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Wednesday, April 22, 2026
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Why Gardening in Space Is Important and Insightful

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Why Gardening in Space Is Important and Insightful

While more information about it was symbolically released around Valentine’s Day in order to make for a sweet nod to the holiday, here’s why gardening in space is important and insightful. Also recently mentioned in the Reddit AMA Scott Kelly – astronaut who has, at this point, lived on the International Space Station for nearly 10 months – did from the ISS, it would seem that scientists are more than just a little interested in the information they can gather from growing and harvesting plants in outer space.

The plants that were chosen for this experiment were a breed of Zinnia that underwent the Veggie ground control experiment at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and simultaneously on the International Space Station. Recently, both were harvested and studied to see what impact growing them in a zero gravity and harsh outer space conditions had on the plant, in comparison to one that was grown in a similar method on Earth’s surface.

Earlier reports from the ISS mentioned that the Zinnia plants up there had an unexpected fungus growth occurrence that resulted in their withering. However, some of the plants managed to survive to the harvest day that was the 14th of February. After Scott Kelly managed to complete harvesting the Zinnia plants, he provided the researchers back on earth with a complete report regarding how to effectively grow plants in outer space.

An experiment such as this one, which seems small scale on first look can actually end up having ground-breaking results when the knowledge is applied on a longer span of time in the future. Considering mankind is planning to one day find a method of populating the red planet, Mars, gardening and farming knowledge such as that changes in nature when applied to the wildly different conditions of outer space.

Researchers have multiple things to worry themselves with when it comes to growing plants in outer space. Things such as long-duration seed stow and germination, the effect of pollen on the crew’s health and even things such as the psychological effect on individuals who would be in space for a prolonged time.

A NASA mechanical engineer working on the Veggie experiment explained how blooming flowers of the Zinnia plants are a very good demonstration for sustainable food crops, even in a harsh place such as the International Space Station or even beyond. With sustainable food crops, mankind can hope to be able to prolong manned mission durations and a possible method of sustenance for future trips.

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New Horizons Helps Map the Geological Formation of Pluto

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New Horizons Helps Map the Geological Formation of Pluto

Seeing a real life photo of the dwarf planet is not quite enough, you’d think, but New Horizons helps map the geological formation of Pluto too. It was only recently that NASA released a photo the space craft took of the area known as Sputnik Planum on the surface of the tiny member of the Kuiper Belt. But while that was what the public was shown, it wasn’t the only photo taken by New Horizons.

After the staggering discovery that the original picture taken by New Horizons with its Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) in July 2015 was actually displaying floating glaciers, because of the density difference between the water ice as well as the frozen nitrogen that the planet’s plain mostly consists of, scientists took a closer look to what are the components that create Pluto’s geography.

Researchers have actually managed to map as much as 1,290 miles across and around the Sputnik Planum in different visual wavelengths, depicting the different types of terrain on the surface of the frozen planet. The colored history of the map that was rendered in a scale of 1,050 feet per pixel should be able to reveal more of the geographical formation of the planet.

Therefore, purple areas indicate the blocky mountain edge of the Sputnik Planum, described by NASA as chaotic and angular and pink is the representation of floating ice. Yellow areas represent well-preserved impact craters while the darker brown areas are various types of uplands. To the west of Sputnik Planum, you can see rugged, heavily cratered material, while the very south western corner of the image shows hummocky mound material and a possible cryovolcanic feature named Wright Mons.

There are a lot of things scientists can gather from images such as this one because they provide a huge amount of insight into the history of the geographical formation of the planet’s surface. Considering that New Horizons has reached its destination and did its purposed flyby of Pluto last summer, now heading to unknown parts of the solar system, this was a secluded chance for humanity to see and try to understand the things that we may not see in person in the next few decades.

The geologic map was obtained by creating a mosaic of the 12 images that the LORRI device took of the planet during its flyby of Pluto from a range of 48,000 miles from the surface. Scientists say that this is a very important resource for the study of the planet as it’s an efficient method of understanding the processes that have undergone on Pluto to result in the planet’s battered and intriguing surface.

