How to Add, Remove, and Rearrange Menu Bar Icons in macOS

The macOS menu bar is a great place for quickly accessing system and application functions using menu extras or “menulets”, but it can get cluttered pretty quickly as more and more icons vie for a space there.

If the corner of your Mac’s screen is fast becoming an eyesore, here are some quick and simple actions you can perform to bring order to the chaos, plus a few additional tips for making the most of Apple’s menu bar extras.

How to Rearrange Icons in the Menu Bar

Plenty of menu bar icons offer useful shortcuts to app and system functions, and may take up permanent residence on your screen. But left to their own devices, the arrangement of said icons is likely to become haphazard. Fortunately, re-organizing them is simple, once you know how to do it.

Hold down the Command (⌘) key.
Hover your mouse cursor over the icon you want to move.
Holding down the left mouse button, drag the icon into your preferred position on the menu bar. Other icons will step aside to make space for it.
Let go of the left mouse button.
Note that the Notifications icon in macOS is designed to sit in the far right corner of the menu bar and cannot be moved elsewhere.

How to Remove System Icons From the Menu Bar

Icons linked to system controls can be easily removed from the menu bar in the following way:

Hold down the Command (⌘) key.
Hover your mouse cursor over the icon you want to remove.
Holding down the left mouse button, drag the icon out of the menu bar and onto the desktop.
Let go of the left mouse button.
If the icon doesn’t vanish with a “whoosh” sound, then it was likely put there by a third-party app you or another user installed. In that case, look for an option in the associated app’s settings such as “Show in Menu Bar” and uncheck it.

How to Add System Icons to the Menu Bar

If you removed a system icon from the menu bar and would like it back, or if you’d like to add a fresh one, you can find options in the associated preference panes. For example, to reinstate the AirPlay icon in the menu bar:

Click the apple symbol in the far left of the menu bar and select System Preferences….

Select the Display preference pane.

At the bottom of the pane, check the box to “Show mirroring options in the menu bar when available”.
Similar menu bar options relating to Sound volume, Bluetooth, Siri, Time Machine, and Accessibility status can be found in their respective preference panes. In addition to Wi-Fi status (listed below), the Network pane will also offer “menulet” options for things like modems and VPNs if you have them set up, while menu bar icons related to keyboard, battery, user account, and date/time are located less obviously in the following preference pane menus and tabs:

• Keyboard -> Input Sources -> Show Input menu in menu bar.
• Energy Saver -> Show battery status in menu bar.
• Network -> Wi-Fi -> Show Wi-Fi status in menu bar.
• Users & Groups -> Login Options -> Show fast user switching menu as Full Name / Account Name / Icon.
• Date & Time -> Clock -> Show date and time in menu bar.

Menu Bar Extras

For one reason or another, some menulet options remain hidden in System Preferences by default. Interested users can find the full collection in the System folder: Open a Finder window, from the menu bar select Go -> Go to Folder…, and then navigate to /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras.

Some of the extras in this folder are pretty obscure, but one or two might come in handy – like Eject if you use an optical drive, or Ink if you connect a graphics tablet to your Mac, for example. Just double-click any that look useful and they’ll be added to the menu bar. They can be removed just as easily using the Command (⌘) key method described above.

Finally, users looking for a more comprehensive method of managing menu bar icons should consider third-party app Bartender 3 ($15).

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
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India inches ahead in the race to build a Hyperloop

Plenty of places have committed to exploring the economic viability of building a Hyperloop, but nobody has been brave enough to say they’ll actually construct one. It’s why the news coming out of India’s latest announcement is such a big deal, because it includes a pledge to build a working test track.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sir Richard Branson announced the partnership between Virgin Hyperloop One and the Indian state of Maharashtra. The deal will see the pair look into developing a high-speed link between the cities of Pune and Mumbai, with the route going via Mumbai International Airport.

