Η ΓΝΩΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΣΤΟ ΣΧΟΛΕΙΟ ΚΑΙ ΠΕΡΑ ΑΠΟ ΑΥΤΟ
For the first time, British Army regular troops have operated a high-powered laser weapon mounted on an armored combat vehicle. Soldiers from 16 Royal Artillery in Wales used a laser installed on a Wolfhound combat vehicle to engage multiple aerial targets.
Category: Military, Technology
Tags: British Army, Raytheon, Laser weapon
Whether a medication is taken orally or intravenously, it ends up traveling throughout the body instead of going solely to the one place where it's needed. Such could soon no longer be the case, however, thanks to a newly developed microparticle that looks like a flower.
Category: Medical Innovations, Body & Mind
Tags: ETH Zurich, Drug delivery, Microtechnology, Nanoparticles
Adobe has announced a new Reflection Removal tool that aims to erase reflections in photos, showing only what's behind them. The company says it's meant to improve photos taken through windows or ones of reflective objects like movie posters.
The tool gives you a slider that goes from -100 to 100. If you set it at 0, your picture will remain unchanged. Setting it to 100 attempts to remove any reflections, showing only what's behind them, and setting it to -100 will try to show only the reflection. Of course, you can use the slider to keep a little reflection if it adds to your picture.
The tool tries to split apart the image, telling what's behind the reflection, and what's being reflected.Adobe's blog post says the tool specifically doesn't use generative AI; it doesn't guess what's supposed to be there and try to create it whole-cloth, so you don't have to worry about it adding things that weren't actually there.
The post has an in-depth explanation of how it all works, but the high-level overview is that Adobe created a bunch of photos with simulated reflections and then trained the model to predict what was behind the reflection and what the reflection looked like when it was isolated. Since Adobe had the original images, it could tell how accurate the model was and make improvements.
The tool is currently labeled as a technical preview and has some notable limitations. Probably the biggest is that it currently only works with Raw files, not with JPEGs or other compressed image formats. It's also only available in Adobe Camera Raw, though the company says it plans to "bring an expanded version to the entire Lightroom ecosystem" in the future.
Image Comparison SliderThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Please open this article's permalink in a browser to view this content.Adobe admits the tool isn't perfect. For example, it currently struggles with nighttime cityscapes, and it's really only built to deal with reflections from "plate glass windows that cover most or all of your field of view." If the window with distracting reflections is only a small part of the image, it likely won't be able to remove them. Likewise, it may struggle if you're trying to remove reflections from water.
Still, there are a lot of situations where the tool in its current state could still be useful. How many times have you tried to take a picture of something cool you saw out of a train or plane window, only to have it end up a bit of a mess because of reflections?
If you want to try Reflection Removal, open ACR, then go to Preferences > Technology Previews. Make sure the "New AI features and settings panel" box is checked, restart the app, and then open an image. There should now be a "Reflections" checkbox in the Remove panel.
UK-based architectural designer Antony Gibbon has introduced his latest concept: the Burl Treehouse. This series of rounded treehouse pods offers guests a unique way to experience a nature getaway, while also prioritizing sustainability.
Category: Architecture, Lifestyle
Tags: Treehouses, Treehouses, Cabins, Glamping
Last year, the Looking Glass Factory launched a Kickstarter for a portable "holographic" display that shows three-dimensional imagery without requiring the viewer to don funky glasses. Now the Go is in the wild and we've been sent one to try out.
Category: Technology
Tags: 3D, Holographic, Portable, Display, Immersion, Reviews
Canon's DSLR 24-70mm F2.8 topped this year's most-rented list but the number of EF-mount rentals as a whole fell.
Image: Canon
Camera and lens rental house LensRentals has published its annual top twenty list of the most frequently rented gear.
You can find more information over on the LensRentals blog, but here's the top twenty, with an indicator of their movement since last year in brackets:
LensRentals Most Popular Photo and Video Gear 2024There are a number of interesting things to note in the numbers, the most obvious being that Canon EF-mount lenses and cameras moved up in popularity, with the DSLR 24-70 and 70-200mm F2.8 lenses taking the first and fourth spot, a rise of five and four places, respectively. And, while there's a chance that some of these EF-mount orders were placed by RF users (the EF versions are around 25% less expensive to rent), that doesn't account for the increased popularity of the EOS 5D Mark IV.
It's also interesting to note what isn't there, with just two brands' products accounting for the entire top 20. However, LensRentals has also published figures for the relative value of the rentals of different brands. And, while Canon and Sony account for more than 46% of all rentals (up from 43% last year), Nikon saw the biggest year-on-year increase, growing from under 5% of rentals in 2023 to nearly 6% this year (a 21% increase).