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IOFIT Smartshoe Is Probably the First of Its Kind

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IOFIT Smartshoe Is Probably the First of Its Kind

While everyone has already heard the high and low of fitness trackers for example, the IOFIT smartshoe is probably the first of its kind and not something you saw coming. The IOFIT is a wearable tech item, you could say, and one that takes its title as literally as you can. But it doesn’t have the exact same functionality as the fitness trackers I mentioned earlier, even though its sole purpose is fitness-related.

IOFIT was designed by Salted Venture, a Samsung Electronics-supported startup company, that believed that there is a huge amount of trackers out there that make use of only a limited amount of sensors in order to track information. Instead, all the specifics of running or pacing usually get missed out on because nobody attempts to track them.

However, with the help of the technology that was put into the IOFIT, you don’t get to see just how many steps you took. You get to see valuable information about your body posture, your balance as well as how to improve your fitness routine and more specific things such as how to improve your golf swings too.

Employing the help of force plates, something that you may have also heard of when talking about things such as posture rehabilitation equipment, the IOFIT shoe tried to achieve several things by designing a piece of wearable tech that is both cost effective and portable – and the second of the two if pretty much inbuilt.

By integrating tracking methods into a piece of apparel that we always wear regardless, the IOFIT smartshoe ends up having so much more utility packed into it than most other fitness trackers. There has always been a problem with the mere concept of wearable tech that goes on your arm for example. Even if it was about tracking the number of daily steps you take. Using different trackers at the same time would result in data inconsistencies simply because of the way they track data while clinging to your arm for example – which may not be an accurate representation of your real movements.

However, the main focus of the IOFIT is not counting your steps and calorie intake for the day. Instead, it gives you insightful information regarding the way you use your body in different kinds of fitness and how you can improve and coach yourself when it comes to it. Also, because all of the data your IOFIT records can be shared via your mobile device, you can forward it to trainers regardless of where they are.

The IOFIT smart shoe will be showcased at MWC starting with February 22nd to February 26th.

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The Classiest Wheels for Your Children

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The Classiest Wheels for Your Children

Because it seems that child-sized cars have already entered the little ones’ hierarchic system as a new method for wealthy children to show off, Radio Flyer now plans to start making the classiest wheels for your children. To be more exact, there is now a Tesla Model S that comes in about 20 sizes smaller and naturally, a lot less fast.

Radio Flyer is the name that also produces the infamous red wagon for kids and just announced the Tesla Model S for kids as starting preorders with the first units shipping out somewhere in May. And while the basic model starts at $499, there’s a surprisingly huge amount of customization that you can do to it. Although it will cost you.

The Tesla Model S comes in more color variations: there’s the classic Red Multi-Coat that you can see in the preview videos as the classic model, Midnight Silver Metallic and Deep Blue Metallic. Seeing a close-up photo of the Tesla Model S for kids could probably easily fool you into thinking it was a full scale model, thanks for the carefully designed exact model replica of the real thing. Not to mention that you can also customize it a fair bit too: you can get custom Tesla-branded license plates that will cost you an extra $15, a parking sign that will be an extra $25 or even a $50 indoor car cover.

Not to mention that you can also get some flashy and classy new wheel covers called the Silver Turbine Wheels for an extra $15.

The Tesla Model S for kids works on a 140 Wh rechargeable battery that is hidden in the back of the car, which will also be able to be upgraded to a 190 Wh model for an extra $50. It has a surprisingly fast recharging time (up to 3 hours), and can either be plugged to charge through the side of the car or by taking it out.

The Tesla Model S for kids also has 2 different speed levels: one will limit your kid’s speed to 3 mph while the speedier one will go up to 6 mph. Not only that, but the small scale vehicle has its own sound system that you can hook up your music player too, fully functional headlights and a trunk, which albeit is in the front is relatively spacious for the size of the car.

The Tesla Model S for kids is made for children ages 3 to 8 and has a weight capacity of 81 pounds. You can preorder one of those fashionable cars for your kids straight off the Radio Flyer website.

