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The internet transformed the shopping landscape. While you can buy a myriad of practical gadgets through platforms like Amazon, several retailers offer the chance to acquire distinctive and unique items that aren’t typically available on that site — or in the U.S., for that matter. Nevertheless, this ease comes with the downside of your product potentially being damaged during shipping, and the disappointment is even greater when the item is exceptionally rare. Especially when you can identify a specific party responsible.

On February 26, Philip Peng (commonly recognized by his Twitter/X username “Keripo”) shared some distressing news: A game he had ordered some time ago, “Tsukihime Trial Edition,” arrived in ruins. The protective bubble wrap had been taken off and the floppy disk was shredded, as if someone had torn it apart with their bare hands. He was understandably upset (as any person in his situation would be), but he also uncovered a possible clue: The package bore a tape that read “Opened and resealed by customs.”

The prevailing theory suggests that someone at U.S. Customs opened the package and intentionally damaged the floppy disk, as Peng noted that the seller took significant measures to safeguard the product and provided photos as evidence. Additionally, in another post, Peng mentioned that the package was at one point “stuck in Customs for additional inspection.” Peng indicated that he intends to file a report regarding the incident. If his allegations are accurate, this could potentially deter many individuals from ordering products from overseas (Peng sourced his copy from a collector in Portugal), particularly rare video games.

What renders Tsukihime Trial Edition so precious?

Although many gamers lean towards playing the latest releases, or modify older consoles for new uses, some are devoted to the discipline of preserving the oldest video games for future generations. Yet “Tsukihime Trial Edition” is not just any old game; it’s a rare title that offers a glimpse into the history of a developer prior to its rise to fame.

The game “Tsukihime” is an adult visual novel (essentially a choose your own adventure story in video game format) created by Type-Moon. “Tsukihime” represents the studio’s debut title, and nearly all of their future games are derivatives of “Tsukihime.” However, you might ask what makes the “Trial Version” edition so notable, especially since you can play a remake of the original game (or at least parts of it) on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. To begin with, “Tsukihime Trial Edition” is an early preview from before the finalization of the game. Game historians relish dissecting beta builds to see what modifications studios made during development. It provides insights into and aids in a deeper appreciation of the game development journey.

The obliteration of this specific floppy disk is particularly newsworthy because “Tsukihime Trial Edition” ranks among the rarest games extant. This demo version was sold at the 1999 Comiket convention for 100 yen per copy, and the developers produced only 50 copies. The rarer a video game is, even a demo disc, the higher the price that game preservationists are willing to pay — just observe how much the Nintendo PlayStation prototype fetched at an auction. Thanks to U.S. Customs (presumably), there are now at most 49 copies of “Tsukihime Trial Version” remaining, so it’s uncertain if another will emerge.

price increase across numerous PC components such as memory, GPUs, and SSDs. Nonetheless, hard drives (or HDDs) remained mostly unaffected as they are viewed as outdated technology since contemporary SSDs offer significantly enhanced performance. However, HDDs have a distinct advantage: providing large amounts of data storage at a low cost. This has led to their rising applications, particularly as the price difference between HDDs and SSDs continues to grow.

Firms within the AI and cloud sectors are purchasing storage drives in massive volumes. This impacts both availability and pricing. Consequently, your old hard drives have unexpectedly gained value, serving not just as backup solutions but also as primary storage options at home, as it will take considerable time before the demand for hardware normalizes.

The competition to succeed the International Space Station is intensifying. Established in 1998, the ISS is the most prolonged global space initiative and has served as the hub of international collaboration in low Earth orbit. Set for deorbiting into the Pacific Ocean by SpaceX in 2030, NASA’s choice to replace the station with a commercial option has spurred an already escalating space race, wherein nations and tech giants vie to establish vital infrastructures in low Earth orbit, on the lunar surface, and on Mars. Amidst this rivalry, one startup, Max Space, is confident in its potential to gain a technical edge over its rivals.

Max Space refers to itself as “pioneers of space real estate” and focuses on expandable habitats that promise “a future where space is more than just a frontier, but a vibrant base for humanity.” The company asserts that these inflatable modules significantly shorten construction timelines, making deployments safer and more predictable. Max Space boasts that its space habitats can expand up to 20 times their original size once in orbit. The benefits of such a design are clear compared to the decade-long assembly of the ISS, which required over 40 launches to piece together approximately 1 million pounds of equipment. Aiming to enlarge its module to 10,000 cubic meters, Max Space believes that its innovations will enhance the reliability of space installation deployments, thereby reducing costs.

