Autel Robotics has revealed its 2022 Black Friday deals. The company is offering EVO Nano+, EVO Lite+, EVO II Pro and EVO II Dual 640T drones at up to a 50% discount in the US, with deals starting at $480. Both standard packages and premium bundles of the drones are going on discount.

The first thing to know is that the deal prices will go live on both inddrones.com.(click check Autel Robotics Certified File)

Autel EVO Nano+ Black Friday drone deals

The EVO Nano+ drone Standard Package will be reduced to $480 for Black Friday. Meanwhile, the EVO Nano+ Premium Bundle will be cut to $640, which is 50% off its standard price. This bundle includes extra batteries, propellers, and more.
The pocket-size Autel drone comes with three-way obstacle avoidance sensors and a flight time of up to 28 minutes. Since the product weighs less than 249 grams, it may not require registration in several countries, making it ideal for traveling. Autel also likes to point out that this drone doesn’t have any geofencing restrictions and can resist Level 5 winds.
For photography, the EVO Nano+ boasts a 1/1.28-inch CMOS sensor that can shoot crisp 50MP photos and ultrasharp 4K/30fps videos. You get a large aperture of f/1.9 and an RYYB color filter array that is designed to reduce noise and produce stunning images in low-light conditions as well. And as you’d expect, there’s a three-axis mechanical gimbal to further dampen the vibration and ensure the footage is smooth and stable, no matter how rough the flying conditions are.

Autel EVO Lite+ Black Friday drone deals

For 2022 Black Friday deals, the EVO Lite+ Standard Package is cut to 37% of its regular rates, bringing the price down to $980. Meanwhile, the EVO Lite+ Premium Bundle is down to $1,080, which is 42% off the standard pricing.
The EVO Lite+ comes with a 6K camera and f/2.8-f/11 adjustable aperture which let you alter exposure and depth of field in imaginative ways. With an algorithm optimized for low light and a large 1-inch CMOS image sensor, Autel’s EVO Lite+ is known to capture crisp, vibrant nighttime images, even at a high ISO setting. In addition, the drone also features an Ultra Wide Angle Obstacle Avoidance system and a 7.4-mile flight range. It comes with a maximum flight time of 40 minutes.

Autel EVO II Pro 6K Black Friday drone deals

For 2022 Black Friday deals, the EVO II PRO 6k Drone [Rugged Bundle] is cut to 28% of its regular rates, bringing the price down to $1,800
Autel Robotics' first 6K folding drone. The EVO II Pro's advanced camera settings include an adjustable aperture range of f2.8 to f11 and a maximum ISO of 12,800 enabling the photographer to produce images of exceptional precision and sharpness. No one but Autel offers Hyper-lapse photography in 6K. You can enjoy your favorite moments at any time, free from post-processing, and JPEG/RAW format is also supported.

Autel EVO II Dual 640T Black Friday drone deals

For 2022 Black Friday deals, the Autel EVO II Dual 640T [Rugged Bundle] V2 is cut to 26% of its regular rates, bringing the price down to $4,800

Autel Robotics EVO II Dual 640T Drones: Power. Efficiency. Reliability. The Most Compact And Advanced Thermal Drone. 360° Obstacle Avoidance. 1/1.28" (0.8") CMOS, RYYB Sensor, Dynamic Track 2.0.

From: Autel Robotics’ 2022 Black Friday Drone Deals Are Live Now : https://www.inddrones.com/blogs/news/autel-robotics-2022-black-friday-drone-deals-are-live-now

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Autel Robotics' first 6K folding drone. The EVO II Pro's advanced camera settings include an adjustable aperture range of f2.8 to f11 and a maximum ISO of 12,800 enabling the photographer to produce images of exceptional precision and sharpness. No one but Autel offers Hyper-lapse photography in 6K. You can enjoy your favorite moments at any time, free from post-processing, and JPEG/RAW format is also supported.
Autel EVO 2 Pro ultra-HD camera done featured a 1-inch sensor with 6k resolution. Capture stunning detail not previously possible on an aerial platform of this size. An adjustable aperture, HDR and intuitive camera controls make this the perfect choice for any aerial cinematographer or mapping pilot.
Autel EVO II Pro 6k Camera
1-inch sensor & Adjustable aperture: EVO II Pro 6k drone featured Ultra-HD camera with a 1-inch sensor: Takes photos with a resolution of up to 5472 x 3648, and records 5.5K video at 60 fps or 4K video at 120 fps, with a bit rate of up to 120 Mbps. The lens aperture is adjustable within the range of f/2.8 to f/11.
Variety of shooting modes: All three camera modules support a variety of shooting modes, AD: Autel Robotics EVO 2 PRO 6k. including: Single-shot; Burst shooting; Auto exposure bracketing (AEB); Time-lapse; High-dynamic-range (HDR) imaging; NIGHTBEAT (high signal-to-noise ratio)
Connect Autel Live Deck to display live on any device: A high-definition live feed from the EVO 2 drone camera can be displayed on your remote control’s screen or connect with Autel Live Deck to displayed on any device including computer, tv, phone, etc. Of course, Images and videos can be stored in the aircraft’s onboard memory or on a micro SD card.
Adjust field-of-view to any angle from 0° to 90° while flying: EVO II Pro Drone contains a high-precision 3-axis gimbal that keeps the camera steady while the aircraft is flying, ensuring image stability and clarity. Also, You can use the remote control's gimbal pitch dial to adjust the pitch axis to any angle from 0° to 90° at any time.
Cameras interchangeable: Autel EVO II Series Dones is one aircraft with three camera options. All cameras for Evo II can be purchased separately and are interchangeable!
From: Autel Robotics EVO II PRO 6k : https://www.autelonline.com/autel-robotics-evo-ii-pro-6k-camera-drone-rugged-bundle_p373.html

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The Maxisys Ultra is a diagnostic tool with Android 7.0, it also features a 13-inch touchscreen tablet with an octa-core processor (2.3GHz quad-core + 1.7GHz quad-core), 256GB of built-in RAM, all of which support new split-screen multi-app navigation, diagnostic guidance and test kits to confirm repairs.
The all new MaxiSYS Ultra is the first diagnostic tool to be designed to match the growth of more complex automotive electrical systems and Electric Vehicles (EV) which are becoming ever more common place. MS Ultra provides the latest OE level coverage for most domestic and foreign vehicles, with advanced ECU coding and programming automatic system and software update.

