How could researchers test the vaccine in Guinea, one of the countries most affected by the outbreak, with very little scientific infrastructure to help them? Several researchers presented their experimental protocol at the meeting of the AAAS on Friday, and discussed how it could be used to test possible treatments during other outbreaks, such as Zika virus. Ebola spreads through families, neighborhoods and social circles, so the researchers decided to vaccinate people who had contact with those who had been infected....

The River Tweed meanders through the valley below, and on a cloudless day the lush, rolling peaks of the Scottish Borders mark the horizon in all directions. A waist-high stone wall runs along the field’s edge, penning in some 200 sheep, and a narrow two-lane road runs along one side. Stepien, a carpenter by trade, owns a small home remodeling business. But his passion is metal detecting. For the past nine years, regardless of the weather, he’s spent every Sunday he could walking fields and pastures in the countryside, searching for buried treasure....

Serge Haroche and David Wineland both developed ways to control and measure fragile, fleeting quantum states, which was thought to be impossible. Their work has enabled real-world studies, not just theoretical discussions, of the relationships between light and matter at the smallest possible scales, where the regular laws of physics break down. The very nature of quantum mechanics made their work seem impossible, yet here we are. To understand quantum uncertainty, start with Schrödinger’s cat....

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced the sale on February 23, at the end of 64 rounds of auction, for the area known as the New York Bight. It’s the largest US marine area ever offered in a single auction, at a staggering $4.37 billion. The lease’s giant price tag was splashed across the news, but the money, as much as it is, is only a small part of the story....

Disassemble a VCR and pull out its polished, drumlike head. Strip all wiring and gut the electronics. Harvest a mouse’s computer chip, oscillator (typically a two-pronged cylinder), and USB cable. Bend the mouse chip’s pins to fit into a two-millimeter-pitch veroboard. Solder surface mount capacitors between the chip’s power supply and ground pins. Drill two holes into a camera’s rear lens cap that align with screw threads on the VCR head’s lower half....

Android 13 put an end to that. The latest iteration of Google’s mobile operating system started rolling out last week (first on Pixel phones, as usual) and features a new option to set each app to whatever language you want. This means you’ll be able to keep your system language to English, for example, but use individual apps of your choice in Spanish, Mandarin, or any other language your phone knows....

With this much dialog going on, it makes sense to have the Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa sounding the way you’d like it to—with the voice and accent of your choosing. But if you use Windows’ Cortana, you’re out of luck, as Microsoft doesn’t offer alternative voices for its digital assistant at the moment. From the Google app for Android or iOS, tap your profile picture (top right), then choose Assistant settings, and Assistant voice....

Another day, another major data breach—and another article advising you to strengthen your passwords. These secret bits of information act as the keys to all of our important online accounts, from social networks to email inboxes to bank accounts. That’s why choosing strong passwords, and managing them well, is so important. It could be the difference between keeping your identity safe and landing your information in hackers’ hands. Your password is not the only security measure you need to think about, but it’s one of the most crucial....

Luckily their demands were heard, and Nintendo has now added Bluetooth capabilities to the Switch, which means you can finally connect a pair of wireless headphones. The new functionality is available on both the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch Lite, and any Bluetooth headphones or earbuds should work, so gamers on the go can play privately without the inconvenience of cables. To get the feature on your gadget, you’re going to need version 13....

Why am I SAD? Symptoms of seasonal affective disorder fall under the dark umbrella of depressive behaviors, but occur only in winter (or, less commonly, in summer) instead of year-round. You may struggle to get up in the morning, even after a long night of deep sleep. Over the course of the day, you may exhausted by routine things, and resist socialization. Your appetite may seem suddenly insatiable. Weight gain is common....

The reason behind these notches is the same: It frees up more screen space while still leaving real estate where the webcam and ambient light sensor can sit. It’s not something we’re used to seeing on laptop screens, but Apple is sticking with it even though some users. But if you own one of these new machines you may find it somewhat off-putting as you go about your normal day....

The holidays are officially over, and many of us are recovering from reconnecting with loved ones and take in some well-earned R&R. And while the vacation time could mean different things to people—catching up on competitive sports, consuming inordinate amounts of food, or finally confronting your racist uncle—one thing is almost ubiquitous: the looming sentiment of “oh no, I have to go to work again.” It’s easy to understand why we get a little bummed at the prospect of reverting back to everyday life—dealing with the debilitating effects of jet lag is enough to take a person out of a good mood....

First, banish the bloatware In Windows, click the Settings cog icon on the Start menu, then choose Apps and Apps & features. You’ll see all the applications on your system listed—select any one and hit Uninstall to remove it. Most programs can be erased this way, though some can’t be removed. With all that in mind, here’s how to keep your laptop software lightweight: get rid of pre-installed programs you don’t want, and then ensure your laptop doesn’t get cluttered up with unwanted software in the future....

The operating systems running our computers are constantly evolving. Software updates keep things working smoothly, and are important for adding new features, improving speed and performance, patching security holes, fixing bugs, and more. You should not neglect them, but you can control when they happen. Both Windows and macOS offer a variety of useful tools for making sure your laptop or desktop computer installs updates on your terms and in a way that best matches how you work....

Find the darkest spot available If you dwell in a big, bright city with a lot of lights, your chances of catching a worthwhile meteor image are going to be slim. You’re going to be dealing with long-exposures and wide-open apertures, which means any environmental light will creep into the frame and overpower the image. If possible, get out into the country where streetlights and neon signs are few and far between....

Here’s an experiment I’d like you to try over the next day or two. Check out a weather forecast on the Internet. Zero in on anything it says about the wind. How strong is it, what direction is it coming from? Then step outside. I guarantee that the wind you feel will be totally different to the one that was forecast. But why? The wind that is forecast belongs to a different weather world to the one we live in....

Moose aren’t as docile as they may seem The long, spindly legs, droopy nose, and furry bell (that’s the dangly bit that hangs from the underside of the animal’s chin), give moose the appearance of something not only entirely harmless, but a little goofy, too. Throw in pop culture references like Rocky and Bullwinkle, and the general perception is that moose are just big, lumbering herbivores that wouldn’t hurt a fly....

I love Summer, with its long days and electric energy, but I despise training in the heat. And as temperatures warm due to climate change, that’s becoming harder to avoid. So I reached out to experts to ask how to keep up a training schedule while staying safe—and when it’s healthier to skip workouts altogether. How heat changes workouts Bodies are inefficient machines. During exercise, they break down the sugar we feed them, harvesting the energy that holds each molecule together....

Knowing this abundance of choice means certain titles can fall between the cracks, companies have created many digital tools to help you keep track of it all. Most of these are platform-specific, though some will help you manage everything you want to watch across multiple platforms. Google’s improved watchlist tool is one of the latter. You may not have noticed it among the company’s bigger apps and services—it lives in the shadow of Gmail and Android—but Google Watchlist will log all the films you’re keen to see....

The new antimicrobial hydrogel, made of 90 percent water, gloops together spontaneously when warmed to body temperature. It can bust through biofilms and kill a whole host of bacterial types, from small bugs like E. coli to large bugs like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The hydrogel is comprised of specially designed polymers, which are biodegradable and positively charged. When mixed with water and warmed up, the polymers self-assemble into chains, and the result is a thick gel....