For 35 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has looked out into the Universe. Now, Lego is inviting builders to look inward with its latest model of the orbiting observatory.

The new Lego Icons Hubble Space Telescope (set no. 11382) was released on August 1 for $140 at the toy company's stores and its online shop. The 1,252-piece kit builds a 15-inch-long (38-cm) desktop model that is about twice as large as the previously released Lego Hubble models.

The Icons Hubble is the first to be sized in comparison to a Lego minifigure, such that the included astronaut provides a sense of scale for the telescope.

Of the previous three Hubble models, two were scaled to their companion orbiters: Lego Discovery Space Shuttle—STS-31, set 7470, from 2003 and Lego Icons NASA Space Shuttle Discovery, 10283, released in 2021. The third was a desktop model for the minifigure tribute to astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, the "Mother of Hubble," included with the Women of NASA set, no. 21312, in 2017.

Hubble Space Telescope Lego models, roughly to scale, including the new Lego Icons set (at right). Also pictured, the Hubble that came with the 2021 Lego Icons NASA Space Shuttle Discovery (at top left), Lego Discovery Space Shuttle – STS-31 (at bottom left) and Nancy Grace Roman desktop model from the 2017 "Women at NASA" minifigures set. Credit: LEGO/collectSPACE.com

The real Hubble Space Telescope was launched on the space shuttle Discovery and deployed by the STS-31 crew in 1990. It is 43.5 feet long (13.2 meters), making the new Lego desktop model about 1:35 scale. (Lego minifigure scale is generally accepted to be between 1:35 and 1:45 scale, as the minifigures are not proportionally accurate.)

Open wide (field camera)

According to the set's instruction book, in addition to being faithful to the overall shape and exterior details of the Hubble Space Telescope, the new Lego Icons model is the first to build representations of the science instruments and interior components that enable Hubble to operate in Earth orbit.

"In close collaboration with our partners at NASA and ESA, we've recreated authentic engineering details inside and out," reads the designers' introduction to the set in the book. "Each section of your model corresponds to real instruments that helped discover remarkable new information about our universe."

The aperture door at the top of the telescope opens, affording a view of the secondary mirror assembly inside. Two panels along the upper and lower body of the Hubble can also be removed to expose the mirrors, as well as the central baffle that directs the light from stars and galaxies to the observatory's instruments and primary mirror.

Removable panels on the Lego Icons Hubble Space Telescope provide a look at the instruments and equipment inside. Credit: LEGO

As part of its storied history, the Hubble telescope was visited by astronauts five times, first to correct for an optical flaw and then to upgrade its capabilities. This Lego model is configured to reflect the Hubble's current configuration, following its fifth servicing in 2009.

Included in the build are the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), and Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), which remain active on the real satellite today. Other details include the three gyroscopes and five guidance sensors, as well as, externally, its communications antennas and two solar array wings.

"Hubble's solar array panels were changed twice. For this model, we chose the latest version installed," reads a note in the instructions.

Labeled and unlabeled

The Lego designers included more details in their build than the instruction book identifies, using both brick parts and decals.

Diagram from the instruction book for the Lego Icons Hubble Space Telescope set labeling some of the science instruments and guidance equipment that are represented as parts of the model's interior. Credit: LEGO

On the base of the telescope, a Lego steering wheel substitutes for the capture mechanism that may be used by a future robotic or crewed vehicle to boost or deorbit the telescope. Stickers are applied nearby to represent the vents used to relieve pressure inside Hubble's body while also preventing stray external sunlight from entering and interfering with observations.

Decals are also applied to simulate the ports for the three fixed-head star trackers, which follow specific stars in their field of view to help determine the telescope's attitude. The dark circular openings on the aft body are the external light paths for the trackers.

The set also includes a stand on which to display Hubble. As part of that, a decal-adorned plaque lists facts about the observatory, including the dates of its five space shuttle servicing missions. The stand also includes three translucent pre-printed parts displaying three of the telescope's most famous observations: the Eagle Nebula ("Pillars of Creation"), Whirlpool Galaxy, and the Butterfly Nebula.

"The astounding images and data provided by the Hubble Space Telescope have brought the farthest reaches of the universe closer to Earth. We're just beginning to comprehend its historic significance, and it continues to inspire scientists and spark the public's imagination," wrote the designers in the introduction to the set's instructions. "We wanted to honor that legacy."