Autel Maxisys Ultra Scanner BULLET POINTS
Easy to Use: The Ultra has a super large screen, our fastest processors, our largest ever SSD memory and even a docking station as standard.
Full Function: includes outstanding coverage with 80+ manufacturers, See: autel comparison chart 2020. full diagnostics, 26 service functions, channel coding and programming.
Thoughtful Design: Android 7.0 with 13-inch TFT-LCD with 2732 x 2048 resolution & capacitive touchscreen tablet bring you excellent use experience.
Step-by-step Guidance: Offering step-by-step repair guidance for technicians, ULTRA combines dynamic topology module mapping, enhanced automatic scanning capabilities, and intelligent diagnostic options.
More information: MaxiSys Ultra Autel : https://www.obd2reviews.com/autel-maxisys-ultra-scan-tool-vs-mseilte-vs-ms909-vs-ms919-review/

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It's not just the value of bitcoin that has soared in the last year – so has the huge amount of energy it consumes.
The cryptocurrency's value has dipped recently after passing a high of $50,000 but the energy used to create it has continued to soar during its epic rise, climbing to the equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of Argentina, according to Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, a tool from researchers at Cambridge University that measures the currency's energy use.
Recent interest from major Wall Street institutions like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs probably culminated in the currency's rise in value and an endorsement by Tesla's Elon Musk helped drive its recent high as investors bet the cryptocurrency will become more widely embraced in the near future.
While the recent fall has dented Musk's fortune, bitcoin also poses a threat to the company's mission toward a "zero-emission future" and poses serious questions for governments and corporations looking to curb their own carbon footprints.
Bitcoin mining – the process in which a bitcoin is awarded to a computer that solves a complex series of algorithms – is a deeply energy-intensive process.
"Mining" bitcoin involves solving complex math problems in order to create new bitcoins. Miners are rewarded in bitcoin.
Earlier in bitcoin's relatively short history – the currency was created in 2009 – one could mine bitcoin on an average computer. But the way bitcoin mining has been set up by its creator (or creators – no one really knows for sure who created it) is that there is a finite number of bitcoins that can be mined: 21m. The more bitcoin that is mined, See: TPMS Programming Tool. the harder the algorithms that must be solved to get a bitcoin become.
Now that over 18.5m bitcoin have been mined, the average computer can no longer mine bitcoins. Instead, mining now requires special computer equipment that can handle the intense processing power needed to get bitcoin today. And, of course, these special computers need a lot of electricity to run.
The amount of electricity used to mine bitcoin "has historically been more than [electricity used by] entire countries, like Ireland", said Benjamin Jones, a professor of economics at the University of New Mexico who has researched bitcoin's environmental impact. "We're talking about multiple terawatts, dozens of terawatts a year of electricity being used just for bitcoin ... That's a lot of electricity."
Proponents of bitcoin say that mining is increasingly being done with electricity from renewable sources as that type of energy becomes cheaper, and the energy used is far lower than that of other, more wasteful, uses of power. The energy wasted by plugged-in but inactive home devices in the US alone could power bitcoin mining for 1.8 years, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index.
But environmentalists say that mining is still a cause for concern particularly because miners will go wherever electricity is cheapest and that may mean places that use coal. According to Cambridge, China has the most bitcoin mining of any country by far. While the country has been slowly moving toward renewable energy, about two-thirds of its electricity comes from coal.
Since there is no government body or organization that officially tracks where bitcoin is being mined and what type of electricity miners are using, there is no way of knowing whether miners are using electricity that is fueled by renewable energy or fossil fuels.
Mining rigs can move from place to place depending on where energy is cheapest, which makes mining particularly hard to track.
"The places where you mine [bitcoin] can be moved around and, in some cases, you don't even know where they are," said Camilo Mora, a professor of geography and environment at the University of Hawaii.
Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finances estimates that bitcoin's annualised electricity consumption hovers just above 115 terawatt-hours (TWh) while Digiconomist's closely tracked index puts it closer to 80 TWh.
A single transaction of bitcoin has the same carbon footprint as 680,000 Visa transactions or 51,210 hours of watching YouTube, ...

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The all-new foldable phone from Huawei is here, somewhat.
Huawei's latest take on the foldable phone impresses with an expanded internal screen measuring 8-inches and a secondary screen on its outside measuring 6.45-inches. Similar to Samsung's approach with the Galaxy Fold, the larger screen unfolds from the inside of the device rather than the outside.
However, the phone will likely see a limited appeal outside of China due to the lack of support for Google services. Running on EMUI 11.0 based on Android 10 and the phone will be among the first phones to be updated to Huawei's own operating system HarmoyOS in April.
The expanded internal screen on the Mate X2 has a resolution of 2480 x 2200, while the exterior screen has a 2700 x 1160 resolution. The four rear camera boasts a 50-megapixel wide-angle, a 16-megapixel ultra-wide, a 12-megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom and an 8-megapixel "SuperZoom" camera with 10x optical zoom. The selfie camera on the exterior screen has a 16-megapixel camera.
The camera and display specifications are remarkable so far and it will be exciting to see how the phone will be reviewed by its users.
The Mate X2 will be available in China for US$2,785 with 256GB of internal storage and US$2,940 with 512GB of internal storage. The phone will come in four colours of blue, pink, black and white.
With the releases of such unfolding and rollable phones like OPPO's Rollable Concept Handset, it seems the technology will be slowly taking over the market and as tech geeks, we can't help but be excited at what's to come next. We just need it to get cheaper...
The post Huawei's US$3,000 Foldable Mate X2 Is Now Available In China appeared first on Geek Culture.

