In today’s Bulldog tech wrap of science and technology news – there’s a lot:

  • 7 Earth-size worlds found orbiting star; could hold life
  • Tesla swings to loss in 4Q, says Model 3 on target
  • SpaceX makes good on space station delivery a little late
  • New Apple headquarters to have theater named for Steve Jobs
  • Amazon resists request for Echo info in Arkansas slaying 

The details:

  • 7 Earth-size worlds found orbiting star; could hold life

For the first time, astronomers have discovered seven Earth-size planets orbiting a single nearby star — and these new worlds could hold life.

This cluster of planets is less than 40 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, according to NASA and the Belgian-led research team who announced the discovery Wednesday.

The planets circle tightly around a dim dwarf star called Trappist-1, barely the size of Jupiter. Three are in the so-called habitable zone, the area around a star where water and, possibly life, might exist. The others are right on the doorstep.

Scientists said they need to study the atmospheres before determining whether these rocky, terrestrial planets could support some sort of life. But it already shows just how many Earth-size planets could be out there — especially in a star’s sweet spot, ripe for extraterrestrial life. The more planets like this, the greater the potential of finding one that’s truly habitable. Until now, only two or three Earth-size planets had been spotted around a star. A rocky Earth-sized world inside a star’s habitable zone is considered the best candidate for finding evidence of life.

“We’ve made a crucial step toward finding if there is life out there,” said the University of Cambridge’s Amaury Triaud, one of the researchers.

The potential for more Earth-size planets in our Milky Way galaxy is mind-boggling. The history of planet-searching shows “when there’s one, there’s more,” said Massachusetts Institute of Technology astrophysicist Sara Seager.

  • Tesla swings to loss in 4Q, says Model 3 on target

Unable to string together profitable quarters, electric car and solar cell maker Tesla Inc. reported a loss for the last three months of 2016.

Tesla posted its first profit in three years in last year’s third quarter and had predicted net income in the fourth quarter. Instead, the company lost $121.3 million, or 78 cents per share, for the quarter. Still, that was less than half the $320.4 million loss from the year-earlier quarter.

Without one-time items, Tesla lost 69 cents per share. Analysts polled by FactSet predicted a loss of 53 cents per share. Revenue rose 88 percent to $2.28 billion, beating estimates of $2.22 billion.

Tesla’s shares rose 1.6 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday to $277.90. They have jumped more than 50 percent since early December.

The company, which is based in Palo Alto, California, said Wednesday that it expects to start making its $35,000 Model 3 in July, with higher-volume production by September. That’s consistent with previous guidance that Model 3 deliveries would start in the second half of this year.

CEO Elon Musk said the company will produce 5,000 cars per week this year when Model 3 production gets into full swing. The Model 3, he said, is a much simpler car that will be easier to make than Tesla’s current models, the S sedan and X SUV.

  • SpaceX makes good on space station delivery a little late

SpaceX made good on a 250-mile-high delivery at the International Space Station on Thursday, after fixing a navigation problem that held up the shipment a day.

Everything went smoothly the second time around as the station astronauts captured the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship as the two craft sailed over Australia. On Wednesday, a GPS system error prevented the capsule from coming too close.

The Dragon — loaded with 5,500 pounds of supplies — rocketed away Sunday from NASA’s historic moon pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Now leased by SpaceX, the pad had been idle since the close of the shuttle program almost six years ago.

The station’s six-person crew will accept another shipment Friday, this one from the Russians.

Given the Dragon’s delayed arrival — liftoff also occurred a day late — the astronauts were under orders to open the capsule as soon as possible to retrieve sensitive science experiments.

“Sorry about the delays,” Mission Control radioed. “Now the real work starts.”

  • New Apple headquarters to have theater named for Steve Jobs

Apple has announced that its new headquarters will open for employees in the spring and will include a theater named for its late co-founder, Steve Jobs.

Apple says in a news release on its website that the process of moving its 12,000 employees from its old digs in Cupertino, California, to the new Apple Park nearby will begin in April and will take more than six months to complete.

The 175-acre campus includes a 2.8 million-square-foot main building in the shape of a giant ring. Apple says the building will run entirely on renewable energy.

The campus will also include a 1,000-seat auditorium called the Steve Jobs Theater. Jobs famously unveiled new Apple products at theater events. He died in 2011 at 56 following a battle with cancer.

  • Amazon resists request for Echo info in Arkansas slaying

​Amazon is resisting an effort by Arkansas prosecutors to obtain potential recordings from a slaying suspect’s Amazon Echo smart speaker, saying authorities haven’t established that their investigation is more important than a customer’s privacy rights.

The issue comes in the investigation into the death of Victor Collins, who was found floating face-up in a hot tub in a friend’s Bentonville home in November 2015. The friend, James Andrew Bates, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

Benton County prosecutors asked a court to force Amazon to provide data that Bates’ Echo may have collected. Echo devices “listen” for a user’s voice and respond to commands.

In a response filed Friday, Amazon said prosecutors hadn’t established the need for Amazon to violate its customers’ constitutional rights. Amazon said prosecutors must prove the information isn’t available elsewhere.

Amazon also wants the court to review the recordings before turning them over to prosecutors to ensure they’re actually relevant to the case.