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Production EV packing sub-zero-operation sodium-ion batteries on its way

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Chinese battery giant CATL and automaker Changan announced the launch of the Changan Nevo A06, the world's first mass-production electric vehicle (EV) powered by sodium-ion batteries. It's due to hit the market mid-2026, and it marks the moment a technology long trapped in the lab finally steps onto the road.

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Category: Automotive, Transport

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Tactical zero-wood 4x4 camper pod revels in Canadian weather and wilds

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A tiny trailer with huge ambitions, the new Skookum from Alberta-based Tactical Overland is a family trailer specced for clans with surnames like "Amundsen" and "Hillary." Because this trailer is built to push beyond the usual limits of off-roading and overlanding, making camp out of the most remote parts of Canada, even in the dead of winter. It collapses inward for travel but expands into a two-story 4-sleeper base camp with space to work, cook, shower and live your best off-grid life.

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Category: Camping Trailers, Adventure Vehicles, Outdoors

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An inside look at how NASA turns astronauts into photographers

Digital Photography Review news -

NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander, Reid Wiseman (foreground), and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist, practice lunar photography at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Photo: NASA / Kelsey Young

The Artemis II mission came to a successful end a few weeks ago, but excitement over the historic journey remains high, thanks in part to the remarkable photographs the four-person crew captured aboard Orion. It turns out those images were successful because the astronauts were doing more than pointing a camera out the window and hoping for the best. Before launch, they received dedicated photography training to help them document the Moon, Earth and the spacecraft’s journey between them.

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In an Instagram video from Reuters, NASA flight operations imagery instructor Paul Reichert explains the photography training process for astronauts. He says that when individuals are first brought on as astronauts or astronaut candidates, they receive about four to six hours of training from him and his fellow instructor, Katrina Willoughby. The goal at that point is to bring them to a basic level.

Before astronauts are assigned to a specific mission, Reichert says they may take some classes and have the opportunity to check out gear to get familiar with it. Then, once an astronaut is assigned to a mission, they have about 10 classes, which he says amounts to about 20 hours of training.

The crew practiced for the mission using an Orion mock-up and a large, inflatable moon.

Photo: NASA / James Blair

According to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Willoughby and Reichert, who are both alumni of the RIT photographic sciences program, worked with the Artemis II crew for two years to ensure they were fully prepared. Mission pilot Victor Glover said their training included on-the-ground drills that involved taking pictures inside a mock-up of the Orion capsule, according to Reuters.

"Most people can use a camera and get a photo that is good enough, but good enough isn't what we're after scientifically. We’re really teaching the astronauts how to go beyond the basics," Willoughby says in the RIT article. "Being able to understand how to use the equipment, and what the options are, gives us a lot more capability."

Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialist Christina Koch gather images and observations of the lunar surface to share with the world during the lunar flyby on the sixth day of the mission. The crew spent approximately seven hours taking turns at the windows of the Orion spacecraft as they flew around the far side of the Moon.

Photo: NASA

Images taken on such missions play an important role in research, but their importance goes beyond that, too. "There are pictures we want to get, and then there are pictures that the team is depending on. The imagery is their data," says Willoughby. "If something breaks, for example, we need a picture or video to show us on the ground what's going on. Sometimes, the imagery is what is needed to move forward, so it is important that the crew can get it right the first time."

A Reuters article also details the camera gear chosen for the mission and why those particular devices were selected. We've seen lots of questions here at DPReview about why NASA opted for the Nikon D5, a decade-old camera. The answer appears to come down to what was tried and tested. "We had a lot of flight experience with it," Reichert told Reuters. "We knew it could handle radiation, at least several years of radiation dosage on the ISS, and it didn't have any problems with it."

The aérOnde flying doughnut could be Homer Simpson’s dream

Gizmag news -

If you’re a longtime viewer of The Simpsons, then you know at least two things about Homer: he loves doughnuts, and he’s an absolutely terrible designer of vehicles. But that doesn’t mean no one should ever combine vehicle design with doughnuts, as French company aérOnde has shown us with its aérOnde (“Air-Round”) airship that looks like a giant, flying doughnut covered in white icing.

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Category: Aircraft, Transport

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'Quite Tiny' experiment reveals how RNA jump-started complex life on Earth

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It’s generally believed that the most complex systems of our world began from very simple things. Then, as a force of survival, evolution began to occur, and things gradually became more complex. This same perspective applies to science’s general understanding of the origin of life. The entire complexity of the molecular system, and life as we know it, all began from something very small, and has evolved into the concept of genetics and modern biology.