The Lego Icons Hubble Space Telescope set is built to minifigure scale and includes an astronaut minifigure. Credit: LEGO

One more hidden detail: the astronaut minifigure is decorated so as to be wearing an extravehicular mobility unit (EMU), the spacesuit worn for the servicing missions. It does not reproduce the NASA insignia or any flight emblems, but on the back of its portable life support system (PLSS) backpack appears NASA's celebratory logo for the Hubble Space Telescope's first 35 years.

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Ukrainian drone operators have destroyed many Russian armored vehicles on the ground and even military helicopters in midair using $400 Shrike drones with explosive payloads. Now thousands of such drones are getting upgraded with an AI system capable of autonomously tracking and homing in on moving targets.

In mid-July, the Ukrainian military began receiving Shrike drones made by the Ukrainian company SkyFall equipped with AI-powered autonomy hardware and software developed by the US company Auterion. The companies plan to deliver 50,000 drones equipped with Auterion’s Skynode S strike kits in the coming months.

That allows human operators to manually fly the Shrike first-person view (FPV) drones into a battlefield area, designate a target up to half a mile away and then “flip the switch to turn it into fire-and-forget terminal guidance mode,” Lorenz Meier, co-founder and CEO of Auterion, told Ars.

The operator can abort a strike or choose a different target as long as they have a radio signal connection with the drone, Meier explained. But the drone can still automatically track and fly into targets without any human guidance, even if it loses its connection with the operator due to buildings or terrain blocking the signal or because of enemy jamming on the same radio frequencies.

To home in on targets, Auterion’s software relies solely on the visual information available from the Shrike drone’s main onboard camera. That means the Shrike drones can track and strike moving targets without any reliance on GPS—a crucial advantage on modern battlefields where GPS jamming has also become common.

That could further enhance the success rate of remotely piloted Shrike drones that have already struck many vehicle-size targets since Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including armored tanks, electronic warfare systems, artillery guns, and rocket launchers. Shrike drones have reportedly taken down two Russian Mi-28 helicopters, each worth as much as $19 million, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Cost-effective AI for battlefield drones

Until now, the Ukrainian military has mainly relied on human operators to manually guide drones toward their targets, with the exception of mid- or long-range strike drones such as the $5,000 AI-powered “Hornet” drones developed by the California-based company Perennial Autonomy founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Those drones often fly far beyond the frontlines to target Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure, factories and warehouses, or even ships in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

But Auterion focused on creating AI-powered capabilities for the cheaper, shorter-range FPV drones that have become the most common weapons responsible for killing or wounding soldiers on the frontlines in Ukraine. The company developed a tightly integrated flight control system and terminal guidance system optimized to run on a Western-made Arm system-on-a-chip costing just $18.

“What we are doing is replacing the existing flight controller—which has no computer, no AI—with avionics that has a microprocessor unit, has AI on board, and can track into the target fully autonomously,” Meier told Ars.

Each of SkyFall’s Shrike drones equipped with such capability costs about $2,000, compared to the $400 Ukrainian drones that rely only on manual piloting, Meier wrote in a blog post.

By comparison, he described Western militaries as still purchasing “precision munitions at six or seven figures per shot (30–60 times this price), drones procured in batches of dozens, priced like exquisite aircraft, delivered on timelines measured in years.”

The 50,000 Shrike drones equipped with Auterion’s strike kit were funded by a $100 million contract backed by an officially unnamed European country. Reuters reported that Germany is the country funding the order, and Meier also disclosed that Auterion’s team based in Munich, Germany, is fulfilling the order.

This is the largest delivery order to date for Auterion. But the company also previously committed to delivering 33,000 drone strike kits to Ukraine in July 2025, with backing from a $50 million Pentagon contract.

A Shrike FPV drone manufactured by the Ukrainian company SkyFall that can be equipped with Auterion's AI-powered drone strike kit. Credit: Auterion | SkyFall

Human control and drone swarms

The drone strike kits would also enable SkyFall’s Shrike drones to receive future software updates that could enable a single human operator to command an autonomous swarm of drones to attack targets.

