With the right selection of apps and techniques, you can make sure the hours don’t drift by, and commit to doing something productive, relaxing, educational, or useful with your 24 hours instead. Set reminders in Siri and Google Assistant Your smartphone’s assistant is only a voice command away, so make use of it. You can set reminders and timers to help structure your day in all kinds of ways: Get Siri or Google Assistant to tell you when it’s time to start making dinner, for example, or when you’ve completed an hour of work, or when you’ve been gaming for more than half an hour....

“It’s a flat robot that has… artificial muscles embedded in it and sensors to detect how much those muscles have contracted,” says study author Joran Booth. “We can control the things that it’s wrapped around.” Potentially, any soft object could become a robot with the skin slipped around it: a piece of foam tube, a ball, or even a stuffed horse, as is shown in a video released by Yale....

Don’t go running to your chess board or Sudoku game just yet, though. As Arden notes: “This does not mean that men who prefer Play-Doh to Plato always have poor sperm.” The link they found, based on data collected in 1985 from 425 Vietnam War veterans who volunteered for extensive medical and mental examinations, was marginal, she says. Yet, it was statistically significant enough to support the “fitness factor” theory—the idea that robust genes underlying intelligence, such as those that manifest themselves as artistic and musical abilities, could have biological effects on health (this is, of course, assuming that the differences in intelligence among individuals is driven by genetics)....

As the black goo oozes down the wooden platform, it contacts copper nails connected to a controller located underneath, which converts the electrical resistance into MIDI values that are then translated into various audio effects. Singer has nails patched to different computer-generated voices, which read or sing preprogrammed song lyrics, movie scripts and speeches. He calls the artistic effect of the amorphous slime creating a jumbled cacophony of voices “musical onomatopoeia....

The Gran Chaco, which spans from Bolivia and Brazil to Paraguay and Argentina, is extremely biodiverse, with more than 3,400 plant and 900 animal species—including quebracho blanco trees, tapirs, and jaguars. It is also home to at least 30 indigenous peoples, including the Ayoreo, some of whom live in voluntary isolation in their historic homelands, as well Mennonite colonies. Now, due to the some of the fastest deforestation in the world, this once enormous ecosystem may soon be gone outside of protected areas....

On Wednesday, the Cassini spacecraft made its deepest pass through Enceladus’ icy spray. Scientists hope that by collecting samples from lower parts of the plumes, the spacecraft might be able to detect heavier, more complex compounds that could shed light on whether the inner ocean is capable of supporting life. Cassini was also searching for hydrogen, which could indicate whether the ocean floor is active and infusing life-sustaining energy into the ocean....

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the rocket was on target for a perfect landing, but a landing leg failed to lock and the thing toppled over. So close! Update, 2:41pm After a second burn of the rocket’s second stage, the Jason-3 satellite is now in the correct orbit and SpaceX is calling it a mission success. Update, 2:10pm Preliminary data suggests the Falcon 9 rocket stage came down on target, but one of the landing legs collapsed when it reached the drone ship, so the rocket booster is not standing upright, according to the SpaceX webcast....

Several student teams from BDC’s pilot semester took their inspiration from humankind’s original wearable—the microbiome, the billions of microbes that live in and on us and help digest food, process nutrients and may even affect our moods. Instead of microorganisms, the teams went big—they focused on larger organisms. Butler and her teammates Rebecca Van Sciver and Jiwon Woo called their spider mask Stabilimentum, Latin for “support.” The couture device cleans the air the wearer breathes using live spiders and the electrostatic properties of their silk....

As the 2015 hurricane season begins, we want to share how our sponsor, Simpson Strong-Tie, is working with Stevens Institute of Technology to help SURE HOUSE resist Jersey Shore storm and flood damage. For more than 55 years, Simpson Strong-Tie has focused on creating structural products that help people build safer and stronger homes and buildings. Considered a leader in structural systems research, testing and innovation, the company is one of the largest suppliers of structural building products in the world....

Eastern American moles don’t see or hear very well, even compared to the rest of molekind. Skin and fur hide their tiny eyes, and their ears are only tuned to low frequencies. But they locate their earthworm prey with surprising speed and accuracy. According to Kenneth Catania, a professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University who studies the sensory systems of animals, this is because they can distinguish subtle differences in smells between their different nostrils....