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Category: Biology, Science

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Why a newcomer is challenging one of Sony's most interesting lenses

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When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.

The Thypoch's first autofocus lens is an F2.8 for full-frame.

Photo: Mitchell Clark

Over the past few weeks, lens maker Thypoch has been teasing the release of its first autofocus lens. But rather than entering the world of autofocus with a prime, as many of its peers have done, it's introducing the first China-designed and developed zoom for full-frame. And it's an F2.8 zoom, at that.

How has the company gone from making M-mount manual-focus primes to an F2.8 zoom for full-frame? Quickly, says the company's Go-to-Market manager, Xavier Luo.
"The project began at the end of 2024," he tells me: "and it's taken almost a whole year to make the lens ready for large-scale manufacturing."

"In China, this would be considered quite a long time," he says, when I express surprise at the short timescale.

I ask him to expand on why the company decided to jump straight to zoom lenses, and why this particular specification. "We are very good at making zoom lenses," he tells me: "we have a cinema lens background and already make dozens of [manual focus] zooms. Two times, three times, even ten times zooms for full-frame, APS-C and Micro Four Thirds, so we have a lot of experience."

"It's taken almost a whole year to make the lens ready for large-scale manufacturing"

And, there's a degree of pride at stake, too, he suggests: “There’s strong anticipation across Asian markets, with Chinese users in particular eager to gain a wider choice of lenses, because the Chinese brands’ prime lenses have become more and more competitive both in terms of price and optic performance. These people are hoping to get a some kind of zoom product in the market so that maybe people can buy a zoom lens with a prime lens price."

Why 24-50mm?

The company settled on a 24-50mm as its first product for a number of reasons, Luo tells us:

"We know it has a lot of controversial points." he says: "The core value of the zoom lens is zoom, right? So people are arguing [about] that in the Sony 24-50mm comments. But we noticed that people are getting more and more focused on a lightweight lifestyle in recent years. People are trying to get more lightweight cameras, lightweight bags and lightweight everything. A 24-50mm can cover the daily use, or for your travel."

Shenzhen Dongzheng Optical Technology has already made a range of manual focus cinema zooms under its DZOFilm brand name.

Image: DZOFilm

The other critical factor was that they believed this range would let them make a better lens. "[we didn't want to be] too ambitious, and make a 24-70, that kind of zoom lens," Luo tells us.

"When making zoom lenses, the biggest difficulties is to have a well-controlled distortion and at the same time have a really good sharpness," he says: "We think making a 24-50 means we can control it really well both in terms of sharpness and other [factors, such as] spherical aberration and distortion."

Some of this comes from it taking a different approach: "If you shoot with the Sony 24-50mm original lens with in Raw you may notice that it has in-body distortion correction," he says: "Third-party zoom lenses can be limited by the body communication protocol."

"We think [Sony] has a more open attitude towards third parties"

"In-body distortion correction means you have a perfect JPEG file but you don't have that in the Raw file. So for optical designers, it gives convenience: they don't have to worry too much about distortion, and that's a big deal, because they have only focus on the sharpness side. But for us, it's totally different: our designers have to look at both factors."

"We asked Sony, but we didn't get any official confirmation," he tells us: "we actually want to pay the protocol license fee, but we couldn't get any official reply. We think they have a more open attitude towards third parties."

Challenges

We asked what the biggest challenge was of developing an autofocus zoom for the first time: the optical design or the mechanical design. "It's the physical design," Luo tells us: " more specifically, it's the software and electronic parts because in the autofocus lens domain, the level of the electronic and software decides the maximum optic performance in the lens."

Unlike the Sony 24-50mm F2.8, Thypoch's design features internal zoom and does not requre any software distortion correction.

Photo: Mitchell Clark

"It's totally reversed, compared with manual lenses," he says: "with manual lenses, the optic performance leads the mechanical design. But, you know, [for autofocus] it's totally different: it depends on how much weight the lens motor can drive and the precision it can deliver."

The company developed its own STM motors for the task. "I think still 90% of lenses use STM focus motor," he says. The company spent a lot of time working on making sure focus speed was competitive, and that focus is precise and doesn't hunt in video. "we tested the autofocus precision in a lot of scenarios and to make sure [it performed well] whether people are using it for photography or video."

Internal zoom

As well as a design with no software distortion correction, there's another obvious difference between Sony's 24-50mm F2.8 and Thypoch's lens, despite the similar dimensions and weight: the Voyager 24-50mm is an internal zoom design.

