So, while it absolutely isn’t a medical-grade or even commercial-grade solution, we took the DIY approach to experiment with a combination of built-in HVAC and portable air filters to see if we could tell how (relatively) “safe” it might be to sit around our dining room table with friends someday, and how best we could prepare for that eventuality.

We’ve discussed the x86 CPU manufacturer Zhaoxin multiple times at ET, always with reference to the company’s CPUs and efforts to enter the mainstream x86 market, at least in China. Now, there’s evidence that the firm intends to produce its own graphics card as well.

Earlier this month, WD promised it would release 16TB and 18TB of its EAMR drives, with a 20TB SMR drive to follow. This week, it made good on the first two promises: WD Gold EAMR drives are now available for purchase.

Lenovo is announcing a new Ryzen Threadripper workstation that’s also doubling as a debut of a heretofore unannounced AMD chip. The ThinkStation P620 is based on the previously unknown BXB-B chipset and yes, it offers 8-channel memory support. Up to 1TB of RAM can be installed, equal to what Intel offers with its Xeon W product family.

Some scientists believe there’s another planet out there, often called Planet Nine. What if it’s not a planet, though? Researchers from Harvard University have published a paper that explores the possibility that our solar system is home to a tiny, ancient black hole.

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) got together earlier this year to launch the aptly named Solar Orbiter spacecraft. The mission recently took up its position near the sun, and the agencies have released the first wave of images from this enviable vantage point.

For many years, scientists believed that the majority of supernovas resulted in one of three outcomes: black hole, neutron star, or nothing left at all. Now we’ve found a new star that isn’t any of those things and appears to be the survivor of a partial supernova.