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Tales of the Earth as They Are Seen from Outer Space

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Tales of the Earth as They Are Seen from Outer Space

Scott Kelly, an astronaut currently onboard the International Space Station tells us tales of the Earth as they are seen from outer space in his most recent tweets. As of right now, he has been aboard the ISS for a year and thus remained in orbit longer than anyone in American history as well as getting the record for total days spent in space – currently his 502nd day.

Kelly will continue his mission in outer space until March this year, when he will return with more than one kind of insightful information. He happens to have a twin brother – Mark Kelly – who is still on Earth. The two are the subject of an ongoing study that attempts to understand and investigate the effects and changes that occur in humans during spaceflight.

So far, the astronaut has reported several issues that he himself has sensed in his own body. Most revolve around affected eyesight, bones, microbiome and circulatory system. Scott Kelly reported having started to feel signs of a weakening set of body functions but not in a degree that would be worrying. However, there is no doubt that the human psyche ends up being affected as well.

Recently, Kelly has done an entire Reddit AMA all the way from outer space in addition to carefully posting constant pictures of the Earth as it is seen from the International Space Station nearly every single day during his stay aboard the ISS. His photos depict the way cities and phenomenal geographical sites on Earth look like from up there, with several ‘sunrises’ and ‘sunsets’ becoming incredibly emotional views of our planet.

However, there is also a huge amount of worrying pictures of our own planet, that Kelly also carefully called “very, very fragile” and that is something we should dutifully take care of. In a conversation with CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Kelly said that if he were to look at planet Earth as if it was a human, he would say that the planet looks kind of sick. He mentioned that there are plenty of visible parts of Asia and America that, when looked at from space are not as easily seen because of a haze of pollution.

Kelly also said he happened to notice multiple weather phenomena in unexpected locations such as tropical cyclones that should not take place in those locations under normal circumstances.

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Russian Scientists Are Preparing to Defend Earth from Asteroids

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Russian Scientists Are Preparing to Defend Earth from Asteroids

It would appear that we are in good hands as Russian scientists are preparing to defend Earth from asteroids. Should that ever occur, of course. One of the major fear of mankind as a species living on a rock in space has obviously always been having other, smaller rocks knock right into ours and wipe us clean off the planet and make us share the same fate as the dinosaurs did.

Debris and passing objects in outer space have a tendency to hover in between the gravitational pull of various larger bodies. However, depending on a number of factors, it not unlikely for these objects to enter a collision course with larger planets at times, resulting in what cannot be perceived as anything other than disaster.

While photos taken of the other planets and natural satellites in our solar system show a lot of scarring caused by asteroids, meteorites and comets onto their surface, our planet is surprisingly smooth and untainted. Even if it also has had its fair share in the past.

Naturally, in order to avoid such happenings, mankind has developed a system to repel, destroy or change the course of objects that come near the Earth’s atmosphere. However, we do require years, if not decades of preparation in order to be able to withstand such happenings. While so far, mankind has used ways of changing objects’ trajectories in order to avoid impact, there are news of an asteroid named Apophis coming dangerously close to planet Earth in the year 2036.

And because of that, Russia has announced via the Russian news agency TASS that scientists are currently in process of tweaking ballistic missiles ICBMs and testing their capabilities in expectation of this asteroid. However, the ICBMs and remotely controlled ballistic missiles that deliver nuclear weapons, designed to be capable of completely destroying bodies that have 20 to 50 meters in size.

But those are meteors, mere portions of larger bodies. In case of the asteroid 99942 Apophis, it is a near-earth object that scores a diameter of nearly 325 meters and may impose some complications. An asteroid the size of Apophis is believed to impact Earth roughly every 80,000 years.

Scientists will require millions of dollars of funding as well as government permission to improve and prepare missiles capable to deal with an asteroid that size. Given that it’s about nuclear weapons, all this is easier said than done.