This has a benefit beyond just retaining the lenses' compact dimensions, says Luo: "it's better for people who are trying to make vlogs or short video, when they are using the lens on gimbals or even if they are [working] handheld."

The logic of E-mount

For now, the company is focused on the E mount for two reasons, we're told: "We think Sony E-mount has the biggest user group, and [we think] this lens fits the Sony Alpha users' interests. But we are still waiting to see what's happening in this industry, but our focus is just on E-mount right now."

"Our focus is just on E-mount right now"

But also, given the recent history of other manufacturers taking non-licensees to court, "Sony has a more open mind for third-party lenses."

Thypoch hasn't revealed all the details of the 24-50mm F2.8 yet. It's already publicly teased that the lens is coming, and shown it at the NAB trade show in Las Vegas. We're hoping this means we don't have to wait too long for the rest of the details, including the price, to be made public.

"I think when we reveal the price, people will be surprised by the high quality performance ratio of this product."

Thypoch Voyager 24-50mm F2.8 Sample gallery

We've been shooting with the Thypoch 24-50mm F2.8 and have produced this gallery of sample images. As always, you can download the Raw files, to see how it performs.

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don't abuse it.

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COPD symptoms and lung health improved by easy diet addition

Gizmag news -

Around 30 million Americans are living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – close to double the number of those officially diagnosed – making it one of the deadliest health conditions worldwide. While frontline treatment is generally medication to support and boost lung function, it's a surprisingly complex disease without a one-size-fits-all management plan and a good deal of conflicting advice on interventions like exercise.

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Category: Diet & Nutrition, Wellness and Healthy Living, Body and Mind

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'Villain-hitting' – where a shoe-wielding senior beats your foe from your life

Gizmag news -

Beneath the expansive concrete overpass amid the bustling hub of Causeway Bay, you'll find a bizarre and enduring tradition in Hong Kong – "villain hitting." Here, elderly women perform an elaborate ritual that involves bashing a name written on paper with a shoe, while chanting, to free people from someone causing them grief and encourage fortune and peace in their place.

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Category: Holiday Destinations, Outdoors

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Perovskite solar cells are the 'impure' bad boys of next-gen photovoltaics

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“Purity” is one of the many myths of perfection, suggesting that absolute conformity is the only way to produce supreme value. Just as that claim is false for human populations, new research in physics at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) shows it’s also false for solar cells.

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Category: Energy, Engineering

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20 photos that capture the unmistakable soul of film

Digital Photography Review news -

Film photography photo challenge

The theme for our April Editor's photo challenge was "Film Photography."

This month, we returned to the analog roots of photography: film. DPReview photographers made every grain count, with photos ranging from the serious to the whimsical. What made this challenge even more interesting was the fantastic variety of cameras used to capture this month's images!

As always, we received many more great photos than we can feature here. Our favorites, showcasing a diverse range of vision and talent, are presented in random order.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this photo challenge. If you'd like to participate in other photo challenges, you can visit our Challenges page to see currently open or upcoming challenges, or to vote in a recently closed challenge.

Speed from the past

Photographer: RacingManiac

Photographer's statement: I found a box of color slides I shot back in 2006. It was never digitized, and it was basically just an experiment as I was getting into photography. I decided to try to digitize them using a DIY method. The race was an American Le Mans race at Mosport, Canada.

The camera was a Minolta Maxxum 7, probably with a Minolta AF 300 F4 G APO. The "scanning" was done with a Sony a7 IV and a Minolta 50mm F2.8 Macro, using an LED light to backlight the slide, then post-processed in DxO PhotoLab.

Film: Fujifilm Velvia 100

Equipment: Minolta Maxxum 7 + Minolta AF 300mm F4 G APO

Tiny dancers

Photographer: swald

Photographer's statement: While traveling in the old Soviet Union with a small group, I was able to visit a small ballet school in St. Petersburg. The young dancers were very excited to perform for us.

Film: Kodak T-Max 400 film

Equipment: Asahi Pentax Spotmatic + Super-Takumar 35mm

Veins of light

Photographer: Vincent DP

Photographer's statement: A long exposure of city traffic on Rue de la Loi, Brussels, at blue hour. The saturation from the Kodak Ektar film makes the cool blues and vibrant reds pop. This is the heart of Brussels' European Quarter, with veins of light running to the horizon.

Shot with a medium-format Altissa Box camera made in the early 1950's that I inherited from my grandfather, with an ND filter duct-taped on. I developed the film at home.

