Camera Small Enough for a Beetle Offers Peek at Insect Life

Honey, I Shrunk the Camera

To learn more about life at the insect level, researchers at the University of Washington have designed a tiny camera that’s small and light enough to be carried on the back of a bug (or a bug-size robot). Weighing just 248 milligrams, the device wirelessly connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth, so not only can the operator see what the bug sees, but they can also control the camera that moves on a 60-degree arm. While the camera can take only black-and-white video at just 160 x 120 pixels and five frames per second, researchers say this is not dissimilar to the tradeoffs insects make between their small size and vision abilities. Source: New Atlas

Rolling Out

After a yearlong pilot in New York City, Google Maps is deploying a feature to 23 cities worldwide that integrates the mapping service with bike-share information. Using data from bike-share firm Ito World, Google users can now find docking stations, number of available bikes and more. Apple Maps released a similar feature, also working with Ito World, in 2018.
Source: The Verge

$12.1 Billion

The amount of equity-based investments in the space technology sector in the second quarter of 2020, according to investment firm Space Capital.
Source: Tech Crunch

27%

Thanks in part to people spending less time socializing in person and more time on their phones during the COVID-19 pandemic, the downloads from U.S. app stores between April and June were up 27.4 percent over Chinese stores, the first time the U.S. has led since 2014. Business and education apps saw the greatest growth in the American market. Perhaps unsurprisingly, downloads in the navigation, travel and sports categories were down.
Source: Tech Crunch