NASA doesn’t just want adults learning how to work with lunar soil. The space agency has launched a Lunabotics Junior contest that tasks K-12 students in the US with designing (but not manufacturing) a Moon-digging robot. They have to envision a compact (3.5ft by 2ft by 2ft) automaton that can dig and move lunar regolith while dealing with the stickiness of that soil.
Kids have until January 25th, 2022 to submit both an image of the robot and a summary of how it’s meant to operate. The two winners for the K-5 and 6-12 categories will each get a virtual classroom chat with Kennedy Space Center director Janet Petro, while four finalists in each group will have virtual sessions with a NASA expert. Ten semifinalists will get an unspecified prize pack. NASA will announce the semifinalists on March 8th, the finalists on March 22nd and the winners on March 29th.
No, NASA isn’t trying to crowdsource Artemis program ideas from children. This is more about inspiring a new wave of engineers who could one day lead Moon colonization efforts. It’s a relatively modest investment that could pay dividends for NASA’s long-term plans.
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Enlarge / A small cnidarian called a hydra (green) has attached itself to the cocoon of a caddisfly.
Microscopy is essential to many areas of science. We use it to look at everything from the small devices we fabricate to the tiny structures inside cells. And microscopy wouldn’t function without input from many areas of science. Chemistry helps with stains, dyes, and sample preparation. Physics determines what’s possible with different forms of optics. And fields like biology and geology tell us which samples can give us valuable information. Combined, these tools give us a nearly infinite suite of options for looking at the world of the small.
With the right choices among those options, a microscope can do far more than just advance science; it can create objects of art. Each year, when Nikon releases the results of its annual microscopy competition, we struggle for new superlatives to describe the images. This year is no exception. So rather than struggling with words, we’ll get straight to the images.
The rock. We tend to think of microscopes as tools that examine living matter, revealing details that are critical to understanding cells and the organisms built from them. But chemicals and minerals also have features that aren’t always visible to the naked eye and can be critical to their behavior as well. We’ve always loved close-ups of crystals and rocks, and this year’s collection of images contains a surfeit of them.
This is a synthetic sapphire that was contaminated during production. That accident became art.
Most of this image is the inside of a magnesium/aluminum oxide gemstone. The object that appears to be floating is a calcite crystal that was embedded in the gem as it formed.
If you have the right countertop and look closely, you might see something that looks like this detailed photo of quartz.
A Fairburn agate, which comes from a specific area of the US Midwest.
Notably, the image was taken with an Olympus camera, so Nikon isn’t purely about promoting its own hardware here.
A cross-section through a meteorite. Unfortunately, Nikon doesn’t provide information on the type of meteorite this came from.
A crystal of common table salt.
This is a cross-section of a sedimentary rock that’s composed of an aggregation of smaller grains that were cemented together with limestone.
The insects. These are more traditional subjects of microscopy. Many insect species are barely visible to the naked eye, while many others have features that can only be seen under magnification. Both remind us that there’s an entire world of things going on outside our daily experience—in some cases, that world exists inside our houses.
It may look green, but this is a gold-dust weevil.
These repeated structures are sensory organs on the antenna of a moth.
It looks so cute! But at different stages of its life, it’s either a parasite or a predator.
This is the leg of a beetle that belongs to a group with disproportionately large hindlimbs.
A caterpillar, emerging from its egg case, chows down on the case of its previously hatched sibling.
This tiny insect looks like it could have buzzed past you today. But it’s 40 million years old and preserved in amber.
Each year, there’s one nightmare-fuel image. Congratulations, you’ve reached this year’s.
If seeing this doesn’t give you nightmares, would it be worse to know that one of these is probably inside your house right now? This is the proboscis of a common house fly.
This is a member of a large group of wasps, mostly with metallic coloration. The wasp lays eggs in the colonies of other bees and wasps and has them raise its offspring.
A bit of the rest. We’ve shared so many fantastic images, and we still haven’t even gotten to some of the smallest items yet—living cells and the structures they create. I won’t say we’ve saved the best for last, but we certainly have some very, very good images in this final gallery.
The top image from this year’s contest, this otherworldly landscape is actually the surface of an oak leaf.
