🌎 “It’s hard as (beep)”
See the tech that got Blue Ghost to the Moon.
Hey Freethinkers,
I’m Kristin Houser, the new Managing Editor of Freethink. If my name looks familiar, that’s because I’ve been a staff writer for the site for the past five years, and you’ve likely seen my pieces highlighted in this very newsletter.
I’m looking forward to taking on this new role and making sure you’re caught up on Freethink’s latest and greatest content. This week, that means a new video from the team at Hard Reset, who recently got a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into a moon mission.
Also on deck: my interview with Bernt Øyvind Børnich, CEO of 1X Technologies, a startup sending humanoid housekeepers into people’s homes.
Read on,
Kristin
HARD RESET
Moon landings are back, baby!
Most things get way easier after you figure out how to do them the first time, but that hasn’t been the case for landing on the moon—nearly 60 years after the first “soft” moon landing, lunar missions still regularly fail. No surprise, then, that the team at space startup Firefly Aerospace was a little on edge when Hard Reset stopped by just prior to the launch of their first lunar lander. Watch the video to find out what went into giving Blue Ghost the highest possible chance of success—and whether the effort paid off when the lander reached the moon.
IN THE KNOW
America’s teens are feeling (a little) better
by @StefanFSchubert on X
About 15 years ago, anxiety, depression, and suicide rates began increasing in America’s teens and young adults. Researchers have yet to figure out why this started happening, but a new analysis by The Economist suggests the trend could be reversing itself.
MORE ON THIS STORY
Why is anxiety spiking in young people but not older adults?
Potato chips or heroin? The debate on social media and mental health
My anxious generation: The unforeseen toll of a digital childhood
FUTURE EXPLORED
Humanoid helpers are now entering our homes
Dishwashers and Roombas have freed us from the tedium of two chores, but what if you could own a single robot that did them all and was always down for a game or conversation? Robotics startup 1X Technologies is developing such a bot, and in this week’s Future Explored, Freethink talked to its CEO Bernt Øyvind Børnich about his company’s mission to get the humanoid into thousands of homes before the end of the year.
WORTH SHARING
Everything about humanity is changing—except our bodies
Life today looks nothing like the past. Deadly diseases have vanished, food is much easier to produce, and we have more control over our world than ever before. But while everything around us moves fast, our bodies are struggling to keep up. Biologist and author Sean B. Carroll reveals how these changes are challenging our evolution.
Kristin Houser is the managing editor at Freethink.
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