Disney's Marvel movies have had their ups and downs, but James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy has never missed. Now, thanks to this deal, you can get 40% off this Lego version of Baby Rocket Raccoon's Ship, as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. However, you'll have to hurry as this set has been retired by Lego and is selling fast.

Get the retired set of Lego Marvel Baby Rocket Raccoon's Ship, on sale for $21 at Walmart.

Put together this 330-piece set and you have a blocky replica of the vessel that Rocket Raccoon used to make his escape from—well, that would be getting into spoiler territory. But if you're a fan of this fuzzy little guy, you will want this Lego Marvel Baby Rocket Raccoon's Ship on your shelf. Just remember, this is a retired Lego set so when it's gone it's gone.

Save $14 on this play-friendly Lego Marvel Baby Rocket Raccoon's Ship set. With 330 pieces it's an easy afternoon's build, and the included Baby Rocket figure is so cute it should be illegal under intergalactic law. You will have to hurry, though, this set is retired and likely to sell out. View Deal

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Alongside the usual interstellar shenanigans, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 revealed the origin story of Rocket Raccoon. This Lego model, which comes with an utterly adorable model of Baby Rocket, captures one of the most dramatic moments of the film, Rocket's escape from his captor. And if you're fast, you can grab this Lego Marvel Baby Rocket's Ship at a bargain price.

Made up of 330 pieces and for builders aged 8 years and up, this should only take you a couple of hours to build, maybe longer for little fingers. It's a seriously striking ship, and is sure to entertain Guardians of the Galaxy fans of all ages. Aside from Baby Rocket, it also comes with a minifigure of grown-up Rocket Raccoon, both of which can be perched in the opening cockpit.

Pilot's seat aside, there are several other play-friendly features. You can also lower the landing gear and given how light it is, you or younger builders can swoosh this striking ship around the house. Why not make up your own Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4? Maybe you can catch up with Doctor Doom and prevent Avengers: Doomsday from happening.

You will need to hurry, though, because this set has been retired by Lego and this could be your last chance to get your hands on it, outside of paying double or triple the price on eBay. And for more MCU builds, we have rounded up the best Lego Marvel sets.

Key features: 330 pieces, for builders age 8+, Baby Rocket and Rocket Raccoon minifigures, 9 × 4.5 × 2.6 in. / 23 × 11 × 7 cm size.

Launched: April 2023

Price history: This set has dropped to $25 in the past when other retailers were selling their stock off, but this is the cheapest we've seen it at.

Price comparison: Walmart: $21 | Amazon: $38

Reviews consensus: Over at Walmart, this set's reviews are almost universally positive, praising it as a fun, straightforward build, with some of the praise coming from non-Marvel fans. At this price, you really can't go wrong.

✅ Buy it if: You want an easy-to-build, entertaining set that not only looks great on a shelf, it's fun to play with too.

❌ Don't buy it if: You want a lot of minifigures. Instead, consider some of the best Lego Marvel sets, such as this Lego Endgame Final Battle set.

Check out our other guides to the best telescopes, binoculars, cameras, star projectors, drones, Lego and much more.

This week marks 25 years since the shocking attacks of September 11, 2001. Why did the civilized world respond as it did?

Source

Bien plus discret sur cette édition de l’IFA, Samsung n’a pas pour autant disparu. Mais le géant coréen a changé de stratégie. Pour la première fois depuis 1991, il n’occupe plus son emplacement historique dans le hall principal de la Messe Berlin. À la place, Xiaomi est arrivé en force !

Star Wars' starships are almost as memorable the saga's character and thanks to Lego's Star Wars range, you can build your own replicas of these iconic craft. We've rounded up the very best, from a palm-sized version of Darth Vader's Tie Fighter to a massive, table-hogging Star Wars Clone Wars-era Venator Star Destroyer.

While several of these sets are display pieces, we've included some play-friendly models, such as this mid-sized Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon that can be swooshed around your living room and this Lego Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer which, with seven mini-figures and removable roof, will delight younger Star Wars fans.

Read on and build the largest fleet the galaxy has ever known.