Nikon didn't make the top 20 list but saw the biggest year-on-year growth in rentals, cementing its third placeFourth-placed DJI also saw an increase in rentals, with 13.82% YoY growth. Sigma and Blackmagic Design saw some decreases, while Fujifilm grew a 16.5%, though only accounted for 2.57% of the overall rentals.
Given these numbers are by rental value, there's an inherent advantage to the makers of more expensive gear: firstly the higher ticket items simply have more weighting on this list, but also people are more likely to rent pricey gear than buying it (or in the processes of deciding whether to buy). This doesn't come close to accounting for the order of magnitude difference between Canon and Fujifilm's position on the tables, though.
LensRentals blog is, as usual, well worth a read, as it digs into the relative popularity of different lens brands and lens mount. These show Canon RF growing and, despite all the appearances in the top 20, Canon EF rentals declining, year-on-year. This is enough to see RF mount lenses add up to around 50% more rentals than EF-mount lenses, in 2024.
Of course one rental company based in one particular market doesn't tell you much, if anything, about the relative strengths or popularity of different systems (if that's even something you care about). But there are definitely some interesting trends in terms of the amount of video gear and the continued popularity of high-end DSLR kit.
In a major development at the nexus of military and commercial technology, Archer Aviation and Anduril Industries have announced an exclusive partnership aimed at the militarized vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) sector.
Tags: eVTOL, VTOL, Archer Aviation, Anduril, Department of Defense
At long last, Aston Martin has properly, officially, taken the wraps off its Valhalla supercar – and its latest performance figures make it totally worth the wait.
Category: Automotive, Transport
Tags: Supercar, Supercars, Hypercar, Aston Martin, Plug-in Hybrid
NASA's X-59 aircraft has been marching toward a fest flight since it entered development in 2016 with the goal of bringing back commercial supersonic travel. Next, the agency will test jet-mounted shock-sensing cones to measure its "sonic thuds."
Tags: Supersonic, Plane, Aircraft, NASA, Jets, Lockheed Martin
Scientists have accidentally discovered a particle that has mass when it’s traveling in one direction, but no mass while traveling in a different direction. Known as semi-Dirac fermions, particles with this bizarre behavior were first predicted 16 years ago.
Tags: Particle physics, Elementary particles, Quasiparticles, Pennsylvania State University, Materials, Electron Microscopes, Electrons
Since its early days going by the name "Into the Wild," Colorado's Boreas Campers has been building some of the US market's most rugged composite squaredrop trailers, ranging from the family-size EOS-12 pop-up to its long-running XT. Unlike manufacturers that keep their gaze fixed upmarket, Boreas has long been just as committed to delivering more affordable wood-free trailers. In 2020, it introduced its entry-level AT for well under US$20,000, and now it's diving even further downmarket with the simple but robust Ultra-Base, a blank adventure canvas that starts under $15K.
Tags: teardrop trailers, Trailer, trailers, Caravan, Off-road, RV, Outdoors and Camping, Camping
Three of America's leading AI companies have now signed up to share their technology with the US defence forces and military contractors, even after initially insisting they wouldn't – and the age of autonomous warfare now seems close at hand.
Category: Military, Technology
Tags: LLM (Large Language Model), GPT, drones, Meta (company), Anthropic, Open AI, Anduril
Another day, another wild electrified aircraft concept that reimagines the future of air travel in a way that fascinates and enthralls. This time around, it isn't a straight eVTOL serving as protagonist, but a hybrid that tilts its ducted electric fans to offer helicopter versatility with airplane range and efficiency. Technically identified as a hybrid-electric vertical and short takeoff and landing (HeV/STOL) vessel, the newly modeled ANN Plus uses a turbine-electric powertrain to more economically bridge the gap between traditional air and ground transportation options.
Tags: eVTOL, eSTOL, STOL, VTOL, Hybrid eVTOLs, Turbine, Tilting-Vehicle, Hybrid
Despite the ever-increasing video quality of smartphones, the devices still aren't optimized for video production. That's where the MagCool OmniGrip comes in, as it adds more power, lighting, cooling, connectivity and storage to your existing phone.
Category: Mobile Technology, Consumer Tech, Technology
Tags: smartphones, iPhone, Video, Filmmaking, Kickstarter
Ski mountaineering – aka skimo – is an epic sport in which skiers make their way up to the summit of a mountain, then downhill-ski back to the base. The E-Skimo system is designed to make the trip up easier, by putting motorized treads on the skis.
