Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: A Microsoft blog post notes the company has lined up K-12 educators to sing the praises of Minecraft Education Edition at the Future of Education Technology Conference, where it'll also be pitching Microsoft Education in general. A 2019 Recap of Minecraft: Education Edition (and an accompanying video) highlight Microsoft's success in getting teachers to use Minecraft to teach subjects across the K-12 curriculum, not just Hour of Code tutorials. Microsoft's ambitions for Minecraft were tipped in a 2015 press release, which included the lofty claim that "Minecraft has the power to transform learning on a global scale...."

There are some teacher walkthrough videos available for review, like the unlisted one for Math Bed Wars! , a Common Core-aligned Minecraft-based lesson that teaches multiplication commutativity ("Students build arrays to show commutative properties of multiplication while constructing defenses as part of a Minecraft mini-game"). The lesson plan for Math Bed Wars! warns that children who fail to get enough hands-on Minecraft play time aren't likely to get much of a math education:

"While there is not much actually doing of math in the section of the lesson plan, it is by far the most important. It is in the game play where they get its meaning, and deeper thinking happens. For example, they will start thinking how to use math to build strategically. However, the most important part is what it does for the students' engagement across math. So please give them at least 30 minutes of game play, even if you have to break up the lesson into two days."

Is it okay for schools to make children play Microsoft Minecraft if the kids want to learn math and other subjects?

Space News reports on Boeing's Saturday update about the "Starliner" spacecraft which cut short a test flight last week: Boeing emphasized the good condition of the spacecraft, which showed "little scorching" from reentry and used only a fraction of its onboard propellant reserved for reentry, which the company said confirmed aerodynamic models of the spacecraft. The interior of the Starliner cabin appeared the same after landing as it did before its Dec. 20 launch from Cape Canaveral, the company noted, evidence that "the Starliner's fully operational life support system functioned as intended and the layout of the interior is well-suited to support crew members in the future."

The statement, though, provided no updates on the timer problem that turned what was originally an eight-day mission into a two-day one without a planned docking at the International Space Station. The spacecraft's mission elapsed timer, which is set by communicating with its Atlas 5 rocket prior to liftoff, was off by 11 hours. That caused the spacecraft to think it was on the wrong phase of its mission after separation from the rocket's upper stage, triggering thruster firings that used excessive amounts of fuel until ground controllers could take over and turn off the thrusters. Why the timer was off, particularly by such a large amount, any why it wasn't detected prior to launch is not known. "If I knew, it wouldn't have happened," said Jim Chilton, senior vice president for Boeing's space and launch division, at a Dec. 21 briefing. "We are surprised. A very large body of integrated tests, approved by NASA, didn't surface this."
"Further complicating matters, at the time when the engines should have fired, the spacecraft was out of coverage from communications satellite," notes the Motley Fool: This prevented override commands from NASA from reaching the spacecraft, correcting the error, and salvaging the mission. By the time NASA was able to reestablish communication, Starliner lacked sufficient fuel to correct course and dock...

NASA and Boeing tried to put a brave face on things, but there's no denying this was a disappointment.
Although Space News also notes that after the landing, "NASA leadership stated that the problem, once understood and corrected, would not necessarily prevent Boeing from proceeding with a crewed test flight."

"A new intercontinental weapon that can fly 27 times the speed of sound became operational Friday, Russia's defense minister reported to President Vladimir Putin," according to the Associated Press: Putin has described the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle as a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite. The new Russian weapon and a similar system being developed by China have troubled the United States, which has pondered defense strategies. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Putin that the first missile unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle entered combat duty... [Putin] noted that Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 Celsius (3,632 Fahrenheit) resulting from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds... It carries a nuclear weapon of up to 2 megatons.

Putin has said Russia had to develop the Avangard and other prospective weapons systems because of U.S. efforts to develop a missile defense system that he claimed could erode Russia's nuclear deterrent. Moscow has scoffed at U.S. claims that its missile shield isn't intended to counter Russia's massive missile arsenals... Earlier this week, Putin emphasized that Russia is the only country armed with hypersonic weapons. He noted that for the first time Russia is leading the world in developing an entire new class of weapons, unlike in the past when it was catching up with the U.S... The Defense Ministry said last month it demonstrated the Avangard to a team of U.S. inspectors as part of transparency measures under the New Start nuclear arms treaty with the U.S.

U.S. officials have talked about putting a layer of sensors in space to more quickly detect enemy missiles, particularly the hypersonic weapons. The administration also plans to study the idea of basing interceptors in space, so the U.S. can strike incoming enemy missiles during the first minutes of flight when the booster engines are still burning.

The Pentagon also has been working on the development of hypersonic weapons in recent years, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in August that he believes "it's probably a matter of a couple of years" before the U.S. has one.

USA Today wondered how this decade's new construction would look from space. "With the help of Maxar, a provider of advanced, space-based technology solutions, Google and NASA, we've taken many more steps back -- more than 300 miles above Earth to be exact." As Apple stormed toward becoming one of the most valuable companies on the planet, its campus in Cupertino, California, took the shape of a dial on the original iPods -- the product that marked Apple's reemergence as tech leader at the turn of the century.

Apple's 175-acre, space-age architectural marvel stands out as a monument to tech. The same might be said for tourism, trade and energy about the ostentatious structures and engineering feats that emerged from the sands of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Thirteen of the largest buildings in the world were completed in Dubai -- the most in any city -- during the past decade, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
Their article also includes before-and-after pictures of disaster sites like Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactors and the California regions devasated by 2018's Camp Fire.