At current speeds, it takes around three and a half hours to make the 100-mile journey, either on a train or by car. Hyperloop One believes that it can shrink that journey time down to a slender 25 minutes, as well as dramatically reducing freight times between Mumbai’s port and the inland Pune.

That’s important, since around a quarter of all the freight that passes through Mumbai’s ports has Pune as its destination or place of origin. A Hyperloop that carries freight between the two cities would potentially reduce 25 percent of all the heavy goods traffic on the roads.

New @Virgin @HyperloopOne in India could connect 26 million people, support 150 million passenger trips per year & help create a thriving, competitive megaregion https://t.co/IkYbfIs2yi pic.twitter.com/G4fh2WZ5TY

— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) February 18, 2018

Much like so many other nascent Hyperloop projects, the Mumbai – Pune project will begin with a six-month feasibility study. But, if the numbers come up right, then the state will press ahead to build a test track that will form a segment of the final planned route.

The test track is expected to be built within three years, meaning that India could be running test journeys by 2021. After plenty of further research and development work, and the economics work out, additional sections will be added to the line, which could be fully working as early as 2028.

Plans to build a longer test track as the first segment of a finished Hyperloop route were first floated by co-founder Josh Giegel early last year.

Source: Virgin

Tesla is bringing its home batteries to Canada

Tesla

Tesla is bringing its smart power grids to Canada. Tesla and Nova Scotia Power have agreed to take part in a pilot program, which would use a combination of Tesla’s Powerwall 2 home batteries and utility-grade Powerpack batteries to bolster the reliability of the region’s wind power production, Engadget reported.

The Elmsdale Intelligent Feeder project seeks to make use of excess power created by wind turbines to fill in the gaps of the area’s electrical grid. Whenever one of the area’s wind turbines generates excess power, it will be sent to one of Tesla’s Powerpacks. From there, the power will be distributed to local homes whenever there is an outage or one of the wind turbines fails to produce enough energy.

The test program is partially backed by the Canadian government, and is expected to go live before the end of February and run through 2019. The Tesla batteries will remain regardless of the outcome of the experiment. The decision to expand the program to other parts of the country will largely depend on Nova Scotia power. The company will likely judge the program based on how well it serves the interest of consumers and itself.

Regardless of the success or failure of this project, its initial impact will be rather limited, given the small size of it. Only about 300 homes will be served by Tesla’s smart power grid and, out of those 300, only 10 customers have installed Tesla’s Powerwall 2 home batteries. The other homes will be relying on the Powerpacks to distribute the power in the event of a shortage or an outage.

While the scope of this initial experiment isn’t particularly large, it does signal a growing interest in alternative forms of energy. These products do rely on power produced by traditional energy companies, but they can provide some security against blackouts and other outages.

This also can serve as a useful showcase for Elon Musk’s Tesla power batteries. The company has made gains in the area of electric cars, but many consumers may not be aware of the company’s home batteries. A successful test case in Elmsdale could be just what the company needs to expand the brand’s reach.

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Tokyo is planning to build the world’s tallest wooden skyscraper

Sumitomo Forestry

The Japanese architectural and construction firm Sumitomo Forestry Co. has announced plans for a 70-story tall skyscraper in Tokyo constructed of wood. Known as the W350 project, the structure will be 1,148 feet tall and will include residential apartments and public spaces on multiple floors, mixed with hotel, office, and retail space.

The Guardian, which dubbed it the “Plyscraper,” noted that the $5.6 billion cost of the project will be nearly twice that of a similar glass-and-steel conventional building. The company says that the cost of the project will decline due to technological advances, as the high-rise is not scheduled for completion until 2041.

In an outline of the project, Sumitomo said the structure would be made of 90 percent wooden materials, with crisscrossing steel braces to better withstand Japan’s high seismic activity.

In 2010, Japan enacted an ordinance requiring construction companies to use wood for public buildings. Sumitomo aims to take that a step further and “Change Cities into Forests” by using materials that are more environmentally friendly.

