NASA’s year-long Mars simulation volunteers return to the real world

NASA’s Mission 1 crew — all volunteers — have left their 1700-square-foot habitat at the Johnson Space Center. Since last June 25, they’ve conducted a fair few simulated Mars walks, grown vegetables and performed other tasks designed to support life and work in that environment. They also faced (a simulation of) the stressors actual space travelers to Mars could experience, like 22-minute communication delays with Earth.

After 378 days in a mock Mars habitat, the four volunteers for NASA’s yearlong simulation of a stay on the red planet are coming home. The crew — Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones – left the 3D-printed habitat in Houston on Saturday evening.

Do you feel like you’d like to live in fake space? There are plans for two more one-year missions. One has already closed applications, but the third is scheduled for 2026.

— Mat Smith

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You’ll have to operate the $350 shoes manually.

Nike is discontinuing its self-lacing Adapt BB sneakers. First announced in 2019, the sneakers used a Back to the Future II style power-lacing system called FitAdapt, adjustable both manually and with an app. Now, the company will stop making Adapt shoes and is retiring the Nike Adapt App. When the app goes, the shoes will retain the last light color selected. Features still available without it include power on, check battery status, adjust your fit, save your fit, unlace shoes and, wait for it, power off.

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It’ll leave other audio, such as conversations, intact.

YouTube has released an upgraded erase song tool to remove music from video segments without deleting other audio, such as conversations. When creators get a copyright claim for music, YouTube allows them to trim out the affected segment or replace the song with an approved one in its audio library. YouTube admits the tool might not always work. If a song is particularly hard to remove, it’s presumably due to audio quality or the presence of other sounds.

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NASCAR announced some new sustainability goals at the Chicago Street Race.

NASCAR unveiled its first prototype electric racer this weekend at the Chicago Street Race. It developed the $1.5 million electric crossover in partnership with ABB, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota to call attention to sustainability efforts of… NASCAR. Apparently, it’s making an effort.

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