Max Space’s Thunderbird station

The inaugural station in Max Space’s lineup is an expandable habitat named the Thunderbird, which optimizes its livable space using a “morphic interior structure.” CEO Saleem Miyan compares the adaptable structure to movable furniture, describing to Space News how it enables a customizable internal environment that “allows us to create usable volume, personal space for astronauts, and ample area that can be instantly utilized for large-scale manufacturing in orbit.” With over 12,300 cubic feet of pressurized space, the station will be about one-third the size of the ISS. It will feature more than 60 payload lockers, private living quarters, reconfigurable communal areas, an observation gallery, and research stations. The Thunderbird is designed to accommodate four full-time crew members and up to eight guests.

A significant advantage of the Thunderbird is its capacity to be launched aboard smaller spacecraft, such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Comparable commercial stations are likely to necessitate multiple launches or larger spacecraft like SpaceX’s Starship. According to Max Space, the Thunderbird can be utilized in Earth orbit as well as on lunar and Martian missions, with a target launch date set for 2029.

However, before the Thunderbird can reach low Earth orbit, Max Space must achieve several critical milestones. The upcoming significant test is scheduled for February 2027, when Max Space aims to launch Mission Evolution, its inaugural space mission, sending a 175-cubic-foot expandable prototype into low Earth orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9. Having formalized its initial launch agreement with SpaceX, this milestone will be essential for assessing the station’s strength, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of its internal environmental controls and life support systems.

The future of commercial space stations

Max Space aspires to play a significant role in NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations project, which will see the ISS replaced by commercial alternatives. NASA has indicated that multiple Space Act Agreements are likely to be awarded for the project’s preliminary phases, creating opportunities for startups like Max Space to collaborate with the agency without entering into procurement contracts. As Miyan mentioned in an interview (via Space News), “That CLD proposal motivated us to strategically evaluate how we could advance our roadmap, and that is precisely what we’ve accomplished.”

In the end, Max Space seeks to leverage its technology into a series of stations, including larger lunar habitats. Planned products include a lunar station 30 times the size of Thunderbird and a massive space station exceeding 350,000 cubic feet intended for lunar and Mars colonization initiatives. To achieve these ambitions, Max Space has forged partnership agreements with a diverse range of collaborators, including commercial space titan SpaceX, industrial design firm Omi, mission strategists Astro Digital, and aerospace-focused defense companies Redwire and Voyager.

Naturally, Max Space is not the sole enterprise chasing inflatable habitats. NASA’s Foundation Surface Habitat concept, a key element of the agency’s lunar Artemis Base Camp strategy, will likely incorporate inflatable habitats. Commercial rivals such as Lockheed Martin and Sierra Space are also striving to position themselves as market leaders. Thus far, however, Max Space stands out as the only firm to have set a launch date for its expandable module.

which features a disregarded television remake that fans ought to check out). Pitt portrayed Jeffrey Goines, a psychiatric patient and ecoterrorist with outrageous conspiracy theories, whom Bruce Willis’ character, James Cole, meets in a mental institution during his time travel journey.

Although his performance received recognition from the Academy and garnered acclaim from both critics and audiences, Pitt felt unfulfilled with his overall depiction of Goines. In a 2019 interview with The New York Times, the actor explained his feelings: “I excelled in the first half of ’12 Monkeys.’ I completely missed the mark in the second half. That portrayal troubled me because there was a limitation in the writing. It’s not the fault of the writing, but it was something I couldn’t decipher. I realized that in the latter part of the film, I was merely playing the concept of what was real in the first half — up until the final scene — and it drove me [expletive] insane.”

the U.S. Navy is developing a new supercarrier that is set to join the fleet in 2027. Should the United States dispatch another Navy supercarrier to the Middle East, one might wonder how long the journey would take.

The contemporary supercarriers of the U.S. Navy are nuclear-powered giants that can weigh upwards of 100,000 tons. The USS Gerald R. Ford stands as the largest warship in the world and exemplifies the capabilities of a supercarrier. A Ford-class aircraft carrier can achieve a maximum “flanking speed” of around 30 knots (about 35 miles per hour). Ships departing from Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia must cover more than 5,900 miles to arrive at the Suez Canal. The canal measures 120 miles in length, and vessels then need to traverse the 1,200-mile Red Sea and the 920-mile Gulf of Aden to access the Arabian Sea, where the U.S. military is active in the Middle East.

This implies that a Navy supercarrier traveling at 35 mph could reach the Middle East from the United States in under 10 days without any hindrances. A nuclear-powered supercarrier could complete the 8,140-mile trip to the Arabian Sea without stopping or concerns regarding fuel. It may take decades before these carriers need to consider refueling, even though refueling a supercarrier can be a lengthy process when necessary.

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