Wooden high-rise structures are gaining popularity around the world. Portland recently approved construction of the tallest all-wood building in the U.S., an 11-story office and apartment building known as Framework.

Brock Commons, a residential structure at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, is currently the tallest wooden building in the world at 174 feet tall. The building speed was a big factor, John Metras of UBC explained to ArchDaily. “We found that working with wood, we could reduce timelines for construction,” he said. “The assembly of the wood structure went up incredibly quickly, faster than we even expected.”

Vancouver may not hold the record for long, however, as an ambitious new project planned for Chicago is a residential high-rise that’s 800 feet and 80 stories tall.

The W350 project is scheduled for completion to coincide with the company’s 350th anniversary. Balconies on all four sides will help vegetation grow along the outside of the high-rise, all the way to the top floor. The company says the new building will be an example of “urban development that is kind for humans,” with more high-rises constructed from wood and covered with greenery “making over cities as forests.”

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Throat sensor helps you recover from a stroke

Your abilities to speak and swallow are frequently signs of how well you’re coping after a stroke, but measuring that is difficult. Microphones frequently can’t distinguish between the patient and ambient sounds, and there’s the not-so-small problem of making sensors that can hold up to the rigors of life outside of the hospital. Northwestern University may have a better way: its scientists have designed a wearable throat sensor that help diagnose and treat aphasia, a communication disorder typically associated with strokes. The wireless device tracks the vibration of your vocal cords to gauge your recovery and determine whether or not doctors need to intervene.

The sensor is not only more accurate than a mic, but considerably more comfortable and durable. A set of “novel materials” help it bend and stretch so that it’s not irritating your throat or breaking under stress. Doctors can see how you speak and swallow in real life, not just in the controlled conditions of a hospital room.

When combined with other sensors that track factors like heart functions, muscles and sleep, the throat tech promises a relatively unintrusive look at how your whole body is faring. It won’t guarantee a full recovery, but it could speed your progress and help you resume at least some of your daily routine.

Via: Phys.org

Source: Northwestern University

Air Force security hackathon leads to record payout

The US Air Force’s second security hackathon has paid dividends… both for the military and the people finding holes in its defenses. HackerOne has revealed the results of the Hack the Air Force 2.0 challenge from the end of 2017, and it led to volunteers discovering 106 vulnerabilities across roughly 300 of the USAF’s public websites. Those discoveries proved costly, however. The Air Force paid out a total of $103,883, including $12,500 for one bug — the most money any federal bounty program has paid to date.

The event also set a record for speed. On the first day (December 9th), the military and 24 hackers conducted a live event where they reported and fixed flaws as they happened. It took just 9 hours to fix 55 of the potential exploits.

HackerOne is keen to tout this as a success in the larger Hack the Pentagon program. White hat hackers have found over 3,000 holes since the program kicked off in spring 2016, and it’s a definite improvement over the 207 flaws found during the original Hack the Air Force from spring 2017. With that said, this shows that there’s still a lot of room for improvement. While it’s difficult to completely remain up to date (new flaws are bound to pop up), the Air Force isn’t yet at the point where exploits are relatively rare.

Via: Defense One

Source: BusinessWire

Everything you need to know about the SpaceX BFR project

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket managed a successful takeoff in early 2018, orbiting the Earth with a Tesla car inside and completing its in-space maneuvers, albeit with a bumpy landing. The company can rest on its laurels, right? Hardly.

That was certainly big news for the consumer space industry (which is now a real thing!), and promises interesting developments for the future. But SpaceX has grander plans, and is now primarily focused on BFR—which raises the question, what even is BFR? ICYMI, we’ve got an FAQ just for that question!

Elon Musk is involved in crazy stuff: What exactly is a BFR?