Film: Kodak Ektar 100

Equipment: Altissa Box + Altissar Periskop

Wrestling

Photographer: Champ42e

Photographer's statement: Shooting at ringside in Roanoke, Virginia, I experienced my first and only professional wrestling match, shooting for a long-gone local magazine. I had to dodge several wrestlers flying over the ropes.

I used an on-camera flash. The negative was scanned using an iPhone 13 Pro with a homemade negative holder/camera mount.

Film: Kodak Tri-X 400

Equipment: Olympus XA-2

Robert Plant 1977 – Led Zeppelin

Photographer: vbuhay

Photographer's statement: Best concert of my life. Led Zeppelin, April 30, 1977, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan. A shot of Robert Plant singing one of their iconic songs, "Stairway to Heaven." One of the frames from that photo shoot was chosen by the band and published in their only book. I was paid for the shot and given a photo credit; my name appears in the book.

Shot handheld, fully manual, I guessed on the focus and exposure since I could not see the performer due to the large crowd at the front of the stage. I made the shot by shooting overhead without looking through the viewfinder and got lucky.

Film: Not specified

Equipment: Vivitar SL220 SLR + Vivitar 135mm F3.5

Renault 5 GT Turbo

Photographer: horvat

Photographer's statement: Although this photo was taken only last year, I did my best to create it in the "period-correct" fashion. The location was Zagreb-Fair, with Yugoslav-era brutalist architecture, to suit the French hot hatchback from the '80s.

Film: Kodak Ektar 100

Equipment: Nikon F65 + Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm F1.8G

Calf roping

Photographer: Apochroma

Photographer's statement: This was my first rodeo, both as photographer and spectator. The thing about this rodeo was the location, a purposely picturesque arena built at the Old Tucson Studios, a movie set for westerns popular in the '50 and '60s. Having played and watched sports, I knew what to expect, plus the arena was not large, meaning with the Canon EOS 300mm f2.8 lens, the events were easy to focus on. Walking around with a big white lens, everyone assumed I was a pro, which I was not, but faked it. The camera was a Canon EOS 10s.

Film: Kodak Tri-X 400 exposed at ISO 320

Equipment: Canon EOS 10s + Canon EOS 300mm F2.8

Ski jump

Photographer: BenGauthier

Photographer's statement: A son of mine in the French Alps in 1992. It was difficult at that time to shoot quickly! I had someone telling me when the jumper (my son) reached the top of the small hill.

Film: Not specified

Equipment: Canon ELPH 100 HS (IXUS 115 HS)

Venice gondoliers

Photographer: rpjallan

Photographer's statement: I believe this is one of the best photos I have ever taken. This was taken in 1985 in Venice, on a Pentax ME Super with, I think, a 50mm F1.7 lens. I saw these guys having a chat as I was crossing the bridge. I framed the shot, then shouted "Hey" and took the photo. Scanned on my Nikon Coolscan LS9000.

Film: Ilford XP1 400 Chromogenic B&W

Equipment: Pentax ME Super + SMC Pentax M 50mm F1.7

Europan

Photographer: adlerblack

Photographer's statement: Film is an "antiquated," finicky, and less flexible medium when compared to digital. But as someone who enjoys photography for the process itself more than the end result, those restrictions, uncertainties, and quirks are exactly what draw me to film in the first place. This photo, which is my favorite I have shot on film to date, is a perfect example of all of the above.

Shot near Times Square, my Canon A-1 experienced a film advance fault for the first time, resulting in an unintended partial double exposure of two shots meant to be separate. The end result is far more interesting than either of the shots would have been on their own, and never would have been possible if I hadn't fallen in love with a 47-year-old camera that costs me $1 every time I press the shutter. But hey, who's counting when they sometimes turn out like this?

Film: CineStill 800T

Equipment: Canon A-1 + Canon FD 35mm F3.5

Icelandic waterfall

Photographer: GeffBourke

Photographer's statement: This waterscape was taken on a photo tour trip in 2017 to the southern region of Iceland. Our participants all shot digital, while I made it a challenge to shoot only medium format film on this trip. I went with 30 rolls of Ilford Delta 400 120 film and used a Hasselblad 501c and 80mm lens. I also used a Sekonic meter and spot metered on the highlights, mid-tones, and shadows, then calculated with a 10-stop filter attached. I don't remember the exposure time now, but it was a couple of minutes.

Film: Ilford Delta 400

Equipment: Hasselblad 501c + Hasselblad 80mm

Rostiger Nagel, Senftenberg, Germany

Photographer: Andreas Stueckl

Photographer's statement: This black-and-white analog photograph captures the interior staircase of the Rostiger Nagel, or "Rusty Nail," a landmark viewing tower in Lauchhammer, Germany. It symbolizes the transformation of a former industrial mining region. From a low angle, the structure dissolves into an abstract interplay of lines, shadows, and geometry. The repeating steps and intersecting beams create a disorienting spatial rhythm, reminiscent of M.C. Escher's impossible architectures.

