Author Archives: Shane McGlaun

For many years astronomers have wondered about a gap that lies between a neutron star and black holes. The heaviest known neutron star is no more than 2.5 times the mass of the sun, and the lightest known black hole is about five solar masses. The mystery for scientists is what exactly lies in the so-called mass gap between those two objects. A new study from the LIGO and Virgo detectors has discovered an object that is 2.6 solar masses putting it firmly in the mass gap that has puzzled scientists for so many years.

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It's only been a few weeks since the 2020 Land Rover Defender made its way back to the United States. The Defender has some very cool accessories, and Land Rover has announced a new one that's available in the UK. It's unclear if buyers in the US have the opportunity to buy the new roof tent as an official accessory. Land Rover and Autohome teamed to develop the roof tent for the Defender that's able to be put up in seconds.

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One of the coolest things that NASA will put on the surface of Mars is hitching a ride along with the Perseverance rover. It is called the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. The goal of the Ingenuity helicopter is to prove that controlled flight can happen on the surface of another planet. One of the most challenging parts of the journey for the helicopter will be the very final stage where it's deployed on the surface of the Red Planet.

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MIT created a surgical adhesive last year that was able to quickly and firmly stick to wet surfaces like biological tissues. The double-sided adhesive tape was shown to be usable to seal rips and tears in lungs and intestines in seconds. MIT scientists have further developed that adhesive so that it can detach from the underlying tissue without causing any damage.

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Jaguar has announced that it's all-electric performance SUV known as the I-PACE has received some updates. One of the most critical of the updates is significantly faster-charging capability thanks to a three-phase AC home charging system. The Jaguar I-PACE now comes with an 11kW onboard charger as standard, allowing customers with three-phase electricity supplies to enjoy significantly faster charging.

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Over the last two and a half decades, more than 4000 exoplanets have been discovered by scientists. One of the classes of planets that are still quite a mystery to scientists are known as "hot Jupiters." This particular type of exoplanet is similar in size to Jupiter but orbit extremely close to their parent stars.

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EPFL researchers have developed a new high-precision technology that enables them to carve nanometric patterns into two-dimensional materials. The new technology allows the researchers to break the links between atoms with a miniature scalpel. The team says that it is extremely hard to structure to the materials using conventional lithography.

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Ford has officially announced the unveiling of the electrified Ford Focus in Europe. It has also announced an electrified EcoBoost Hybrid powertrain for the Focus. Hybrid powertrain uses a 48-volt mild hybrid system to improve fuel efficiency and incorporates cylinder deactivation technology.

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Over the last few weeks, there have been numerous rumors that suggest when WWDC kicks off later today, there would be new hardware unveiled at the show. Specifically, rumors have pointed to a new iMac computer to be unveiled at WWDC 2020. Now multiple leaks have surfaced from notable leakers with a history of accuracy that claim there will be no new hardware unveiled today.

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We can thank Apple for bringing the medical and health-related functions of wearables to the forefront with its Apple Watch, which can detect heart arrhythmias in the latest version. Apple is also rumored to be adding new health features to future versions of its wearable. Researchers and other wearable device makers are also heading in that direction. Engineers at UCLA have designed a thin adhesive film that can turn a consumer-grade smartwatch into a health monitoring system.

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Toyota has announced it will make its THUMS or Total Human Model for Safety software freely available starting in January 2021. Making the software freely available is part of Toyota's efforts towards a safe mobility society. THUMS is a virtual human body model software program designed for computer analysis of human body injuries caused in vehicle accidents. Toyota believes making the software freely available to a wide variety of users will enhance vehicle safety.

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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken some of the most iconic images of space that we have. Hubble has shown off its imaging capabilities with two new images of planetary nebulae. The images depict two nearby young planetary nebulae known as NGC 6302 and NGC 7027. The former is also known as the Butterfly Nebula.

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