NASA has confirmed that an asteroid about a school bus's size will make its closest approach to the Earth today, September 24. The asteroid is roughly 15 to 30 feet wide and is considered a small near-Earth asteroid. The object will pass the earth at a distance of about 13,000 miles above the planet's surface.
In the Ford hierarchy for the 2021 Ranger mid-sized pickup, the XL is the truck's entry-level version. Buyers of that version now have a new package they can add. Ford will offer the STX Special Edition Package for the pickup that adds unique 18-inch black wheels, an eight-inch center touchscreen, SYNC 3 with Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto capability along with updated interior finishes.
Researchers at UCLA have created what they have termed the world's smallest refrigerator. When most of us think of a fridge, we think of the machine sitting in the kitchen that keeps meat frozen and milk cold. What the researchers at UCLA created isn't a traditional refrigerator. It's a thermoelectric cooler only 100 nanometers thick.
NASA currently expects to land the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars on February 18, 2021. Once the rover is on the surface and working, it will begin to search for traces of microscopic life that could be billions of years old. The rover is fitted with an instrument called PIXL, which is a lunchbox-sized device at the end of the seven-foot-long robotic arm fitted to the rover.
Acura has unveiled a new version of its popular RDX SUV called the 2021 RDX PMC Edition. This is a limited unit run of only 360 units and the SUV will be built at the Acura Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio alongside the Acura NSX. The RDX PMC Edition combines the A-Spec and Advanced Package features.
Arctic summers are becoming warmer, and the result is a greener Arctic landscape. NASA has been using satellites to track global tundra ecosystems for decades. A new study found that the Arctic region is becoming greener as warmer air and soil temperatures lead to increased plant growth. The Arctic is one of the coldest biomes on Earth, and NASA says it's one of the most rapidly warming as well.
BMW has pulled the wraps off the new generation of M3 and M4 performance cars for 2021. The core M3 and M4 models feature 473 horsepower while the Competition versions offer 503 horsepower. Pricing starts at $69,900 for the M3 and $71,800 for the M4, plus $995 destination fee. Starting next summer Competition models will be available with M xDrive.
Researchers at MIT worked with scientists from other institutions to discover a new planet that is earth-sized and orbits its parent star in only 3.14 days. The so-called "pi planet" was first discovered in 2017 when Kepler's K2 mission discovered signals of the planet. This year, researchers zeroed in on the system using SPECULOOS, which is a network of ground-based telescopes.
NASA has announced an updated Artemis plan for 2024 that will see the first woman and the next man land on the moon. The updated plan comes after a series of critical contract awards and hardware milestones for the mission. It has been 18 months since NASA agreed to accelerate exploration plans by more than four years with the goal of establishing sustainable exploration of the end of the decade.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has created a global infrared mosaic of the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The mosaic was created using a complete dataset from the Casini spacecraft that orbited Saturn and its moons between 2004 and 2017. Cassini's mission ended after the spacecraft was intentionally sent into the atmosphere of the planet.
One of the coolest features of Tesla cars is the Autopilot function that allows the vehicle to handle many driving functions as long as the driver is attentive. Tesla has recently reintroduced the Enhanced Autopilot option, which is a cheaper alternative to the Full Self-Driving package for existing owners. Tesla driver assistance options have been changed several times over the years.
Fisheye lenses have been around for a long time and are used to capture panoramic views in a single shot. These ultra-wide-angle lenses are made from multiple pieces of curved glass that can distort light to produce the wide images. The challenge with traditional fisheye lenses is that the spherical design and multiple pieces of glass makes them bulky and expensive to produce.