The BFR is an in-development, privately owned rocket that’s designed to go to Mars. The name is traditionally assumed to mean “Big F**king Rocket,” although there are signs that SpaceX is stepping back from this; they really meant it to stand for “Big Falcon Rocket,” they claim — for obvious reasons.

There aren’t many facts about the BFR available, but we do know that it’s designed to be around 350 feet tall, with an incredible 10.8 million pounds of thrust, which is a lot more than any rocket NASA has created. Notably, it’s also designed to be reusable, with a docking and redeploying system that would theoretically allow the rocket to keep traveling back and forth from Mars.

What’s the difference between Falcon Heavy and BFR?

Falcon Heavy is a very powerful rocket that’s being tested for basic space-related tasks, and obviously there’s already a model capable of entering orbit. The BFR is still a work in progress, and it’s a significantly more powerful rocket that is specifically designed to reach Mars.

The two rockets do appear to have a lot in common, however. SpaceX has been working on several rocket models lately, including Falcon Heavy, Falcon 9, and Dragon, all projects in the same general pool. It looks like the other rockets will see less development work going forward (with some potential for business expansion with Falcon Heavy) so that everyone can focus on BFR right now, essentially merging the projects together.

Okay, but how would people survive in flight—or on Mars, for that matter?

Whoa, now: The BFR is just a rocket. It’s a very exciting rocket, but it’s not exactly meant for squishy little humans. There’s a good reason that the Falcon Heavy only took a Tesla car up into orbit, and not any passengers—it’s not made to sustain life, and if it sees action in the future it will probably be an automated supply transport that would ferry materials to Mars that people would use for survival. So there’s the basic answer two both questions.

When it comes to the BFR specifically, the goal is to attach the rocket to a spaceship and fly them both around, something that SpaceX thinks will take around $10 billion to accomplish. Right now, SpaceX is mostly concerned with getting a viable rocket working. The spaceship part will probably come along in a couple years.

What are the long-term goals of the project?

Ambitious! But SpaceX has successfully passed a series of ambitious milestones, so nothing seems out of the question for this company. Let’s divide them into three general categories, as mentioned by Elon Musk in his various interviews about the BFR.

The Moon: The first long-term goal may be to head over to the moon and, you know, check up on it. The moon gets tossed around as a potential goal because it’s a lot safer target than Mars, both literally and financially. There are also plans to orbit the moon with a Dragon rocket, which may well be merged with BFR if SpaceX wants to keep focused. If the BFR isn’t looking quite ready for a Mars flight in several years, then it’s safe to bet that it will at least try to go to the moon.

Mars: The Mars plan is surprisingly detailed, even at this early juncture. The first Mars flight would confirm water resources and scout out potential hazards, while scanning for the best places to build power plants, mine minerals, and so on. The second flight would include a bare-bones crew that would start to build structures and produce reserves of fuel. Once a base is established, SpaceX intends to start a full-blown colony, with a final goal of transporting millions of people to a Mars habitat.

Like we said, ambitious.

Earth transport: In the near future, you can at least expect the BFR to rocket its way around the Earth. Part of Musk’s goal is to use the BFR as a transportation option that allows people to zoom nearly anywhere on our planet in about 30 minutes. Plus, early tests of this transportation project are far easier and safer than trying for a full orbital test.

So where is BFR right now?

Things are looking pretty good! The success of the Falcon Heavy was a very important step, and Elon Musk has pushed the gas pedal down on BFR development for now, although SpaceX has acknowledged that it may pursue different projects in the future, depending on how things go.

Look for the next big milestone in 2019, when SpaceX plans to test early prototypes of the BFR in the atmosphere. If these tests go well, we can expect a much more exciting orbital test in 2020 and potentially a Mars flight in 2022. Of course, keep in mind that the Falcon Heavy itself was subject to delays and pushed-back dates, so this is more of a hopeful plan than a promise.