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NASA Released a Year-Long Timelapse Video of the Sun

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NASA Released a Year-Long Timelapse Video of the Sun

NASA released a year-long timelapse video of the sun as it was captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory from January 1st 2015 to January 28th 2016. This was done as a celebration of the satellite’s sixth year in space too. The mesmerizing video depicts the activity on the surface of the scorching star of our solar system as seen through SDO’s various light spectrums as it orbits around our planet.

The video was released in Ultra HD resolution and features rich and golden energy streaks and solar flares seeping out of the surface of the sun and the boiling temperature scorching the object that we cannot even look at in the sky, even if we are 149.6 million kilometers away from it. The colors that we see in the video are a result of looking at the sun in the high ultra-violet radiation range at 171 angstroms, something that cannot be seen with the human eye.

This has all been done as an attempt for scientists to study the sun’s magnetic field and attempt to understand all of the complicated movements that were spotted on the star’s surface. In order to make that possible, the Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a shot of the sun every 12 seconds for an entire year and through 10 different wavelengths.

A close inspection to the staggering images displayed in the video and there are multiple interesting facts that you may not have known before regarding the sun of our solar system. Clear depiction of things such as a sun filament can be spotted in the footage, showing just how the sun’s magnetic field is capable of holding up very large regions of very dense and cool gases.

All around the surface of the sun you can spot a huge amount of activity, manifesting as magnetic loops of different shapes and sizes. At times, these loops explode and erupt into giant coronal mass ejections that result in staggering amounts of magnetic energy being released into the solar system.

If the sun was a planet, a day would take nearly an Earth month, meaning that it takes roughly 25 days for a whole 360 degree rotation to complete. The flashes and jittery movements that can sometimes be spotted in the video are not artistic effects of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. When the sun disappears from view marks the moments when SDO’s vision is blocked by the movement of the Earth, eclipsing the entire star.

The image jumping occasionally is the SDO moving around and pointing in different directions in order to calibrate the sensors of the cameras that were used in the process.

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The Toy 3D Printer That Prints Toys

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The Toy 3D Printer That Prints Toys

Mattel, one of the world’s biggest toy makers and the name behind things such as ThingMaker, Hot Wheels and Barbie dolls has now come up with the toy 3D printer that prints toys. The new printer and its app actually take on the name that the 60s creation did, adopting the title of ThingMaker once more. The set was announced last Monday at New York’s Toy Fair and it has been made in collaboration with Autodesk.

For anyone interested to set loose their kids’ imaginations with a 3D printer and respective app that lets them create their own, personalized toys, you can already head out to Amazon US and preorder a unit for $299.

Sadly however, there isn’t an infinite number of possibilities when it comes to actual printing toys, as the app that you need to pair the printer with does have its own library of items you can use to build your own version of a toy. You can make use of a number of templates in order to create you preferred doll for example, as soon as you’ve paired the printer with your smartphone.

Once you’ve selected all the customizable details of your toy and you’re all set to print, the 3D printer will begin to print out parts of the doll in batches. The parts come with easy assembly assist, by printing out parts that display ball and socket joints that anyone can just put together in a matter of minutes.

And this is only what will be available in first phase. Eventually, the ThingMaker 3D Printer and ThingMaker Design app will hold more than just a few customizing options, adding filament color options as well as other branded variants later into the product’s life. And considering this is the first of its kind, there’s no telling when devices such as the ThingMaker will start printing even more complex things.

The entire printing process does take a fair amount of time but manages to print out as many as 20 figurines, 30 pieces of jewelry or 100 rings with just 1 kilogram spool of plastic. Basically, once you have selected every detail regarding the doll or toy you wish to print, you can send the command and let it print overnight.

Even if the ThingMaker is a toy designed for children 13 and above, it still has a tight and safe build that will not risk any sort of risk to kids operating it. The printer’s doors lock automatically while it’s printing and it won’t expose any delicate or heating up parts to external contact.

