Microsoft’s Project Silica has reached a significant milestone in its goal to develop ultra-long-lasting storage that can survive for generations. Researchers in the field have just published a paper in Nature outlining a major breakthrough in the approach, as they are now using good old-fashioned kitchen cookware glass, such as that found in an oven door or a Pyrex dish, rather than super-specialized glass that is far too expensive for the job.
This self-reloading magnet dispenser is the type of invention you didn’t realize you needed until you see it in action and can’t picture life without it. Maker EmGi has created a handheld tool that places neodymium magnets precisely where you want them, with the correct orientation every time, and loads the next one from a built-in stockpile so you never have to pause to fiddle around for the next one.
Tito of Macho Nacho Productions takes out his trusty screwdriver and goes to work on a limited edition Zelda Game & Watch from Nintendo that he received in 2020. This portable includes three iconic games: the original Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and Link’s Awakening from the Game Boy. It comes with a great collection of features out of the box, including a crisp LCD screen, a nice D-pad, and separate start and select buttons. The battery life is adequate, and it even has a USB-C charging connection, but Tito wants to take this device to the next level.
JVC’s W-VHS VCR made a splash in the analog tape world when it debuted in 1993, and with good cause. Engineers at the business decided to go all out on the tried-and-true VHS cassette casing, upgrading the tape and devising some ingenious ways to load high definition video onto it a few years before digital formats truly took hold. From the outside, the product appeared to be any ordinary VCR, but, surprise, under the hood, it is managing signals far beyond the capabilities of a standard VHS.
The 1996 Nissan NISMO 400R is one of those rare, ultra exclusive performance cars that came out of Japan in the 1990s and currently up for auction. To be honest, NISMO built this model mostly as a tribute to their work on the Le Mans GT-R LM. Engineers took the R33 Skyline GT-R V-Spec base and made it into something far more capable than a production car.
The Razer Orochi V2, priced at $29.99 after clipping the on-page coupon (was $69.99), is a rare piece of hardware that quietly influences talks long after it initially appears on the scene. At first appearance, it is evident that size was the design priority for this mouse. Razer designed it to be 108mm long, 60mm wide, and 38mm tall, making it easy to fit inside a laptop bag. It’s also incredibly light, weighing less than 60 grams without the battery and more than doubling to 73 grams with a regular AA.
In a large aerospace plant where massive jet engine components are assembled, a four-legged robot named Spot has nearly become a necessary fixture. ST Engineering MRAS, a 1.5 million-square-foot plant in Maryland, manufactures thrust reversers and nacelle systems to help planes regulate their thrust and noise levels. You must maintain a close eye on hundreds of machinery and systems here; many of them are running hot and high voltage, which is where spot comes in.
Photo credit: EADS Astrium
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope delivers the first 3D map of Uranus’ aurorae, providing a spectacular view into the planet’s upper atmosphere at previously unheard-of clarity. This was accomplished by a team led by PhD student Paola Tiranti of Northumbria University.
A new Tesla Cybertruck model will make a limited appearance at $59,990, with a dual-motor all-wheel-drive option available for only the next ten days. Elon Musk has set a tight timetable for it, giving a sense of urgency to a truck that is already turning attention with its angular design and stainless steel body.
