First Star Wars-inspired lightsaber

Recently, a Canadian YouTuber earned a Guinness World Record by taking his engineering skills to a galaxy far, far away, and building the world’s first retractable proto-lightsaber.

James Hobson said he and his team at Hacksmith Industries were inspired by the Star Wars films to create their own version of a retractable plasma lightsaber.

The lightsaber has a hilt designed to resemble those used by the Jedi Knights, but is attached to tanks of liquid propane gas and oxygen gas to create the high level of heat required to make the plasma beam. The ‘blade’ can be extended and retracted with the push of a button.

The innovation earned Hobson a Guinness World Record for creating the world’s first retractable proto-lightsaber. The video shared by Guinness shows Hobson using the lightsaber to cut though objects including a Stormtrooper mannequin and various metals.

Toy Story’s prequel Lightyear announced

Disney announced a number of new Pixar, animated and live-action projects, including a Toy Story prequel film titled Lightyear, during the company’s Disney Investor Day live stream.

Lightyear will tell the definitive story of the original Buzz Lightyear, who will be voiced by Chris Evans.

“Lightyear launches into theatres June 17, 2022,” Disney tweeted. Evans is taking over the role from Tim Allen who voiced Buzz Lightyear across four Toy Story films and other projects.

Moon soil heads to Chairman Mao’s hometown

After Chang’e-5 probe’s 23-day journey to the moon, the moon samples brought back will find its way to Central China’s Hunan Province, the hometown of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong. It is to commemorate the leader and his passion for space exploration, China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.

It also added that part of the lunar soil sample collected by Chang’e-5 will be preserved in Shaoshan, Hunan as a tribute to Mao, who once expressed his admiration and wonder for space.

The lunar samples will be divided into three parts for different purposes: the first group will be sent to scientific labs for research, while the other two will be displayed in national museums for the public’s education and shared with the international community.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 26th, 2020