Celestron Origin Intelligent Home Observatory, introduced in 2024 and shipping through 2025, uses a 6-inch Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph (RASA) at f/2.2 with an integrated 8.3-megapixel Sony STARVIS IMX178 color sensor, has no eyepiece, a fully motorized one-arm alt-azimuth mount with StarSense plate solving, built-in autofocus and dew control, and about 6 hours of cordless operation.…
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In March 2025 Zeiss introduced Lightfield 4D, integrated into the LSM 910 and 990 laser-scanning confocal microscopes, enabling instant volumetric imaging at up to 80 volume stacks per second and adding the Microscopy Copilot AI assistant. In May 2025 Leica launched the Visoria upright microscope series (Visoria B, Visoria M, Visoria P) for life science,…
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Sonim XP Pro Thermal 5G smartphones integrate a FLIR Lepton 3.5 thermal camera (160×120) with MSX overlay, a Snapdragon processor, a 5000 mAh battery, and 5G connectivity, launched in 2025. Doogee Fire 6 Max is a rugged 5G phone with a 120×160 thermal imager upscaled to 240×240 and a 20,800 mAh battery, released in 2025.…
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Gen3 image intensifier tubes currently offer a Figure of Merit (FOM) over 2300, with white phosphor tubes replacing green for sharper, higher-contrast views. The L3Harris ENVG-B goggles fuse dual white phosphor image intensification with a thermal overlay and have already delivered over 10,000 units to military users. The Army’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) is…
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101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) is about 490 m in diameter and has a potential impact date of September 24, 2182 with a probability of about 1 in 2,700 (0.037%), though NASA says there is no chance of a hit for at least a century and a 1.4‑billion‑ton TNT impact could trigger an years‑long global “impact…
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Most smartphone batteries retain about 80% of their capacity after 500 complete charge cycles (roughly 1.5–2 years). Xiaomi demonstrated 210W HyperCharge that can fill a 4,000 mAh battery in about 8 minutes. Qi2 was announced in 2023 and supports up to 15W wireless charging, with the iPhone 15 (late 2024) first to officially support it.…
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Solid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte with a solid electrolyte, often a ceramic, glass, or solid polymer, and many designs use lithium metal anodes. Prototype solid-state cells have demonstrated energy densities of about 300–450 Wh/kg, with Mercedes-Benz and Factorial reporting roughly 450 Wh/kg. Toyota claims its solid-state EV batteries will charge from 10% to 80%…
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SR-71 Blackbird set the official world speed record for air-breathing crewed aircraft at 2,193 mph (Mach 3.3) in 1976. In 1965, a Lockheed YF-12A interceptor achieved 2,070 mph (Mach 3.17), a world speed record for its time. In 1958, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter set a world speed record above Mach 2, proving fighters could double…
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Since 2016, Tajikistan requires all ISPs to route international traffic through the state-controlled Single Communications Gateway via EKTs, enabling surveillance and censorship. Fixed-line broadband penetration is effectively zero, with about 6,000 fixed broadband subscriptions nationwide (roughly 0.07% of the population) as of 2025. Mobile internet dominates, with 10.54 million active mobile connections by early 2024…
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The Geminid meteor shower peaks overnight on December 13–14, 2025, with as many as 100–150 meteors per hour under dark skies, originating from asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The Ursid meteor shower peaks around December 21–22, 2025, near 11:00 UTC, typically producing 5–10 meteors per hour under dark skies thanks to a new Moon on December 20.…
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