Hubble snapped a starship-shaped galactic twins

Using its Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a group of three galaxies called NGC 7764A. The NGC 7764A are located around 425 million light-years away from Earth in the Phoenix constellation.

Two galaxies appearing on the upper right of the image look like they are interacting with one another, producing long trails of stars and gas, giving the impression that they had both just been struck at great speed.

The third galaxy in the group appears in the lower left of the image. It remains unclear whether this galaxy is interacting with the other two. Their proximity in space suggests the possibility that they are.

Interacting galaxies are quite rare. Such events happen over very long periods, and galaxies rarely collide head-on with one another.

NASA stated in its blog, “The collective interaction between these galaxies has caused the two on the upper right to form a shape, which from our solar system’s perspective, resembles the starship known as the USS Enterprise from Star Trek!”

The three galaxies are individually referred to as NGC 7764A1, NGC 7764A2, and NGC 7764A3.

Keep Schools Closed Till Feb 12: CCMCC

The COVID-19 Crisis Management Coordination Center (CCMCC) has recommended the government to continue restriction on running physical classes in schools till February 12.

A meeting of the CCMCC held on Friday decided to suggest the Council of Ministers for continuing alternative teaching-learning activities in the schools till mid-February.

Sunita Nepal, spokesperson of the CCMCC, said the decision was made in view of the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus infection. The schools could be opened for vaccination purposes, not for physical teaching-learning activities.

However, the CCMCC meeting has decided to recommend the government to allow the universities to conduct exams in strict adherence to health protocols.

James Webb Space Telescope reaches its final destination

The world’s largest, most powerful, and most complex space science telescope ever- James Webb Space Telescope- has reached the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point or L2. The Webb safely arrived at L2 on January 24, 2022, at 2 p.m. EST.

L2 is almost 1 million miles away from the Earth. It is an ideal location for an infrared observatory. At Sun-Earth L2, the Sun and Earth (and Moon, too) are always on one side of space. This will allow Webb to keep its telescope optics and instruments perpetually shaded.

And because L2 is a location of gravitational equilibrium, it is easy for Webb to maintain an orbit there.

NASA stated in the blog, “The final mid-course burn added only about 3.6 miles per hour (1.6 meters per second) – a mere walking pace – to Webb’s speed, which was all that was needed to send it to its preferred “halo” orbit around the L2 point.”

Eco-friendly toilet turns poop into green energy

Most toilet models flush away waste with gallons of water. Instead, the BeeVi toilet – a portmanteau of the words’ bee’ and ‘vision’ – use a vacuum pump to suck shit into an underground bioreactor, which means it uses less water. The energy-producing toilet system is much smaller than the existing flushable toilets, as it treats human excrement without using water.

The system utilizes a natural biological process to break down human waste into a dehydrated odorless compost-like material. Once these powdered feces are transferred to the Microbial Energy Production system, they can later be converted to methane, which becomes a source of energy for the building, powering a gas stove, hot-water boiler, and solid oxide fuel cell.

“If we think out of the box, faeces has precious value to make energy and manure. I have put this value into ecological circulation,” the inventor Cho Jae-weon said.

According to Cho, the eco-friendly toilet could turn about 500 grams of solid human waste, the average amount a human poops in a day, into 50 liters of methane gas. This means that the system can generate half a kilowatt-hour of electricity, enough to power an electric car for three-quarters of a mile. At a university in South Korea, human waste is being used to help power a building.

And because we are in a time when people’s enthusiasm for cryptocurrency is high, Cho has come up with a virtual currency called Ggool, or “honey” in Korean. Each person using the eco-friendly toilet earns 10 Ggool a day, which can be used to buy stuff on the university’s campus, such as freshly brewed coffee, instant cup noodles, fruits, and even books. The students can pick up the products they want at a special Ggool market and scan a QR code to pay for their goods.

“I had only ever thought that feces are dirty, but now it is a treasure of great value to me,” a postgraduate student Heo Hui-jin purchasing items at the Ggool market told Reuters. “I even talk about feces during mealtimes to think about buying any book I want.“

Tesla Phone Pi: News, Price, Release Date, Specs, and Rumors

 

The idea of a Tesla phone, rumored to be called Model Pi/P, has been circulating the internet. But how likely is a smartphone release? No credible sources have convinced us of its existence, but it got us thinking: what would a smartphone from the world's most valuable automaker actually look like?

 

Considering Tesla's over-the-top features in their existing products, like the Cybertruck's nearly impenetrable exoskeleton and bioweapon defense mode in some of their other vehicles, the rumors about this phone aren't surprising.

 

Here's what we've heard:

 

Satellite internet: SpaceX's space-based internet service Starlink has close ties to Tesla (Elon Musk is the CEO of both). There's even a case to be made a Tesla phone could help finance Mars colonization, a goal of the company since it was founded. But they'd have to find a way to not only conceal the bulky antenna satellite phones have but guarantee good service from such a small device. One theory is it would work only where there's already a Starlink base, like in a building or, if it ever happens, a Tesla car fitted with the appropriate antenna.

 

Solar charging: Tesla manufactures solar panels as well as vehicles, so this isn't a far-fetched idea. It's unlikely the phone would rely only on solar, but it could have a Tesla-branded case which enables some amount of solar charging.

