The Return of the Buttons

Remember buttons, the things you could push and turn? In the past two decades, they’ve slowly disappeared from devices – in particular, car dashboards. The reason is simple: touchscreens are much cheaper. Hiding controls behind touch screens, however, makes it more difficult for drivers to access them, and that poses a safety risk. This problem has now been formally recognized by the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), which gives out a safety rating. In January 2026, EuroNCAP will introduce new rules – to be eligible for a 5-star maximum safety rating, cars will need to use physical buttons, dials, or levers for hazard warning lights, safety indicators, windscreen wipers, SOS calls, and horns.While the organisation is not a legislative body and undergoing NCAP testing is voluntary for automobile manufacturers, their rating is highly regarded in the European Union. Leading manufacturers such as Tesla, Volvo, VW, and BMW, have previously bragged about their NCAP five-star safety ratings. NCAP’s step is in line with the 2020 "IAM Roadsmart” study, which found that some touch screens cause greater delays in driver reaction time than driving drunk or under the influence of cannabis. You can read more about the upcoming EuroNCAP rating changes here.

This episode of Science News covers time and the speed of light. You might have heard that according to Einstein's theories of special and general relativity time doesn't pass for light, or that time actually stops for light. Can this possibly be correct? In this video, I will look at what the math says and discuss what it means. You can take the quiz here.

A Solar Eclipse a Day

Computer-generated image of Proba-3 artificial eclipse. Credits: ESA

The European Space Agency (ESA) has just unveiled its newest mission to create artificial solar eclipses for a satellite. The mission has been dubbed Proba-3 and consists of two spacecraft in precise formation so that one can block out the sun for the other. These artificial ellipses will happen about every 19 hours and last up to six hours. The main purpose of the mission is to better study the solar corona, which is basically impossible if a measurement device stares into the full sun. The mission is also noteworthy for the level of precision that will be required for positioning the spacecraft in exactly the right places. Press release here, video here.

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Hyperloop Testing to Begin in the Netherlands

Image: European Hyperloop Center

The new European Hyperloop Center, a non-profit foundation in Groningen, the Netherlands, has just opened the first long hyperloop test tube in Europe. It is 420 metres long, made of white steel, and able to withstand the low pressure that will come from creating a moderate vacuum in the tube. The test tube includes the first lane-switch function, a feature that would certainly come in handy for a passenger transport system. Researchers and engineers at the centre hope that tubes like this will one day have tourist capsules zipping through at speeds of around 700 kilometres per hour while floating on magnetic fields.The centre director, Sascha Lamme, told Euronews that he expects “the first [5km] hyperloop route…transporting passengers” by 2030.

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