Tags: Skiing, ski gadgets, Electric
It can take hours – and sometimes several days – in the wilderness to shoot the kinds of photographs that capture our imagination and reveal lesser-known facets of the lives of animals with whom we share our planet.
Category: Photography, Consumer Tech, Technology
Tags: Wildlife, Nikon, Animals, Competition
Back in May, marine startup Vessev began sea trials of an electric foiling ferry billed as "the Rivian of the sea." A partnership was then inked with New Zealand's largest ferry company, and now commercial approval has been granted. Tickets for the first rides are on sale.
Tags: Hydrofoil, Electric Boats, Tourism, New Zealand
2024 was an exciting year for cameras. Whether you were hoping for top-of-the-line flagship bodies, well-provisioned enthusiast models, retro rangefinders or even compact cameras, chances are pretty good you saw something you liked this year. Now it's time to find out what you think of the Class of 2024.
Our editorial team has had its say already with the 2024 DPReview Awards, but which of this year's new cameras was your favorite? This is your chance to let us and the industry know. If you think we missed something, please leave a comment to let us know.
Polls are now open; see below.
Voting occurs in three categories (cameras, prime and zoom lenses), running through December 21.
Once the vote has closed, we'll run a fourth and final poll drawn from the first three winners to determine the Readers' Choice Product of the Year. Look out for that poll early in 2025.
Voting is easy - pick your top 3 products by dragging and dropping to rank them in order of priority. Products are listed alphabetically.
Poll widgetThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Please open this article's permalink in a browser to view this content.Please note that for the best experience, we recommend voting on our desktop site.
Poll Rules:
This poll is meant to be a bit of fun. It's not sponsored, promoted, or paid for in any way, and DPReview doesn't care how you vote. Our readers' polls are run on the basis of trust. As such, we ask that you only vote once, from a single account.
Prime lenses aren't what they used to be. Today's lenses are bigger and more costly than their SLR-era ancestors, with advanced aspheric optics and exotic lens elements. This year's class of lenses includes primes at classic focal lengths like 35 and 50mm lenses, lenses for APS-C cameras, a healthy selection of third-party options, and more lenses intended for 'hybrid' stills and video use.
We have included lenses that were introduced in previous years if they were made available in new lens mount options in 2024. In these cases, we have specified the lens mount announced this year in parenthesis.
Our editorial team has had its say already in our 2024 DPReview Awards, but which of this year's new prime lenses was your favorite? This is your chance to let us and the industry know.
Polls are now open, see below.
Voting occurs in three categories (cameras, prime and zoom lenses), running through December 21.
Once the vote has closed, we'll run a fourth and final poll drawn from the first three winners to determine the Readers' Choice Product of the Year. Look out for that poll early in 2025.
Voting is easy - pick your top 3 products by dragging and dropping to rank them in order of priority. Products are listed alphabetically.
Poll widgetThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Please open this article's permalink in a browser to view this content.Please note that for the best experience, we recommend voting on our desktop site.
Poll Rules:
This poll is meant to be a bit of fun. It's not sponsored, promoted, or paid for in any way, and DPReview doesn't care how you vote. Our readers' polls are run on the basis of trust. As such, we ask that you only vote once, from a single account.
Zoom lenses continue to evolve, with manufacturers continuously pushing the limits of what's possible. In 2024, we saw a diverse collection of zooms that include second-generation designs, versatile lenses for travel, and more third-party options.
We have included lenses that were introduced in previous years if they were made available in new lens mount options in 2024. In these cases, we have specified the lens mount announced this year in parenthesis.
Our editorial team has had its say already in our 2024 DPReview Awards, but which of this year's new zoom lenses was your favorite? This is your chance to let us and the industry know.
Polls are now open; see below.
Voting occurs in three categories (cameras, prime and zoom lenses), running through December 21.
Once the vote has closed, we'll run a fourth and final poll drawn from the first three winners to determine the Readers' Choice Product of the Year. Look out for that poll early in 2025.
Voting is easy - pick your top 3 products by dragging and dropping to rank them in order of priority.
Poll widgetThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Please open this article's permalink in a browser to view this content.Please note that for the best experience, we recommend voting on our desktop site.
Poll Rules:
This poll is meant to be a bit of fun. It's not sponsored, promoted, or paid for in any way, and DPReview doesn't care how you vote. Our readers' polls are run on the basis of trust. As such, we ask that you only vote once, from a single account.