If I told you this is a synthetic particle, you probably wouldn’t be surprised. But it’s a single pollen grain perched on a flower petal.
While this looks astonishing, its common name is the water flea, and it’s best known as the oldest group of animal species that reproduces without sex.
This incredibly elaborate structure is the root of a crop called millet. That organization is needed to keep all the materials flowing to and from the rest of the plant.
We showed you a root earlier; this is the animal equivalent. It’s the individual villi that line your intestine and absorb nutrients.
Cells don’t simply let all their internal components slosh around at random. The protein labelled here, called vimentin, is part of the system that keeps things in place.
A mix of wetware and hardware. Two populations of nerve cells grow on either side of a device and send processes across a barrier that allows them to communicate.
This is a single sensory neuron grown in culture, showing just how much of the body one of these can potentially monitor.
These are the nerves cells in a chicken embryo, seven days into its three-week development. Different types of nerves are stained different colors here.
It was the 14th time the top-ranked hot dog eater in the world won the title in the last 15 years, slinging down 26 more than second place finisher Geoffrey Esper and one more than Chestnut managed last year.
On the women’s side, Michelle Lesco, ranked ninth overall, picked up her first championship after consuming 30 3/4 hot dogs and buns, 6 3/4 more than runner-up Sarah Rodriguez.
Miko Sudo, the defending seven-time champion, did not compete this year as she’s expecting her first child later this month. Sudo set the women’s record in 2020 when she ate 48.5 hot dogs and buns.
The annual Fourth of July event took place in front of spectators in Coney Island.
Last year’s contest was held in a private location for media only due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Nathan’s, legend has it that the first contest of its kind was held on July 4, 1916, as four immigrants competed to show how patriotic they were by eating hot dogs at Nathan’s stand in Coney Island.
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has emerged victorious in Switzerland’s $6.5 billion fighter competition, beating out entrants from Eurofighter, Dassault and Boeing.
Over the course of the program, Switzerland plans to spend up to 6 billion Swiss francs (U.S. $6.5 billion) to buy 36 F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing models to replace its aging Hornet fleet, the government announced Wednesday.
Switzerland will also purchase five Patriot missile defense systems from Raytheon Technologies, which defeated the SAMP/T system from France’s Eurosam.
The win is a massive coup for Lockheed, strengthening the company’s F-35 sales campaign in Europe and dealing a harsh blow to the Eurofighter Typhoon — which is manufactured by a consortium comprising Italy’s Leonardo, the U.K.’s BAE Systems, and Airbus, which represents Spain and Germany. Lockheed also beat out the Dassault Rafale and Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
In a news release announcing the decision, the Swiss Federal Council stated that the F-35 promised the highest performance for the lowest price, with Lockheed’s proposal coming in at $2.16 billion less than its nearest competition over a 30 year forecast.
Meanwhile, the F-35 scored better in effectiveness, product support and cooperation than the Rafale, Super Hornet and Typhoon. The Federal Council pointed specifically to the Joint Strike Fighter’s survivability and situational awareness as selling points that were seen as advantageous for the Swiss Air Force’s air-policing mission.
“In terms of effectiveness, the F-35A achieved the best result because … it includes entirely new, extremely powerful and comprehensively networked systems for protecting and monitoring airspace,” the Federal Council stated.
The Swiss Parliament will make the final decision on whether to move forward with an F-35 and Patriot buy.
“We are honored to be selected by Switzerland and look forward to partnering with the Swiss government, public, air force and industry to deliver and sustain the F-35 aircraft,” said Bridget Lauderdale, Lockheed’s vice president and general manager of the F-35 program. “With the selection, Switzerland will become the 15th nation to join the F-35 program of record, joining several European nations in further strengthening global airpower and security.”
The F-35′s victory was forecast by Swiss broadcaster SRF, which reported last week that the F-35 had scored best in the performance evaluation. According to SRF, Switzerland would be able to purchase more F-35s with its budget than the competing aircraft.
However, political and industrial considerations also played a role in the decision. Throughout the competition, the Swiss government made clear that competitors must provide a robust package of offsets meant to boost Switzerland’s defense-industrial base. The Federal Council noted that the F-35 did not achieve the best performance in the area of offsets.