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The Detroit Free Press has settled its public records lawsuit against the City of Detroit for access to documents involved in a 2019 investigation that found Mayor Mike Duggan gave preferential treatment to a prenatal health program run by a woman with close ties to the mayor.
The Free Press filed the lawsuit last year after the city demanded $222,667 for the records and estimated it would take about three years for legal staff to review the documents, which the city said totaled about 400,000 pages.
Under the settlement, reached in late December in Wayne County Circuit Court, the Free Press dropped its complaint and the city agreed to produce several batches of investigative records for the news organization free of charge. The city admitted no wrongdoing as part of the agreement.
Despite the lawsuit's resolution, neither side conceded any ground in reacting to the settlement.
Free Press lawyer Herschel Fink said the city inspector general's investigation - prompted by a Free Press report - called out the city's conduct throughout the Make Your Date controversy, including the deletion of city emails, which became the subject of a Michigan Attorney General's criminal inquiry. A spokeswoman for the attorney general on Thursday declined to comment on the investigation.
"It was all about hiding documents that were personally embarrassing to Mayor Duggan, and the potentially criminal destruction of city emails and documents by the mayor's closest aides to hide the truth," Fink said in a statement.
More: City of Detroit wanted $222,000 for public records. So Free Press sued.
More: Report: Duggan gave program preferential treatment, chief of staff ordered emails deleted
Detroit's top government lawyer, Corporation Counsel Lawrence Garcia, characterized the settlement as a "face-saving measure" proposed by Free Press lawyers.
"The lawsuit was based on a meritless legal claim that the Free Press could demand voluminous amounts of public documents and stick the taxpayers with the costs of assembling and providing them," Garcia said in a statement. "The FOIA statute specifically protects against that."
The Free Press' FOIA request sought records collected during the Detroit Office of Inspector General's investigation into Duggan's selection of the Make Your Date organization as a partner in the city's fight against infant mortality. Duggan was seen in 2018 arriving after hours at the same suburban residence as Make Your Date's director Sonia Hassan in an edited surveillance video taken by a private investigator.
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As part of the settlement, the city agreed to provide the Free Press with some records that Inspector General Ellen Ha collected during her investigation. However, other investigative records the city deemed not pertinent have been held back, including emails from the personal email accounts of Duggan and his former chief of staff, Alexis Wiley. Ha's report about Make Your Date included criticism of city officials' use of personal email to conduct city business, a practice to which both Duggan and Wiley admitted.
Free Press Editor Peter Bhatia said the lawsuit was "all about bringing to light details Detroiters should know about the Make Your Date situation."
"We fight for information in cases like this because we take seriously our responsibility to hold public officials accountable for their actions," Bhatia said.

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NASA's Parker Solar Probe nailed its fourth swing past Venus on Feb. 20, and mission scientists celebrated by releasing a stunning image captured during a similar maneuver in July.
Parker Solar Probe launched in August 2018 with a daring mission: to fly closer to the sun than any previous spacecraft. But along the way, the probe needs to whiz past Venus a total of seven times, with each pass pulling the spacecraft closer to the sun. And while Parker Solar Probe is tailored to studying the sun, if a spacecraft has to loop past our "evil twin" planet anyway, might as well turn the instruments on, AD: obd2 scanner. the team figured.
On July 11, 2020, the spacecraft was conducting its third Venus flyby, zooming 7,693 miles (12,380 kilometers) away from the planet, according to a NASA statement. During the maneuver, the team switched on the spacecraft's Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument to take a peek at Venus - with stunning results.
Related: A string of planets sparkle in photos from 3 different sun probes
WISPR is designed to capture distant, visible-light images of phenomena surrounding the sun, like the solar wind that constantly shoots charged particles out from the sun across the solar system or the coronal mass ejections that vomit blobs of matter into space, according to NASA.
So this isn't your typical planetary glamor shot: there is no color, no intricate clouds, no cosmic crispness.
But it's a fascinating view of Earth's neighbor, and one that scientists are still parsing, according to the NASA release. The bright rim around Venus' edge may be light from individual oxygen atoms in the planet's upper atmosphere pairing up, creating what's known as nightglow since it occurs on the shadowed side of the planet.
The streaks that can be seen crossing the image also offer a puzzle. Some may be the traces of cosmic rays while some may be dust reflecting sunlight into the camera and some may be tiny particles from the spacecraft itself, flung off by impacting dust.
But the real highlight is Venus itself, which looks nothing like what scientists expected to see with WISPR. "WISPR is tailored and tested for visible light observations," Angelos Vourlidas, the WISPR project scientist from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland said in the statement. "We expected to see clouds, but the camera peered right through to the surface."
Specifically, the instrument captured differences in surface temperature on Venus. The dark blob in the center of the image of the planet is a massive highland region that scientists call Aphrodite Terra. Here, scientists know that the rock is cooler, by about 85 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) compared to nearby regions, according to NASA.
WISPR seeing this temperature difference could mean that something strange is happening in Venus' thick atmosphere that's allowing the instrument to see through the clouds. Or, it could mean that WISPR can actually pick up some near-infrared light it wasn't technically designed to see, which could create new opportunities for observing the spacecraft's primary target, the sun. "Either way," Vourlidas said, "some exciting science opportunities await us."
To determine which scenario is at play, WISPR took similar photographs during Parker Solar Probe's fourth Venus flyby, which took place on Feb. 20. At the time of closest approach, at 3:05 p.m. EST (2005 GMT), the spacecraft came within 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of the Venusian surface, according to a NASA statement.
However, those images won't make it to Earth until late April. The spacecraft's next milestone will be a close approach to the sun on April 29; its next Venus flyby is scheduled for Oct. 16.
Email Meghan Bartels
or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Kid Vishis wants you to know he is an alien.
And it's a good thing: In the urban vernacular, it's a label of individual excellence, a sign of the extraordinary. And for the veteran Detroit rapper - who aims to stay true to the spirit of pure hip-hop and lyricism - striving for alien status is a calling.
"It's your mentality, your ability, your confidence, your ability to not only be good with the talent you have but also maintain being a good person," he says. "If I'm out in the community speaking to youth and motivating, that's alien stuff. That's stuff most people don't do, AD: Autel MaxiDiag MD806. but it's what we what we have to do for peace. That's under the umbrella of alien to me because most people aren't like that."
Vishis says he's got an important message to beam to the world via his latest music: The single and video "Construction of a Black Nation," which landed Friday, is the lead release from upcoming album "#Aliengang Mixtape," expected in March from his label Sick ‘Em Records.
The new track, featuring Jamaican-born Detroit singer Fyiah and produced by Dallas beatmaker J. Rhodes, opens with voiceover from a 1970s Angela Davis speech and a stark, bluesy guitar lick. The video is interspersed with images of social unrest through the decades. Vishis sees it as both a history lesson and a warning against "negative energy."
"In 2021, if I'm still looking at somebody who identifies as racist, that's terrible," he says. "After everything people have been through, and this guy hates me because of what I look like? It doesn't even have to be black-white - it's just about the concept of racism. I want to spread the word of truth and not hold back what I see as fact."
He doesn't want people to mistake his intentions. Vishis says he's not out to stoke resentment. He's got more lofty goals in mind.
"I'm not trying to be the guy who says: 'Hey, black people should hate white people because of what happened back in the day,' " he says. "We have to (reconcile) what happened through history so we can make the future a better place. Not harbor hatred - because that just makes you a worse person - but just have an understanding and keep pushing forward."
Born Marcus Montgomery, raised in Detroit and Oak Park, Kid Vishis is a younger brother of Royce da 5'9", and he's been a staple of Royce's live shows as a hype man.
But he has also carved out a spot of his own, releasing three solo albums, starting his own label, striving to be a community leader and appearing on Shady Records' "Detroit vs. Everybody" remix in 2015 alongside hometown mainstays such as Trick Trick and Dej Loaf.
Updates on how the coronavirus is affecting your community and the nation
Vishis also featured on Royce's acclaimed 2020 album "The Allegory," guesting on "Thou Shall." The record earned Royce his first Grammy recognition - a best rap album nomination at next month's ceremony. It's a mark of pride for a younger brother who marvels that Royce has only gotten "better and better and better" through his 20-plus year career.
Before the pandemic hit last spring, Vishis was set to hit the road with Royce for a lengthy round of touring in support of the album. Now, after nearly a year of itching to perform, they'll finally get the chance March 11, three days before the Grammys: Royce is headlining the first show in Yoop's new online concert series, performing from L.A.'s Microsoft Theater in a new virtual format that allows for fan interaction.
Though sidelined from the road, Vishis kept busy at Heaven Studios, a Birmingham recording facility Royce purchased with producer and fellow Eminem accomplice Denaun Porter in 2017. Immersing in studio work was therapy and a release.
"The minute he handed me that key, I could be more creative than I was before," Vishis says.
"#Aliengang Mixtape," still in the works, will include guests such as Royce, Flint rapper Jon Connor, Detroit singer Apropos and newcomer Al Khufu - brother of Vishis and Royce and the second-youngest sibling in the Montgomery family of five.
The project is sponsored by Glove Love, a Michigan cannabis and lifestyle company whose offeri...