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The new ESPRESSO four-in-one telescope is a next-generation planet hunter

The universe just got a little smaller, thanks to a new project from the European Southern Observatory in Chile. One of the primary goals of the project was to integrate the operation of its four Unit Telescopes together to create a Very Large Telescope (VLT), an optical telescope with the largest collecting area in the world.

Thanks to an instrument named ESPRESSO, that goal has now been achieved. ESPRESSO stands for Echelle Spectrograph for Rocky Exoplanet and Stable Spectroscopic Observations, meaning it will be used to hunt for planets in orbit around distant stars

By exploiting the light-gathering capabilities of the individual VLTs, it has the light-gathering capacity of a 52-foot (16-meter) optical telescope. “ESO has realized a dream that dates back to the time when the VLT was conceived in the 1980s: bringing the light from all four Unit Telescopes on Cerro Paranal together at an incoherent focus to feed a single instrument!” Gaspare Lo Curto of ESO said in a statement.

In addition to searching for Earth-like planets, ESPRESSO will also examine the very nature of physics by observing the light emitted by far-off quasars. Using a system of prisms, mirrors, and lenses, the light from each individual telescope is transmitted to ESPRESSO as far as 226 feet (69 meters) away.

Thanks to the stability of the telescopes and the construction of the facility, ESPRESSO can combine the observations from all four telescopes together, or use the light received from a single telescope, allowing for maximum flexibility during a single observation. Check out the images at the ESO website for some truly breathtaking photos from the observatory.

“This impressive milestone is the culmination of work by a large team of scientists and engineers over many years,” said scientist Paolo Molaro. “It is wonderful to see ESPRESSO working with all four Unit Telescopes and I look forward to the exciting science results to come.”

The ESO calls their facility at Gaspara Lo Curto a “game changer” for astronomy. It uses high-resolution spectrographs and wavelength calibration to enable observations that were never possible before.

“Go big or go home” seems to be the motto for these astronomers, and ESO isn’t done yet, according to Director General Xavier Barcons. “ESPRESSO working with all four Unit Telescopes gives us an enticing foretaste of what the next generation of telescopes, such as ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope, will offer in a few years,” he said.

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Spirit animals: 9 revolutionary robots inspired by real-world creatures

We’re constantly amazed by the ingenuity shown by roboticists around the globe. But when it comes to solving complex problems in the real world, today’s top robot builders often draw on the natural world for inspiration: giving them millions of years of evolution to borrow from.

This nature-inspired approach to problem solving and design is called “biomimicry,” and it’s resulted in some incredibly impressive robots, capable of astonishing feats. Here are nine of our favorites.

An ostrich robot

As pretty much the living embodiment of dinosaurs (seriously, check out those legs!), ostriches are pretty awesome. This ostrich-inspired robo mechanism created by researchers at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition is pretty darn cool in its own way, too — thanks to its minimalist running mechanism.

Based on the kind of elliptical trainer mechanism you’ll find in virtually every gym, the team’s ostrich robot eschews sensors and a computer in favor of a self-balancing design that requires only the motor of an RC car radio controller. Using this, it can run on a treadmill at 12 mph — and even slow down or speed up as required.

The solution could help create two-legged or four-legged sprinter robots which are able to deal with a variety of terrains, without having to break their stride. “Large parts of the land surface of the planet are not accessible to wheeled or tracked vehicles in any meaningful way,” researcher Johnny Godowski told Digital Trends. “This work is about opening up new possibilities.”

Falcon robot

From one intimidating bird to another, Clear Flight Solutions’ Robobirds are falcon-inspired robots designed to look as close to the real thing as possible. Why? Because the hope is that having robotic birds of prey circling airports will be enough to stop real birds from straying into airplane flight paths.

“The Robirds are robotic birds of prey that fly just like a real bird, through flapping wing motion,” Wessel Straatman, an R&D engineer at Clear Flight Solutions, told Digital Trends. “By mimicking their natural counterparts through silhouette and behavior, they are indistinguishable from real-life birds of prey to other birds. Birds instinctively react to the presence of birds of prey, making it less attractive for them to come to that area.”

