Some of the least enjoyable moments during driving occur when the sunlight is angled just right through the windshield. The world around you suddenly becomes almost impossible to discern, potentially posing a problem for yourself and everyone else on the road. And while nearly every commercial vehicle has featured sun visors for decades, little in their overall design has changed. But one company is offering carmakers a new take on the tried-and-true accessory: a translucent, auto-dimming antiglare visor for drivers and passengers.Designers at Michigan-based company Gentex are no strangers to the concept. As The Drive explained, theyre the ones responsible for some of the first autodimming rear-view mirrors in the 1980s, as well as many current versions of digital rear-view mirrors. Although Gentex first debuted an earlier version of the dimmable, transparent lens in 2023, their latest iteration includes a number of new features. Apart from reducing glare on demand via dashboard touchscreen control, the visors are now also capable of transitioning into a vanity mirror through a specialized reflective layer, along with a transparent screen offering real-time alerts and notifications.The visorand a sunroof variantrelies on a concept known as electrochromatism, in which certain materials darken depending on their exposure to electricity. This typically had involved manufacturing reinforced glass imbued with metal oxides, most often tungsten oxide. But Gentex products instead utilize organic materials called viologens. These offer similar hue-shifting properties, but are often less expensive, less toxic, and easier to recycle. Viologen-powered smart windows from Gentex can already be found in some Boeing 787 aircraft, but for now, the sun visor variant remains one of the many prototypes on display at CES 2025.Its easy to envision a scenario where an eye-level pane of smart glass stuffed with high-tech features becomes an unintentional distraction. At the same time, responsible usage could actually offer a drivers field of view that traditional visors obstruct. At this point, however, its up to automotive designers to decide if Gentexs newest ideas wind up in next-generation cars.The post This company wants to redesign the humble car sun visor appeared first on Popular Science.

Extreme Climate UpdateClimateCalifornia wildfire season should be over. So why is L.A. burning?High winds and unusually dry conditions are fueling the infernos Embers fly, spreading fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles on January 7. The fire was just one of several devastating the county as high-speed winds swiftly turned sparks into infernos.Ethan Swope/AP photoBy Nikk Ogasa33 seconds agoUnusually dry conditions and hurricane-force seasonal winds are fueling multiple fast-moving and destructive wildfires in Los Angeles County. Gusts that reached over 145 kilometers per hour (90 miles per hour) quickly drove the blazes into urban areas, forcing more than 100,000 people to evacuate from their homes and killing at least two people as of January 8.The largest of the blazes, known as the Palisades fire, erupted the morning of January 7 on the west side of Los Angeles and has since burned more than 6,400 hectares (15,800 acres) and destroyed around 1,000 structures. The second largest, called the Eaton fire, ignited near Pasadena that night and had burned more than 4,290 hectares by the next morning. A third blaze, the Hurst fire near Sylmar, has burned more than 200 hectares.

Nature, Published online: 08 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08378-wTrained on unlabelled, unpaired image and text data, the Multimodal transformer with Unified maSKed modeling excelled in outcome prediction, image-to-text retrieval and visual question answering, potentially improving cancer diagnosis and therapy precision.

Nature, Published online: 08 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07974-0Amino acids and KLHL22 do not activate mTORC1 via DEPDC5 degradation

Nature, Published online: 08 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08281-4Diverse methyl -CH functionalizations of ketones and esters are enabled by cationic Pd(II) complexes with MPANA ligands, offering access to spirocyclic and fused ring systems through enhanced catalystsubstrate affinity.

A study using lab-made models of the brain suggests that a herpes virus may be a key link between concussions and dementia risk.

On Jan. 13, bright Mars will disappear behind the full moon for several hours. It's the only lunar occultation of Mars visible from the U.S. this year. Here's how to get the most out of it.

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From the moment that Shadow the Hedgehog appeared in the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, it seemed obvious that Sega's antihero was going to be the sequel's breakout character. But few could have predicted that it would mean Sonic 3's Build-a-Bear line would be disrupted by Shadow's resurgence.As reported by Kotaku, Shadow's Build-a-Bear is sold out and going for ludicrous prices on eBay from $300 on the low end to $1,500 at the highest. Currently, the highest amount that anyone has actually paid on eBay for Shadow is just north of $600. That's still quite a mark up from the other currently available characters, as you can see below. Note that Tails is an online exclusive, while Sonic is available both online and in stores. Sonic Build-A-Bear -- $34Tails Build-A-Bear -- $34Tails Build-A-Bear with sound -- $42 See all Sonic Build-a-Bear plushies Shadow has been removed from Build-a-Bear's site, and the company reportedly has no plans to restock the character. That seems counterintuitive, given the clear demand. And the only way to cool off the secondary market for Shadow Build-a-Bears would be if there were enough to meet the demand.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Path of Exile 2 is out now in early access ahead of its 1.0 launch in the future. Naturally, that means the game will change a lot over the months ahead. While the ARPG will feature three acts of the campaign, a portion of the 12 classes, and additional content, there's still more to come as time goes on. Though the early access version of Path of Exile 2 went live on December 6, there is a key stipulation to gaining access; the game will eventually be free-to-play, but to play during the early access period, you'll need to pay up.You can find out how much you need to pay and other details about Path of Exile 2's launch in the guide below.How much is Path of Exile 2 Early Access?Early access to Path of Exile 2 costs some money.The early access version of Path of Exile 2 costs $30. That $30 is spent on an Early Access Supporter Pack, which gives you a Path of Exile 2 early access key as well as 300 Points and the extended digital soundtrack. The Points can be used to purchase items in the Path of Exile 2 shop and are technically a $30 value on their own.Continue Reading at GameSpot