The word processor on your computer doesn’t pretend to be a physical piece of paper, insisting that you draw words instead of typing. The contacts app on your computer doesn’t force you to turn virtual pages or limits the number of entries that begin with a particular letter. Why, then, are stock calculator apps insisting on being an on-screen recreation of an electronic device from the 60s, with all of the same limitations?...
Destructive testing can also help scientists figure out how to enhance a given material’s properties, as with composites for aircraft wings or polymers used in electronics. Across the U.S., dozens of labs concoct elaborate and sometimes genuinely perilous tests in the name of safety and knowledge. PopSci spoke with materials scientists, CEOs, and researchers to find four of the most extreme labs in the nation. Click here to enter the gallery
After a few years of use, even the best machines just don’t run as smoothly or quickly as they used to. Luckily, a few tweaks under the hood can rev up the performance of your MacBook, iMac, or Mac Mini. (Not an Apple aficionado? Check out Popular Science’s guide to improving the performance of Windows machines.) These adjustments won’t be immediately obvious, but they can give macOS a new spring in its step....
How RSS works If you open up an RSS feed in your browser it’ll largely look like nonsensical gobbledygook—that’s where RSS apps come in. They translate feeds into something comprehensible, and usually feature a bare-bones version of a story that includes a headline, the main image, and the first paragraph or two of the article. Depending on how the feed is built, sometimes you’ll be able to read entire articles inside your RSS app, while other times you’ll need to go back to the site to finish it....
If you’re not at the end of your shopping list yet, or if you haven’t even started (gasp), not all is not lost. These buying guides and gift suggestions guides will help you navigate the end-of-year festivities like a pro, and make your holidays a whole lot happier. To understand exactly what’s going on and up your chances of winning the battle for holiday presents, try these six tips on how to beat the supply chain crisis....
Today, you can save 41 percent on a Eufy SpaceView baby monitor. The device, from Anker’s home brand, comes with a panning, lens camera that can view 330-degrees across and 110-degrees up and down. The camera comes with a wide-angle lens attachment and a microphone for two-way audio. It also alerts you when your baby starts crying. Watch the footage—it’s got both daytime and night-vision—on a five-inch monitor in 720 resolution....
Interesting stuff. And some of these are perfect for conspiracy theorists: “Unilever makes Ben & Jerry’s AND Slim-Fast?!” [Grant Stewart via visual.ly]
Every smartphone comes with a built-in keyboard. But sometimes that’s just not enough. Maybe yours is so uncomfortable you’ve made your peace with writing only two-letter words, acronyms, or worse—sending voice notes. Luckily, whether you have an iPhone or an Android, you can easily download a third-party keyboard to adjust to your needs. Just search the App Store or Google Play, and you’ll find plenty to choose from. Some let you add themes, use different fonts, or even play games....
It’s totally possible Curry and co. were just goofing off, but it sure doesn’t sound like he and the others were tongue-in-cheek. And if he was joking, the flames are already stoked—more people are bound to come out of the woodwork and say that they, too, believe the moon landings were faked. Anyone who’s ever spent time on the internet should know that these gentlemen are far from alone in questioning the veracity of human spaceflight....
In the study, the researchers took samples of the cervicovaginal mucus (where many of the bacteria live) from 31 women, then tracked the movement of HIV pathogens. The researchers found that the microbiota with higher concentrations of one type of bacteria called Lactobacillus crispatus were better at trapping HIV so that it didn’t infect the body. Researchers have known for a long time that various strains of Lactobacillus bacteria dominate most vaginal microbiota, but to their surprise, the species made a big difference; microbiota dominated by Lactobacillus iners were more likely to let pathogens sneak through....
Sam is a 33-year-old who’s been building jewelry since high school and set up business as New York Wedding Ring here in the city a few years ago to teach people how to create their own engagement rings and wedding bands. Since I had wanted to keep this a surprise, I didn’t ask Lisa much about what she had in mind, but I knew she liked antique and estate rings, so I searched for images of Art-Deco-era designs....
