The first launch of a Chinese methane rocket ended in failure.

The first-ever flight to near-Earth orbit by a methane-powered launch vehicle ended in failure. The Zhuque-2 rocket of the Chinese company Landspace reached space, but did not reach the desired orbit due to problems with the engines of the second stage. Methane has long been seen as an alternative to kerosene as a propellant in rocket engines (oxygen acts as an oxidant) - it makes launches cheaper and better suited for reusable engine technologies. In addition, methane can be obtained on Mars, which is important for future manned expeditions to the planet. Currently, a number of companies are developing such missiles.

Balls from space.

SpaceX and Qatar Airways sent two World Cup balls into space and back. On one of SpaceX's recent space missions, the balls traveled 1,300 km and had a top speed of 8,272 km/h. Most likely, the balls will be played by the players after the starting whistle in the final of the tournament and in the match for 3rd place: the matches will be held on December 18 and 17.

NASA has published beautiful views of the Earth at night from space.

In addition to the "glow" of cities, the super-sensitive satellite captured the lights of ships plowing rivers at night and torches in oil and gas fields.

Panoply creative studio created video art.

It tried to present how people with derealization disorder see reality. Derealization is a feeling of unreality and distortion of the surrounding world. It can affect everyone at least once in a lifetime, but some people experience its symptoms more severely and on an ongoing basis.

Tesla has released a video.

It's about how the Tesla Semi electric truck is tested for reliability and durability. Some of the footage appears to have been taken years ago when Tesla was testing the original Tesla Semi prototype in Alaska. But the rest of the footage appears to be of the latest generation of the electric truck.

An excess of omega-3s caused mice to go bald.

Researchers from China and the United States accidentally noticed that mice whose diet is rich in fish oil lose hair. An in-depth study showed that a protein that binds fatty acids and is expressed in skin macrophages is to blame. It sets off a cascade of reactions that causes other macrophages to accumulate around the hair follicles - this causes inflammation and hair loss. Thus, fish oil in large quantities can hardly be considered beneficial for hair loss.

The Vans brand presented a new winter collection in New York.

Creative vans designed in the form of sneakers drive around the streets of the city. By the way, the interior inside the car was also stylized as sneakers.

"Аt the bottom of the sea."

YouTuber Joe Jenkins, who regularly plays his piano in unusual places, has staged a new performance: this time "at the bottom of the sea." Joe performed the track "Under the Sea" from Disney's The Little Mermaid. By the way, the planning of the stunt took two years.

An enthusiast launched a game on a Christmas tree toy.

He 3D-printed the case, integrated components, including a Bluetooth chip, and the smallest display he could find. So you can play on BT-keyboard or joystick.

New Zealand criminalized the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The local parliament passed a historic law banning the sale of tobacco to all citizens born on or after January 1, 2009. Thus, it is planned to protect future generations of New Zealanders from addiction.

Pavel Durov became the richest man in the UAE.

Forbes has shared new data, according to which Pavel Durov is the richest person in the United Arab Emirates. In 2022, Durov became poorer, but this did not stop him from leading the rating. At the moment, Pavel's fortune is estimated at $15.1 billion. In 2021, the creator of Telegram was also the richest person in the UAE. Then Forbes estimated his holdings at $17 billion.

Biologists have found the clitoris in female snakes.

Before that, it was believed that they did not have this organ. Now it turned out that it is double - like the penis in males. A double clitoris is called a hemiclitorus. It is located in the lower part of the reptile's tail and consists of sensory nerves and tissue similar in properties to erectile tissue. It does not have spikes that help during mating - they are on the genitals of males. Biologists believe that the snake hemiclitor performs a standard function - it is stimulated during courtship, enhances sexual behavior and increases the chances of successful fertilization.

Backdrop Remix

Runway has a new AI tool for working with videos and images - Backdrop Remix can create backgrounds for any photo based on a simple text prompt. This is an excellent replacement for background removal services and another useful neural network for Runway.

In Tokyo, they created the smallest metal coil to get into the Guinness Book of Records.

It looks like hair because of the thickness of 0.027 millimeters (this is three times thinner than hair).

The market value of SpaceX has become known.

Based on insider dealings, knowing the price of one share, Bloomberg calculated that SpaceX is worth about $140 billion. This puts the corporation in 80th place in the list of the largest on the planet. For comparison, Tesla is now worth 510 billion, Samsung is 300 billion, and Netflix is the same 140.

Children's book from the neural network ChatGPT

Enthusiast Ammar Rashi wrote a children's book using the ChatGPT neural network - it creates the text itself. He also generated illustrations for it in the Midjourney neural network. The guy did all this in a couple of hours for free and now he sells copies on Amazon for $ 9

The noise of cars near the school impairs the memory and attention of students.

Traffic noise outside the window reduces the cognitive skills of schoolchildren - they cope with tests for memory and attention worse than their peers from educational institutions in quiet areas. These conclusions were reached by Spanish scientists during a study involving 2.6 thousand boys and girls 7-10 years old from 38 schools. They were followed for two academic years.

In the US, they created a robot capable of healing their knife wounds.

Engineers at Northwestern University in Illinois have created a soft robot that can move around and recover from being stabbed. It will be able to work in hazardous areas, and parts of it can also be integrated into wearable devices. For example - for astronauts. In the event of an injury to the upper layer, the robot turns on sensors that release chemicals that repair the damage. After that, he continues on his way.

A watch with a Joker smile was featured in The New York Times review.

The time is shown with the help of two rotating "eyes" - one displays hours, the other - minutes. They look in different directions for most of the day and create a crazy "face". The red tongue in the smiling mouth shows the phases of the moon.

Scientists have figured out why green light relieves pain.

It turned out that green light activates intense signaling of gamma-aminobutyric acid - this is one of the most important inhibitory neurotransmitters of the central nervous system. Because of this, the expression of the Penk gene increases; it encodes a protein with a similar name - PENK. This substance is a precursor to the ENK molecule, which turns on opioid receptors in the brain for pain relief. The scientists tested their findings on modified mice.