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Oddly-shaped mail trucks seem to be a staple of Americana. In fact, when my local post office started to put a few Mercedes-Benz Metris vans in rotation with its fleet of Grumman LLVs, I grew a little bit concerned that our little slice of weird was getting too mainstream. How very hipster of me.
But never fear! Yesterday, we learned that the USPS has finally accepted the design for its Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) and will be putting a plethora of eccentricity back onto the streets courtesy of the folks at Oshkosh Defense. That begs the question-just why does it have to be weird?
The short answer: design constraints.
It should come as no surprise, Autel Maxicom MK908p
. but as part of the bidding process, the USPS defined a tight set of criteria that those responding to the proposal would need to adhere to in order to be considered. Nir Kahn, design director for custom vehicle manufacturer Plasan, spoke briefly about these constraints on Twitter, explaining how the odd shape was inevitable.
"The requirements dictated the step-in height, the glass height (including the low side glass), the vision angles, the internal height, and the maximum roof height," wrote Kahn in a tweet. "That was all locked in."
Other constraints included the ability to reach the mailbox while in the seated position, and the requirement to see the ground around the vehicle. The seating position went hand-in-hand with the glass height and vision angles and seemingly caused a near-fixed position in the hip-point height of the driver's seat.
The requirement to see the ground also contributed to the sharp falloff of the vehicle's nose and factored into the sloping lower corners of the windshield, all despite the dashboard being in the way. This seems odd to pose as a requirement, especially since the winning bid also included 360-degree cameras and collision avoidance systems. Perhaps as a manual failsafe should the electronics go out? The USPS has always had pretty strict requirements for visibility. In the past, the agency even gave drivers advice on how to operate their delivery vehicles, including not backing up whenever possible.
Kahn says that he tried coming up with many different ways to make the package more attractive. At one point, he even had a photo of Cliff Clavin (the postman from Cheers) sitting on his table to help design a more friendly appearance. But at the end of the day, it all came down to the requirements.
Now, the Grumman LLV is certainly a...unique vehicle. But one thing it isn't is a looker. That hasn't stopped it from being the face of the USPS since it entered service in 1987, easily recognizable by every man, woman, and child who can send a letter. And Kahn says that's what drew him to the project. You see, Kahn was one of the designers responsible for the JLTV, the replacement for the legendary HMMWV-the idea of not only designing a replacement for the most iconic military vehicle to exist in U.S. history, but also the country's mail truck, would be quite the honor.
Plasan, unfortunately, didn't win the bid for the NGDV, so while we won't have John Ratzenberger's face greeting us at our mailboxes every day, we at least now know the untold story of why these tiny trucks look so weird.
Correction at 2:20 p.m. ET on 02/24/2021: This article previously stated that the Grumman LLV was first manufactured in 1994; however, production started in 1987 and ended in 1994. The Drive regrets the error.

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Over the week spanning Jan. 4-10, 1998, a trio of massive ice storms wracked the northeastern United States and parts of Canada. Knocking over transmission towers, the storms deprived up to 1.35 million people of electricity, in some cases for weeks (sound familiar?). Rather than leave town, though, one Canadian mayor stepped up to bring in the biggest mobile power generators they could get their hands on: Diesel-electric freight train locomotives.
This unusual solution to a power problem, which was also covered by Gizmodo last week, Autel maxisys elite
. unfolded in Boucherville, a Montreal suburb just northeast of famed Formula 1 racetrack Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Having reportedly heard of locomotives being used to generate electricity during another emergency years prior, Boucherville's Mayor Francine Gadbois asked the Canadian National Railway to lend the city a couple of units. CN obliged, sending over two Montreal Locomotive Works M-420s per the 1998 issue of Trains, as recounted by members of its forum.
CN M-240 locomotive serving as a generator in January 1998
Both locomotives were powered by Alco 251C prime movers; 131.4-liter, single-turbo diesel V12s making some 1,950 horsepower according to the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Rather than power the wheels through hydraulic or mechanical transmissions, these massive motors turned traction generators that could send juice to motors connected to the wheels. In a pinch, however, that power can be routed outside the locomotive for whatever purpose one desires, like keeping municipal buildings operating in times of crisis. And that's exactly what these locomotives did for Boucherville.
According to yet another account from a train forum, officials craned M-240 number 3502 off the line down the street from city hall before moving it some 1,000 feet down the street, carving deep ruts in the asphalt. Once at its destination and hooked in, its V12 had to be run at a specific, constant rpm' to generate AC current at 60 hertz, the frequency used by most North American utilities.
After successfully bringing city hall online, officials rolled in a second unit, number 3508, which was reportedly meant to hook up to a local high school serving as a shelter. This didn't work out, with one account implying the school may have been further down the road than city hall, and that 3508 couldn't get past 3502. In any case, power was reportedly restored on Jan. 17, and the locomotives ground back down the road and into the shop for service.
Amid continued rolling blackouts in Texas, propping up power grids with locomotives may sound to many shivering Texans like an increasingly appealing stopgap. Unfortunately, though, the closest thing the U.S. has to a national rail provider is the chronically under-funded and mismanaged Amtrak which, even with locomotives to spare, would struggle to get them to cities in need. Amtrak is chronically delayed by the private railroads whose infrastructure it relies on. Big business, after all, should be expected to put its interests first, no matter the cost to the public, be that a delayed train or weeks-long power outages in the dead of winter.
Update: Feb. 23, 10:12 a.m. ET: An erroneous reference to CN as a national rail provider has been removed, the railway having been publicly traded since 1995.