Lego

Star Wars UCS Millennium Falcon

Lego

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Arc-170 Starfighter

Lego

Star Wars Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser

Lego

Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer

Lego

Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series X-Wing Starfighter

Lego

Star Wars Millennium Falcon 25th Anniversary

Lego

Star Wars the Mandalorian's N-1 Starfighter

Lego

Star Wars Jango Fett’s Firespray-Class Starship

Lego

Star Wars Smart Play: Luke’s Red Five X-Wing

Lego

Star Wars Smart Play: Darth Vader’s Tie Fighter

You can keep your space camels, the AT-ST is Star Wars' coolest land vehicle, and now this Lego Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series AT-ST is $39 off at Amazon, the cheapest this set has ever been.

Save $39 on this Lego Star Wars UCS AT-ST at Amazon.

Like the rest of Lego's Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series, this Lego Star Wars AT-ST is a seriously detailed model. It has some interactive features, including rotating guns and an opening hatch, but at 14.5 inches tall, this is very much a display model. Want to expand your collection further? We've also rounded up the Best Lego Star Wars sets.

Star Wars AT-ST Walker: was $200 now $161
Save $39 on this Lego Star Wars UCS AT-ST set, sure to look absolutely stunning on any shelf or table. Launching just last year, this buildable model has never been cheaper.

NOTE: Make sure you tick the coupon box to get it at this price. View Deal

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What's not to love about Star Wars' AT-ST? First glimpsed in The Empire Strikes Back and heavily featured in Return of the Jedi are typical of the Empire; designed to instil fear, but laughably impractical. I can just imagine the Emperor laughing.. "Yes.. yes.... more like a chicken!" as his engineering team roll their eyes. And now, thanks to Lego, you can own this super-detailed Lego Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series AT-ST.

Made up of 1,513 pieces, it's for builders aged 18+ or over. It comes with an information plaque and a minifigure of an AT-ST driver. It is designed to be fun to build as well as looking striking as a display piece. It does include an AT-ST pilot minifigure but at 14.5 inches tall, it's much bigger than minifigure scale, which is why he'll stay perched next to the plaque.

It's posable to a degree; you can move the cockpit and peek inside it, but the legs are fixed; this is not a play-friendly set. If you're buying for children, consider instead this Lego Star Wars Smart Play Attack on Endor set. Yes, the AT-ST is a hilariously impractical vehicle, easily foiled by a gang of teddy bears, but that's half of its appeal.

Key features: 1,513 pieces, 14.5 × 8.5 × 8.5 in. / 37 × 22 × 22 cm, builders aged 18 or over.

Product launched: August 2025

Price history: Launched last year, this is the cheapest this set has ever been.

Price comparison: Amazon: $161 | Lego: $200 | Target: $172

Reviews consensus: The reviews from Lego and Amazon purchasers are almost universally positive, with people praising how fun it is to build and how fantastic it looks when finished.

✅ Buy it if: You want to build a stunning, detailed display model of Return of the Jedi's iconic vehicle.

❌ Don't buy it if: You want a playset. Despite the minifigure, this is purely a display model.

Marta Sánchez de la Torre es Doctora en Historia con Mención Internacional por la Universitat de Barcelona (2015) y profesora agregada de Prehistoria en el Departamento de Historia y Arqueología de la Universitat de Barcelona. Es investigadora del grupo SERP y miembro del Institut d’Arqueologia de la Universitat de Barcelona (IAUB).

Su principal línea de investigación se centra en el estudio de la movilidad de las sociedades prehistóricas a través del análisis geoquímico de los materiales líticos y actualmente dirige el proyecto SPEGEOCHERT, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación a través de las acciones Starting Grant. Ha realizado estancias pre y postdoctorales en centros de investigación de prestigio en Francia, Italia y Canadá.

Desde 2023 es Académica de Número de la Academia Joven de España y en 2025 ha recibido el Premio Nacional de Investigación para Jóvenes “María Moliner” en el área de Humanidades.

1. ¿Cuál es tu área de investigación?
Mi área de investigación es la arqueología prehistórica. Y más específicamente, el análisis geoquímico de los materiales líticos para poder comprender mejor la territorialidad y la movilidad de los grupos prehistóricos.

