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This story originally ran in the Fall 2021 Youth issue of PopSci. Read more PopSci+ stories.

If you’ve been meaning to scratch that travel itch, there are still ways to save money while exploring the world. Here are just a few hacks: Be flexible with your travel dates As nice as it is to travel when everyone else does, it’s not the cheapest option. Flights, accommodations, tours, and even food are typically at an inflated price point during high seasons or holidays, so you can’t expect to save money if you choose to fly during these times....

seti.berkeley.edu B. Shoot Particles **Stanford University Where: Palo Alto, Calif. Department: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center ** Every summer, undergrads join Nobel Prize–winning scientists here to send electrons down the longest linear accelerator in the world at close to 670 million mph, producing superpowerful x-rays. One of the latest projects uses the x-ray beam to create 3-D images of individual molecules. slac.stanford.edu C. Clone Life **Utah State University Where: Logan, Utah Department: Center for Integrated BioSystems ** In 2003, scientists at Utah State were the first in the world to clone a hybrid animal—a mule, the typically sterile offspring of a donkey and a horse....

“This is is the largest and most thorough investigation into the genetics of same-sex sexual behavior to date,” says study author Ben Neale, geneticist at the Broad Institute and associate professor in the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, in a press conference. The study notes the small role genetics plays—but also the complexity of the biological factors involved. “This study puts to rest the notion that there is a ‘gay gene,’ ” says Darren Whitfield, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh studying LGBTQ health, who was not involved in the research....

How good is the system? Good enough that the New York Jets signed an exclusive contract with the company that prohibits any other team in the AFC East from signing up to use it this year. The software passed an unexpected test when Brett Favre was traded to the Jets right before training camp and needed a crash course in the Jets offense. The team credited Huddle with getting the legend up to date....

For the first time, MIT scientists have engineered a way to watch and record those microscopic scales as they grow and tile themselves on a developing butterfly inside its chrysalis. The team raised painted lady butterflies, Vanessa cardui, waiting for the caterpillars to encase themselves in chrysalises. Once metamorphosis began, the team sliced into the cuticles of each chrysalis and covered the openings with glass coverslips, allowing them to view developing wings through that window....

Eleven seconds later, after waking up, the pilot began to recover by putting engines to idle, and pulling back on the control stick. It was the correct course of action, according to the Air Force, but that maneuver subjected the jet to more stress than it was structurally designed to withstand. It endured a phenomenon called “over G-pull.” The wings, tail, and fuselage were all seriously damaged by the incident, adding up to a cost of more than $2....

With news of serotonin prompting social swarms of locusts, here are some pictures of what these swarms look like. I at first thought, “hey, those are kind of pretty.” But in the last few images you do get a sense of why this would be a Biblical plague.Tomorrow, India is set to unveil a $10 laptop, although by “$10” they apparently mean “$20,” at least to start. I admit I’m skeptical....

While tinyCylon is a nice “stock” kit, I wanted to make my version, well, tinier. In order to shrink this kit down to size, I opted for replacing the LEDs and the battery pack. The result is a really tiny tinyCylon. Surface mount LEDs were selected as replacements for the kit’s T-1 LEDs. Any 0805 package SMD LED should work. Likewise, the all red 3mm LEDs were replaced with three different color SMD LEDs in this pattern: red – green – yellow – green – red....

This jacket is made for the slopes. It’s made with durable polyester, which means it’s windproof, waterproof, and built to last. The outer layer keeps water out by beading water and letting it roll-off. This also creates a windbreaker effect to protect you from those heavy gusts. It comes in 10 colors and has plenty of pockets, too. If you’re looking for a coat to cover more than just your torso, this full-length puffer coat is a great option....

First, vet Jim Carter made two incisions in the cornea to access the lens. Next he used a machine with a needle that vibrates at an ultrasonic frequency to break up and suck out the diseased tissue. But to operate on one of the largest land animals on Earth, Duchess’s nine-person team needed elephant-sized equipment. Carter ordered custom tools just for the procedure, including a six-inch-long speculum to hold open Duchess’s eyelids and a cataract-removal machine with a needle three times the length of a standard one....

As in the past several years, the White House also went ahead and posted the entire transcript of the prepared State of the Union address text online as the speech began, this time on the blogging platform Medium. I’ve gone ahead and highlighted the big science and tech topics included therein, along with some introductory annotations of my own. Read the full address here. You can watch the full speech below or on YouTube....

As we mentioned, the pricing for Luna operates a little differently than other streaming services. Rather than paying a single subscription fee, Luna splits up its library into a handful of channels, ranging from free with a Prime membership to $17.99 for Ubisoft+, which compiles the publisher‘s extended library. Just because you don’t need a console or dedicated gaming PC doesn’t mean there aren’t any requirements, as you do need a compatible device—these include a Windows or Mac PC, Android devices, iPhones, iPads, and Fire TV gear....

Details Purely from a hardware perspective, the new Kindle makes sense. It has a 167 pixels per inch resolution screen, which seems paltry compared to the 300ppi Paperwhite, but totally fine if you’re not directly comparing the two. The base model also now has Bluetooth for connecting wireless headphones and, for the first time, it’s self-illuminating with four LED front lights that shine on the screen. Storage is limited to 4 GB—there’s no option to upgrade—and it isn’t waterproof, so reading in the bath means taking extra care (or throwing it into a big sandwich baggie)....

Humans begin forming simple mental links in infancy: We learn to associate highchairs with mealtime, parents with comfort, and cribs with naps. Data streams at us from all directions—news reports, television shows, family chats, friendly gossip—and we absorb it all. But this unconscious practice of grouping different words and objects gets more complex as we grow up, and it gives rise to insidious racial biases. Because many of the world’s sources of stimuli, especially television news reports, present Black people as criminals or threatening characters, our brains naturally begin to make an all-too-common connection—Black people and danger go together....

Apple developed the HomePod Mini’s audio hardware in-house, which sounds surprisingly full for a pint-sized speaker. Its microphone is sensitive enough to hear voice commands as the speaker is playing music, and the HomePod Mini’s processor is fast enough to respond to your command quickly. Apple continually improves Siri so that the HomePod Mini will get smarter (read: more useful) over time. The HomePod Mini can be wirelessly connected to devices running iOS, macOS, Android, or Windows, but works best with Apple’s devices....

Fish populations in the world’s oceans, in contrast, are crashing and burning. More than 90 percent of the world’s fish species are fully exploited or depleted, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Of that, 29 percent are overfished at unsustainable levels; the other 61 percent are fully fished, meaning they’re considered sustainable as long as fishing doesn’t increase. Fish farming, or aquaculture, is one way to try and deal with this situation....

The mathematical data encoded on a CD, however, is a nearly exact representation of the original sound. Comparing an LP and a CD made from the same microphone signal, the LP’s groove must perfectly match the signal to sound close to CD-quality, which is almost impossible, says Stanley Lipshitz, who studies electro-acoustics and digital-signal processing in the Audio Research Group at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Even so, some audiophiles claim to hear a natural sound, vaguely described as “musical warmth,” when listening to vinyl....

The Kilauea Volcano has been erupting since 1983, but Saturday lava from its vent started flowing into the ocean. While Hawaii tourism officials expect many tourists to come see the live lava show, security workers are urging them to stay back. The lava forms new land in the ocean that is prone to collapse and could spray people as close as 100 yards away with hot water and molten chunks....