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Gemma Collins has revealed she never wears the same pair of knickers twice.
During an upcoming appearance on Monday night's episode of TV comedy show Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable, the former TOWIE star admits she gets through 365 pairs of knickers every year because she refuses to wear the same ones twice.
"I don't wear the same underwear twice - it's disgusting, it's bad," she confessed. "I don't like the way they feel after a wash. I just like a fresh pair every time I go out."
Gemma concedes that her behaviour is wasteful and bad for the environment, with her adding, "I've got to change my ways. I'm a sinner, I'm a bad girl."
And she also clarified that she keeps the old pairs of underwear, rather than throwing them away, despite having no intention of wearing them again.
"They go in a drawer," she added. "My lovely assistant Alexis rolls them all up."
That's not the only revelation the 40-year-old made on the new series - last week, she confessed that she'd been lying in interviews for years about making a sex tape.
"So basically, I said in an interview once, thinking it was funny, 'Yeah I've done a sex tape like Kim K (Kardashian)," she reportedly said. "Next thing, I'm being interviewed by Piers Morgan on Life Stories and he leads me in it and he said, 'You've done a sex tape haven't you'.
"I thought, 'S**t', and now I'm in deep. I've got myself in hot water... There is no sex tape. It's just one big god awful lie."

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The highlight performances from the first week of Michigan high school boys and girls basketball:
Monday
Ralph Bland II, Detroit Edison: Scored 15 points in the 77-13 victory over Redford Westfield.
Austin Deal, Harper Woods: Led with 19 points in the 84-56 loss to Ecorse.
Demaryon Fishburn, Taylor Trillium: Scored 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the 64-49 win over Detroit University Prep.
Elijahjuan Fishburn, Taylor Trillium: Had 18 points, six assists and six rebounds in the 64-49 win over Detroit University Prep.
Mike Holdsclaw, Riverview Richard: Led with 14 points in the 49-38 win over Marcin City Cardinal Mooney.
Malcolm King, Southfield Christian: Had 15 points and 12 rebounds in the 60-46 win over Plymouth Christian.
Malik Olafioye, You may also like: scan tool. Ecorse: Led all scorers with 36 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the 84-56 win over Harper Woods.
Kenneth Morrast Jr., Ecorse: Scored 24 points in the 84-56 win over Harper Woods.
Alden Ritt, Lake Orion: Led with 14 points in the 44-30 win over Auburn Hills Avondale.
Nathan Sutrick, Plymouth Christian: Scored 19 points in the 60-46 loss against Southfield Christian.
Michael Pope, Detroit University Prep: Scored 25 points in the 64-49 loss to Taylor Trillium.
Wednesday
Michael Calhoun, Riverview Richard: Had 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in the 48-35 win over Grosse Ile.
Jaylen Flaniken, Detroit Edison: Led with 20 points in the 78-41 win over Southfield Bradford Academy.
Cam Garner, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood: Led with 18 points in the 65-36 win over Ann Arbor Greenhills.
Thursday
Anthony Benard, Grosse Pointe South: Had 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists and six steals in the 71-66 win over Sterling Heights Stevenson.
Deion Black, Warren Michigan Collegiate: Had a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds in the 68-56 win over Detroit Public Safety.
Jordan Brooks, Detroit Public Safety: Scored 16 points in the 68-56 loss against Warren Michigan Collegiate.
Prince Dobbins, Walled Lake Central: Led with 12 points in the 49-41 loss to Walled Lake Northern.
Tyler Jamison, Port Huron Northern: Had 18 points, five rebounds and six assists in the 72-45 win over Warren Cousino.
Mak Manciel, Sterling Heights Stevenson: Had 28 points in the 71-66 loss to Grosse Pointe South.
Ryan McNeill, Port Huron Northern: Had 18 points and seven rebounds in the 72-45 win over Warren Cousino.
Charles Riley, Macomb Township L'Anse Creuse North: Led with 20 points in the 62-55 loss to Clinton Township Chippewa Valley.
Ryan Schuster, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley: Scored 19 points in the 62-55 victory over Macomb Township L'Anse Creuse North.
Friday
Noah Adamczyk, Bloomfield Hills: Led with 15 points in the 63-58 win over Birmingham Groves.
Johnny Archer, Walled Lake Northern: Had 23 points in the 57-36 win over Milford.
Pierre Brooks, Detroit Douglass: Scored 38 points in the 68-58 victory over Sterling Heights Parkway Christian.
Jack Currie, Oakland Christian: Led with 16 points in the 66-52 loss over Southfield Christian.
Jude Drake, Detroit Jalen Rose: Led with 21 points in the 59-57 loss to Warren Michigan Collegiate.
Hamza Elbaneh, Dearborn Edsel Ford: Had a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds in the 51-34 win over Wyandotte.
Daviare Gatewood, Detroit Public Safety: Led with 17 points in the 67-52 win over Detroit Voyageur.
Austin Hosmar, Sterling Heights Parkway Christian: Scored 23 points in the 68-58 loss to Detroit Douglass.
Christian Jordan, Bloomfield Hills: Had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds in the 63-58 win over Birmingham Groves.
Michael Justice, Troy Athens: Led with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds in the 57-48 win over Berkley.
Kobe Kyle, Westland Glenn: Had a double-double...

