scientists have tried to answer for years. Questions like “how thick is the crust of Mars? How often does the ground shake with marsquakes? How big is Mars’s molten core? How much heat is flowing up from the decay of radioactive elements at the core?” Unlike NASA’s Opportunity and spirit rovers who studied Mars’ surface, InSight is a stationary probe in charge of studying the interior layers of the red planet The landing spot for InSight that NASA chose on Mars was the Elysium Planitia, which is located near the equator because of its flat surfac...

By Malcolm Mungo If you’re interested in robots, then you’ve come to the right place. Each day we’re growing in knowledge about robotics and AI. So I’m going to highlight a few recent major robotic advancements. The first bot we will be looking at is Atlas. This robot now has the amazing capability to do parkour. Parkour takes a lot of precision, so it’s super surprising that a robot can do it. According to LiveScience , “as Atlas navigates the challenges of the obstacle course, a slow-motion sequence emphasizes the precision in it’s movements as it leaps between platforms, each one measuring 16 inches (40 centimeters) high.” LiveScience even remarked how human-like Atlas’ coordination is. Atlas - Image from Boston Dynamics Even though agile robots are cool, making them be able to feel is even cooler. Some researchers at Johns Hopkins University created an electronic skin that allows prosthetic amputees to feel pressure and pain. This skin is called “e-dermis.” I told some of ...

By Cara Giardina Everyone has information. Whether it’s your criminal record, birth certificate, or even the password to your email. However, it is up to you to decide whether or not you would like someone else to know said information. Well, some media and large technology companies want to know all of everyone’s information, one way or another. Let’s start off with Facebook. Facebook is an extremely large social media website, with about 2.32 billion monthly users worldwide. That’s pretty big, right? Well, compare it to this. There are about 8 billion people on earth. That means that about ¼ of the total world population uses Facebook. However, Facebook has had many scandals lately. But do we know exactly why? It’s because they have been keeping track of account information, such as passwords, ID, posts, pictures, and they even track what you do on Facebook. Seemingly normal for a social media website, right? Well get this; they’ve been sharing it with other social media and...

By Malcolm Mungo Everyone uses smartphones, but which ones are the best? There are many phones, and only some of them will make it on to this list of best phones of 2018. Google Pixel 3 The Pixel 3 has stunning photos with sharp images and vibrant colors. And with the new feature Night sight, it can make any dark scene very visible. “I can definitely declare that the Pixel 3 is indeed one of the best phones of the year” said Lynn La on CNET . Google Pixel 3 - Image from Gadgets 360 Galaxy Note 9   This phone is the best of the other two Galaxy 9’s and has the best battery life. It also has the largest starting storage capacity and adjusts to your scene when taking photos. Galaxy Note 9 - Image from BGR OnePlus 6T The OnePlus 6T, being way better than the 5T, has dual rear cameras and is the first phone to include a fingerprint sensor on the screen. It’s also not too expensive when it comes to phones. The T6 varies from $500 to $600 dollars in cost. OnePlus ...