Auterion did not provide a timeframe for when this might happen. But the company has already demonstrated such drone swarming capability during a live-fire combat exercise at a US military range at Camp Blanding in Florida. The demonstration involved a drone pilot commanding three autonomous strike drones to take out three separate targets.

Such swarm capability provided by Auterion's Nemyx system means that drones can autonomously work together to prioritize higher-value targets and adjust on the fly as targets are destroyed, so multiple drones aren’t wasted on the same target, Meier explained. That can all happen without any human input after the operator first directs the drone swarm toward a given objective.

“It basically means that you can point one of our swarms at an objective, and you can either decide to point all the munitions at a single target point, or you can actually spread them out from the get-go, and they will reprioritize,” Meier told Ars. “If you kick the swarm into strike mode, the whole thing strikes. If you let it abort, the whole thing aborts.”

The autonomous drone capabilities provided by Auterion’s strike kits also simplify the piloting skill required of human operators—regardless of whether they are piloting a single drone or commanding a swarm. That could help Ukraine’s military deploy more drones using a limited number of drone operators, and could prove even more invaluable for the United States or other countries that don’t yet have large numbers of trained drone operators.

“We found that we can train people within—I'm not kidding—60 seconds to operate this drone and even to operate the swarm, because you just move up and down to steer them in the right direction towards the target,” Meier said. “And when you are close enough to acquire the target, you just select it on the screen.”

The prospect of deploying fully autonomous drones on the battlefield may seem to be creeping closer. But Meier emphasized that Auterion believes in keeping a human in the target selection process.

“I am not sure if our adversaries eventually will allow us that, because they might enter into a way of warfare where we have to send autonomous systems against autonomous systems and let them make split-second decisions,” Meier said. “But until we are at that point, we as a company, and I personally believe, it's really good if a human operator makes a life-or-death decision.”

Ukraine's battlefield innovation system

Having visited Ukraine eight times to talk with the country’s top political and military leaders while working alongside Ukrainian drone manufacturers, Meier praised Ukraine for developing a system that enables a rapid cycle of innovation and improvement informed by battlefield experience.

“The Ukrainian forces are relatively accepting of initial battlefield failure,” Meier told Ars. “A lot of the Ukrainian firms didn't show up with a perfectly working product—they showed up with something that was better than nothing, and then iterated through a lot of failures towards a point where it works every single time.”

Ukraine has also created an effective system for evaluating how well new drones and other weapons perform on the battlefield in terms of hit rates and delivering results of military value, Meier said. That feeds back into the cycle of innovation and has enabled Ukrainian companies to take huge risks in developing drones, robots and other weapons, while learning from failures on how to harden their systems for modern battlefields.

By comparison, the US military’s strict schedule for selecting new drone technologies through the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance program means that companies cannot easily come back several weeks later with a greatly improved product if they fail to make the cut at each selection stage. But Meier described Auterion as being well positioned to bring some lessons learned from Ukrainian battlefields back to compete within the more regimented US system.

The US military will also need the equivalent of a common operating system for its command and control systems to work seamlessly with autonomous drones from many different manufacturers as it looks to eventually deploy thousands of drones, Meier said. He described Auterion’s long-term ambition as creating a software ecosystem that allows various software companies to develop applications for many types of drones from different companies—a vision that draws from his own experience in developing open source software and open hardware standards used in the drone industry.

“You need the autonomy to fold into your command system, which means you need the same operating system, and maybe you can afford to integrate two or three—like there are apps for iOS and Android and I think that’s OK,” Meier said. “But you can't have 15.”

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Nekima Levy Armstrong, center, a local civil rights lawyer, is a lead defendant in the Justice Department’s case against a group of activists and journalists who were arrested over a demonstration at a St. Paul, Minn., church.

While recycling is a mathematically obvious response to the finite, non-renewable nature of many resources, the economic math is often challenging. For many materials, it can be hard to compete with virgin materials on a cost basis. Fast-moving technologies like electric vehicles throw in an added complication: By the time a car is scrapped, the industry may have moved on to a different battery chemistry. That reduces the value of recycling the car’s battery back into the production chain.

Still, a study led by Xin Xiong at Nanjing University finds that in China, recycling could become the dominant source of many key materials needed to manufacture EV components over the coming decades.