Finland has developed radar satellites in the past, but Foresail-1 will be the first to collect data for science. Developed by the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space, the nanosatellite, which weighs about nine pounds and resembles a metal milk carton, will seek new details about the radiation environment in Earth’s atmosphere. This unique area padding the planet is where different space radiation fields coexist. Exposure to these rays have been known to put astronauts at risk for radiation sickness, increased risk of cancer, and degenerative diseases....
The final nail doesn’t seem to be in the coffin yet for hydroxychloroquine, but more evidence now suggests that the anti-malarial drug isn’t going to help the fight against COVID-19. A double-blind placebo study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that hydroxychloroquine didn’t prevent disease in people with known exposures to coronavirus patients any better than did a placebo. Researchers from Minnesota and Canada recruited 821 people who had been exposed to a person with confirmed COVID-19 for more than 10 minutes and at less than six feet away, either while wearing no protective equipment or while only wearing a face mask....
This year, Megan Thee Stallion could be dominating two of those pillars by debuting a new music video for her song “Flamin’ Hottie” on the surface of a Dorito using augmented reality (AR) from Snapchat lenses, according to Fast Company. In the music video, which will also be viewable on a Cheeto, Megan Thee Stallion samples from Salt-N-Pepa’s iconic “Push It,” to create an ode to the spicy snacks, featuring lines like “I’m all that and a bag of Flamin’ Hot chips,” according to Rolling Stone....
A lower utility bill at the end of the month can be great. But reducing energy consumption isn’t just good for our wallets; it can also help us reach various state and federal emissions reduction goals. According to the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, personal lifestyle and behavioral changes “can result in a 40-70 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.” However, taking necessary steps to trim our home-related emissions and utility bills substantially is out of reach for many of America’s renters, who account for 36 percent of American households....
The platform, called Global Xplorer, will train users how to recognize potential archeological sites and looting pits and allow them to tag satellite pictures with descriptions. If an image has been tagged enough times, experts will evaluate it to confirm whether or not anything is there. Parcak has discovered 1,000 lost tombs and 17 potential Egyptian pyramids, according to TED. But she believes that millions of ancient sites remain undiscovered, leaving them especially vulnerable to looters, who often ravage sites before archaeologists can get to them....
Luckily, the social media platform didn’t see any noticeable disruptions. But according to an internal memo obtained by CNN on September 12, if another data center had gone out at the same time, then many Twitter users would’ve experienced service blackouts. During this period, many companies turned off their high-power computers to prevent heat damage, according to New Scientist. To keep services running, some facilities operators have resorted to manually hosing down equipment to cool it down, Bloomberg explained....
For those looking to stay ahead of the curve in a swiftly evolving industry, The 2022 Complete Renewable Energy Engineer Preparation Bundle is a detailed educational guide. Primed to prepare you for future professional endeavors, this 12-course package typically costs $2,400 but is currently available at a surprisingly low price. For a limited time, you can gain instant and lifetime access to these courses for only $39.99, creating remarkable value for a bundle rated 4....
This vast region in Canada’s north known as Inuit Nunangat is made up of land, sea ice, and open water. Its residents get around using semi-permanent pathways carved out of the ice and snow. Given how dependent this region is on its wintry conditions, warming is an obvious problem, but its actual impacts on the Inuit are poorly understood. Rather than starting out with climate studies, the coalition of researchers from the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada behind the new paper first asked nine communities in the region how their trail use had changed over the past 30 years....
All you need to get some apparent weightlessness going is to go into a state of free fall. For example, when you get in an elevator on the 15th floor and push the button for the lobby, you feel lighter during the few moments when the elevator is accelerating downward. Now, if you were to take this to the extreme and get in and have someone cut the cable, then both you and the elevator would accelerate downward at the same rate of 1 G....