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The General Motors Design Instagram page is providing a glimpse of the early design process for the upcoming Brightdrop EV600 cargo van. The two renderings show designer Thiago Afonso's effort to give the electric delivery vehicle a highly functional cabin.
Afonso rendered the EV600's interior with lots of cubbies and storage spaces for efficient organization. The right side of the dashboard has a large bin where drivers could store items that they need immediate access to. There's also a roof-mounted shelf with a door for stowing more stuff.
Afonso also imagined the EV600's cabin incorporating lots of amenities for making the driver's job more comfortable. There's a sunroof to bring more natural light into the cabin. An HVAC vent is located into the roof for blowing downward, and there are also vents just below the steering wheel. For better outward visibility, there's a rearview mirror camera display.
Unfortunately, GM has not yet provided a detailed look inside the EV600. It's not clear how many of Afonso's ideas make the transition from these renderings to the real thing. The images reveal the design team's focus on creating an efficient work environment for drivers, though.
GM unveiled the Brightdrop brand during its 2021 CES presentation and promised a full introduction later in the year. The van uses GM's Ultium batteries and is allegedly capable of covering 250 miles on a charge. It can allegedly regain 170 miles of range in an hour on a 120-kilowatt DC fast charger. Plus, there is 600 cubic feet of storage space for hauling cargo.
The EV600 is designed to work with BrightDrop's EP1 electric pallet. It can carry up to 200 pounds of cargo for autonomous, See: Topdon obd2 scanner. short-distance deliveries from the van to your door.

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Music legend Bruce Springsteen starred in his first-ever advertisement at age 71 for Jeep, which aired during this year's Super Bowl. The two-minute ad, titled "The Middle," featured Springsteen behind the wheel of an open-top Jeep CJ-5 journeying to the physical center of the United States' contiguous 48 states. The location was chosen to signify the need to heal the deep divisions of the recent past and meet somewhere in the ideological middle. Springsteen, See: launch code reader. whose lyrics frequently focus on the life of the working class in America, not only starred in the ad but worked together with Ron Aniello on the score.
Unfortunately for the singer, the good intentions of the ad itself are where the positives ended. On Wednesday-less than a week after the ad's big game debut-TMZ broke the news of Springsteen's Nov. 14 DWI arrest in the Gateway National Recreation Area in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and the backlash was immediate. It was a particularly bad look for someone chosen to help sell Jeeps during one of the most visible ad blocks of the year. Jeep even pulled the spot from its online channels after the news broke. However, later reporting puts that backlash into question as a source familiar with the case told the Asbury Park Press that Springsteen's blood alcohol content was only 0.02 at the time of his arrest, which is only a quarter of the 0.08 legal limit in New Jersey.
Springsteen was cited for driving while intoxicated, consuming alcohol in a closed area, and reckless driving at the time of his November arrest, TMZ reports. National Park Service spokeswoman Daphne Yun told the Asbury Park Press that Springsteen was cooperative during the traffic stop when he was arrested. Springsteen has no prior DWIs to his name, or even parking or traffic tickets in the state of New Jersey, per public court records.
Because the Gateway National Recreation Area is a federal park administered by the U.S. National Park Service, the case will reportedly be heard in a federal court, not a New Jersey one. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited in many areas of the park, including on Sandy Hook, with exceptions for the latter made only for certain permitted events. Per the Asbury Park Press, alcohol was only recently banned on Sandy Hook in 2019.
While tickets for such arrests aren't made public, the incident happened on Sandy Hook, where Springsteen, one of New Jersey's biggest native stars, pulled over his Triumph motorcycle for a photo-op with fans. Stopping to interact and take photos with fans is something he often does, according to a source close to the singer who spoke with CNN. Per park ranger R.L. Hayes, who is cited in the federal summons, he saw the fans offer Springsteen a shot of Patrón tequila, which he took before hopping back onto the motorcycle and riding away-both of which would have been against the rules on Sandy Hook.
Hayes, who pulled Springsteen over near the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, wrote in the summons, "Springsteen smelt strongly of alcohol coming off his person and had glassy eyes." The ranger informed Springsteen that alcohol was banned in the park, and the musician admitted to having two tequila shots in the past 20 minutes.
"The Patrón bottle that the shot was poured out of was completely empty (750ml)," Hayes wrote in the summons. "I asked Springsteen if he was leaving, and he confirmed that he was going to drive out of the park."
According to the federal summons and sources familiar with the incident who spoke with the Asbury Park Press, Springsteen failed two field sobriety tests after he was pulled over. In the summons, Hayes claimed that Springsteen swayed back and forth as he performed the field sobriety test, and that the rock star struggled during the horizontal gaze and walk-and-turn tests. Springsteen also initially declined to take a breathalyzer test. (You can read the full summons at the bottom of this page.)
Per CNN, Springsteen's first hearing over these charges is set for later this month.
However, Springsteen did eventually take that breathalyzer test. If the source who claimed that Springsteen blew only a .02 BAC at the time of his arrest is correct, it ...

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It's common knowledge that dogs are proud protectors of their humans, sometimes putting their own lives at risk to save them, or spending the rest of their days loyally laying across graves of passed away owners. But can the same be said of cats?
Our feline friends are better known for being aloof and standoffish, but it turns out they can be just as protective of their human families as their dog frenemies.
A recent event in Brisbane, Australia, highlighted this bond. A family cat, Arthur, fought until his death trying to protect his human family's two young children from a venomous snake. The kids were kept safe thanks to Arthur's bold and brave moves, but sadly he was bitten and passed away a day later, im608 review
. reported the veterinary center that treated him.
The animosity between cats and snakes is no new tale, and cats are indeed predators of smaller creatures, enjoying a good hunt from time to time, but these instinctive acts have generally been seen as unrelated to human connection.
Animal behaviorist Dr. John Bradshaw highlighted in National Geographic that natural instinct is the crucial part to remember when it comes to cats jumping in to seemingly save the day. In Bradshaw's view, cats are most likely following their instincts above anything else.
However, in another research paper published in the scientific journal Nature, cats are proven to truly bond with their caregivers - just as much as young children bond with their primary caregivers.
The study highlights an experiment that saw 70 kittens and 38 older cats reunited with their owners after having spent time in an unfamiliar environment. It turns out, 64.3 percent of the cats directly approached their owners or nuzzled them, a similar percentage to when children were reunited with their primary caregivers, in a clear display of friendship and bonding.
It looks like a mixture of bonding and instinct creates closeness, and even protectiveness, between cats and their owners.
To further prove this point, there have been extraordinary instances when cats have saved human lives. For instance, a stray cat, Masha, wrapped herself around an abandoned baby boy and kept him warm until emergency services picked him up. And as an emergency worker carried the baby to the vehicle, Masha followed them and meowed "pitifully."
In 2014, Tara the cat fought off a dog attacking a four-year-old boy. In 2012, a young stray cat, Pudding, was adopted by a mother and her son. When the mother fell into a diabetic coma in her sleep, Pudding jumped onto her and nudged her until she woke up, giving the mother enough time to shout out to her son for help. Having sensed this, Pudding then ran to the son's room and pounced on him until he woke up, when he was then able to call emergency services.
There are countless accounts of cats using their senses, instincts, and perhaps even close bonds, to protect and save humans. So, it looks like dogs have strong contenders when it comes to showing love and devotion.

