Hear that sound? Those are the rapidly approaching footsteps of Black Friday 2018. As your thoughts turn toward the money you might save this year, and the shiny new gadgets you hope to grab, remember that you shouldn’t just pull out your credit card and charge into the mall (or its online equivalent). To find the deals that are worth fighting for—and skip those that are best avoided—preparation is key....
Many people used the opportunity to express their desire to travel and explore the globe: …and use that opportunity to discover and name a new species: A surprising number of scientists want to include puns in their work or mess with their coworkers: …but more want to improve science literacy of others or themselves: The need for greater diversity in science was expressed in tweets, as was the desire for new inventions....
“In an increasingly contested and congested space environment, The Space Surveillance Telescope will provide enhanced awareness of the space domain and contribute to greater Alliance cooperation,” Air-Vice Marshal Cath Roberts said in the release. The main point of the telescope is to watch satellites in geosynchronous orbit, and to keep an eye out for unusual movement or activity among satellites. Satellites in geosynchronous orbit are used for everything from television transmission, GPS coordinates, communications, photography of Earth, and more....
After suggesting in a tweet on Sunday that Dorian posed a serious threat to Alabama, a statement at odds with National Hurricane Center (NHC) predictions at the time, the president has since doubled (and tripled) down on his claim with a trio of charts. One highlighted an array of old, raw data. Another featured a bespoke hurricane cone apparently hand-drawn in sharpie. And the third showed a low possibility of elevated wind speeds....
The missile, dubbed the Hwasong-17, reached an altitude of about 6,249 km, or over 3,900 miles, according to North Korea. The patch of sea it sank into was 680 miles from where it had initially launched, though the exact location of the launch site is subject of dispute between North Korea’s official account and outside observations. For years, North Korea has devoted a tremendous amount of resources and time to developing a nuclear program, capable of building warheads and missiles....
Back in 2011 and again in 2017, measles outbreaks hit the Somali community living in Minnesota. The outbreaks were the result of dangerously low vaccination rates that had been prompted by fears of autism, and enabled by state laws allowing personal belief exemptions. In other words, they were a lot like the current outbreaks in the Pacific Northwest. In Clark County, where the vast majority of Washington’s measles cases have occured, almost 80 percent of all vaccine exemptions among kindergarteners last school year were due to personal belief, according to Washington State Department of Health data....
Gul Dolen, neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University // As told to Alex Schwartz Octopuses seem nothing like us. Their brains are physiologically different. Yet they interact with one another and do complex tasks the way we do—they even solve puzzles. One species we work with is typically reclusive. However, they become quite the party animals during their mating seasons. In humans, a neurotransmitter called serotonin promotes this kind of social functioning....
From the 1995 to 2001 seasons, National League pitchers at Coors Field recorded a horrendous earned-run average (ERA) of 6.50, more than two runs a game higher than the 4.37 ERA recorded at other stadiums. Fans and the media attributed the numbers to Denver’s mile-high thin air. But in the winter of 2002, based on a hunch that the balls might be drying out and losing weight in Denver’s arid climate, engineers at Coors Field installed a humidor for storing game balls....
The researchers simulated how climate change could alter the impacts of tropical cyclones through the end of the 21st century. They found that the combined frequency of intense storm surge and rainfall that clobbers the coastline may increase by seven to 36 times in the southern US and 30 to 195 times in the Northeast. “The results that are presented in the paper give us a pretty good idea of what to possibly expect in the future,” says Thomas Wahl, a coastal engineer at the University of Central Florida who wasn’t involved in the research....
But that’s about the typical amount of warning for a major tornado, which is forecasted 18 minutes before touching down. Tornadoes form alongside thunderstorms. But a thunderstorm only spins off a tornado under very specific conditions. Wind at the ground and further above have to be moving in opposite directions. This causes the air between to spin in a horizontal tube. Then, the air on the ground must be warm enough to tip that spinning tube off the ground....
The news of the vast grounding was reported earlier this week by The Wall Street Journal. Here’s what to know about this unique military helicopter and why it was grounded. The basics “The Chinook is right now one-of-a-kind for the Army,” says Stacie Pettyjohn, who directs the defense program at the Center for a New American Security. “It’s the only heavy lift helicopter that it has.” The CH-47 doesn’t look like a typical helicopter, either, thanks to its bus-like shape and two large, counter-spinning top rotors....
“He wrapped it up, and he put it down an abandoned well. And then about 80 years later, as he was dying, he told his grandchildren the story of how he got the skull. They went to look, and it was still down there. So incredible,” says Stringer, a paleoanthropologist studying human origins at the Natural History Museum in London. After more than an estimated 146,000 years buried in sediment and its additional decades in hiding, the Harbin cranium finally made it into researchers’ hands in 2018....
When I asked one coworker if there was any good laser tag around us, he said the closest place to play he knew was on Long Island. Others had no idea of venues near us in Manhattan, a place that undoubtedly has a laser tag course. With Father.io, you can play laser tag anywhere. The park, around a neighborhood, indoors–the world is literally your game board. The augmented reality smartphone game wants to bring laser tag into the 21st century....
Like any other aircraft operator, Zipline doesn’t want any midair collisions. Keenan Wyrobek, the company’s CTO, says that in the US especially, navigating the airspace can be tricky. Low-flying planes from regular folks out cruising for fun in a Cessna, or someone operating a crop duster, or a helicopter, may not have a transponder announcing their location. “A lot of these planes, they’re just not required to carry transponders,” Wyrobek says....
Audubon is one of around 80 zoos across the US that have asked for experimental doses of the vaccine, says Mahesh Kumar, head of vaccine research for Zoetis, which manufactures the animal vaccine. In Louisiana, one of the first COVID shots for animals went to Mike the tiger, the mascot of Louisiana State University, who was vaccinated back in August. This past weekend, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. started immunizing its primates....
At spring low tides we would wade through the shallows, carefully lifting up rocks to see what lay hidden beneath them. Under every rock we found an array of tiny living creatures of incredible variety, including glowing worms, tiny rock suckers, and brightly colored nudibranchs, a type of sea slug. Craig also showed me how animals could be tracked by their egg masses. Using a sea hare as our teacher, he showed me how these squidgy animals that look like luminous slugs were always close to their eggs....
Beaming Electricity from Space The Vision Launch giant solar panels into orbit and send limitless clean energy back to Earth The Plan By 2030, Japan hopes to pull its power from the heavens instead of from polluting coal plants. The idea is to send satellites into geostationary orbit above the equator, where they will unfurl 1.5-mile-long solar arrays and soak up the sun 24 hours a day. Transmitters mounted on the satellites would convert the solar energy into microwave energy and beam it down to terrestrial receiving stations....
The platform has long sought to give answers before you finish typing your questions, but not every problem has a google-able answer. For those, Google Search has tools that provide simple functions you’d otherwise need apps for. And honestly, who needs more apps on their phones, anyway? Google’s tool is set to 100 beats per minute by default, but you can use the slider bar below it to increase or decrease the BPM to suit your needs....
Best for napping anywhere: Ostrichpillow Original You’ve seen Moira Rose wear this pillow on Schitt’s Creek. Get one for yourself or your stressed-out friend to nap anywhere thanks to its immersive, plush design. Use it to rest your head against the wall, or pop your hands inside to put your head down on a table. It looks kooky, but getting a power nap anywhere will be your new superpower. Best sheet pans: Great Jones Little Sheet Sheet pans are essential for the home cook who bakes or roasts food often, and this eye-catching pair of quarter-sheet trays from Great Jones will liven up every kitchen....