Modeling manufacturing needs

The researchers set out to model how the supply of recycled materials compares to manufacturing demand in China between 2010 and 2050. It covers materials relevant to batteries across hybrid, battery-electric, and even fuel-cell vehicles (lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, phosphorus, sodium, sulfur, and graphite), as well as several critical elements used in electric motors (copper, neodymium, dysprosium, samarium, and cerium).

The researchers considered four scenarios for technological progression. Some see battery and motor chemistry slowly transition to technologies like solid-state lithium, sodium batteries, or motors with reduced rare-earth content. Other scenarios transition more quickly. The model calculates the “circularity potential” of each element over time—how much of manufacturing demand can be supplied by the flow of recycled material in that same year.

It also factors in recent Chinese policies, which aim to increase recycling rates of certain battery elements from the current 40 percent to a new standard of at least 98 percent, and to increase the share of EVs in new sales from 45 percent to 60 percent by 2030.

Though hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles eventually fade out, the sales of battery electric vehicles continued to increase all the way to 2050 in their model. This leaves the number of vehicles hitting recyclers lagging behind but also steadily increasing. (The model assumes that battery replacement will be common, since batteries can lose capacity long before a vehicle hits end-of-life, primarily in commercial settings with heavy use. Between that and China’s battery-swapping stations, this means extra batteries being manufactured and recycled.)

Nevertheless, the amount of manufacturing demand that can be met by recycling generally rises to pretty high levels across all scenarios, though the patterns look a little different. Early on, the supply of recycled materials rises as the growth of EVs eventually drives a corresponding growth in dead EVs.

Details matter

But for some elements like cobalt, demand can drop as the industry pivots to low-cobalt battery chemistries—and the recycled supply quickly exceeds demand. Conversely, the amount of nickel and manganese needed for batteries could increase drastically over time, keeping the share that recycling can supply pretty flat.

The story for elements in motors is similar, but it's also quite sensitive to the nature of the technological change—like if cerium is used to displace more expensive rare-earth elements, for example.

Amount of manufacturing demand supplied by recycling for four scenarios: slow technological change (left), faster change, a complete transition to new chemistries, and a progression through those first three scenarios decade-by-decade (right). Solid lines are with 40 percent of vehicles recycled, and dotted lines are with 100 percent of vehicles recycled. Credit: Xiong, et al./Joule

Depending on which scenario you find most plausible and which promising technologies you think will take over, this model can show you which demands can be met by effective recycling and which we’ll remain dependent on mining to supply.

This all hinges on the word "effective" in "effective recycling." The researchers highlight a number of links in the recycling chain that will need to be strengthened to reach the high end of their numbers.

China is using regulations to address a couple of issues, mandating “battery passports” that identify each battery and its chemical makeup and working to force more scrapped batteries to be sent to officially licensed recyclers. But the researchers also note that China has yet to mandate some level of recycled content in new battery production. And they say the complex recycling chain will be vulnerable to bottlenecks as it rapidly scales up to handle more electric vehicles over time.

Just as the graphite in batteries is often not recycled now because its value is low, the rise of technologies like sodium batteries could be a bit of a double-edged sword, too. Using a less expensive material makes batteries cheaper, but it also means their contents are less valuable to recyclers.

But although technological change complicates the goal of recycling EVs to build new ones, this model shows that the math could work out pretty well for many materials.

Joule, 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2026.102602 (About DOIs).

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Once united in support of President Trump, right-wing influencers are embroiled in feuds and losing viewers, creating a problem for Republicans in the midterm elections.

Have you tried Chipotle’s new cilantro lime sauce? I’m a big fan. It’s creamy, super fresh and somewhat spicy. I’ve started ordering cilantro lime sauce in lieu of plain sour cream on my standard burrito bowl order, and it really takes my bowl to the next level.

I reverse-engineered this recipe from Chipotle’s ingredient list. It’s made with cilantro, lime, Mexican spices (I only add cumin), sour cream and roasted jalapeños. The only trick was getting the proportions right. I taste-tested my recipe and theirs side by side, and you know what? It’s hard to tell the difference, but I like mine better.

Chipotle is really the only “fast food” chain that we eat from, and I’m almost embarrassed to admit how often we order in. Maybe every other week? I love recreating their meal components so we can all make them from scratch when we have the time. This fresh sauce is a winner.

Continue to the recipe...

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