Geoff Brumfiel

Geoff Brumfiel appears in the following:

Look Out, This Poker-Playing Computer Is Unbeatable

Thursday, January 08, 2015

Forget chess. Poker may be even harder for a computer. But a software program has now "solved" a variant of Texas Hold'em, the bot's creators say. And nothing can keep it from winning.

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SpaceX Plans A Perfect Landing

Monday, January 05, 2015

Update at 6:46 a.m. ET. Launch Scrubbed:

Early on Tuesday, SpaceX scrubbed a scheduled launch, citing technical problems. The next possible attempt is Friday at 5:09 ET, NASA said.

Our Original Post Continues:

Early Tuesday morning, the California firm SpaceX will launch a resupply mission carrying 5,000 pounds of ...

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A Vanished Jetliner Still Haunts Families Of The Missing

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Months after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared from radar screens, families of the lost passengers and crew struggle to cope. Many are unwilling to declare their loved ones dead.

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Birds Of A Feather Aren't Necessarily Related

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Geneticists have revised the evolutionary tree of birds, revealing some unlikely relationships.

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Glenn Close Ends 20-Year Broadway Hiatus With 'A Delicate Balance'

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Close stars as a suburban matron in a revival of Edward Albee's 1966 play. She tells NPR about the timelessness of Albee's play and getting a nosebleed in the middle of a recent matinee.

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Oh, Snap! NASA Promises Best Photo Yet Of Faraway Pluto

Monday, December 08, 2014

A spacecraft on its way to Pluto has just woken up from hibernation. By next month, scientists expect to have the first good pictures of the dwarf planet. All of the others have been, well, crummy.

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Lots Of Work Remains After Successful Orion Launch

Friday, December 05, 2014

NASA successfully launched and landed a test version of its next-generation Orion spacecraft on Friday morning. The unmanned test is the first for the follow-on to the shuttle.

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NASA To Test Orion Spacecraft For Long Future Missions

Wednesday, December 03, 2014

NASA plans to launch an unmanned capsule named "Orion" from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday. NASA hopes that Orion will one day carry astronauts beyond Earth's orbit and even to Mars.

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NASA Prepares To Test New Spacecraft (That You've Likely Never Heard Of)

Tuesday, December 02, 2014

The new vehicle, named Orion, is designed to carry humans into deep space. But most Americans aren't aware it exists.

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Astronauts Will Enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner In Space

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Two NASA astronauts are aboard the International Space Station. Turkey is on the menu but not pumpkin pie. NASA can't make pumpkin pie in space because the crust doesn't come out right.

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Comet Lander's Big Bounce Caught On Camera

Monday, November 17, 2014

Updated at 3:45PM ET

It was the first ever landing on a comet, and it was perfect.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the journey for the European Space Agency's unmanned Philae lander. After touching down on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, the lander bounced off the surface and flew a kilometer ...

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Pentagon Plans To Spend Billions Upgrading Nuclear Program

Friday, November 14, 2014

After a major investigation into America's nuclear forces, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel says that he will be investing billions of dollars into the system, and changing to the way it's managed.

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Have ISIS And Al-Qaida Stopped Fighting, Started Cooperating?

Friday, November 14, 2014

For more than a year, the so-called Islamic State and al-Qaida have viewed each other as rivals. Now, reports out of Syria suggest the two may have worked out a truce.

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U.S. Strategy On ISIS Comes Under Fire At Congressional Hearing

Thursday, November 13, 2014

At the first congressional hearing on ISIS since the U.S. began bombing that force in Syria, Republicans called for U.S. boots on the ground, while Democrats questioned whether Iraq's...

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After Bouncy Landing, Philae Lander At Rest On Comet

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Scientists have established contact with the lander, but they're not sure where on the comet it is. The lander apparently bounced after touching down, and its future may be uncertain.

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Successful Comet Landing A Major Step For Space Exploration

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

The European Space Agency on Wednesday successfully landed a probe on the surface of a comet — something that has never been done before. But scientists say the lander may not be fully secure.

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Comet's Rugged Landscape Makes Landing A Roll Of The Dice

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The European Space Agency is about to try to put a probe where none has gone before: on the surface of a comet.

The lander, called Philae, is set to be released from the Rosetta spacecraft early Wednesday ET. If all goes as planned, it will undergo a seven-hour ...

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Researchers To Attempt Robotic Landing On Comet's Surface

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Putting a probe on a comet's surface would be a first for mankind. But it doesn't look like it will be easy.

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Even After SpaceShipTwo Crash, Many Space Tourists Hold On To Tickets

Friday, November 07, 2014

The dream of hundreds of space tourists was dealt a blow last Friday when Virgin Galactic's experimental SpaceShipTwo broke up over California's Mojave Desert. The pilot was injured and the co-pilot died in the accident.

But many are still holding on to their tickets.

"We're in a testing ...

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Test Flight Crash Fails To Deter Space Tourists

Friday, November 07, 2014

Last week, a commercial spaceship built by Virgin Galactic crashed during a test flight. More than 700 had signed up for flights on the craft, and many are sticking with the project — for now.

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