Dirt

Two holes are left in the Martian surface after NASA’s Perseverance rover used a specialized drill bit to collect the mission’s first samples of regolith on December 2 and 6, 2022. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech<span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>Mars</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Mars is the second smallest planet in our solar system and the fourth planet from the sun. It is a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin…

NASA’s Perseverance rover, currently exploring Mars’s Jezero Crater, has collected its first sample of dirt from the Martian surface. The rover has been collecting rock samples up until this point, but this month it has added scooping of the soil from the planet’s surface, called regolith, to its collection. The plan is for a future mission to collect these samples and bring them back to Earth for study. Studying this dusty matter is particularly important for designing tools and equipment for future Mars…

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone … who knows that living in L.A. can be surreal. Very surreal.That’s the crux of the indie sci-fi film “Something in the Dirt,” whose masterminds check in with Jen Yamato in this week’s Guest Spot. Plus, we prepare you for the “White Lotus” finale, offer two streaming recommendations for your weekend, and more.And, as always, we want to know what you’re watching too! Pretend we’re at the water cooler and give us your review of a TV show or streaming movie you’ve loved and…

Following an explosive end to the battle royale's third chapter, Fortnite's newest season has arrived. Chapter four comes complete with an entirely new island for players to fight over. It features a handful of landmarks that draw on fantasy tropes, including a castle known as The Citadel that’s home to “The Ageless.” There’s also Anvil Square, a picturesque medieval town surrounded by trees at the peak of their autumn colors. On a different part of the island, players will find an abandoned farm ominously named the…

The most notable change is the brand-new island, which includes a number of new points of interest such as a citadel housing a character known as “the Ageless,” a mine full of a new material called kinetic ore, and some kind of abandoned farm.Other additions include a new vehicle in the form of dirt bikes (called a “trail thrasher” in the game), the ability to roll around in a giant snowball, “reality augments” that give you randomized buffs as the match goes on, flying jellyfish that can restore your health, brand-new…

Alphavan has quickly established itself as a premier German camper van brand, building its reputation around a dual-space layout loaded with high-end amenities like the industry's first Starlink RV integration. Now it's going in a slightly different direction, stripping down part of its high-spec camper van to meet the needs of a different customer base: motorbike riders. With the new 4x4 Active Line, Alphavan reconfigures its signature FlexPort into a wide garage that carries two bikes to track or trail. Its camper area…

Fun fact from the files of “there’s a job for that”: there are multiple companies that specialize in making fake Moon dirt. Technically, it’s called lunar regolith to help differentiate it from “soil,” which implies the presence of organic material, or from “dirt,” which, for this story, I learned literally just means “anything that makes you dirty.” Whatever you call it, it is nothing like our friendly terrestrial soils: it’s sharp, dusty, and jagged; it’s full of glassy globs from meteorite impacts; and its chemical…

One of horror’s best new creative duos has continued an excellent hot streak with their latest film, proving themselves as the best up-and-comers once again. Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson’s new film Something in the Dirt had an excellent reception during its run at movie festivals but is now available for home entertainment. If you enjoy an exceptionally minimalist science fiction horror film, this is most definitely for you. The film sees the directors also play its two lead roles, with them conceiving and making…

Between the likes of Host, Bo Burnham’s Inside and Jacob Estes’s He’s Watching, there’s a respectable pandemic oeuvre emerging – and Something in the Dirt is one of the best yet. This sci-fi-dusted paean to Los Angeles slackerdom is fairly typical for the lockdown genre: a torrent of self-involved invention about not much more than the process of its own creation. But director-stars Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead approach their two-hander with a sly humour and wonderment that prevents it from disappearing up its own…

The folks behind the Babymaker electric roadbike have returned to Indiegogo to launch a carbon-framed eMTB called the Weapon X, which comes packing a big 48-V battery, a 750-W mid-mount motor and DVO suspension front and back."FLX is excited to raise the bar with the launch of the Weapon X," said company founder and president, Rob Rast. "It builds on our commitment to design the sleekest, most stealthy and high performance ebikes available anywhere. With the launch of our Weapon X we’re proving that we are capable of…