2. ¿Por qué te dedicas a ella?
Porque me apasiona tratar de conocer por dónde se movieron las comunidades cazadoras-recolectoras paleolíticas, cómo interaccionaron con entornos de montaña y cómo lograron adaptarse a condiciones climáticas cambiantes.

3. ¿Has tenido alguna figura de referencia en tu trayectoria?
Sí, he tenido referentes, tanto masculinos como femeninos, que me han inspirado y animado a continuar en un camino que no siempre es sencillo.

4. ¿Qué te gustaría descubrir o solucionar en tu campo?
Me gustaría conocer cuáles fueron las rutas que utilizaron los grupos humanos paleolíticos para cruzar cordilleras montañosas como los Pirineos.

5. ¿Qué consejo darías a quien quiera adentrarse en el mundo de la investigación?
Mi consejo sería que sea constante en el día a día, y que no desista cuando el camino se complique, pues con esfuerzo y constancia logrará alcanzar su objetivo.

The post Marta Sánchez de la Torre: «Me apasiona tratar de conocer por dónde se movieron las comunidades cazadoras-recolectoras paleolíticas» appeared first on Mujeres con ciencia.

New clues to the formation of our planet’s oldest and largest ice sheet could help resolve a longstanding enigma about the southernmost continent.

Around 34 million years ago, Antarctica’s ice sheet began to take shape during a period when global temperatures were predominantly warmer than they are at present. The exact reason why such a large portion of Earth’s water would be subsumed into a massive ice sheet under such conditions has long perplexed researchers.

Now, a new study published in the journal Science suggests that clues to the mystery may exist beneath the ice itself, according to researchers who point to geological evidence that could help explain what led to the formation of Antarctica’s glaciers during a comparatively warm period in our planet’s history.

Clues to Why a Continent Froze

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) holds enough frozen water that it could raise sea levels around the world by more than 50 meters if a sudden, total melting event were ever to occur. Fortunately, scientists don’t anticipate that happening any time soon, although questions over what caused the formation of the largest mass of ice on our planet have remained one of the most predominant mysteries about Antarctica’s ancient history.

Based on geological evidence and paleo-climatological proxy data, the ice sheet’s formation occurred near the transition between the Eocene and Oligocene eras around 34 million years ago, marking a significant step along our planet’s path toward the cooler conditions that prevail today, even amid anthropogenic factors that contribute to ongoing climate changes.

As far as the causes behind this, scientists have long pointed to a reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide as one potential driver of glaciation in Antarctica. However, this explanation also leads to questions: namely, that if falling CO2 and global cooling are believed to be the main factors behind the formation of Antarctica’s ice, then similar freezing should have occurred close to the North Pole as well.

Curiously, evidence suggests that glaciation in Earth’s northernmost regions didn’t begin catching up to its southern counterpart for another 20 to 25 million years. But what might account for this?

An Ancient Climate Missing Link

The new research, led by scientists at the University of Southampton in collaboration with an international team of researchers from Durham University and several other institutions, points to Antarctica’s changing landscape as a likely missing piece to this ancient puzzle.

“Antarctica’s land surface was gradually lifted to the point where ice could gain a permanent foothold, even while the surrounding polar oceans as well as global temperatures remained surprisingly warm,” said Thomas Gernon, a Professor of Earth Science at the University of Southampton and the study’s lead author.

By employing models that helped the team map the evolution of the Antarctic landscape, they were able to successfully reconstruct the ancient geological processes going all the way back to the original breakup between Africa and Antarctica that reshaped East Antarctica. This continental breakup led to the formation of a coastal escarpment in the region identified today as Dronning Maud Land, where an elevated plateau rose to nearly two kilometers, and extended close to 2,000 kilometers inland.

Over the 100 million years that followed, a wave of uplift and erosion gradually migrated inland toward Antarctica’s Gamburtsev Mountains, a process which would recur again during the Eocene, further elevating the region and increasing the amount of ancient Antarctica’s landmass that was above the permanent snow line, all of which occurred roughly 15 million years before mass-scale glaciation would begin on the continent.

