These most likely aren’t aliens’ attempts to contact us. Astronomers call them fast radio bursts (FRBs), and they’re some of today’s most vexing space mysteries. We’re starting to get a picture of where they might come from, but we’re not certain what exactly causes them. Astronomers are working on that. Researchers from Nanjing University and Hong Kong University have modelled what might be shaping one of them, in a paper published in Nature Communications on September 21, studying the rapidly repeating burst named FRB 20201124A....

One story highlighted a flaw in a major operating system’s software: In 2020, Dutch researcher Thijs Alkemade found a vulnerability that broke every layer of security in macOS. It’s since been patched, but older applications running on macOS may still be vulnerable. This research is particularly interesting considering Apple’s recent release of a security update to fix a flaw that could allow hackers to take complete control of devices. Alkemade’s discovery was a vulnerability in macOS’s “saved state” feature....

Viral infections such as human papillomavirus (HPV), herpes (both oral and genital), and HIV are a little more complicated because there’s currently no cure for any of them. In the case of HPV and herpes, most patients are asymptomatic, and those who show symptoms may develop lesions that heal with treatment, and warts that are easily removable with cryotherapy. But the more empowered you feel to take the reins of your sexual health, the safer you and your partners will be....

Russia’s war on Ukraine has brought renewed attention to tactical nuclear weapons, with the White House announcing on March 24 that it had a team of experts briefing NATO on contingency plans in case any such weapon is used. As a defensive alliance, NATO has formally stayed out of the war, though many member countries have sent military supplies to Ukraine, from tiny Luxembourg to the United States. According to a March 23 New York Times report, this contingency planning included options for what might happen if Russia used a “small” tactical nuclear bomb....

Let me back up a bit. A paper entitled “Acoustic Microcannons: Toward Advanced Microballistics,” published late last month in the journal ACSNano, details the creation of tiny powerful cannons that could some day deliver targeted dosages of medicine into tissues in the body. The cannon’s barrel itself is 5 micrometers long. To make it, researchers first punctured a membrane (such as pores on skin), and then spraycoated the holes with graphene before adding a coating of gold to further reinforce the tiny boomstick....

This is a first, with a few caveats. Wing has both operated in the US—it tested its service in both Virginia and the same Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs—and operated a commercial service in Australia and Finland. Still, this is the first time that regular US consumers will be able to order an item via drone delivery with a tap in an app. Wing will offer products from a limited number of stores to start....

There are a few standards that should be part of any chemistry magic show. Lighting soap bubbles filled with hydrogen gas, magnesium burning in a block of dry ice, and of course dumping liquid nitrogen into a bucket of hot soapy water. But every professors adds his or her own special touches, maybe it’s juggling flaming tennis balls, or using a Pringles can filled with hydrogen to scare the living daylights out of the audience....

Some hacks are obvious. Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal exposed at least some information about tens of millions of people. But others fly under the radar. It’s almost impossible to stay up to date on every hack, breach, and leak that happens on a regular basis, but this running list will help you start keeping tabs on who might have your data, what passwords you may want to change, and why you should probably step up your efforts to prioritize security on the web....

The premise behind SharkGuard is relatively simple, but extremely effective: the device is essentially a small, localized electric pulse emitter attached alongside longline lure bait. As fishers draw their many lines through the ocean waters, the invention shoots out an electric field that discourages sharks, rays, and similar predators who hunt primarily through electroreceptors located in their snouts, known as ampullae of Lorenzini. While unpleasant to the sharks, the charges don’t seem to bother tuna much at all....

The Genteele bath mat will feel cozy on your feet when you step out of the shower. It’s made from memory foam covered with a machine-washable microfiber fabric that comes in more than a dozen color options from navy and eggplant to peach and beige. Choose between five sizes, including a long one that’s 60 by 17 inches. This Gorilla Grip mat is made from 100 percent chenille, a velvety yarn....

While air beds can happily do double duty as both guest beds and camping gear, it’s probably worth thinking about how your air bed is going to be used before settling on one. If you’re the sort of camper that packs a car and has a tent that you can stand full height in, it’s less of an issue, but some of the bigger beds are way too heavy to throw in a backpack and fit in a small tent if you’re heading off to a festival on foot....

Scientists at the University of Minnesota attributed around 4,300 premature American deaths annually to air pollution resulting from corn production. To do so, they modeled the emission impacts of producing corn and compared them to local pollution-related deaths—and they found a striking relationship. “You think air quality and you think coal plants, and you think dirty diesel trucks,” says Jason Hill, an engineering professor at the University of Minnesota and the study’s lead author....

On Prime Day, the 4th generation Echo is down to just $59 from its regular $99 price. The plucky little Echo Dot is just $25. Once connected to your home network, both models can sync up to create a network of devices that will bathe your entire house in music. Just a few years ago, this kind of functionality required people to buy expensive and complex systems like Sonos in order to get the Slayer playing in the kitchen to sync up perfectly with the same song playing in the rest of the house....

These binoculars are on sale for $55.15—a massive price cut from their $92.95 regular price. They are covered in a Realtree AP camouflage non-slip rubber outer to absorb shock from falls and give you a nice grip when birdwatching. Folddown eyecups provide viewing comfort for those with glasses, and BK-7 prism multi-coated optics allow for crisp viewing. And, you’ll be able to see the smallest squirrel or faraway buck with its 10x magnification and 50mm objective lens....

Critics are concerned that purchases like that of Cloostermans may eventually push human workers out of jobs, and there are certainly statistics to back their worries. A 2020 analysis by Oxford Economics estimates that as many as 20 million workers could be displaced by automation by the end of the decade, while another report warns that women will bear the brunt of the job losses.

We don’t quite know everything about the project just yet, but it will begin in mid-May when both companies plan to help public health organizations release apps that would keep track of everyone that users come into contact with over the course of a day. Then, if someone with whom you’ve been in close proximity gets a positive diagnosis, the app can alert you to take appropriate action. The necessary technology has likely been in your phone for most of a decade....

But there’s no such thing as enough battery life. We want to go back to the days of feature phones when you had to charge your device about as often as you got a haircut. Battery cases can help, and now, Apple has released its own power-packed cases for the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR. The $129 cases add a bulge to the back of your device, and in classic Apple style, the company hasn’t released exactly how much extra juice the $129 cases actually hold....

But users should be skeptical of where their data may end up, says Michael Ostrolenk, the director of the Liberty Coalition, an organization focused on citizen rights and government transparency, and has done extensive work with health care policy. Ostrolenk is a big fan of health trackers and the “quantified self” movement, he says, but he worries about how this extensive, personal data might be used in a non-clinical setting....

Next, buddy up with the engineers working to terraform the Martian hillsides. It’s their job to turn all that red dust into Earth-like soil that can support robust vegetation and seed the atmosphere to rain and form lakes and oceans. Figure out where future beachfront property will be, buy it, and auction off lots to the highest bidder. Of course, this prosperous career path has its risks. You’ll be outdoors a lot, and Mars’s atmosphere is pretty thin, so cosmic radiation could fry your DNA....

As the globe went ga-ga for Obama on the eve of his inauguration, builders and pundits at the recent transportation conference in Washington were angling for a piece of the green stuff Obama’s pledged – and some eco street-cred, too. Making rock-and-tar-like mixes like asphalt gobbles up energy and spews out C02 and other noxious fumes from plant smokestacks. And that’s before the rocks and stinky, steamy stuff are trucked from distant quarries and plants to highway- and bridge-building sites....