Technologies

ESA Names Astronaut Candidate With a Physical Disability, in a First

«Science is for everyone,» Paralympian and surgical trainee John McFall says. «And space travel, hopefully, can be for everyone.»

John McFall is a trauma and orthopedic surgical trainee in England. In 2014, he graduated with a bachelor of medicine and surgery degree from the Cardiff University School of Medicine, and until 2016, was a doctor with the British National Health Service.

Married with three children, the 41-year-old McFall spends his free time running and mountain biking – and now he’s been selected by the European Space Agency to be the first astronaut candidate in history with a physical disability.

«I’ve always been hugely interested in science, generally, and space exploration has always been on my radar,» McFall said in a video interview with ESA. «But having had a motorcycle accident when I was 19 –like wanting to join the armed forces –having a disability was always a contraindication to doing that.»

Following that motorcycle accident, which occurred in the early 2000s, McFall had to have his right leg amputated.

The astronaut candidate roster released by ESA Wednesday includes eight women, or nearly half the total pool. The 17 members of the 2022 roster consists of five career astronauts, 11 members of an astronaut reserve and McFall himself, part of the «parastronaut» program.

«This ESA astronaut class is bringing ambition, talent and diversity in many different forms – to drive our endeavors, and our future,» ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said in a statement. «The continuous exploration in low Earth orbit on the International Space Station, going forward to the Moon – and beyond.»

McFall’s amputation didn’t stop him from learning to walk, and even run, again.

He became a professional track and field athlete in 2005, representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a Paralympic sprinter – and has been crowned with titles including Paralympic World Cup Champion, 200 meters, in 2007 and World Silver Medalist, 100 meters, in 2006. McFall also took prizes in anatomy and dissection during medical school and was runner-up in 2018 for the Queen Alexandra Hospital Junior Doctor Awards.

So when ESA announced last year that it was looking for astronaut applicants who have a disability but are otherwise qualified for space expeditions –a «parastronaut,» the agency dubs the position –McFall jumped at the opportunity.

«For the parastronaut feasibility project,» the agency stated during its open call, «ESA is looking for individual(s) who are psychologically, cognitively, technically and professionally qualified to be an astronaut but have a physical disability that would normally prevent them from being selected due to the requirements imposed by the use of current space hardware.»

The goal, according to ESA, is to invest in learning how to enable a more diverse pool of space explorers for the next generation of extraterrestrial science.

It’s a timely aspiration with talk of settling Mars in the near future and planting more boot prints on the moon with NASA’s Artemis program, now well underway. In an overview of the endeavor, the organization says it intends to allocate an initial budget of 1 million euros ($1.039 million) for this project, directed toward understanding what kinds of tools and technical adjustments would help a parastronaut thrive both in zero-gravity environments and during the intense journey beyond Earth.

«I read the persons specification and what it entailed,» McFall said of seeing the application for the first time, «I thought I would be a very good candidate to help ESA answer the question they were asking: Can we get someone with a physical disability into space?»

Together with international partners and crew vehicle providers, ESA plans to work with McFall to identify potential adaptations that’ll eventually enable an astronaut with a physical disability to fly to space and partake in important science investigations. They’ll likely examine things such as how prosthetic limbs operate off-Earth, how exercise would work for someone with an amputated limb and perhaps whether some structural modifications can create better access for a disabled person to float around the ISS.

«If there is one thing we have learned by working on the International Space Station (ISS), it is that there is great value in diversity,» ESA said in its overview. «Including people with special needs also means benefiting from their extraordinary experience, ability to adapt to difficult environments, and point of view.»

In the same vein, McFall said he’s excited about using his skills at problem solving, identifying issues and overcoming obstacles to help people with a physical disability perform jobs as do their counterparts without a disability.

«Science is for everyone,» McFall said. «And space travel, hopefully, can be for everyone.»

Technologies

How to Get Verizon’s New Internet Plan for Just $25 Per Month

Technologies

This $20K Humanoid Robot Promises to Tidy Your Home. But There Are Strings Attached

The new Neo robot from 1X is designed to do chores. It’ll need help from you — and from folks behind the curtain.

It stands 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs about as much as a golden retriever and costs near the price of a brand-new budget car.

This is Neo, the humanoid robot. It’s billed as a personal assistant you can talk to and eventually rely on to take care of everyday tasks, such as loading the dishwasher and folding laundry.

Neo doesn’t work cheap. It’ll cost you $20,000. And even then, you’ll still have to train this new home bot, and possibly need a remote assist as well.

If that sounds enticing, preorders are now open (for a mere $200 down). You’ll be signing up as an early adopter for what Neo’s maker, a California-based company called 1X, is calling a «consumer-ready humanoid.» That’s opposed to other humanoids under development from the likes of Tesla and Figure, which are, for the moment at least, more focused on factory environments.

Neo is a whole order of magnitude different from robot vacuums like those from Roomba, Eufy and Ecovacs, and embodies a long-running sci-fi fantasy of robot maids and butlers doing chores and picking up after us. If this is the future, read on for more of what’s in store.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

What the Neo robot can do around the house

The pitch from 1X is that Neo can do all manner of household chores: fold laundry, run a vacuum, tidy shelves, bring in the groceries. It can open doors, climb stairs and even act as a home entertainment system.

