Europa has been calling to astrobiologists for years. Although its surface is frigid and bombarded with radiation, inside it contains a vast liquid ocean that might be capable of supporting life. NASA is planning to launch an orbiter and lander to Europa in 2022, and during today’s meeting of NASA’s Outer Planets Assessment Group, scientists expressed interest in getting the European Space Agency (ESA) involved in the mission. Michel Blanc from the International Space Science Institute (he’s not affiliated with ESA) listed several ways that ESA could get involved, including building a lander or a mini-satellite....

A company called Red 6 has developed their own system that fuses those two training scenarios, by using augmented reality to visually simulate other aircraft on a fighter pilot’s visor while they are actually flying. The approach aims to fill a lacuna that the company’s CEO and co-founder, Daniel Robinson, says exists when carrying out training sorties in the sky. “A lot of the work we do as combat pilots takes place beyond visual range—i....

To reconfigure the service, which pulls data from wearables on your wrist into a tracking app on your phone, designers at Google consulted experts at the American Health Association and the World Health Organization. The changes aim to bring in-app goals into better alignment with peer-reviewed research on healthy behaviors—and make that data comprehensible to the average user. “Mobile technologies play, I think, a really critical role,” says Laurie Whitsel, vice president for policy at the American Heart Association....

1. Weight A sprinkle of excess baking powder can ruin your confections, but the American Weigh AMW-SC-2KG digital scale uses strain gauges to meter ingredients—or anything else you can fit on its 4-inch steel tray—down to 0.01 ounce. 2. Color Film, photos, and video games deserve accurate color. The Datacolor Spyder5PRO employs a light sensor called a colorimeter with seven built-in filters to detect changes in hue and brightness scarcely perceptible to your eye....

A team of researchers at the University of California, Davis, is programming “follower robots,” to react more accurately in their surroundings by first registering their human leader’s behavior. The goal is to use actions occurring in the present to approximate future actions and prepare for them. In this case, the action is movement—where the leader is going next—a characteristic the researchers say is essential for the successful incorporation of robots into the workforce....

The original Maverick launched in 1970 as a two-door coupe (and later, a four-door sedan) available in the US until 1977 when it was discontinued, and the name temporarily retired. The Maverick moniker bubbled back to the surface inside the Ford hive mind and burst back onto the scene as a cool new compact truck for model year 2022. Offered with either a 250-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter engine or a hybrid version with a 2....

Each wheel mounts on an arm that allows it to move independently, so the Tesseract can remain level as it crawls over uneven ground. And riders of any skill level can lean deep into turns, while the four contact points with the road provide reassuring stability. A locking brace keeps the bike balanced at stops. Sporting a hybrid gas-electric engine, the Tesseract is a glimpse into a future that is safer for riders and the environment....

When trusty ol’ streaming platforms start to feel a little stale, you don’t have to resort to binging Parks & Recreation for the fifth time (though it couldn’t hurt, honestly). If you’re stuck inside looking for things to watch, you might be surprised by how many free movies and shows are ripe for the picking on your TV. Whether you’re using your TV’s built-in smart features or a standalone set-top box like the Roku or Apple TV, you’ll find a huge selection of channels that have some free content, even well-known names like NBC, Fox, and Adult Swim....

Handheld outing Retro Game Challenge celebrates the mid-to-late ’80s, the so-called “8-bit” era, when primitive consoles like the NES and Sega Master System created millions of drooling vidiots. Based on quirky Japanese TV show “Retro Game Master,” this collection of bite-sized mini-games gleefully pokes fun at yesteryear’s electronic entertainment industry and its unique quirks. See a selection of faux arcade machines that includes head-stomping platform-hopper Robot Ninja Haggle Man and Galaga clone Cosmic Rift, made by “Tomato,” a spoof of Japanese developer Taito....

