The Download: NASA’s new space telescope and OpenAI’s autonomous hacker
NASA is preparing to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to study exoplanets, while France has implemented a ban on social media for users under 15. Additionally, the startup PsiQuantum is working on developing a practical quantum computing machine.
Why it matters
These developments highlight significant progress in space exploration, digital regulation, and the race to achieve functional quantum computing.
Plus: France has become the first EU country to ban social media for under-15s.
This is today's edition of The Download , our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology.
When NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launches, as early as the end of next month, it will attempt one of astronomy’s most precise disappearing acts to date. It will carry the first space-bound “active” coronagraph, an instrument that effectively erases most of the light from a star during photography.
The technology will allow astronomers to take the first pictures of planets orbiting other stars that are similar to those in our solar system. Ultimately, it could pave the way for a future mission that could snap the first photos of Earth-like worlds.
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