Based on the team’s models, these major changes to the landscape shifted East Antarctica above the threshold where ice-sheet growth could begin occurring, the onset of which began around 45 million years ago.

Combined Factors Behind Antarctica’s Freeze

Another factor the team identified involves how the large-scale glaciation also caused more sunlight to be reflected away from Earth due to the icy surface’s light coloration, a process known as albedo feedback. The team believes this reflected sunlight may have contributed to as much as an additional degree Celsius of total global cooling.

That cooling alone, the researchers note, would not have been enough to cause widespread glaciation across the Northern Hemisphere, which generally features lower elevations.

Overall, the findings do indicate that Earth’s transition into an icehouse wasn’t something that was driven solely by climate. Instead, what seems most likely is that slow geological transformations occurring over many millions of years were likely to have been a primary contributor to this process, raising Antarctica’s landscape enough to facilitate ice sheet formation, and revealing how the evolution of landscapes can ultimately reshape the climate of an entire planet.

The recent study, “Continental breakup–driven uplift instigated East Antarctic Ice Sheet formation,” appeared in the journal Science.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.

US energy department warns of potential for outages in PJM Interconnection, serving 67 million from DC to Chicago

The risk ⁠of power outages ⁠is expected to ​escalate across a broad swath of the United States on Wednesday as intense heat will test the capacity of electricity supplies ⁠serving millions of homes and businesses from the midwest through the mid-Atlantic.

The US Department of Energy warned of the potential for heightened blackout risks in ⁠the PJM Interconnection, the largest US electric grid, which serves 67 million people in ​a territory stretching from Washington DC to ‌Chicago.

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© Photograph: Nam Y Huh/AP

© Photograph: Nam Y Huh/AP

© Photograph: Nam Y Huh/AP

The Trump administration’s deal with a private oil company to increase oil production in the South American country could take many years to come to fruition.

© The New York Times

For the first time in decades, NASA has rolled out one of its iconic astronaut training aircraft with a bold, new look.

The space agency debuted a new livery on one of its T-38 jets in celebration of its program to return astronauts to the Moon. The Artemis design retains nods to what made the "white rocket" immediately recognizable, but adds a new colorway and painted graphics to make clear where NASA is headed.

"This new 'Artemis' livery has a black and white paint scheme with blue and red stripes that separate those two paint schemes," said Sean Brady, who proposed and designed the new livery while serving as the T-38 project pilot in NASA's Aircraft Operations Division (AOD), part of the Flight Operations Directorate at Johnson Space Center in Houston. "The Artemis program logo in the back and a picture of the Moon is on the left and right side of the rear fuselage."

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© NASA/James Blair

The Road to Macstock takes us to Michael D.J. Eisenberg. whose presentation will focus on podcasting, sharing how he plans to help attendees understand what makes a show work, from concept and preparation to recording, production, and audience connection. The conversation also highlights the value of learning from experienced creators in person and the community energy that makes the event special. 

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This MacVoices Live! starts out with the introduction of the new Foreshadowing Tech series, mark the end of the British Tech Network after 18 years, and examine Apple-related privacy, politics, and search issues. Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Jeff Gamet, Guy Serle, Web Bixby, Eric Bolden, Marty Jencius, and Jim Rea discuss Canada’s encryption proposal and Apple’s response, the Towson Apple Store closure, DuckDuckGo’s surge after Google search changes, and Meta’s AI pendant ambitions. 

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O atual CEO ¹Chief executive officer, ou diretor executivo. da Apple, Tim Cook, está a alguns dias de deixar o cargo, o qual será ocupado pelo atual vice-presidente sênior de engenharia de hardware da empresa, John Ternus.

É natural que o executivo, nessa reta final, seja questionado sobre seu tempo nessa importante posição e reflita sobre sua influência no cargo — mas, em uma entrevista à CBS News, Cook disse que não pretende definir seu próprio legado.

Ele afirmou que caberá a outros definir seu legado, mas gostaria de ser visto como um “homem bom e decente”.

Ternus assumirá como CEO da Apple a partir de 1º de setembro, e Cook passará a atuar como presidente executivo do conselho de administração da Apple, cuidando de questões relacionadas à interface da Apple com o governo.