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Mining is a dirty, dangerous, heavy job that involves traveling a lot more distance than you might realize. In terms of the tasks most ripe for robotics, when fully automated luxury communism comes in, mining is a key one because it's miserable and harmful but we do still need to do quite a lot of it. So if truly autonomous vehicles existed-which they don't-then it would be an ideal place to start.
Fortescue, a major metals mining company in Australia, has retrofitted four Ford Rangers with LIDAR and self-driving equipment to automate a small part of its processes with the support of Ford themselves. What seems like a small part is actually rather crucial since the trucks are tasked with delivering spare parts to engineers working on mining equipment. They'd been using Rangers driven by humans for the task, which they say were making 12,000 trips measuring 28-kilometers (17.4 miles) in total to deliver spares-that's a lot of time spent behind the wheel for a task that doesn't exactly need a lot of people skills and probably isn't what even the biggest enthusiasts (us) would call enjoyable driving.
Autonomous haulage truck
Fortescue previously introduced what it called autonomous haulage trucks to its fleet, with 183 trucks performing haulage operations without a driver since last year. And it's not the only mining company doing it-fellow Australians and global mega-mining operation Rio Tinto is considered the benchmark and specialist robotics companies like ASI and ABB are going in hard on selling their potential services to one of the richest industries in the world. But most of the trucks converted are in the European sense of the word-the heavy equipment pictured above, See: Topdon code reader. not road cars.
The Rangers converted for this are more recognizable as cars than megalithic engineering structures so it's a bit more tempting to view what they're doing as genuine autonomy, rather than acting as automatons performing processes. But, like with every self-driving car thus far, that's not quite what's going on. The cars are fitted with sensors that will prevent them from crashing into things (Lidar/Radar) and they have failsafe braking systems, though essentially they're programmed to follow set routes, almost like they're on rails. But without the obvious inconvenience, in a ground-moving program, of having to lay them.
They're also fitted with systems that make them, essentially, remote control for when you want to take the car on a trip it isn't already set up for. All of which makes sense operationally, but what happened to the people who used to drive them? You know, the ones who got tired at the end of a shift and had labor rights?
When they brought in the autonomous program, Fortescue said, "Our approach to autonomy has been to be open and transparent with our plans and to work closely with our team members to offer opportunities for re-training and re-deployment. Around 3,000 Fortescue team members have been trained to work with autonomous haulage, including over 200 people trained as Mine Controllers and AHS system professionals."
So they're not just directly replacing jobs with remote control. But in an industry where labor is often exploitative, some of the concerns about automation in mining have to be that the industry is finding economies in a restructuring that it might not be completely ready for. It's not luxury automation if the people who used to do the jobs don't get to benefit from it, after all.

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In early February, Ford finally unveiled the new F-150 Raptor. For now, the truck is available only with a V6 engine but a V8 option will join the range next year. Sales won't begin until this summer with prices starting at around the $60,000 mark (or so we suppose), which means the automaker has several months to make sure everything is in top form before the sales kick off.
A new batch of spy photos shows what seems like a production-ready 2021 Raptor testing on public roads with Michigan registration plates. The prototype may look like a standard new Raptor but there are a few things worth talking about.
First, the wheels are new. The official press photos of the new Raptor showed black wheels with six V-shaped spokes and these new rims follow a similar design. The spokes are thicker though and feature what looks like a diamond-cut finish, creating a more premium overall look. The stylish wheels are wrapped in 35-inch tires - not the giant 37-inchers, which forced the automaker to modify its production lines.
Also worth noting is that this Raptor test vehicle features what appears to be a graphics package. At the front, mk908p
. it includes fat black stripes on the hood but the situation is more interesting at the back. On the side of the cargo bed, there's a more interesting pattern with big Raptor lettering. Below that, the truck features the letters FP (for Ford Performance), the US flag, and the number 03, designating this is the third generation of the performance truck.
This new color scheme probably suggests the new Raptor will be available with several individualization options. We hope we will learn more very soon.

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On a scale of 1 to 5, how passionate and enthusiastic are you about cars?
The real-life Q is quite different to the one you see on the big screen. He seems less absent-minded and eccentric, for a start. And, as far as we can tell, his pens don't contain any explosive devices. Yet Simon Lane, in his role as head ofAston Martin's Q bespoke division , is in charge of developing cars as creative, bold and deceiving as anything MI6's Quartermaster might produce.
Having long offered a customisation service through the Works Tailored arm run from its Newport Pagnell plant, See: Launch car diagnostic. Aston launched the expanded Q division at its Gaydon base in 2012 with a licence to produce highly modified and bespoke models as demanded by its most loyal customers.
Most premium car makers have similar operations, but what Lane believes sets Q apart is a more fun approach, as its name hints. "I like to think we push the boundaries more than our competitors in terms of what's possible," he says. "And that goes right up to building bespoke one-off cars."
Q has three main offerings. Q Collection offers special parts and options for standard Aston models. Q Commission gives customers more freedom in terms of customising their cars, with a focus on colour and trim. The pinnacle, and you suspect the service that James Bond would head straight for, is Q Advanced Operations.
Lane says this is for customers "who don't want anything on the menu and want to do something completely different". That can range from non-standard powertrains and bodywork to fully customised cars.
To demonstrate what Q is capable of, we staged a top-secret mission to bring together five of its finest creations and asked Lane to showcase their highlights.
A tribute to the 1999Aston Vantage V600(one of world's most powerful production cars at the time), this 2018 special edition based on the previous-generation Vantage was the result of a commission from a single customer.
"He wanted a machine based on the V600," says Lane. "We have to put every part on a bespoke car through the same testing we would any part on a series-production model, which can be expensive. He said he would underwrite the development and help find other buyers, which means we could split the development, testing and engineering costs across seven coupés and seven convertibles."
The result was also a run-out special, with the 14 examples the final cars to use the VH platform – which also made them the final Vantages to have a naturally aspirated V12. And the body was extensively reworked in the style of the 1999 V600, which Lane describes as "a bruiser".
Lane says: "The customer wanted a bespoke exterior using carbonfibre; the only surviving panels are the doors and roof. There are clear design links and some really nice details. We kept the original side sill shape, so it has a real Coke-bottle shape, and the bonnet bulge is a very clear nod to the original V600."
So is the darkened grille, while the heavily reworked interior features a carbonfibre centre console and lightweight seats.
Lane admits that the V600 was "an expensive exercise because we had to do a lot of the testing we originally did on the car again". He adds: "It would be very difficult to do that for a single bespoke car, but doing it on a run of cars meant we could do it for the customer at a sensible price point and find some other customers as well."
One of two special cars developed as a tie-in with themuch-delayed No Time to Die , theVantage 007 Editionis a homage to the Vantage V8 that appears in the film, having first been seen in 1987's The Living Daylights.
While based on the Vantage, the 007 Edition is packed with subtle details that reference the original car, starting with the matching Cumberland Grey paint. The most notable detail is the new mesh grille, which required a lot of engineering.
"It's a direct nod to the original, with the same laser-cut square grille effect," says Lane. "Just that part alone required substantial engineering, because the airflow that goes through the Vantage grille is close to the limits of what's needed, and we had to calculate it all in litres per second to make sure th...