Vehicle control: There's already a Tesla app for phones to perform some basic car functions: lock/unlock the car, control media playback, and summon the vehicle. This app would most assuredly be preinstalled on the phone, if not built-in to the operating system for easy access directly from the lock screen or via external buttons. It's also possible the app would offer unique options only to Tesla phone owners.

 

Astrophotography: Current phones already use AI and powerful cameras to help when photographing the night sky. Add that functionality to SpaceX's extraterrestrial focus that would inevitably bleed over into this phone, and you've got a device capable of great photos of astronomical objects.

 

Crypto mining: Other hearsay is it'll mine cryptocurrency. Musk has been public about cryptocurrencies in the past, so it's not unreasonable to assume he'd want to embed this ability in a phone. While Bitcoin is more popular, and Musk presumably prefers the existing Dogecoin, the rumor is Tesla's phone would mine a new coin called MarsCoin (a name Musk himself has tweeted about). Some serious hardware would need to be implemented for this to work reliably.

 

Neuralink support: The idea of computers interfacing with the brain is still essentially science fiction, and Neuralink is one of the companies working on it. They say they're "designing the first neural implant that will let you control a computer or mobile device anywhere you go."...with the activity of your brain, just by thinking about it. Could the first phone capable of such a feat be from Tesla? An early iteration could run on any phone with the Neuralink app, but it'd also make sense to see it here, considering Musk owns Neuralink.

 

If this phone is real, and Tesla holds out a release until implantable brain-machine interfaces are available, we'll surely have to wait several more years. While it's true Musk wants this tech to be used in humans beginning in 2022, it wouldn't be available to everyone right away because the first goal of the technology is to help people with paralysis.

 

Tesla Phone Specs and Hardware

Assumptions are all anyone can run on with this phone, and with zero reliable sources to use, it's unclear what this phone could look like on the inside. It'd surely have all the standard components, like 1–2 TB of storage, 16 GB or more of RAM, an AMOLED display, and a screen around 6.5 inches.

 

As for the outside, check out the Tesla Model P concept designs created by ADR Studio, the source of most of these rumors.

Bike that can fly: The Lazareth LMV 496

The flying motorcycle is no longer an imaginary vehicle, but a reality. The first operational prototype is called Lazareth LMV 496, and this brand new model was designed by a team of French engineers.

The French automotive company Lazareth unveiled the LMV 496 to the world at the start of the year through several videos in which it can be seen in action. The futuristic and elegant design of the racing car immediately catches the eye.

It is a four-wheel electric motorcycle. Each of them is, at the same time, an air rotor. Once the bike goes into flight mode, its wheels fold out, and the bike takes off. The wheels rotate until they are placed horizontally, and the motorcycle becomes a quadcopter that can be raised at least a couple of meters, as you can see in the video.

We are dealing with a 2 in 1 vehicle that can fly as well as travel on the road like any motorcycle. Ludovic Lazareth, the engineer behind the racing car, explains that the LMV 496 is road approved. He presents his precious mechanical baby like an “electric motorcycle approved for riding on the road, which turns into a drone.”

The LMV 496 flying motorcycle is powered on the road by an electric motor capable of providing a range of 60 miles (100 km). It has four horizontal jet turbines – one in each corner delivering 1,300 horsepower of thrust, meaning the bike is capable of flying for 10 minutes. The turbines are fed with kerosene, which means the electric motor is not in use when the bike is in the air.

The company claims that they have built this 140 kg bike in such a way that anyone can drive it. Its seats are made very comfortable, and its steering is very light. At the same time, TFX suspension technology has been given on the bike to make the ride comfortable. Its braking system and undercarriage technology are derived from other Lazareth vehicles.

Although Lazareth states that it is the world’s first flying motorcycle, there are others, even for sale. But it is true that the Lazareth LMV 496 is the only one that, in addition to flying, can also travel on the road. A dream come true that could be fulfilled very soon.

However, the prices of this bike will blow your senses. It is more valuable than the world’s most expensive cars. The company initially built only five prototypes of this bike, which are for sale, and anyone can buy them. Talking about the price, the Lazareth 496 is priced at 380,000 pounds i.e., Rs 3.80 crore. The pre-order was launched in October 2019.

Apple Concept Car is foreseen as auto-driven 360-degree rotatable pod

We have seen a number of Apple Car concepts so far, and all of them have some level of irrationality. The most recent of them has been revealed by Devanga Borah, a mechanical engineer at Tezpur University in India, who proposed an Apple Autonomous Car concept, an autonomous and fully electric vehicle.

The bizarre-looking Apple Autonomous car consists of a spherical pod that swivels around 360-degrees on four wheels. Since it is designed from Apple’s perspective, it has a nice sheen and a clean finish, with its sleek, minimal white lines typical of the brand’s aesthetics. The pod-like vehicle has a circular entrance that flings opens like some sedan doors to reveal ‘a cocoon-like cockpit’ with two seats. The concept claims such a design would allow the vehicle to guarantee the full privacy of passengers.

The artwork envisions a rather comfortable cabin where passengers would feel at home not only during short city trips but also when leaving on a longer journey. Thanks to the possibility of a 360-degree rotation in the pod, its users can take full advantage of the ride and the surrounding views.

Although still early in the development phase, an autonomous electric drive certainly sounds appealing. It’ll still take a while until we’ll all find out how the Apple Car will actually look in the first place. This is because Apple isn’t in a rush to launch its vehicle, and according to people with knowledge of the matter, the unveiling wouldn’t take place earlier than 2025.