Na breve entrevista, realizada durante a inauguração do Centro de Manufatura Avançada (Advanced Manufacturing Center) da Apple em Houston (no Texas), Cook também comentou os investimentos da empresa na manufatura americana, ressaltando que os vidros de todos os iPhones e Apple Watches são produzidos nos Estados Unidos, bem como de elementos do SoC ²System on a chip, ou sistema em um chip., entre outros componentes.

via AppleInsider

Notas de rodapé

• 1
  Chief executive officer, ou diretor executivo.
• 2
  System on a chip, ou sistema em um chip.

Se você é um colecionador de jogos físicos e gostaria de uma ferramenta que o ajudasse a catalogá-los, o app GameZ, desenvolvido pelo brasileiro Raul Lermen, talvez seja a solução que você procurava.

O app reúne tudo num lugar só, organizando a sua coleção inteira de jogos, bem como oferecendo uma avaliação do seu catálogo em reais.

Um diferencial do GameZ é que você pode enviar uma foto ou usar a arte oficial dos seus jogos, as quais aparecem como caixas — com a possibilidade de girá-las para ver a frente e o verso. Além da coleção física, dá para registrar o que você está jogando e acompanhar seu progresso em cada jogo.

Seu catálogo também mostra o registro completo de cada cópia, incluindo seu estado, preço pago, fotos próprias, tags e anotações. É possível buscar pelos jogos pelo nome ou com o código de barras — sendo que o app conta com uma base de dados com mais de 450 mil títulos.

O app oferece ainda um feed social entre amigos colecionadores e tela de descoberta de lançamentos com base no seu gosto por jogos. Ele também conta com diversos recursos de customização da sua coleção.

O GameZ está disponível gratuitamente na App Store, contando com três opções de licenças que desbloqueiam a versão Pro: uma de R$20/mês, outra de R$100/ano e uma compra vitalícia de R$250.

A executiva de longa data Jennifer Bailey, responsável pelo Apple Pay e pelo Apple Wallet, se aposentará após mais de duas décadas na empresa. Ela deixará o cargo de vice-presidente em outubro — e ainda não foi informado quem assumirá sua posição.

Antes de ajudar a lançar o Apple Pay, Bailey foi a vice-presidente responsável pela loja online da empresa. Ela ingressou na Maçã no início dos anos 2000, após passar por diversas empresas de internet.

Eddy Cue, chefe da divisão de serviços da Apple, anunciou a saída dela em um comunicado interno (com tradução nossa abaixo), o qual foi repercutido pelo jornalista Mark Gurman (da Bloomberg).

Após mais de 25 anos na Apple, Jennifer Bailey decidiu se aposentar em outubro. Durante sua trajetória, Jennifer fez contribuições extraordinárias, desde liderar a Apple Store Online em um período de crescimento significativo e expansão global até supervisionar o lançamento do Apple Pay.

Sob a liderança de Jennifer, o Apple Pay transformou a maneira como centenas de milhões de nossos usuários realizam pagamentos, oferecendo uma experiência mais simples, segura e privada. Ela também liderou o desenvolvimento e o crescimento do Apple Wallet, supervisionou o desenvolvimento e o lançamento do Apple Card e comandou nossas iniciativas em prevenção de fraudes e operações com parceiros na área de Serviços, além de Gift Cards e Confiança e Segurança. E essas são apenas algumas de suas realizações.

Em um âmbito pessoal, Jennifer tem sido uma amiga e líder incrível, e sentirei falta de trabalhar com ela.

Por favor, juntem-se a mim para agradecer a Jennifer por suas contribuições incríveis à Apple. Antes da transição de Jennifer, no final de outubro, anunciaremos nosso plano de sucessão, e ela continuará disponível para apoiar o processo em uma função consultiva.

Enquanto continuamos trabalhando em direção à nossa visão de substituir a carteira física, estou mais confiante do que nunca no trabalho que todos nós estamos realizando e aguardo com entusiasmo o futuro promissor que temos pela frente.