With this box, you’ll get delicacies like mango-habanero beef jerky, crispy chickpeas, and egg white protein bars. All of your snacks will be free from problematic ingredients like hydrogenated fats, high fructose corn syrup, and red dye 40. Pick from eight snacks a month, to the deluxe 150 snacks a month. Plus: SnackNation works with Feeding America to donate 10 meals to a family in need for every box shipped....

Later, she joined the Army via ROTC, and eventually got into flight school, and fought her way into a spot flying Black Hawks. (Her doggedness and nonstop hard work are important, impressive themes of the book.) The memoir’s most dramatic moment is the retelling of the November day in 2004 while she was serving in Iraq. A rocket-propelled grenade hit her Black Hawk helicopter, and the shoot-down resulted in gruesomely critical injuries that almost killed her....

This week’s episode has lots of content packed in, so pick your favorite way to listen to podcasts (iTunes, Stitcher, Anchor, and pretty much anywhere else you find excellent podcasts loitering around) and then dive in. Oh, and be sure to follow us on Twitter so you can talk smack. Here’s a preview of what to expect. Last Week in Tech Before we get into the games, we take a look back at some of the big technology stories that happened last week....

For centuries, chemists flexed their creativity to harness power from the most abundant element in nature. Their experiments paid off with a slew of technologies, including hot air balloons, rocket fuel, and rechargeable batteries. Today, the US uses another one of those technologies, hydrogen-fuel cells, to generate 250 megawatts of energy daily. And though that’s only a pinprick of the country’s total electric capacity, experts are questioning how carbon-intensive the method is....

Note that sweet vegan delicacies don’t need to be boujee products off the Whole Foods shelves. It doesn’t matter what dietary choices you make; nobody really wants to spend $4 on two peanut butter cups. Here are our favorite accidentally vegan candies. Sour Patch Kids—or as I call them, “my children”—are the best vegan candy, full stop. Unlike many other gummies, these don’t contain gelatin, an agent usually made from boiling the skin, cartilage, and bones of pigs and cows....

The Apple TV 4K also plays nicely with Apple’s streaming services. Apple Music subscribers can use the Apple TV to play tracks in surround sound on a 5.1, 7.1, or Dolby Atmos speaker system. Naturally, Apple TV+ comes preinstalled on the device, so you can easily watch shows like Ted Lasso and Severance. If you’re an Apple Arcade subscriber, you can pair the Apple TV 4K with a Bluetooth controller and use it to play indie titles like Fantasian or Sayonara Wild Hearts without a dedicated game console....

War is still primarily an undertaking involving bombs, bullets, and broken bodies, but the placement of those bombs and bullets is increasingly shaped by fights waged in the electromagnetic spectrum. Electromagnetic warfare is often paired with attacks on computer systems carried out over the internet, which are broadly called cyber attacks. Understanding how modern wars are fought means understanding the invisible fights waged by signals and over code. If Russia does launch an attack on Ukraine, as the mass of Russian forces that have been assembled for months along their shared border suggest it might do, electronic warfare will likely be part of the attack, as it was when Russia occupied parts of Ukraine in 2014....

Best overall: Samsung QN900ABest starter: TCL 6-seriesBest smart: LG Class 99Best for gaming: Sony Z9JBest budget: Samsung QN800A How we chose the best 8K TVs From explaining the difference between 4K and 1080p to demystifying TV backlight tech, our experts are no strangers to giving you the big picture when it comes to televisions. Combining those observations with critical consensus and personal testimonials of staff and friends, we’ve come up with a list where there may not be a huge difference between the “best” and the “budget,” but there’s enough to choose a set tailored to your needs....

Big, powerful gas saws have their place to be sure, particularly for long days cutting up big logs out in the woods. But there are many times when a clean, quiet electric saw would be a better choice, like when you only want to trim a few branches around the yard. If you’re thinking about purchasing a new chainsaw, read on as we consider the qualities that go into a quality pick and see our best picks for a variety of uses....