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ESA Begins Designing Mission to Return NASA’s Mars Samples to Earth
The ESA has just awarded a $5.2 million contract for Airbus to create a concept design for a sample collection rover.

Google Duplex AI Could Be Headed to Call Centers
The next customer service rep you speak to could be a machine. Welcome to your dystopian nightmare.

Microsoft Announces Surface Go: Lighter, Faster, More Affordable
Microsoft's new Surface Go is here — and it improves on the older Surface 3 by every metric.

NASA Puts Kepler Spacecraft to Sleep as Mission Winds Down
There's no fuel gauge on the spacecraft, but engineers can calculate how much it has used with a high degree of accuracy. Therefore, the craft is in hibernation mode to conserve what little is left in the tanks.

AMD’s Chinese Joint Venture Now Shipping ‘Homegrown’ x86 CPUs
A little over two years ago, AMD announced that it had formed a new joint venture with THATIC (Tianjin Haiguang Advanced Technology Investment Co., Ltd) to build custom SoCs for the Chinese server market. The deal was instrumental in keeping AMD cash-positive at the time. AMD had lost $660M in 2015 and $497M in 2016,…

Enceladus, Not Europa, Could Be the Best Place to Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Saturn's moon Enceladus has many of the same properties as Europa, and our greater knowledge of this moon could make it easier to detect life.

HTC’s Sales Drop 68% After Latest Flagship Phone Launch
The company has been losing money quarter after quarter for years, but this may be the beginning of the end.

Researching the Protoplanet That Smashed Into Uranus
There's new research into the protoplanet that likely knocked Uranus over billions of years ago and transformed the planet in the process.

Samsung, ARM Expand Collaboration in HPC at 7nm, 5nm
Samsung is expanding its partnership with ARM at 7nm and 5nm and preparing to build machines for HPC and server markets.

Nikon Rumored To Be Launching Two Full-Frame Mirrorless Models
At long last Nikon is getting close to launching a pro mirrorless model. In fact, it appears there may actually be two. How well they do will have a lot to do with the success of the rumored "Z" lens mount.

The Galaxy Note 9 Will Have a Bluetooth S Pen, and It’s About Time
The Note series has been using the same basic stylus technology all these years, but that could change with the Galaxy Note 9.

Specs Leak on Upcoming Ryzen 5 2500X, Ryzen 3 2300X
There's a new set of Ryzen CPUs coming if rumors are accurate — say hello to the 2300X and 2500X.