A lot of the celestial objects in the sky that we call stars aren’t technically stars. If we define stars to be self-luminous objects, then a lot of the ‘stars’ in the sky are exceptions to that definition. To an astronomer, a threshold has to be met if a celestial object is going to be labeled as a star: it has to ignite nuclear fusion in its core. To be exact, it has to fuse hydrogen into helium or fuse the products of that reaction into still heavier elements. Without achieving this, astronomers cannot consider an object to be a star. Neutron stars, brown and white dwarfs don’t meet that threshold, as Forbes detailed: 

Brown dwarfs range in mass from about 13 times the mass of Jupiter up to about 80 Jupiter masses: about 7.5% the mass of our Sun. Although they’re often called brown dwarf stars, they’re not truly stars, because they don’t meet that critical threshold: they cannot undergo the fusion reactions that are required to become a full-blown star. If a brown dwarf ever merges with another or accretes enough mass from a companion to cross this mass threshold, it can raise its game to become a red dwarf star: fusing hydrogen into helium and becoming a true star.

These actual stars come in a wide variety of masses, colors, and brightnesses. The ones that range from 7.5% to about 40% of the Sun’s mass are the red dwarf stars: they will burn hydrogen into helium and that’s it; they will never reach higher temperatures to do anything else. Stars from 40% to 800% the Sun’s mass will eventually evolve into red giants, fusing helium into carbon when they do, before running out of fuel. And the even more massive stars will become supergiants, eventually going supernova when they reach the end of their lives.

Image via Forbes 

I’m not sure if there are other fruits that you can heat up in the microwave, but grapes shouldn’t be one of them, unless you want to set those grapes on fire. Heating grapes in a microwave will spark and create plasma. That’s not how you impress your guests! Not at the expense of an appliance! A research article published in the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explained the process of how it happens, as BroBible details: 

I think we’re going to need a translation. Take it away, Wired:

The appliance pushes microwaves into the two grape halves, where the waves bounce around and add constructively to focus the energy to a spot on the skin. Both grape halves happen to focus the energy to the same tiny point. That intense energy jostles the atoms and molecules at that spot, heating them up so much that they can no longer hold onto their electrons, which turns them into a plasma — and boom, fireball.

They also discovered that the grapes don’t have to be cut in half to get the same results and in fact they don’t even have to be grapes, they can be gooseberries, large blackberries, or even quail eggs. “Anything grape-sized will work, if it’s watery enough,” said physicist Hamza Khattak.

The next thing the researchers said they would be tackling with regard to this phenomenon is finding out why the two grapes placed side by side repeatedly bump back and forth into each other when heated up in a microwave.

Image via Wired

Physics professor Vitaly Vanchurin attempted to change our perspective about the reality we’re living in. In a study uploaded to arXiv this summer, Vanchurin suggested that we’re living inside a neural network that governs everything around us. According to the professor, artificial neural networks can “exhibit approximate behaviors” of quantum mechanics and general relativity, a feat that physicists that have been trying to  reconcile for years, as Futurism details: 

Since quantum mechanics “is a remarkably successful paradigm for modeling physical phenomena on a wide range of scales,” he writes, “it is widely believed that  on the most fundamental level the entire universe is governed by the rules of quantum mechanics and even gravity should somehow emerge from it.”

“We are not just saying that the artificial neural networks can be useful for analyzing physical systems or for discovering physical laws, we are saying that this is how the world around us actually works,” reads the paper’s discussion. “With this respect it could be considered as a proposal for the theory of everything, and as such it should be easy to prove it wrong.”

Image via Futurism 

This rehabilitation center in Switzerland caters to royalty, politicians, oligarchs, business tycoons, and A-list celebrities. It isn’t a surprise that the Paracelsus is labeled as the most expensive in the world. A five-week residential rehab in the Paracelsus costs £315,000 (around $400,000)! The rehabilitation center provides a 24/7 limousine transportation, a personal chef, butler, and concierge. It feels like their clients are staying for vacation and less for rehabilitation. Well, they did pay a huge amount of money for it! 

Laptops come in varying … monochromatic shades. It’s rare to see other colorful variations of these devices sold in stores. Sometimes we’d want a splash of color in the items we own, right? If so, why do the available variants for these gadgets come in the same set of colors that are ‘formal’ and ‘elegant’? It turns out that buyers actually turn away from color choices that are perceived as flashy and might end up feeling dated later. But if you are looking for more colors aside from the usual black, white, grey, and blue laptops, there are companies that are selling them in brighter palettes: 

It turns out there are several major manufacturers that produce laptops with a much broader array of color than we are used to seeing on the shelves of big-box stores and large online retailers. Want a pink that pops? Razer and MSI have that. More of an outdoor person who prefers a misty green? Acer has you covered. Asus, who once pushed the envelope with scented laptops, offers the VivoBook S15  in coral, teal, and red, among other finishes.

