Month: May 2020

Enlarge (credit: Dan Ye)

I usually approach papers on the subject of alternative thrusters with a certain degree of cynicism. But we've finally been given a study on microwave thrusters that doesn’t rely on impossible physics. Instead, it used a plain old plasma thruster.

Plasma thrusters have generally been thought of as a means of propulsion in space, but now one has been designed to operate under atmospheric conditions. According to the researchers involved, it's an air plasma thruster that has the potential to produce the same thrust as a commercial jet engine.

Combustible air?

A jet engine is just a form of internal combustion engine: combine fuel and air and compress the living hell out of the mixture. The resulting ignition rapidly heats the gas (most of which is nitrogen and doesn’t burn), forcing it to expand explosively. The rapid expansion can be used to power fans that generate thrust or used directly to provide thrust. But, the key point is that the gas needs to be rapidly heated to very high temperatures so that it can expand. The fuel of a jet engine is just the energy source for heat.

Enlarge / Two health PhDs enter; one more informed public leaves, this Thursday at 1:30pm ET. (credit: Aurich Lawson)

As the entire world continues to grapple with the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, it's only natural to have a ton of questions. Ars has done its best to keep readers on top of the most important news while also providing key perspective on those big-picture questions. Where does the spread stand this week? I should be wearing a mask, right? How does science get a vaccine together (and are researchers close)?

So far, however, we haven't totally attempted to grapple with one of the pandemic's biggest outstanding and timely inquiries: what should reopening look like? Beyond essential businesses and healthcare facilities, this month we've slowly started witnessing things like drive-ins returning or racing leagues announce restarts. With entire states from Texas to Florida recently easing various guidelines and restrictions on businesses and public movement, thinking about reopening (whether now is the right time, the kind of safety mechanisms necessary, etc.) feels more pertinent than ever.

This Thursday at 1:30pm ET (17:30 UTC/10:30am PT), we'll be pondering precisely that when talking to an expert on the subject: Harvard Assistant Professor of Exposure Assessment Science Dr. Joseph Allen. This spring, Dr. Allen has been sought out by everyone from The New York Times to ESPN for his particular expertise in building science, or how indoor build environments from homes and schools to labs and stadiums impact our overall health. (The extreme TL;DR for these times: proper ventilation, filtration, and humidity can help reduce the spread of pathogens.) Dr. Allen has an upcoming book on the subject, Healthy Buildings available on April 21, and obviously COVID-19 has made his focus on the intersection of building science and health science all the more vital.

Enlarge / The key art for this year's conference. (credit: Apple)

Today, Apple announced that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) for 2020 will kick off on June 22. That's later than usual, and the company had previously let developers and press outlets know that this event will be held exclusively online.

The online-only format is in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to the cancellation or virtualization of all kinds of industry events, including Mobile World Congress, Google's I/O conference, and the Game Developers Conference. The late start date might also be related.

Here's Apple's statement from marketing SVP Phil Schiller:

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New car sales in the United Kingdom fell 97 percent in April, according to data released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Just 4,321 cars were sold in the month, the lowest figure since 1946.

One surprising result: Tesla's Model 3 emerged as the best-selling car in the UK for April. Tesla sold 658 Model 3s, ahead of the 367 I-Paces sold by Jaguar.

Both the Model 3 and the I-Pace are electric vehicles. One reason for strong electric car sales in April was likely the fact that the UK government just exempted electric cars from the company car tax, which applies to cars purchased by companies for their employees to use. That change went into effect on April 6, so some employers may have been waiting until that date to buy new vehicles.

Getting creative with the character creator in RPGs is kind of like the game before the game—so much so that often I'll spend more time there than I do actually playing through an RPG's tutorial section. Finding just the right jaw line, just the right nose, just the right hair style—actually crafting the character rather than living with the developer's default avatar gives players a sense of connection to their character. And, of course, there's the near-universal thrill of actually seeing your character walk on-screen the first time (often accompanied by the near-universal crushing disappointment that, viewed in the complex and dynamic lighting of the game's opening sequence, your carefully crafted avatar is in fact an ugly deformed monster with concave cheekbones and a hideous overbite).

We wanted to expand on those experiences by filming some folks trying their hand at various' games character creators—and the video embedded above is the first in what we hope will be a new series of character creator-related silliness. Professional illustrator Kirsten Ulve has never before played Skyrim and has never before had a chance to wiggle the knobs and dials of the Creation Engine's decade-old avatar designer—which means she's the perfect mark to experiment on.

So we asked her to recreate some Game of Thrones characters in vanilla un-modded Skyrim. Because that's totally easy, right?