Although the Swiss decision did not lay out which competitor offered the best offset package, Airbus had provided the Swiss government a 700-page dossier on economic offsets, Reuters reported on June 27. That proposal included an offer to conduct final assembly of the Typhoon in Switzerland.
To meet industrial participation requirements, Lockheed proposed a batch of offsets that included domestic production of about 400 F-35 canopies and transparencies, the creation of a maintenance hub in Switzerland that would maintain European F-35 users’ canopies and transparencies, and the creation of a Swiss cyber center of excellence.
It also offered to sweeten the pot with an option to conduct the final assembly of four F-35 aircraft at existing Ruag facilities in Emmen. However, company officials acknowledged that would add a “significant cost” to the program.
Meanwhile, Boeing highlighted the ease of transition from Hornet to Super Hornet, stating that Switzerland would save money by reusing up to 60 percent of its “existing and intellectual infrastructure.”
In a statement, Boeing said it was disappointed by the Swiss decision.
“We believe that the Boeing F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet is the right choice for Switzerland, as it would bring unmatched capability and lifecycle value to the Swiss Air Force, including our industrial partnerships and robust services offerings. We look forward to a full debrief to better understand the decision,” the company said.
The Swiss decision is unlikely to face any headwind in the United States, which preemptively cleared both the F-35 and F/A-18 sales to Switzerland in September 2020.
Dusting off his trusty driver, Happy Gilmore — the protagonist of the eponymous hit 90’s movie, played by actor Adam Sandler — took to Twitter with his trademark run and swing.
The re-emergence of one of Sandler’s great characters is to mark the 25th anniversary of the films release, and he took the opportunity to coax his nemesis Shooter McGavin out of the shadows.
“25 years since I’ve done this,” he announced. “I’m scared!”
Never one to be upstaged, Shooter McGavin — Gilmore’s rival in the film, played by Christopher McDonald — fired back.
“It’s all about the short game,” he declared. “Drive for show, putt for the dough!”
READ: The filmmaker looking to solve ‘the problem of feeling unwelcome’ in golf
Award winning actor Ben Stiller, who played the nefarious nursing home owner who looks after — very poorly — Gilmore’s grandmother, replied to Sandler’s video.
“That’s a beautiful swing Mr. Gilmore. Congrats on your anniversary, and being such a loving grandson. So happy to be a small part of taking good care of her during her ‘golden years’,” he said.
The hit movie became a comedy reference point in pop culture when it was released in 1996, with both sport and movie fans celebrating its legacy.
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Even the PGA Tour got involved, with golf stars such as Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and even singer Justin Timberlake taking part in a video clip compilation enjoying the day.
Larry King’s widow Shawn King is planning on heading to court.
Last week, the broadcast legend’s handwritten will was revealed, which reportedly stated that his $2 million estate would be divided among his five children.
The document, which was reportedly composed on Oct. 17, 2019, two months after King filed for divorce from Shawn, does not mention her at all and also lists his now-deceased children Chaia and Andy as beneficiaries. His will was written several months prior to the loss of Andy, 65, and Chaia, 51. The two died within weeks of each other.
His three remaining children — Larry King, Jr., 59, Cannon, 20, and Chance, 21 — were also named. King shared Cannon and Chance with Shawn.
LARRY KING’S WIFE SHAWN SPEAKS OUT OFTER TV ICON’S WILL IS REVEALED: ‘WE ARE GRIEVING’
Shawn, however, said that there was already a plan in place between herself and King that was not reflected in the alleged document.
Shawn King (right), the estranged widow of Larry King (left), said she plans to contest his will in court after it was reportedly revealed that she was cut out. (Greg Doherty/FilmMagic)
“We had a very watertight family estate plan,” she told Page Six of a plan she and her husband drew up “as a couple” in 2015.
“It still exists, and it is the legitimate will. Period,” she stated. “And I fully believe it will hold up, and my attorneys are going to be filing a response, probably by the end of the day.”
Not only was the document complicated by the deaths of his children in 2020, but King also told Page Six before his passing that he and Shawn had once again become close, though it’s unclear whether divorce was taken off the table.
LARRY KING’S WIFE SHAWN KING REVEALS HIS CAUSE OF DEATH, FINAL MOMENTS
Shawn echoed that statement and said that she and her husband spoke daily and claimed she was never made aware of an amendment to his will.