Film: Kentmere 100

Equipment: Pentax ME Super + Pentax SMC M 28mm F2.8

Jacob's Ladder at Glacier National Park

Photographer: Landscape Lover

Photographer's statement: I was driving in Glacier National Park when I came across this scene of Jacob's Ladder over Lake Sherburne. I thought at the time that this would be the most spectacular scene that I would ever encounter. I told myself that I had to get this picture right. I think that I did. To this day, I have never come across a view that was this dramatic.

Film: Kodacolor VR 200

Equipment: Mamiya Sekor 500 dtl + Mamiya Sekor 50mm

Annecy-le-Vieux

Photographer: OdeonPhoto

Photographer's statement: I was strolling through the old town of Annecy, France, when I spotted this spot high up. But something was missing, so I waited until this man appeared. This photo is an 11x14 print from the '70s that I have hanging on a wall. Since I couldn't scan it, I took a picture of it with my Nikon D90. At that time, I had a black Nikon F, which I was very proud of, with a micro Nikkor 55mm and a 24mm Nikon lens.

Film: Kodak Plus-X

Equipment: Nikon F + Nikkor 24mm F2.8

Grandpa Floyd at age 93

Photographer: James5601

Photographer's statement: While visiting my paternal grandfather at his home in Arlington, Massachusetts, in late May of 1981, I asked to take a photograph of him. He was pleased with my request and sat in his reading chair with the portrait of his mother on the wall behind his right shoulder. She died in 1910 when the first automobile in Huntingdon, Tennessee, scared the horse that was pulling her carriage, and it bolted, throwing her to the ground. A few months after this photo was taken, he moved to a retirement home and lived until the age of 95.

I took this photo with my trusty Canon FTb and probably a Canon 50mm F1.8 lens. No flash; light from a large window to Floyd's left provided fill light. I used slide film, probably Kodachrome, speed unknown. To produce this digital file, I photographed the slide with a Sony a7R III and a Tamron 24mm F2.8 lens as a backlight. I made color balance and highlight/shadow adjustments to the file to correct for a purplish hue and to normalize contrast.

Film: Slide film (probably Kodachrome)

Equipment: Canon FTb + Canon 50mm F1.8 lens

Analog divers

Photographer: StefCande

Photographer's statement: I live in the south of France. And not far from my place are a bunch of open submarine caves where you can paddle inside and ride through them. This time I carried my mostly waterproof Nikonos V with me, and my black and white film to go. It's quite dark inside, and the silhouette effect makes it look like a drawing.

Film: Shot on Kodak Tri-X 400

Equipment: Nikon Nikonos V + Nikonos 35mm F2.5

Statue of Liberty

Photographer: ronphoto

Photographer's statement: For the 1986 centennial and restoration celebration of the Statue of Liberty, I set up on the roof of my apartment in Brooklyn, NY.

Shot using Bulb mode at F8. A Black card was raised and lowered while the shutter was open. About two, three or four bursts were recorded without bumping the camera.

Film: Ektachrome 400

Equipment: Nikon F2 + Spiratone 600mm

Pods

Photographer: GrantsImages

Photographer's statement: Milkweed pods are one of my favorite subjects for still life. Shot on my back deck to allow the fluff to fly where it will. Wind helps to create an interesting and dynamic composition.

Film: Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100

Equipment: Mamiya RZ67 Pro II

The glory days of film

Photographer: Fabian from Swizzy Land

Photographer's statement: This photo was shot back in 2013, when film was out of fashion and buying a Hasselblad 500CM with an 80mm lens was quite cheap. I remember that I paid 500 Euros for the set and went out to Prague to capture the beauty of the city. I decided to use slide film because I wanted to be able to hold these colorful little 6x6 slides in my hands and look at them against the light.

Digitized with a Sony a7 IV and a Cinestill CS Light source.

Film: Kodak Ektachrome 100

Equipment: Hasselblad 500 C/M + Hasselblad 80mm F2.8 CF T* Carl Zeiss Planar

River gazing

Photographer: Loose_Canon

Photographer's statement: Last December, I was in Florence. Crossing one of the bridges, I noticed a young woman gazing out over the river. Quietly, I stood behind her and caught this moody frame.

Film: Ilford Delta 100

Equipment: Leica M2 + 35mm

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