What would low Earth orbit look like if launch costs were around ten bucks a kilogram? We may soon find out. Longshot’s Mike Grace is an extremely colorful character and a veritable quote machine, as our man Joe Salas had the pleasure of discovering. Enjoy!
Headliner

Mach-23 potato gun to shoot satellites into space
by Joe Salas
We speak to the wild man behind Longshot Space, a company planning to build a colossal 6-mile-long (10-km) space cannon to shoot several-ton objects into low Earth orbit (LEO). The company has already built a working proof of concept.
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Highlights

Lightweight smart telescope simplifies deep sky exploration
by Paul Ridden
Photographing the deep sky at night can be a complicated business. DwarfLab's book-sized smart telescopes have removed many pain points over the years, but the company has gone lightweight as well as compact and portable for its latest design.

MV Agusta pins its future to wild 240-hp square-5
by Ian Baker
The Italian motorcycle maker claims extraordinary rideability from a unique engine under development that marries a triple to a twin, signaling a further step into complexity and high performance.
More Stories

Titanium pocket ratchet has crazy tight swing arc and remarkable agility
by Michael Franco
If you've struggled to get a ratchet to work in a tight space, you'll appreciate a new take on the tool from Titaner. The palm-sized tool engages each sprocket with just a tiny turn and has multiple configurations for maximum situational adaptability.

50% lighter Donut Motor powers revamped Verge TS Pro
by Utkarsh Sood
Almost 4 years after Verge debuted with its first hubless electric motorcycle, the Finnish-Estonian company has upgraded its best-selling electric motorcycle with a bunch of appreciable upgrades. And it all starts with the donut motor.

Hyundai's off-roader concept looks like an exoplanet explorer
by Abhimanyu Ghoshal
Hyundai's Irvine, California-based team absolutely cooked with the new Crater concept. It's a compact electric SUV with futuristic styling that looks like the sort of vehicle you'd deploy on a recon mission after touching down on a new planet.
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Is your weed too strong? This scanner can tell you in an instant
by Abhimanyu Ghoshal
Biologists in Australia have developed a scanning device to accurately detect how potent a cannabis plant is, well before it's harvested. And no, it's not for selecting the choicest buds to get blasted with.

Yamaha confirms racing intentions with YE-01 e-motocrosser
by Utkarsh Sood
The YE-01 shows exactly what Yamaha has its eyes on for the future. Hint: it’s the new MXEP electric motocross racing series. The bike is the result of Yamaha’s recent strategic partnership with the French company Electric Motion.

Milk protein put to use in spiciness-gauging "artificial tongue"
by Ben Coxworth
It's a well-known fact that if you're trying to cool your mouth after eating spicy food, you should drink milk, not water. Bearing that fact in mind, scientists have developed an "artificial tongue" that measures food spiciness using a milk protein.

DJI's latest action cam opens up creativity with variable aperture
by Abhimanyu Ghoshal
DJI's upping the ante for image quality out of its action cams with the new Osmo Action 6. It's the first of its kind to get a variable aperture, and it's got a larger sensor that should make for better photos and videos than its predecessor.

Ultrasound device shakes out clean water from thin air in minutes
by Michael Franco
MIT researchers have found a way to use the mechanical vibrations of sound waves to shake water molecules free from a storage medium. The breakthrough significantly speeds up the process of harvesting drinking water from thin air.

Jeep's electrified Recon arrives in 2026 with legit off-roader cred
by Abhimanyu Ghoshal
Jeep is going all out to court thrillseekers with the 2026 Recon SUV. This chunky all-electric 4x4 packs a raft of features for making light work of craggy trails, along with plenty of power under the hood, and creature comforts to boot.
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