What she witnessed four days later, once the cells had a chance to make themselves at home, was astonishing. “We could see these little areas that were beginning to beat,” says Taylor, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Cardiovascular Repair. “By eight days, we could see the whole heart beating. The first time that happened, it was like ‘yes!’ “ The experiment, which was reported this year in the journal Nature Medicine, marked a watershed moment: the first time scientists had created a functioning heart in the lab from biological tissue....

The stem cells are specially designed to treat brittle bone disease, which is incurable and affects up to 50,000 people in the U.S. alone. People with brittle bone disease have several genetic mutations that prevent the body from making collagen, which it needs for bones to grow strong. Babies born with the disease are often born with several broken bones, which can affect many of the body’s other functions. Though many with milder forms of the disease survive, almost all babies with the severe form die shortly after birth due to respiratory problems....

There are overlapping causes of the decline, from habitat loss to electric light. Agricultural chemicals are almost certainly key, like the neonicotinoid pesticides involved in the catastrophic collapse of monarch populations. But it’s not just pesticides: new research implicates glyphosate, one of the world’s most common herbicides, as part of the problem, though in an unexpected way. In the well-studied sawtooth grain beetle, high doses of glyphosate, better known by its US brand name, RoundUp, disrupts a crucial relationship with symbiotic bacteria, weakening the beetles’ exoskeletons....

Hangouts organizers still need a Google account. But once they launch their Hangout, they can invite “external guests” (that’s the term Google is using for anyone without a Google account) to join the conference via Google Calendar. The guest(s) will click on a link in the invitation, enter their name when prompted and can start chatting without creating accounts on Gmail or the newly-renovated Google+. External guests can join on any web or mobile platform, and have to be approved (and can be kicked out at any time) by the organizer....

That feels ready to change, however, as Google is reportedly testing a new $8 monthly subscription service that will automatically select, print, and ship you the best photos you took during that time period as determined by its AI. Trying to choose your best images is nothing new for the company. Google Photos regularly analyzes, groups, and resurfaces photos for users to view in the app. Its smart displays like the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max curate collections of your recent images to appear as a screensaver on their displays....

Abuse and threats go hand-in-hand with being a forest or park ranger in 2019, according to a new report recently released by the Government Accounting Office. Rangers for the Forest Service, National Park Service and other land management agencies catch the brunt of everything from hostile language to threats with weapons to domestic terrorism, says the report, breathlessly titled Federal Land Management Agencies, Additional Actions Needed to Address Facility Security Assessment Requirements....

In places that have long-­established traditions of navigation by environmental cues, GPS can represent yet another onslaught against cultural identity. I watched the filmmaker and Hōkūleʻa crew member Nāʻālehu Anthony hold up his smartphone in front of an audience and tell them, “The compass and the sextant and the GPS. This device can co-­opt 3,000 years of knowledge by pressing a button and looking for the pathway.” When the anthropologist Claudio Aporta began studying Inuit wayfinding in the Canadian Arctic, he wondered whether GPS was just another technology that communities in the Arctic would adapt to and thrive with, like snowmobiles or shotguns, or would it erode something intrinsic and crucial about Inuit culture itself?...

From Ars Technica: The health hazards of power outages in winter are well documented. In a study on ice storm impacts over time, David A. Call of Ball State University wrote “Power outages also cause secondary effects, such as carbon monoxide poisoning and fire, and they can force people to leave their homes because of a lack of heat.” The power outage in Ivano-Franivsk was fortunately only a few hours long, but it’s distressing that a hostile attack could even shut off the power at all....

For instance, if you’re looking for a pair of Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700, you can get the white Soapstone colorway for just $229. That’s a considerable cut down from $399 retail price. That’s also considerably cheaper than the also-discounted black version, which still costs $299. The Bose 700 series offers some of the strongest noise canceling you’ll find on the consumer market. Short of throwing on a pair of earmuffs meant for lumberjacks running massive chainsaws, they’re the best way to drown out noise on a plane or in your office....

