NASA taps hoverboard company Arx Pax to build space ‘tractor beam’

The company that made Marty McFly’s hoverboard a reality is reaching for the stars, or more precisely, satellites.

Los Gatos, Calif.-based Arx Pax has entered into a Space Act Agreement with NASA, the company announced Wednesday. The partnership involves Arx Pax’s Magnetic Field Architecture (MFA) technology, which will be used to build micro-satellite capture devices that can manipulate and couple satellites from a distance.

Related: Marty McFly’s hoverboard is finally real, and it’s on Kickstarter right now

The technology inevitably conjures up images of the tractor beam used on “Star Trek.”

“Likely uses for this technology include manipulating various types of objects at a distance without touching them or colliding with them,” explained Arx Pax CEO Greg Henderson, in an email to FoxNews.com. “One example could be moving an object, like a satellite, or holding it stationary without physical contact.”

However, specific details of the technology’s roadmap have not yet been revealed. “The collaboration is evolving and the project is a work in process,” explained Henderson, in the email. “We will share more information as we hit specific joint development milestones.”

Related: California company wants to ‘hover’ buildings, protecting against earthquakes

“We continue to place a firm emphasis on innovation and collaboration” said Luke Murchison, On-Orbit Autonomous Assembly from Nanosatellites Project Manager at NASA Langley Research Center, in a statement. “We’re confident and excited about the possibilities this agreement proposes.”

The partnership’s focus on micro-satellites may reflect the growing role played bycubesats in the space industry. NASA, for example, recently announced its plan to offer more rocket rides for cubesats, which are tiny, box-shaped satellites.

Arx Pax’s MFA technology, which provides magnetic elevation, has certainly been generating plenty of buzz. In addition to the hoverboard developed by its Hendo Hover subsidiary, Arx Pax has been touting MFA as a way to protect people and structures in natural disasters such as earthquakes. The company has been testing what it describes as "isolation of structures from unwanted movement" and has patented a three-part foundation system, which it says will "decouple" an object or building from the earth before disaster strikes.

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Report spills major details about Apple’s game-changing 2015 Apple TV

Next week’s big Apple event will draw headlines for the iPhone 6s but the product announcement that we’re looking forward to just as much will be of the next-generation Apple TV set-top box. BuzzFeed’s John Paczkowski has a new report up that offers some more major details about this potentially game-changing product including information on pricing and key features.

ANALYSIS: The next-gen Apple TV could be the most exciting product Apple has released in years

Let’s start with pricing: The new set-top box will sell starting at $149, which should make it fairly affordable for a device that will include a full A8 chipset. True, this is $50 more expensive than the previous Apple TV set-top box but this new device will be much more powerful and have more capabilities than the earlier models, including gaming.

The bigger news here, though, is BuzzFeed is reporting that the next-gen Apple TV is going to feature universal search for the first time.

“Sources familiar with Apple’s plans say that a cornerstone of the the company’s new set-top box is a universal search feature that will enable searches across multiple streaming video services as well as Apple’s iTunes Store,” Paczkowski explains. “Instead of searching the catalogs of multiple video services one-at-a-time for a particular movie, you’ll now be able to search all — or most of them — at once and then choose the service on which you’d like to watch it. You’ll also be able to search for actors and directors, and run other more targeted searches as well — all with Siri.”

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Snooki talks Jionni's Ashley Madison scandal

Snooki has some pretty solid reasons why her husband, Jionni LaValle, doesn't have an Ashley Madison account contrary to reports.

LaValle's email was used to sign up for an account with the site aimed at clients looking to have extramarital affairs, UsWeekly reported last week. However, it has not been confirmed that it was LaValle himself who signed up, and Snooki was quick to shoot down the allegations on Instagram.

The 27-year-old "Jersey Shore" star took to her "Naturally Nicole" podcast on Tuesday to further defend her husband from all the cheating allegations.

WATCH: Snooki Explains Why She Doesn't Wear Her Wedding Ring Amid Ashley Madison Drama

"I'm lucky if he knows how to even use a computer, yet go on Ashley Madison to cheat on me," she said candidly. "It's so stupid, and we honestly think, like, someone is trying to f--k with us because this isn't the first story that Jionni's been cheating on me. But all these stories never have evidence. There's never a photo, there's never text messages, there's nothing."

Snooki and Jionni have been married since last September, and have two children together -- 3-year-old Lorenzo and 11-month-old Giovanna. In January, she shot down an InTouch Weekly story in which a Florida woman claimed Jionni flirted with her while he was engaged to the reality star, whose real name is Nicole Polizzi. "My man ain't goin' nowhere #shady," she tweeted.

Another reason Jionni wouldn't go on Ashley Madison? According to Snooki, he's so good-looking that he would never need to go on a website to pay to cheat.

"If he wanted to cheat on me, he would go to a club and cheat on me, or go out and cheat on me," she explained. "He wouldn't go on Ashley Madison to pay money to cheat on me. Like, he's not an ugly guy. He's beautiful, do you know what I mean?"

"He would never do anything to ruin his family, and if he didn't want to be with me he would tell me," she added. "He's a straight-up guy."

As for people calling her for a hypocrite for her comments on a past Naturally Nicole podcast slamming Anna Duggar for continuing to stay with Josh Duggar after the "19 Kids and Counting" star's own Ashley Madison scandal, Snooki refused to take back her words.

"This is two totally different situations," she stressed. "The Duggar guy, he admitted to it. He had sex with other women behind his wife's back, and he's a child molester because he touched his sisters, so it's two totally different things between my husband and Josh Duggar. So, I'm not going to go back on my word and say that she [Anna Duggar] shouldn't leave him because she should."