Obrigado,

Eddy

A saída de Bailey é considerada uma perda significativa para a Apple, com a percepção de que isso prenuncia uma debandada mais ampla de líderes seniores na faixa dos 60 anos. Isso porque a Apple enfrenta um desafio demográfico: uma geração de executivos do alto escalão está chegando à idade de aposentadoria simultaneamente.

Como já informamos, a diretora jurídica da empresa, Kate Adams, também se aposentará este ano, enquanto a chefe da área ambiental, Lisa Jackson, deixou o cargo no início de 2026.

Josh Rosenstock, diretor sênior de comunicação corporativa que atuava em relações públicas voltadas a finanças e investidores, também está deixando a empresa, segundo Gurman.

Another Apple exit: Josh Rosenstock, spokesman for corporate & financial communications, is leaving after 14 years. He’s helped shape the narrative around Apple & Tim Cook. A loss for Apple PR amid supply crunch, OpenAI suit & CEO change. Will be interesting to see where he goes.

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) August 11, 2026

Ademais, o ex-diretor financeiro Luca Maestri e o veterano chefe de marketing Phil Schiller permaneceram na empresa em funções de menor escopo — mas provavelmente estão chegando ao fim de suas trajetórias na companhia.

No mais, a equipe executiva da Apple inclui vários outros líderes que se aproximam da idade tradicional de aposentadoria. O próprio Cue, além de Deirdre O’Brien (chefe de varejo) e Greg Joswiak (chefe de marketing), estão na Apple há cerca de quatro décadas, por exemplo.

Mas sem dúvida nenhuma a mudança mais significativa envolve Tim Cook, que deixará o cargo de CEO ¹Chief executive officer, ou diretor executivo. em 1º de setembro, daqui a poucas semanas. Ele será substituído por John Ternus, então chefe da divisão de hardware da empresa.

Notas de rodapé

• 1
  Chief executive officer, ou diretor executivo.

Uma novo estudo da CashNetUSA revelou que a Apple é a segunda Big Tech estadunidense com mais vagas de emprego de nível inicial abertas no LinkedIn, ficando atrás apenas da Tesla.

Mais precisamente, 57,4% das vagas publicadas pela gigante de Cupertino são de baixa senioridade — um ponto percentual a menos que a montadora do bilionário Elon Musk. Fecham o Top 5 a IBM (32,4%), a Intel (20,9%) e a NVIDIA, que aparece com 5,3% — o mesmo número da Uber, com a qual divide a quinta posição.

Isso, no entanto, não quer dizer que entrar para o quadro de funcionários da Apple é fácil — já que, apesar da abundância de vagas de nível inicial (54, para ser mais preciso), ela ainda tem uma relação candidato-vaga de 55:1. Em primeiro lugar no ranking supracitado, a Tesla conta com uma proporção de “apenas” 23,5:1 — a menor entre as Big Techs analisadas no estudo.

Quando consideramos todo o mercado (e não apenas empresas de tecnologia), a Maçã fica na quinta posição entre as empresas mais competitivas dos EUA. Na frente dela, temos a NVIDIA (68,4:1), a IBM (88,4:1), a The Walt Disney Company (164,8:1) e o Morgan Stanley (180,9:1).

Para montar seu estudo, a CashNetUSA analisou, como dito, dados de vagas do LinkedIn referentes a “13 grandes empresas de tecnologia dos EUA reconhecidas mundialmente”. A firma de pesquisa também classificou cada empresa com base no número de candidatos que se inscreveram para cada vaga disponível.

O estudo completo pode ser conferido nessa página.

Given how much I enjoyed the Project Hail Mary movie, I was beyond hyped to get my hands on the Lego Project Hail Mary set. And now that I've built it, I'm thrilled to say it does not disappoint. You could even say that it's amaze, amaze, amaze!

The titular Hail Mary is the spaceship from "Project Hail Mary", the Andy Weir novel-turned-Hollywood blockbuster that carries Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) across the stars to save humanity. While the design of the ship is certainly described in the book, this is definitely a Lego rendition of the movie version. So, if you're an Andy Weir fan who imagined it looking a little different, you can blame the studio.