“It beats me!” she said when asked why she believes King made the new document.
Their shared sons were also “shocked” to learn about the change, she said, and claimed they “are not happy about this.”
Additionally, Shawn admitted to the outlet that she believes someone exerted influence over the broadcast legend to compose the new will, though offered no additional details.
Larry King’s handwritten will was recently obtained by outlets. It reportedly left out his estranged wife. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
“Based on the timeline, it just doesn’t make sense,” she said, noting that she doesn’t believe he would have cut her out because of the filing of divorce papers.
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According to People magazine, King allegedly wrote in the document: “This is my Last Will & Testament. It should replace all previous writings. In the event of my death, any day after the above date I want 100% of my funds to be divided equally among my children Andy, Chaia, Larry Jr., Chance & Cannon.”
Page Six reports that under the current will, Shawn would likely only walk away with about $300,000 after the $2 million estate was divided among King’s sons and presumably the survivors of his late children.
“It’s the principle,” she stated.
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Reps for Shawn did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment while attorneys for King could not be reached.
Larry King’s estranged wife will be contesting his will.
Shawn King, the seventh wife of the famed broadcaster, was still legally married to him when he died on Jan. 23, despite his August 2019 divorce filing. She said she was surprised to learn he had secretly updated his will — in a handwritten document, penned shortly after his divorce filing, that excluded her — and she will fight it in court,
“We had a very watertight family estate plan,” Shawn, who’s mom to the journalist’s sons Chance and Cannon, told New York Post‘s Page Six. “It still exists,” she says of the estate plan she says they drew up together in 2015, “and it is the legitimate will. Period. And I fully believe it will hold up, and my attorneys are going to be filing a response, probably by the end of the day.”
Last week, news emerged that Larry wrote a handwritten amendment to his will on Oct. 17, 2019 — about two months after filing for divorce — leaving his $2 million estate to his five children.
Shawn told Page Six that she and Larry had become close friends again after he filed for divorce and they spoke daily. She said, “It beats me!” when asked why she thinks he wrote the amended will. And “based on the timeline, it just doesn’t make sense.”
She went on to say that she thinks someone influenced him to create the amended will, but wouldn’t say who.
And while she’ll be fighting for what the newspaper described as a “meager” amount — a slice of $2 million already split five ways — she said she will fight, saying, “It’s the principle.”
Shawn said her two sons, Cannon and Chance, were also unaware of the amended will and were “shocked.” They will support her legal battle, she said, adding, “They are not happy about this.”
Making the split of the estate more complicated, two of Larry’s children named in his 2019 will — Andy and Chiara — both died last year, weeks apart, from different ailments. Larry has one other son, Larry Jr.
Shawn spoke out following Larry’s death, sharing details of their goodbye, via FaceTime from the hospital, and how he told her he loved her and asked her to take care of their sons. She also shared that the whole family wore his signature suspenders to the funeral service.
“Larry and I, you know, we never finalized our divorce,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “In my heart, I didn’t think it was really going to happen and it never did. We were partners in every sense of the way, in business, and in, well, first in our family and then in business. But we’re a close family. You know, family is the most important thing, and God.”
Larry — who was married eight times to seven women — told People in 2020 that he would “always care” for his wife, but that “it just hit a point where we didn’t get along.” He explained, “We had a big age difference and that eventually takes its toll. It became an issue. Also, [Shawn] is a very religious Mormon and I’m an agnostic atheist so that eventually causes little problems. We overcame a lot, but eventually, it became a ships-passing-in-the-night situation.”
Last week, after resisting as long as I could, I asked you all to create some images featuring the internet’s favorite new woman: That tall lady vampire from Resident Evil Village.
Our winning image this week comes from Richardrae1 who GIGAMAX’s an already tall lady. That seems like a dangerous game to be playing.