Design teams do consider color as part of “CMF” or Color, Materials, Finish—a concept in industrial design that speaks to the chromatic, tactile, and decorative aspects of a product. “We analyze how trends affect people's emotions, as well as the imagination of colors and materials,” said Ester Suh, Technical Marketing Manager at Asus. “Our color decisions are based on product design and where we think the market is headed.”

Brandon Warren, Industrial Design Director at Razer agreed. “From a design standpoint, our choice of color is an expression of both our community and our brand.”

“Color is never viewed individually as a surface treatment,” said Khanani. “The design process always starts with obsessing over the customer, but I would shift the conversation from being color specific to a total CMF experience.”

Image via Laptop magazine

The Swedish company known for its furniture of excellent value has now uploaded seven decades’ worth of its catalogs in an online archive that is accessible to anyone. If you’re interested in how furniture designs change over the years or how the company alters or changes the presentation of their catalogs as the years went by, browsing through the archive is now a great option. However, you don’t need a reason to view the catalogs. If you just want to casually browse through hundreds of pages, that’s no problem at all! Check their archive here.

Image via Open Culture

In a surprising turn of events, Microsoft finally announced the price of the Xbox Series S. The next-gen Xbox will cost $299 in the US, housed in the smallest console ever. Microsoft released details on the budget-friendly console in reaction to leaks that surfaced all over the Internet, as Gamespot detailed: 

In terms of design, Series S looks exactly like the leaked image that surfaced on September 7--it's a small, white rectangle with a minimalist design and no disc drive. The front features nothing more than a power button, USB port, and a sync button for the controller.

According to a report from Windows Central, the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X will both release on November 10, with the Series X selling for $499. The Series X price and release date both remain unconfirmed, but given that the Series S information was correct, it seems like a safe bet.

However, a leaked Xbox Series S trailer also made its way online, revealing some of the key details about the system. That trailer has now been released officially, and you can watch it above. It states that Series S comes with a custom 512 GB SSD to allow for fast load times and instant game switching and support for 1440p gaming at 120 FPS. In other words, it appears to largely be what the rumors suggested: a box that's every bit as capable as the Series X, but one that isn't intended for native 4K gaming.

Image via Gamespot 

The newly-opened Marina Bay Sands Apple store is an architectural marvel. The company calls the opening of the Singapore store its “most ambitious retail project,” and it shows. The structure is a geodesic dome that resembles a floating lantern on water. Cult of Mac shares the company’s press release about the new store: 

Here’s what Apple says in its marketing spiel:

“Entirely surrounded by water, Apple Marina Bay Sands offers uninterrupted 360-degree panoramic views of the city and its spectacular skyline. The sphere is a first-of-its-kind, all-glass dome structure that is fully self-supported, comprised of 114 pieces of glass with only 10 narrow vertical mullions for structural connection. As Apple’s third retail location in Singapore, the new store creates an unforgettable space for customers.

An oculus at the apex of the dome provides a flooding ray of light, with custom sunshade rings lining the interior glass. Inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, an oculus located at the apex of the dome provides a flooding ray of light that travels through the space. The interior of the glass is lined with custom baffles, each uniquely shaped to counter sun angles and provide a nighttime lighting effect. With trees lining the interior of the dome, the green garden city of Singapore flows into the store, providing additional shading and soft shadows through the foliage.”

Image via Cult of Mac 

People buy luxury cars to show how much they can spend, so the special edition of  Lamborghini Veneno priced at eight million dollars does not come as a surprise. The luxury vehicle is a profoundly elegant supercar created for its automaker’s 50th anniversary. The Veneno was one of the most expensive cars in the world when it was sold for $8.27 million in 2018. Currently, the car is now listed for a whopping $9.5 million. Hot Cars tells us about the luxury car’s specific features to see if it is worth the price. Check their full piece here. 

Image via Hot Cars 

We went from tiny houses to tiny offices. Are tiny offices the next trend? With the current situation, many of us are working at home. That situation is difficult at times, and takes a lot out of you. Sometimes, the couch isn’t enough for work. Design studio Dutch Invertuals created compact office spaces designed to be in public spaces so people don’t have to stay at home. The office spaces, called Tiny Offices, are designed for someone’s personal office space, as Travel and Leisure detailed: 

The office, the design firm wrote on its site, is “your own compact space in which you can dream, perform and create freely. It takes you away from the domain of ‘the others’ as needed and offers you not only a view of calming nature but also the spiritual space for insight into wherever you are doing.”

The Tiny Offices, made out of corrugated aluminum and wood, were designed to be placed where users could "freely dream, perform and create,” Dezeen reported. And these aren’t just some dream design. The Tiny Offices are already installed in two of Droomparken's holiday parks in the Netherlands.