As Gen Z creates and inhabits entire digital worlds of its own, older groups may feel left out—or pushed out, if the tone set by some cultural commentators is to be taken seriously. Many of them contend that we are in the midst of a generational war, in which Gen Z dismisses Hogwarts-loving millennials as too self-obsessed to take action against the ice-cap-melting wrongs of their capitalist elders, who respond by scoffing at the snowflakery of modern youth....

Roku announced its first in-house TV at CES last week, but that won’t be available until this spring. This LCD UHD smart TV is perfect if you’re just looking for a reasonably-priced TV right now—and Roku’s operating system is one of the easiest to navigate, making it a great option if you’re just using it to stream Love Island (the UK version, duh) on Hulu or the new season of The Circle on Netflix....

Right now you can purchase a refurbished Apple iPad mini 4, 128GB and accessories for a 60 percent discount as a part of our Apple Day campaign, which is running from now through Oct. 21. Be sure to hurry, because these prices won’t be around forever! The iPad mini 4, 128GB comes with iOS 15 pre-installed and a 1.5GHz Apple A8 processor, equipping you with all the right tools to get things done....

Yesterday, Google announced a massive expansion of not only its predictive flood alerts, but wildfire warnings, as well. In an official blog post, Yossi Matias, Google’s VP of Engineering and Research and Crisis Response Lead, explains that Flood Hub‘s reach extends to 20 countries’ flood basins, now including 15 nations in Africa alongside three more in Asia and Latin America. Every Android user in the covered areas can receive the alerts, alongside anyone else who installs the Google search app on their smartphones....

Google Calendar has become indispensable to many of us, whether we use it on the web, on Android, or on iOS. A lot of that is due to the clean, intuitive user interface, but if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find some exceptionally useful features. Lucky for you, we’ve already found them. 1. Adapt to new time zones That might be the way you prefer it. But you can also have Google Calendar’s times adjust themselves as you move around the planet, so that 2 p....

To view it, you can open Google Maps on Android or iOS and click the “Layers” icon in the top right corner of the screen—the same button you would select to switch into satellite or street view mode. Now, you’ll be offered a new option to add air quality information onto your map. When selected, you’ll see numbers pop up across the map, telling you the Air Quality Index, or AQI, from readings in those regions....

But, Night Sight isn’t magic, so you can improve upon it, and not every smartphone has access to the tech. But, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with grainy, ugly-colored night photography. Here’s a look at Night Sight, as well as how you can improve upon it and even emulate it with a different device. What is Night Sight? Every time you take a picture with a modern, high-end smartphone, you’re actually taking several images....

Decentralization is a buzzword often heard in financial spaces, but did you know that the concept also applies to cybersecurity? There’s such a thing called decentralized VPN or DPN, and it works exactly how it sounds. DPNs offer the same benefits as VPNs, except that there’s no central point of control, and servers are distributed, ensuring tighter security. The Deeper Connect Pico Decentralized VPN and Cybersecurity Hardware + Wi-Fi Adapter offers this level of security, and for a limited time, you can grab it an extra 20 percent off with the code JULY20....

The first thing to know about building a green oasis on top of your home is that dirt is heavy, and it gets even heavier when wet. Before I did anything, I consulted an engineer to figure out the maximum load my roof could handle. Standard green roofs hold four inches of soil and weigh 15 to 20 pounds per square foot. The deeper the soil, the more options for planting, but four inches is plenty of depth to grow a wide range of flowers and herbs....

However, it looks like a hungry microorganism may be a natural foe to some viruses. In a study published in December 2022 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found that a virus-only diet is enough to fuel the growth of a species of Halteria. Halteria is a one-celled ciliate that lives in freshwater around the world and the team found that they can eat huge numbers of infectious chloroviruses at a time....

Pain Level 1 Sweat Bees: “Light and ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.” Little Wasp: “Sharp meets spice. A slender cactus spine brushed a buffalo wing before it poked your arm.” Indian Jumping Ant: “Ah, that wonderful wake-up feeling, like coffee but oh so bitter.” Pain Level 2 Western Honey Bee: “A flaming match head lands on your arm and is quenched first with lye and then sulfuric acid....