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Richardrae1Screenshot: See Above
As I expected, this contest got a lot of entries! She’s popular. I get it. And most of you followed my rule about sticking her in a video game. Some of you are rebels who break the rules. Or you just didn’t actually read my post. The first reason is cool. I respect that. The second reason makes me sad. I thought you liked my words? I’m going to go hug the tall lady. She’s nic- *Throat ripped out.*
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Anyway, you can check out the original post to see all the entries, but here are some of my favorites.
raftos wins the award for “Most Awkward Jump Scare.”Screenshot: See Above
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monoartan grabs the award for “Best Concert Of 2021.” Screenshot: See Above
ebregis snags the award for “The Best Honey I Shrunk The Kids Remake.” Screenshot: See Above
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Bryant Tintle gets the award for “Most Powerful Tall Lady.” Screenshot: See Above
Badonkagronk receives the award for “Best Defensive Player of The Year.” Screenshot: See Above
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sauceynoodle nabs the award for “Best Anime Crossover.” Screenshot: See Above
modium grabs the award for “Smartest Way To Do This Obvious Joke While Still Using A Video Game.” Screenshot: See Above
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Lastlivingsoul grabs the award for “Worst Gift.” Screenshot: See Above
kaput noob picks up the award for “TALL LADY?!?!” Screenshot: See Above
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And finally, amazingmeow wins the award for “Best Recreation Of Half My Twitter Timeline Since She Was Revealed.” Screenshot: See Above
That’s it for this week’s contest! If your creation didn’t win, don’t worry! There’s always tomorrow when I’ll be back with a new ‘Shop Contest. And you can check out all our previous winners here!
The New York Times is reporting Susquehanna Valley congressman Scott Perry played a significant role in persuading then-President Donald Trump to contest the results of the 2020 election. The NYT cites an unnamed source who told its reporters, Rep. Perry introduced President Trump to former U.S. Justice Department Official Jeffery Clark, who was sympathetic to Trump’s claims that the election was stolen.The source also claimed that Perry and Clark planned to have the Justice Department send a letter to Georgia to investigate the possibility of voter fraud in states’ election results. The report goes on to state, acting Attorney General Jeffery Rosen refused to send that letter. Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro has reacted to the article on Twitter saying: “Representative Perry ought to familiarize himself with Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of our Constitution. There must be consequences for this conduct.”A fellow Pennsylvanian in the state house, Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta has released a statement calling on Perry to resign saying, “Scott Perry, this is not your first time being a national embarrassment but make it your last – resign.”On Sunday, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy Patton Mills released the following statement on the PA Dems. website. “Scott Perry has disgraced South Central Pennsylvania, failed his country, and betrayed the trust of anyone who cares about our democracy. He is a stain on our Congress and must resign immediately.””If he fails to do so, Leader McCarthy must remove him from his committee assignments, and the NRCC and PA GOP must formally refuse to spend on his behalf.” WGAL News 8 has reached out to Rep. Perry’s office for comment and has not heard back.
The New York Times is reporting Susquehanna Valley congressman Scott Perry played a significant role in persuading then-President Donald Trump to contest the results of the 2020 election.
The NYT cites an unnamed source who told its reporters, Rep. Perry introduced President Trump to former U.S. Justice Department Official Jeffery Clark, who was sympathetic to Trump’s claims that the election was stolen.
The source also claimed that Perry and Clark planned to have the Justice Department send a letter to Georgia to investigate the possibility of voter fraud in states’ election results.
The report goes on to state, acting Attorney General Jeffery Rosen refused to send that letter.
Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro has reacted to the article on Twitter saying: “Representative Perry ought to familiarize himself with Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of our Constitution. There must be consequences for this conduct.”
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Representative Perry ought to familiarize himself with Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of our Constitution.
There must be consequences for this conduct.https://t.co/09boH490Pv
— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) January 24, 2021
A fellow Pennsylvanian in the state house, Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta has released a statement calling on Perry to resign saying, “Scott Perry, this is not your first time being a national embarrassment but make it your last – resign.”
On Sunday, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy Patton Mills released the following statement on the PA Dems. website.
“Scott Perry has disgraced South Central Pennsylvania, failed his country, and betrayed the trust of anyone who cares about our democracy. He is a stain on our Congress and must resign immediately.”
“If he fails to do so, Leader McCarthy must remove him from his committee assignments, and the NRCC and PA GOP must formally refuse to spend on his behalf.”
WGAL News 8 has reached out to Rep. Perry’s office for comment and has not heard back.