Sloth robot

When you think of exciting animals to robotify, the sloth doesn’t immediately speed to the top of our list. But that probably explains why we’re stuck writing about groundbreaking robots, as opposed to building them.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology took inspiration from the tree-dwelling movement of sloths to create an energy-efficient agricultural robot that’s capable of hanging from highwires to monitor crops from above.

“There was no easy solution to this [monitoring] problem, as wheeled robots were likely to get stuck, and flying robots typically have flight times only in the tens of minutes,” Jonathan Rogers, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, told Digital Trends. “So we developed [this] so-called brachiating robot, or swinging robot, that can traverse elevated wires above the plant rows. Many agricultural settings already have some type of elevated wire, or they can be easily installed. Our robot can swing along a wire, or between wires, allowing it to monitor an entire field using sensors installed between the arms.”

Manta Ray robot

Not all robots are designed to work on land. The National University of Singapore’s brilliantly named “MantaDroid” takes a page out of the manta ray’s efficient swimming playbook to create a robot that displays an impressive amount of agility and speed in the water.

The MantaDroid robot is the size of a juvenile manta ray, with a wingspan of 63.4 cm and a body length of 35 cm. It is capable of swimming at a speed of 2 body lengths per second, which makes it impressively zippy. Its most unique feature is its flexible fin mechanism, which uses just one actuator per pectoral fin to let it interact naturally with the fluid dynamics of the water.

“We see MantaDroid as a potential long-term continuous underwater surveying machine, which could be useful for maritime industries, environmental agencies, and search and rescue organizations,” Professor Chew Chee-Meng, who helped lead the project, told Digital Trends. “For example, it can be used for underwater inspection tasks, as well as for collection of hydrographic data. With swarm intelligence, multiple MantaDroids [could] also be deployed to concurrently perform search operations, such as looking for lost divers or sunken objects in the sea.”

Octopus robot

Speaking of underwater robots, how about this effort from Italy’s Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, which totally looks like the robot H.P. Lovecraft would have created had he worked in tech?

Part of the currently happening “soft robotics” revolution, the team’s robotic octopus comprises a squishy, soft body with no rigid parts. The robot has been successfully tested in the Mediterranean Sea, where it showed off its innovative locomotion — involving moving by drawing in liquid and then expelling it from its body, or using its eight legs to clamber across the sea bed.

Snake robot

Snakes don’t exactly have a whole lot of limbs to work with, but that doesn’t make snake robots any less multi-purpose. The Guardian S, a waterproof snakebot created by the Utah-based robotics company Sarcos, more than demonstrates that point.

Guardian S is capable of moving on virtually any type of terrain, crawling through thin pipes, and even climbing up stairs or on certain walls, thanks to its magnetized body. As it travels, the snakebot gathers data from various sensors, which include infrared, radiation, gas and vibration detection, GPS, accelerometer, 3D mapping, and 360-degree video with low-light capabilities.

It’s not the only snake robot that’s slithered onto the scene, either. A laser-wielding giant robot snake has been used to help decommission an old nuclear power plant in England, a snakelike (well, technically eel-like) robot aims to live underwater and repair undersea infrastructure, and surgeons plan to use snake robots to enter the body to aim with surgery. By crawling through your nose or uthera, obvs!

Gecko robot

Biomimicry doesn’t have to mean building a robot that looks exactly like its inspiration. In fact, some of the most intriguing examples don’t bear any obvious physical resemblance to the creature that inspired them.

That’s certainly the case with a space cleanup tool designed by Stanford University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that’s modelled on the gecko — or one part of the gecko, at least. With around 500,000 pieces of manmade space junk orbiting Earth at frankly terrifying speeds, the aim of this cleanup gripper is to able to grasp large objects, weighing as much as 370kg, and remove them.