It’s not clear whether this kind of information, which individuals must pay careful attention to but isn’t needed in the future, enters the working memory. Researchers at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China wanted to see if it does. Through multiple experiments, the researchers discovered that human brains may have mechanisms that block this kind of information from staying. In fact, their research published on November 19 in Science Advances found that people are more likely to remember information they deliberately ignored than the kind of information they pay attention to once and don’t expect to need in the future....

Scientists from Switzerland, India, the Netherlands, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom, collaborated on this report to gauge the extent that human-induced climate change has changed both the likelihood and intensity of the low soil moisture, both at the surface and the root zones for most crops. According to the study, this summer’s heatwaves and lack of rain led to very dry soils, particularly in central European countries like France and Germany, as well as mainland China....

By re-creating snowflakes in a lab, Libbrecht and other scientists found that the keys to getting one shape instead of another are temperature and humidity. Snow crystals form when the humidity is so high that the air can no longer hold water. Then vapor condenses into droplets, which begin to freeze. Higher humidity lets the crystals take on more complex shapes—when the air is drier, snowflakes grow more slowly and take on simpler forms....

When FBI agents arrived at the tiny house after Kaczynski’s arrest, they discovered a live bomb, packaged and ready to be mailed, under the bed. Kaczynski built his bombs so that they couldn’t be linked back to him, and thus far the FBI had gleaned only a few clues from debris fragments. Normally, a bomb disposal squad could simply remove the device and explode it harmlessly, but the FBI needed this bomb intact for forensic evidence....

Scientists compared the Ichthyornisin skull to those of dozens of living birds. They found that this close relative of today’s birds nonetheless had a brain whose shape was distinctly different. The findings indicate that the expanded forebrains found among living birds helped them adapt to a rapidly changing world, the researchers reported on July 30 in Science Advances. “A unique brain shape, specifically a really large cerebral hemisphere, was a major factor in why living birds were able to survive when no other dinosaurs could,” says Christopher Torres, a paleontologist at Ohio University in Athens and coauthor of the findings....

Since 2008, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has been working with ship-design company Navatek to develop an entirely new kind of beach stormer called the Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connector (UHAC). The vehicle is unique for two reasons. First, it’s massive. UHAC should be able to haul three U.S. Abrams main battle tanks at a time, compared to just one on an LCAC. Second, it’s light. Air-filled foam treads give the fully loaded vehicle a ground pressure of just a few pounds per square inch—lighter than an adult human’s footstep....

In “The Consequences of Drone Proliferation: Separating Fact from Fiction,” published online this week, the authors speak to fears, both real and imagined, about more and more countries incorporating armed drones into their military arsenals. While the United States is the best-known user of armed drones, it’s hardly the only country, with Israel, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom having all used them in combat. The paper makes this key points: right now, drones are mostly changing the calculus for counter-insurgency and domestic warfare, but in the future, drones might change wars fought by nations against other nations....

However, you might have more digital links with people than you think. Contact connections appear in everything—from streaming music services to fitness tracking apps. So if you really want to cut someone off, they need to be gone from everywhere. We can’t cover every single platform on this list, so do a quick audit of whatever you have on your phone to see if there are any other apps that you might need to do some contact tidying on....

Get the timing right Most hotels will reward you for booking as early as possible: That’s when they offer the cheapest prices, and sometimes, they throw in sweeteners like free drinks or an extra night. So, once you know where and when you plan to travel, start looking at prices as soon as you can, while they’re at their lowest. On the flip side, you can also find good deals by booking very late, as hotels try to fill up their rooms at the last minute....

Get A Backup Drive With technology that auto manufacturers are now developing, electric cars can act as backup power sources during a blackout. A fully charged vehicle might power a home for a day or two. Install Smart Meters Forty million houses now have smart meters, digital devices that can provide homeowners with detailed information about their energy use. Over time that’s led to a 5 percent reduction in consumption....