FACT: Bees can make a special kind of honey using spotted lanternfly poop By Rachel Feltman Even if you love slurping down a cup of hot tea just full of the stuff, you might not really know what honey is. Bees often make this sweet goop out of nectar from flowers, but any super-sugary liquid will do in a pinch. In 2012, for example, some French bees got into a candy factory’s waste vats and produced blue and green honey from the sticky syrup....
Most importantly, we’re getting the Death Star. EA announced today that it would be rolling out a series of free and paid DLC. Tomorrow, a free update will include private matches, new Hoth-themed outfits for Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, and Daily Challenges. We’re not sure what these challenges will be, but we can hazard a guess that they’ll provide rewards based on metrics like kills, headshots, or objectives captured....
A study recently published in Nature Astronomy shows the trigger for their mealtimes is probably even more complicated than we thought. An international research team has just observed a supermassive black hole entering a state of long-term growth in a manner that was entirely unexpected, both providing insight into how black holes can grow to large massive proportions, as well as underscoring just how little we understand what goes on at the center of galaxies throughout the universe....
Here are some of our favorite swinging chairs currently available. This hanging hammock chair has a 500-pound weight capacity and is crafted from a durable combination of canvas and polyester. It’s suspended from a carbon steel bar that’s outfitted with deep grooves that keep the ropes from sliding around. It comes with two beige cushions and is the right combination of stylish and neutral to match any environment. If you’re looking for a hammock chair that will fit right in with your indoor decor without being imposing, this hammock chair from Y-STOP is a fun, macramé style option....
It’s unsurprising to see Switzerland go to such lengths (so to speak) to celebrate locomotive innovations. The mountainous Swiss landscape has encouraged creative transportation solutions for generations, resulting in one of the most train-reliant nations in the world. On average, Swiss citizens travel about 2,450 kilometers by train annually—an estimated quarter of their total transit. According to CNN, “In 2021, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) operated 11,260 trains carrying 880,000 passengers and 185,000 tonnes of freight per day on a 3,265 kilometer-long network with 804 stations....
Modern cameras and smartphones make it really easy to get technically good photos—almost everything you shoot will be sharp, in-focus, and well-exposed. You no longer have to worry as much that autofocus will mess up, that you dialed the ISO in wrong, or that the photo will be a blurry mess for any number of reasons. And each photo you take is essentially free. At a speed of 10 photos per second in burst mode, an iPhone can go through the same 36 photos in an instant, and you can just keep spamming that shutter button as long as you want....
I look skeptical, and Chang Díaz smiles politely. He’s used to this reaction. He has been developing the concept of a plasma rocket since 1973, when he become a doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His idea was this: Rocket fuel is a heavy and inefficient propellant. So instead he imagined building a spaceship engine that uses nuclear reactors to heat plasma to two million degrees. Magnetic fields would eject the hot gas out of the back of the engine....
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But this week, Apple took a big step in bringing its Apple Watch Series 4 beyond the scope of a typical fitness or wellness trackers into the sphere of clinical medical devices. The new wearable will come equipped with an electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor in addition to the typical IR sensor. Electrodes placed in the device’s sapphire crystal back and the crown on its side will conduct an ECG test akin to a 1-lead portable ECG when you open the app and touch your finger to the crown....
It’s a feature that has the potential to help the general population: according to the National Institute on Aging, more than one-third of people over 65 tumble annually. If the wearable detects that someone has wiped out, it can call 911 if the person doesn’t respond. For users over 65, Apple automatically enables this feature. The Watch detects falls using a similar mechanism with which it tracks another complex form of motion—swimming....
A drone swarm is almost like a disaggregated airplane. By putting sensors and weapons on many separate little aircraft, each with their own wings and engines and directions, the military can still scout and attack from the sky, while having the built-in redundancy that comes from a multitude of drones. The exercise featured four swarms of up to seven drones each. Being able to guide that many drones with a single human operator is a major step towards making drone swarms viable as a tool of war....
Best papers: Blazy Susan High Roller KitBest grinder: Santa Cruz Shredder 3-Piece Herb GrinderBest vaporizer: Pax PlusBest rolling tray: Blazy Susan Hemp Plastic Rolling TrayBest splurge: Storz & Bickel Volcano HybridBest preroll case: CannaAroma Midnight Black Metal Joint HolderBest for on-the-go: The ClingerBest air purifier: LEVOIT Core 300 Air PurifierBest set: RAW Rolling Tray ComboBest pipe: Sackville & Co. Crystal Ball PipeBest water pipe: Marley Natural Water PipeBest lighter: BIC Classic Lighter 10-Pack...
Looking for the complete list of 100 winners? Check it out here. Grand Award Winner: A landmark electric pickup Rivian offers an array of add-ons that are especially handy for such adventuring. An optional three-person tent accessory enables camping on the go, and a slide-out Camp Kitchen stovetop fuels eat-what-you-catch fishing trips. And all that stuff neatly stows away in the R1T’s gear tunnel—a hollow just behind the cab—to avoid taking up precious bed space....
The used market for Harley-Davidson can be strange, confusing, and oftentimes downright nonsensical. One model might be popular for a few years, sending its market price close to or above that of a brand-new motorcycle, and then drop back down to where it came from. Bikes costing $30,000-plus as new models can lose more than half their value after just a few years, while the $15,000 new bikes might only lose a couple thousand in value....
Best overall: Lutron Serena Smart Wood BlindsBest solar-powered: MySmartRollerShadesBest roller shades: Lutron Serena Smart Roller ShadesBest conversion kit: Soma Smart Shades 2Best corded: Graywind Motorized ShadesBest budget: Yoolax Motorized Shades How we picked the best smart blinds As an experienced tech writer who has written for outlets such as Input and Ars Technica, I know how to spot the difference between a great buy and a waste of money. I’ve also handled and reviewed my fair share of smart tech products, such as 3D printers, smart hubs, and many video game consoles....
“Now that you have 150 million plus fully vaccinated, very rare events become more frequent,” says Alessandro Sette, an immunologist with the La Jolla Institute for Immunology’s center for infectious disease and vaccine research. Tens of thousands a week still represents only .02 percent of vaccinated Americans. “Clearly, the variants are related to potential breakthrough infections, but also the breakthrough infections would have happened anyway,” he says. And there’s another wrinkle to the data....
“Earlier today, due to the debris generated by the destructive Russian Anti-Satellite (ASAT) test, ISS astronauts and cosmonauts undertook emergency procedures for safety,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement on Monday. Because the ISS orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, it repeatedly passes through or near the debris cloud, with the shelter-in-place order in effect for the second and third passes near the debris. The destruction of Kosmos-1408, along with the creation of a debris field, showcased a kind of Earth-launched anti-satellite weapon....
Despite the heavy contamination in the surrounding forests, however, new evidence shows that many wildlife populations have increased significantly. The absence of humans for nearly 30 years has turned the disaster area into a sort of wildlife sanctuary. The damage incurred on the environment and its flora and fauna is still a matter of debate. Some studies found significant adverse effects to animal health and reproduction in the six months following the accident due to high dosages of radiation....
