Lego Star Wars UCS X-Wing Starfighter review

Essential info: Price: $239.99/£209.99 Model number: 75355 Number of pieces: 1949 Finished dimensions:  10.5 x 21.5 x 17.2 inches (27 x 55 x 44 cm) Recommended age: 18+ Another X-Wing? That’s what we thought when Lego announced that the next in the series of classic Star Wars ships to receive the hugely expensive “Ultimate Collector Series” treatment was going to be none other than the tried-and-true X-Wing Starfighter.  The ship that saw off Death Stars, that’s been pulled from the swamps of Dagoba, and even took Luke on his final journey…

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‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ season 2 episode 5 gives the Chapel-Spock-T’Pring love triangle a turn

Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Strange New Worlds” Season 2, episode 5 Good grief, we’re at the half-way point already of the second season and … yet another reminder that within our lifetimes we used to get entire seasons of sci-fi that were 20 plus episode long. Consequently, it’s a little bit harder to gauge where we are. Every episode, including this one have been solid, well-written, exceptionally well acted and thoroughly entertaining. But, you know, not long after horse-drawn carriage were replaced by cars and we had 22 episodes per…

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Super-close supernova captivates record number of citizen scientists

The closest cosmic explosion to Earth in the last 10 years became a record breaker for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SET) Institute.  The supernova, designated (SN) 2023ixf, was first spotted on May 19, 2023, by Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki. Just an hour after this manifestation, amateur astronomers taking part in SETI and Unistellar’s Cosmic Cataclysms program were on the case.  A record number of observers, including citizen scientists in the form of amateur astronomers, came together to collect data from a supernova that took place in the Pinwheel…

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Hubble telescope captures stunning shot of spiral galaxy (photo)

A dazzling new photo from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a distant galaxy that hosted a supernova explosion not long ago. The featured galaxy, known as UGC 11860, is located roughly 184 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. It’s a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way, exhibiting the telltale arms that curve out from its dense, bright central region.  UGC 11860 appears to float serenely in space in the new Hubble photo, which NASA shared on July 7. However, it recently hosted an almost “unimaginably energetic stellar…

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‘Foundation’ Season 2 clip reveals a brutal look at the new season (video)

Emmy-nominated actor Lee Pace always delivers compelling performances, whether he’s trying to dominate the galaxy as Ronan the Accuser in “Guardians of the Galaxy” or swaying investors as charismatic computer impresario Joe MacMillan in AMC’s “Halt and Catch Fire.” In his standout role as the merciless Galactic Emperor in Apple TV+’s “Foundation,” Pace’s Brother Day character is a treacherous tyrant trying to hold together an empire of thousands of worlds as a resistance movement hatched by psychohistorian and mathematician Hari Seldon threatens his genetic clones’ centuries-old reign. Pace can now…

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Truly to open 1st zero-gravity hard seltzer bar aboard astronaut training aircraft

A popular hard seltzer brand is giving new meaning to the term “pop-up bar” with a zero-g twist that could have its fans popping up and down and in every which way this summer. Truly, the hard seltzer line from the same brewery as Samuel Adams, is launching this year’s “seltzer season” with what it has billed as “the first-ever zero-g drinking experience:” the Truly Zero Gravity Bar. The brand is stocking a chartered parabolic flight — the same type used to train astronauts to be prepared to work in microgravity…

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The summer meteor showers of 2023 could be awesome. Here’s how to see them

Every summer it’s a ritual: Amateur astronomers worldwide look forward to observing the annual performance of the Perseid meteor shower, yet often overlook six lesser-known showers that peak between July 26 and August 17. Fortunately, in 2023, the phase of the moon will not be overly obtrusive when most of these minor meteor showers will be reaching their peak; only one out of the six will be wrecked by an almost-full moon in early August.  However, most are also active for a good number of days before and after maximum…

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These 3 Orion spacecraft will carry Artemis astronauts to the moon (photo)

Three crew-carrying spacecraft are getting ready for their big moon missions. The Orion capsules for the Artemis 2, Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 moon missions are coming together at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida under stewardship of contractor Lockheed Martin. “The future of @NASA_Orion is looking pretty good,” Lockheed officials wrote on Twitter Friday (July 14) of the three spacecraft, each of which is expected to ferry astronauts to the moon starting in late 2024 or so.  Related: Four for the moon! NASA names Artemis 2 astronaut crew for…

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