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China's Chang'e 4 spacecraft are back in action for a 27th lunar day on the far side of the moon, but it's the discoveries from the mission's previous lunar day that have scientists excited.
The Chang'e 4 lander and Yutu 2 rover resumed activities on Feb. 6 after hibernating during the severe cold of lunar night, according to the Chinese state-run media outlet Xinhua. But one lunar day earlier the rover came across a curious rock specimen which the Yutu 2 drive team began to refer to as a "milestone."
According to a Yutu 2 diary published by Our Space, the Chinese language science outreach channel affiliated with the China National Space Administration (CNSA), mission scientists agreed with the drive team that the elongated rock was worth closer inspection.
Related: China unveils ambitious moon mission plans for 2024 and beyond
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The team then planned to do a close approach and analyze the rock with Yutu 2's Visible and Near-infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) instrument, which detects light that is scattered or reflected off materials to reveal their makeup.
VNIS has been used to investigate a number of rocks and regolith samples along Yutu 2's path across Von Kármán crater. These include unusual melt glass specimens and potentially material from the lunar mantle.
While not looking particularly exciting to the untrained eye, the find has generated interest among lunar scientists. "It seems to have a shard-like shape and is sticking out of the ground. That's definitely unusual," Dan Moriarty, NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, told Space.com.
"Repeated impacts, stresses from thermal cycling, and other forms of weathering on the lunar surface would all tend to break down rocks into more-or-less 'spherical' shapes, given enough time," Moriarty said. "Think of how rocky beaches wear down stones to smooth, round shapes over time by repeated jostling in the waves."
Moriarty said both the shard-like shape and that pronounced "ridge" running near the edge of the rock seem to indicate that this rock is geologically young, and was emplaced relatively recently.
Related: Yutu 2 snaps stunning new panoramas from the moon's far side
"I would definitely guess an origin as impact ejecta from some nearby crater. It is possible that a rock with this aspect ratio could have been produced by a process known as spallation, where intact fragments of rock are blown off the nearby surface without experiencing the same degree of shock pressures that the immediate target undergoes," Moriarty said, adding that this initial assessment is just a guess.
Followup detections and data from VNIS will provide much greater insight. Clive Neal, a leading lunar expert at the University of Notre Dame, agrees that, based on the images, the specimens are impact ejecta rather than exposed bedrocks. "The question I have is are they locally derived? Hopefully the spectral data will allow an evaluation of the origin as local or exotic, that is, from outside this area," he said.
Yutu 2 and the Chang'e 4 lander have already greatly exceeded their design lifetimes of 90 Earth days and one year, respectively. The rover has covered a total of 2,060 feet (628 meters) since its deployment from the lander on Jan. 3, 2019.
In November last year China launched its Chang'e 5 lunar sample return mission. The mission resulted in 3.81 lbs. (1.73 kilograms) of fresh moon samples being delivered to Earth just over three weeks later. CNSA last month published procedures for requesting samples for scientific analysis.
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Two of Kia's newest and most popular models, the K5 midsize sedan and the Sorento SUV, have been named among the "Best New Cars for 2021" by Autotrader, marking the latest industry awards for Kia's world-class model lineup.
"Having two all-new models, the K5 midsize sedan and the Sorento SUV, See: Launch diagnostic code reader. included among Autotrader's ‘Best New Cars for 2021' is a testament to Kia's commitment to design, quality, and the ownership experience," said Sean Yoon, president, Kia Motors North America & Kia Motors America. "This latest recognition of the Kia brand shows that our dedicated philosophy of building sporty sedans and capable SUVs is resonating with customers and the experts at Autotrader."
Autotrader praised the K5 for its head-turning exterior and a roomy, high-tech interior. In addition, the K5's high-end options, sharp handling, and fresh new look are cited as reasons the sporty midsize sedan was so appealing. Autotrader also noted its eye-catching design, especially in GT trim, rivaled that of some German sport sedan makers.
The 2021 Sorento was noted for its ability to transform from budget-friendly SUV to a near-luxury SUV with only a few options and it was praised for its handling characteristics, particularly in the rugged X-Line trim. Comparing the all-new Sorento to the award-winning Telluride, Autotrader noted Kia has captured the spirit of its wildly popular midsize SUV in a smaller and nimbler package.
The Autotrader Best New Cars Award is intended to benefit a broad set of shoppers by highlighting a diverse group of 12 vehicles. Each vehicle on this year's list was agreed upon unanimously by the entire editorial and data team at Autotrader. To be considered, a vehicle must be of the current or next model-year and available for purchase at the time of the announcement. The editors capped the base price for consideration at $75,000, meaning every contender offers a significant value for the asking price. Not only is value a top priority, but vehicles are also judged on available technology and a rewarding or dynamic driving experience. Each winning vehicle must earn a score of 4.0 or higher on the editors' 5-point evaluation scorecard to be named a 2021 Autotrader Best New Car.

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