As it turns out, space’s inconvenient lack of atmosphere means that regular suction cups won’t work. Geckos, however, manage to stick to surfaces by using tiny hairs on their feet. This material isn’t sticky, but will strongly adhere to a surface when force is applied. The idea of applying this to space-age trash pickup is unique — and owes its existence to everyone’s favorite eyeball-licking lizard.

Cockroach robot

Ever heard the saying that, when the apocalypse hits, it’ll be just cockroaches and Twinkies that will survive? Well, in lieu of a Twinkie robot (although someone should totally build one), ultra hardy cockroaches have been the model for several biomimicking bots.

Harvard’s HAMR robot — short for Harvard Ambulatory MicroRobot — is one such creation; designed to scamper along the floor at high speed for exploration purposes. Another recent cockroach robot project can switch from running along flat surfaces to assuming a climbing position without slowing down along the way.

“While cockroaches are one of nature’s most revolting animals, they can teach us important design principles,” Kaushik Jayaram, a researcher on the latter project from Harvard’s Wyss Institute, told Digital Trends. “There are among the fastest animals, running over 50 body lengths per second,equivalent to 200 mph when scaled up to human size. They are highly capable: can climb up walls, race along ceilings, ingress into narrow crevices, rapidly change direction by turning or disappear rapidly by swinging under ledges.”

Dog robot

Last but certainly not least on our list are perhaps the world’s most famous animal-inspired robot: the canine-esque BigDog and Spot robots created by Boston Dynamics, the group previously owned by Google (today by Softbank Group).

These durable robots are capable of running at impressively high speeds and could be useful for transporting heavy goods around. Or, you know, just being a faithful pet to Skynet once the machines take over!

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Are you James Bond or Maxwell Smart? Find out at the Spyscape espionage museum

Spyscape/Scott Frances

If you’ve ever thought you’d make a good spy, here’s your chance to prove it. The Spyscape museum, an interactive exhibit chronicling the history of espionage, just opened in New York City, and it offers an experience you won’t likely encounter outside of a Jason Bourne movie.

Located on 8th Avenue in Manhattan, the museum visit begins with a top-level briefing aboard one of the largest elevators in the world. The tour runs through seven exhibition spaces and includes hands-on experiences with surveillance, encryption, deception, hacking, and intelligence operations.

Shelby Prichard, Spyscape’s chief of staff, told Metro that he thinks the museum will make people more aware of the role of espionage and surveillance in modern society. “We hope this will be a really empowering experience for people to start to see their world differently, see themselves differently, and understand how the types of skills that spies use can be relevant to their daily lives,” he said.

“We show how the world of espionage is all around you,” he added.

During your visit, you’ll try to crack codes, take a lie-detector test, test out facial-recognition software, and even attempt to evade security in a laser-filled hallway. At each challenge, a bracelet tracks your progress to compile your spy profile, with an algorithm assessing things like tolerance for risk and ability to handle stress. After the tour, you’ll get an assessment of which of 10 spy roles you’d best be suited for.

“We developed this profiling system in concert with the former head of training for British intelligence, so it’s a super legitimate look at how the intelligence community thinks about what it takes to be different kinds of spy,” said Prichard.

It’s not just an interactive playground — the museum illustrates the history of the shadowy world of espionage, with exhibits ranging from code-breaker Alan Turing to NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Each of the seven sections of the museum is centered around the exploits of a real-life spy.

It was created by actual intelligence professionals, with former heads of spy agencies as well as white-hat hackers contributing to the project. “Whenever we explained the concept and how we’re thinking about making this world of spying more accessible, we had really great reception,” said Prichard.

The museum tour ends up at a book store with more than 1,000 rare and first-edition spy books. There’s also a gift shop, where you can purchase all sorts of cool spy gadgets, many developed in-house at Spyscape. After a hard day of spying, you can relax with a martini at the bar — shaken, not stirred, of course.

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