Neo appears to move smoothly, with a soft, almost human-like gait, thanks to 1X’s tendon-driven motor system that gives it gentle motion and impressive strength. The company says it can lift up to 154 pounds and carry 55 pounds, but it is quieter than a refrigerator. It’s covered in soft materials and neutral colors, making it look less intimidating than metallic prototypes from other companies.

The company says Neo has a 4-hour runtime. Its hands are IP68-rated, meaning they’re submersible in water. It can connect via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 5G. For conversation, it has a built-in LLM, the same sort of AI technology that powers ChatGPT and Gemini.

The primary way to control the Neo robot will be by speaking to it, just as if it were a person in your home.

Still, Neo’s usefulness today depends heavily on how you define useful. The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern got an up-close look at Neo at 1X’s headquarters and found that, at least for now, it’s largely teleoperated, meaning a human often operates it remotely using a virtual-reality headset and controllers.

«I didn’t see Neo do anything autonomously, although the company did share a video of Neo opening a door on its own,» Stern wrote last week.

1X CEO Bernt Børnich told her that Neo will do most things autonomously in 2026, though he also acknowledged that the quality «may lag at first.»

The company’s FAQ says that for any chore request Neo doesn’t know how to accomplish, «you can schedule a 1X Expert to guide it» to help the robot «learn while getting the job done.»

What you need to know about Neo and privacy

Part of what early adopters are signing up for is to let Neo learn from their environment so that future versions can operate more independently.

That learning process raises privacy and trust questions. The robot uses a mix of visual, audio and contextual intelligence — meaning it can see, hear and remember interactions with users throughout their homes.

«If you buy this product, it is because you’re OK with that social contract,» Børnich told the Journal. «It’s less about Neo instantly doing your chores and more about you helping Neo learn to do them safely and effectively.»

Neo’s reliance on human operation behind the scenes prompted a response from John Carmack, a computer industry luminary known for his work with VR systems and the lead programmer of classic video games including Doom and Quake.

«Companies selling the dream of autonomous household humanoid robots today would be better off embracing reality and selling ‘remote operated household help’,» he wrote in a post on the X social network (formerly Twitter) on Monday.

1X says it’s taking steps to protect your privacy: Neo listens only when it recognizes it’s being addressed, and its cameras will blur out humans. You can restrict Neo from entering or viewing specific areas of your home, and the robot will never be teleoperated without owner approval, the company says.

But inviting an AI-equipped humanoid to observe your home life isn’t a small step.

The first units will ship to customers in the US in 2026. There is a $499 monthly subscription alternative to the $20,000 full-purchase price, though that will be available at an unspecified later date. A broader international rollout is promised for 2027.

Neo’s got a long road ahead of it to live up to the expectations set by Rosie the Robot in The Jetsons way back when. But this is no Hanna-Barbera cartoon. What we’re seeing now is a much more tangible harbinger of change.

Technologies

I Wish Nintendo’s New Switch 2 Zelda Game Was an Actual Zelda Game

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment has great graphics, a great story and Zelda is actually in it. But the gameplay makes me wish for another true Zelda title instead.

I’ve never been a Hyrule Warriors fan. Keep that in mind when I say that Nintendo’s new Switch 2-exclusive Zelda-universe game has impressed me in several ways, but the gameplay isn’t one of them. Still, this Zelda spinoff has succeeded in showing off the Switch 2’s graphics power. Now can we have a true Switch 2 exclusive Zelda game next?

The upgraded graphics in Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild has made the Switch 2 a great way to play recent Zelda games, which had stretched the Switch’s capabilities to the limit before. And they’re both well worth revisiting, because they’re engrossing, enchanting, weird, epic wonders. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, another in the Koei-Tecmo developed spinoff series of Zelda-themed games, is a prequel to Tears of the Kingdom. It’s the story of Zelda traveling back in time to ancient Hyrule, and the origins of Ganondorf’s evil. I’m here for that, but a lot of hack and slash battles are in my way.

A handful of hours in, I can say that the production values are wonderful. The voices and characters and worlds feel authentically Zelda. I feel like I’m getting a new chapter in the story I’d already been following. The Switch 2’s graphics show off smooth animation, too, even when battles can span hundreds of enemies.

But the game’s central style, which is endless slashing fights through hordes of enemies, gets boring for me. That’s what Hyrule Warriors is about, but the game so far feels more repetitive than strategic. And I just keep button-mashing to get to the next story chapter. For anyone who’s played Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, expect more of the same, for the most part.

I do like that the big map includes parts in the depths and in the sky, mirroring the tri-level appeal of Tears of the Kingdom. But Age of Calamity isn’t a free-wandering game. Missions open up around the map, each one opening a contained map to battle through. Along the way, you unlock an impressive roster of Hyrule characters you can control.

As a Switch 2 exclusive to tempt Nintendo fans to make the console upgrade, it feels like a half success. I admire the production values, and I want to keep playing just to see where the story goes. But as a purchase, it’s a distant third to Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World.

Hyrule Warriors fans, you probably know what you’re probably in for, and will likely get this game regardless. Serious Zelda fans, you may enjoy it just for the story elements alone.

As for me? I think I’ll play some more, but I’m already sort of tuning the game out a bit. I want more exploration, more puzzles, more curiosity. This game’s not about that. But it does show me how good a true next-gen Zelda could be on the Switch 2, whenever Nintendo decides to make that happen.