Technology

The world’s first barcode, designed in 1948, took more than 25 years to make it out of the lab and onto a retail package. Since then, the barcode has done much more than make grocery checkouts faster—it has remade our understanding of how physical objects can be identified and tracked, creating a new pace and…

At long last, NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is on its way. After overcoming financial and technological hurdles, the $5 billion mission launched on October 14 from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. It is now en route to its target: Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa, whose frozen shell almost certainly conceals a warm saltwater ocean. When the spacecraft…

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. What do jumping spiders find sexy? How DIY tech is offering insights into the animal mind. Studying the minds of other animals comes with a challenge that human psychologists don’t usually face: Your…