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Apple Watch Discount May Mean the Successor Is Underway

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Apple Watch Discount May Mean the Successor Is Underway

Whether it’s simply wishful thinking or a hope come true, a recent Apple Watch discount may mean the successor is underway. The only rumored second generation of Apple Watch is a bit of a mystery to everyone as there’s hardly any information about it, but certain sources insist that it’s a possibility. With an official “unveiling” event that Apple will hold next month and the knowledge that the second iteration of the Apple Watch is due to be released this year, it’s normal to suspect it.

But with literally no news regarding an Apple Watch 2, leaked or otherwise, it’s hard to believe the device would really make an appearance in any of the announcements due in March. The only detail that people are basing their beliefs on is the simple fact that recently, many major retailers seem to have discounted the Apple Watch by as much as $100.

This is a very well-known trend in the technology world that usually occurs when there’s a newer model of the particular gadget right around the corner. Take the Galaxy S7 for instance: more details about it are due to be revealed to the public on February 21st and meanwhile the Galaxy S6 is seeing a lot of interest from buyers as it has gone down in price with a lot of retailers.

However, chances are very slim that we will be hearing anything about the second Apple Watch that soon. The official website still lists the watch at $349 and $399 for the two regular versions, and it seems that the discount is only available in third party stores such as Best Buy, Target, B&H and so on.

It has been rumored that the March event will finally lift the curtains on devices such as the iPhone 5se and the iPad Air 3, devices that have been waited for far too long – an iPhone 6 spec smartphone that comes in iPhone 5 size and the next generation of the iPad tablet. The only mention of the Apple Watch in terms of event announcements was a new series of band options.

Rumored for some of them to have been made in collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger and include an entire selection of classy and fashionable leather bands, a new selection of colors for the sports band and a space black version of the Milanese Loop.

While there are a few sources suggesting that we may be seeing an Apple Watch S, the only real way we will find out is by waiting until March 15th.

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What The Future of Console Gaming Holds

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What The Future of Console Gaming Holds

There is a lot of uncertainty spreading its tendrils when it comes to consoles, and more specifically when we are to talk about what the future of console gaming holds. While the number of game titles that come out on single, exclusive platforms has dwindled a lot in the past years, it’s undeniable that for consoles it’s hard to keep up with technical specifications.

At least hard to keep up at the same pace gaming computers do.

Console releases only happen every few years, and their firmware and software updates can only do so much. Along with the fact that computer makers have found plenty of methods to also provide gamers with the comfort of playing from somewhere else than your computer chair, consoles keep losing ground. With the comfort of playing from your living room couch being taken away from consoles, the only real remaining advantage of console gaming remains the questionable ability to co-op play from the same machine.

The latest PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are now in their third year of life and already beginning to become muddled by the rapidly increasing requirements of new titles. If we’re to take into account the amount of time it took for these models to come out in comparison to their predecessors, we’ve got a worrying 7-8 year span between releases.

So what do analysis think about the declining life of console gaming? With at least another 2 years left until we will even get to see new consoles, users and developers alike start wondering what are the real benefits of owning such a machine, or developing their games for this platform, respectively.

Things are the polar opposite of what they were 20 years ago, when consoles were your better shot at entertainment and computers were scarcely found. Specialists have studied the matter and concluded on several points that could help revive the console scene for future releases.

  • More game titles at launch. It is only recent that older Xbox 360 titles became playable on Xbox One via emulators. Anyone who has purchased a new PS4 or Xbox One at release date found themselves with only several titles to choose from, then proceed to watch dust settle on their consoles. Having earlier and more game releases for these platforms would help.
  • Exceed technical expectations. Because you can only release new console models so often, manufacturers should consider investing in creating machines that top the state-of-the-art specifications of computers at the time of release. Limiting your games to 30 FPS is never a good start.
  • Backwards compatibility on launch. What good is a new console if you can’t even play your older titles on it once you get it?
  • VR integration.
  • This could be a selling point if manufacturers can find a way to make it work. As it is, consoles have diminished in size and weight and yet cannot pride themselves on the portability factor.

These are all ideas that analysts have determined could lead to the re-installment of consoles such as PlayStation 5 or the next Xbox in an equal position as gaming PCs in the near future.

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