Coming in at $99.99 with just under 900 pieces, it's a lot smaller than we expected (and hoped for). If you're after something comparable to the hefty NASA Artemis Space Launch System or gargantuan Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser sets, then you'll be disappointed. However, the Lego Project Hail Mary has a heck of a party trick to make up for its diminutive size: A spinning mechanism that simulates the centrifugal gravity system of the ship.

Price: $99.99/£99.99

Model number: 11389

Number of pieces: 830

Dimensions: 12 x 9.5 x 8.5 inches / 30 x 25 x 22 cm

Recommended age: 18+

Lego Project Hail Mary review: Build

The Lego Project Hail Mary is constructed from 830 pieces, split across six numbered paper bags, with a few large pieces in a separate plastic bag. I built the kit over the course of two nights, but you could easily smash it out in a single evening if you wanted to.

The build starts with a little diorama, showcasing the Ryland and Rocky minifigures on either side of a window (the barrier that separates them when they first meet and learn to communicate in the movie). It's a cool little display that can work well on its own or can be attached to the stand of the ship itself.

From there on, four out of the six bags are almost entirely dedicated to the display stand and the incorporated spinning mechanism, with the final section of bag four attaching the ship’s crew module to the spinning mechanism. Thanks to the intricate mechanism inside it, the stand not only spins, but also retracts and extends the crew section of the ship, simulating the centrifugal gravity system from the movie. While it's a complicated mechanism that means a lot of Technic pieces, but the build itself is straightforward thanks to the clear instructions.

At last, the final two bags will see you constructing the ship itself. This consists of the main body where the thruster is housed, the three fuselage sections, and the solar panel array that provides power to the ship. Some builders might be disappointed that the actual spacecraft is a remarkably small part of the build process, but I think the spinning display stand is cool enough to offset that. Also, there are no stickers, which is always a huge win for me.

Lego Project Hail Mary review: Design

As I mentioned earlier, the display stand is surprisingly hefty and draws the eye away from the beautiful ship – a bit more than you might want from a display piece. That's the downside, but the upside is that it's an awesome party piece. Turning the handle on the front of the stand in either direction rotates the entire ship, simulating its spin in the movie. If you turn the handle clockwise, the crew module extends outward, while turning it counterclockwise retracts it.

The ship itself is a great recreation of Grace's eponymous craft, the Hail Mary. It's quite small, as Lego spaceships go, so there are no interior details or easter eggs hiding within the construction. Despite that, it captures the distinctive silhouette of the craft well, and includes all the major details, like the astrophage-powered engines that make the whole mission possible. From the three main pillars of the ship, which are the fuel tanks that store the astrophage, to the solar panel arrays that stick out from the main body, it all looks great.

I really love the little mini-diorama scene that you can create between Grace and Rocky, recreating their tentative first contact. It's a clever bit of design too, as you can attach their individual plinths to the main display and tuck the glass divider away in the stand. The minifigures themselves are great too. Grace has a custom red NASA flight suit, while Rocky is barely a minifigure — he's an eccentric collection of pieces mashed together, but I can't deny the end result is unmistakable Rocky.

Should you buy the Lego Project Hail Mary?

Overall, the Lego Project Hail Mary is a wonderful set that should thrill fans of the movie (more so than fans of the book, although I’m sure they’ll enjoy it too). The ship looks fantastic, and the spinning mechanism is wonderful to see in motion. There are actually some enterprising companies out there selling motorized mod kits for it, which is something I'm seriously considering checking out myself.

With that said, the prominent nature of the stand and somewhat gimmicky spinning feature does limit its appeal as a display model. Plus, those who aren’t big into technic-like builds may want to pass on this one and just admire it from afar.

Finally, while the build itself is only suitable for older teens and adults due to the complex nature of the internal workings, the finished model will definitely delight younger kids thanks to the interactivity it offers.

Third Way and EES thinking shows that mainstream science is moving on a compass heading that is right in the direction of intelligent design.

Source

WARSAW, Poland — The Lithuanian space laser communications company Astrolight has signed a memorandum of understanding with ATMOS Space Cargo, to demonstrate in-flight optical communications link between a reentry spacecraft […]

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