Measuring in at six square meters (64 square feet), the offices are ideal for one person to sit and find a bit of tranquility in an otherwise chaotic world. The offices come with wooden doors and a large window so users will never feel claustrophobic. Each one comes with a daybed as a place to relax, as well as a desk area and acrylic walls so you can write ideas directly on them. If you’re interested in a tiny office you’ll have to visit the Netherlands to see it. However, the company says they may be working on new office spaces in the future.

Image via Travel and Leisure 

Amplify your dining experience by trying out these unorthodox (and oddly expensive) choices! Take for example, the Anty Gin. This drink is the first to be made using distilled wood ants. Yes, you read that right, ants. The Anty Gin is a collaboration by Nordic Food Lab and The Cambridge Distillery. Each bottle contains the essences of sixty-two ants. Insane, right? If you’re looking for more food and drinks to step up your dining experience, check out Wired’s full piece here. 

Image via Wired

There’s a lot that can be said on how people selectively celebrate and remember certain points in history. In many cases, women and their discoveries and accomplishments go unnoticed. Lilian Bland is one of those unique women forgotten or ignored. Bland was the first woman to design, build, and fly her own plane. She designed the Mayfly, an aircraft that could successfully fly short distances with or without an engine. Her forgotten story makes us ask, why are women like her who are innovators and intelligent beings remain obscured? Historian  Dr. Bettany Hughes explained that a lot of women we remember and are part of recorded history are there because they are portrayed as highly sexu in alized, as Jalopnik detailed: 

She goes on further to add: A lot of the women that we think of, like Cleopatra and Helen of Troy, one of the reasons their stories have lasted is that they are portrayed as highly sexualized. They are exciting, but the danger of their influence has also become a warped morality tale; we remember them as creatures who draw men towards their beds and towards their death.

Often women aren’t allowed to be characters in history, they have to be stereotypes. Cleopatra was a poet and a philosopher, she was incredibly good at maths; she wasn’t that much of a looker. But when we think of her, we think: big breasted seductress bathing in milk. Often, even when women have made their mark and they are remembered by history, we are offered a fantasy version of their lives.

In other cases, history is more likely to remember tragedy. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean, but as I’ve shown through the history of women in racing, being the first or best woman to do something doesn’t necessarily guarantee your place in the stories we tell decades later. Do we remember Earhart as an investor? One of the heirs to her grandmother’s fortune? Do we remember the details of her flights that weren’t record breaking or the cause of her death? Often, we don’t.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

With the current pandemic, most food establishments are predicted to close. Lee Sungwook has designed a food truck designed to work during the pandemic. Meet the Streat is a conceptual food truck that operates on a low-risk, low maintenance model that can drive itself. Yanko Design has more details: 

The Streat comes outfitted with a fully functional kitchen on the inside, big enough for as many as 3-4 cooks. The modular kitchen counter allows you to customize it based on the appliance you need, choosing between fryers, ovens, grills, hobs, and even fridges and deep-freezers for storing produce. A semi-transparent clad sits on top of the truck, illuminating it with sun-light to reduce energy consumption, while allowing patrons outside to see their food be prepared. Set your truck up with an online food-ordering system and you prevent the need for people lining up outside the truck. Moreover, the truck can even travel directly to deliver food to people, eliminating the need for delivery agents… and basically operating quite like a takeaway restaurant, but without the risk of one.

Image via Yanko Design

The ACH160 is Airbus’ luxury version of the H160 helicopter. Guess what, you can grab a unit for yourself if you’re willing to pay a whopping $14 million for it. The luxury aircraft can accommodate up to ten passengers. It is also customizable! Buyers can choose between bench-style seats, individual seats, or a mix of both. Check out more photos of the ACH160 at Business Insider. 

Image via Business Insider

A group of researchers from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville hypothesized that a blast of nutrients can change the color of a tree’s leaves. If the nutrients flowing out of a corpse can change the color and reflectance of plants, then the authorities could use a drone to scan a forest to look for the changes in the trees in order to find deceased missing people. Take note that this is still theoretical, but a floating idea nonetheless among researchers, as Ars Technica details: 

"What we're proposing is to use plants as indicators of human decomposition, to hopefully be able to use individual trees within the forest to help pinpoint where someone has died, to help in body recovery," says UT Knoxville plant biologist Neal Stewart, coauthor on the new paper.

As a large mammal like a human decomposes in a forest, its breakdown transforms the soil in a number of ways. The body's "necrobiome"—all the bacteria that was already in it when it was alive—replicates like crazy in the absence of an immune system. This necrobiome mixes with the microbes in the dirt. "The soil microbiome will change and, of course, the plant roots will also sense some changes," says Stewart. But, he adds, "we don't really know what those changes are."

Image via Ars Technica