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Loretta Lynn, Luke Bryan, Eric Church and Alabama receive ACM honors

Miranda Lambert made her first television performance at last night's ACM Honors at the Ryman Auditorium.

The newly single singer honored Loretta Lynn by performing one of her more controversial songs about divorce, "Rated X."

"That was one that I sang and a lot of the disc jockeys banned because they thought it was going to be really bad," Lynn said as she received the Crystal Milestone Award for her 50-year country music career. "And as they listened to it, they thought, 'Hey, This is not as a bad as I thought it was.' So it was a big record for me.

Lynn also planted one on fellow singer Luke Bryan at the 9th annual ACM Honors. Bryan received the Gene Weed Special Achievement Award coming off a two-week ride atop the Billboard 200 chart with his new album, "Kill the Lights."

"I got a kiss from Loretta, so I am still pretty excited about that," Bryan said after getting a smooch from the coal miner's daughter while on the red carpet prior to the event.

"It's an amazing year," Bryan said. "I have been blessed that every year in my life for the past several years have been even bigger than the last. It's fun to come out and celebrate nights like this where even more important people in the industry get recognized."

Bryan, Lynn, Eric Church and the band Alabama were all honored by their peers at the special event in Nashville, Tennessee. The stars were celebrated with performances by Lambert, Jason Aldean and Kacey Musgraves.

Holly Williams, daughter of Hank Williams Jr., sang "Like Jesus Does" by Church, who received the Jim Reeves International Award, and Aldean performed a medley of Alabama songs. Alabama received the Career Achievement Award.

"I have covered a lot of Alabama songs over the years in the clubs, and they are one of the main reasons that I am in the music business and wanted to do this for a living," Aldean said.

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Alyssa Milano reflects on how her life has changed

LOS ANGELES –  Alyssa Milano, who is best known for her roles on hit shows like "Who's the Boss?" and "Melrose Place," is keeping busy these days, balancing her acting career and her role as a mother to two young kids. 

This week Milano tweeted about her son’s birthday and reflected on her priorities. “Four years ago, Milo was born and all the heartache & pain of my past finally made sense. I love you, son. I'll teach you all that I have.”

She told FOX411 having children changed her outlook on life. 

“I would say that love that you feel is so profound that it is life altering, but it is like living with your heart outside of your body because you allow yourself to love so deeply you become so incredibly vulnerable, and with those vulnerabilities you are able to explore who are as a human.”

Milano said, as a mother, she was uncomfortable with some aspects of the MTV VMAs, which aired on Sunday night. 

“As a mom I would so love to have an award ceremony like the VMAs to watch with my kids because my son, who is 4, loves music so much, but obviously I don’t feel comfortable,” she said. “We saw a little of it because my husband was watching it for work purposes, my son says ‘why are there so many holes in [Miley Cyrus'] outfit?’ which I thought was amazing. So speaking of style, that’s her own personal style.”

The actress said today her style is primarily focused on being comfortable.

“I think that it’s important, especially as a mom, to be able to do everything you need to do in a day, feel good about yourself, look stylish but also express who you are as a human,” she said.  

Milano expressed her excitement in wanting beautiful things around the house, which is why she partnered with Viva paper towels to create a signature design. She said the paper towel line ended up being similar to her clothing line, Touch. 

“I feel like it falls into the thing I did with the clothing line, to which there is a market I think for wanting beautiful things,” she said. “And it doesn’t matter what that thing is and if you want it to represent who you are in your expression and your style, and paper towels, why wouldn’t anyone want something beautiful on their kitchen counter? I think it’s a beautiful way to have something super super functional but also adds a style.”

Right now Milano is focused on loving her family and living in the present.

“I think that to live in this time where we are able to express ourselves and be who we are, it’s just vital." 

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‘NCIS’ star Michael Weatherly shows off dancing skills for charity

Xenia Deli may not be a household name yet but the former Victoria’s Secret model is on her way. She stars in Justin Bieber’s latest video, “What Do You Mean?” We talked to the 25-year-old about rumors she’s dating the Biebs, and if Selena Gomez is jealous.

FOX411: Congrats on your video. How did you first meet Justin?

Xenia Deli: The first time I met Justin actually was on the set on our first day of the shooting, and I was in the makeup chair and he came to me and this is how we met.

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FOX411: Many people are curious as to why Justin was crying at the MTV VMA’s. Do you know why?

Deli: Maybe because he got in his life what he wants right now and he was working so hard for being on the stage just emotions, just emotions.

FOX411: Since filming the music video, you have been seen with Justin out and about, and have even taken pictures together on Instagram. Are you dating Justin?

Deli: No, we are not dating. We are just friends.

FOX411: Is there a prospect of being more?

Deli: No.

FOX411: Now that you’re in the spotlight, what’s next for you?

Deli: Of course, modeling. Now I’m in acting classes because I want to get into movies because this is my passion. This is what I love.

FOX411: Bieber says you’re beautiful. Do you think Selena Gomez is jealous?

Deli: Of course not. We are all different, and shouldn’t jealous.

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Actor Dylan Baker attempts to rescue neighbor before escaping Manhattan high-rise fire

Actor Dylan Baker tried to rescue an elderly neighbor before escaping a high-rise apartment fire in Manhattan.

It happened on the 33rd floor of a building on West 43rd Street just before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Baker, who has a recurring TV role in "The Good Wife," told NBC New York he had just returned home when an alarm went off and he saw smoke coming from his neighbor's apartment.

He says he pounded on her door and called her name before opening the door and seeing flames everywhere. He says he shut the door and called 911 before hurrying his family out of the building.

Firefighters quickly put out the fire. The woman was hospitalized in critical condition.

Baker has also appeared in "Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man 3."

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