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This kind of phishing scam is extremely common, but the social distancing initiatives due to the pandemic have given scammers a reason to crank up their efforts. The FBI expects an uptick in just about every type of scheme you can imagine. According to the agency, risks are higher right now because so many people—adults and students—are working from home, a setup that places them outside any digital protections they enjoy when working in a school or an office....

Now, for the first time, they have clearly sensed the merging of neutron stars with black holes, wrapping up their three-item gravitational wave punch card and earning them one free glimpse into the afterlives of dead stars. “Today we’re announcing the discovery of a black hole merging with a neutron star,” wrote Daniel Williams, an astrophysicist at the University of Glasgow and member of the team behind the find, on Twitter....

“The present study…[reinforces] both how important the western Indian Ocean is in terms of shark and ray biodiversity, but also how much we still have left to find,” Simon Weigmann, a marine biologist at the Elasmobranch Research Laboratory in Hamburg, told Popular Science in an email. He and his colleagues reported their findings on the new sharks on March 18 in the journal PLoS ONE. Sawsharks are known for their long, flat snouts studded with teeth, which they use to slash their prey to ribbons....

Over the next few months, members of the non-profit, Florida Leatherbacks, Inc, watched as Isla the sea turtle visited the beach a few more time to lay new clutches of fragile eggs in the sand, before starting her late summer migration north along the East Coast. “We’re monitoring where she is right now, and it just happens to be in the middle of a hurricane,” Kelly Martin says. Isla is now off the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to the north of where Hurricane Florence made landfall late last week....

The researchers revealed their fascinating findings in a study published yesterday in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. The work isn’t purely helpful for understanding flatworm biology, it could also help with human medicine. By understanding similar changes in people, scientists could learn how to correct birth defects, or help the body regenerate after an injury, according to a press release. Electrical signals play a lot of important roles in the body, from carrying information from nerves to the brain to updating and rewriting the structure of the brain itself....

The researchers used an “Internet-based topographical self-reporting tool.” That basically means the study participants were asked to color in the parts of the body they would allow people (ranging from partners to strangers) to touch, and why. The data was then compiled to map the areas that are not allowed (the taboo zones) and the areas that are more acceptable to touching on the front and back of the human body....

Nyasasaurus parringtoni is a fairly small relative of the massive reptiles we’ve come to associate with the word dinosaurs. Measuring between 6 and 10 feet long, it walked semi-upright on two legs and weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 45 pounds to 130 pounds–a wide range, we know, but considering researchers are working with just one upper arm bone and six vertebrae, all of these figures are assumed to be very rough approximations....

Metasensor’s Sensor One, though, can do all of that, and actually a fair bit more. The company, which launched its IndieGoGo campaign today, wants to use its smart sensors to change the way we protect our belongings, and how we track objects in general. Sensor-1 is a small, octagonal disk that contains an accelerometer, a gyroscopic stabilizer, and a magnetometer, which work together to track the orientation of the device it’s attached to in three dimensions....

1. Canva You can use Canva for all kinds of design projects, and one of its greatest applications is putting together a fantastic-looking resume. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a graphic designer, this app gives you maximum visual impact for minimal effort. You’ll be amazed at what you can produce—we’d recommend trying out Canva before any other app on the list. Once you opt to create a new design, just say you’re looking to build a resume, and Canva will present a host of gorgeous templates....

In his book, Porn and Pong: How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, and Other Sexy Games Changed Our Culture , writer Damon Brown (Playboy, New York Post, PlanetOut) explores the ever-evolving relationship between video games and sex. From Custer’s Revenge in 1982 to the most recent incarnation of Grand Theft Auto, Brown takes us on a journey through America’s sexual awakening and growing technological savvy. In Brown’s eyes, it is no small coincidence that the increasing availability and acceptability of hard and soft core porn is mirroring the rise of sexualized imagery in video games....

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In the study, the researchers carefully controlled the sleeping habits of 14 young men and women. Over the course of four nights, six of the participants slept a normal amount, an average of about 7.5 hours, while the other eight participants only got an average of four hours of sleep. They were all given the same number of calories per day. The researchers asked the study subjects to assess their own hunger, mood, appetite, and alertness, which they checked against measurements of various compounds (such as cortisol, a hormone that helps the body wake up) taken from hourly blood samples....

While there have certainly been solar cells that have achieved a higher efficiency than the 22.5 percent SolarCity offers, the highest-efficiency solar cells, and the panels that incorporate them are not used in residential or commercial applications because they’re far too expensive. SolarCity acquired Silevo, another solar technology company, last year, and are using the solar cell architecture developed there. They continued to work on the solar cell to bring it to an efficiency of 22....

An explosion in June has kept the Falcon 9 rocket grounded for months, and now it seems we’ll have to wait at least one more day for the company’s return to flight. Instead of launching the Falcon 9 and 11 satellites into orbit on Sunday evening as planned, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk decided to delay since the chances of landing the rocket are slightly greater on Monday evening. SpaceX’s goal is to usher in an era of reusable rockets....

The office supply business is joining up with 3-D printing company Mcor Technologies to offer the disappointingly unfuturistic-sounding “Staples Easy 3D.” Customers will send Staples their design files and Staples will return full-color 3-D prints made by the 506dpi Mcor IRIS printer, for pick-up or delivery. At first, the option is only for customers in the Netherlands or Belgium in early 2013. The company says they’re planning to roll it out to other countries “quickly” after that, but it’s not clear how quickly or which countries are next in line for the technology....

The action takes place in RCW 36, a cloud of mostly hydrogen ions located 2,900 light-years away from Earth. A group of stars is emerging from super-hot gas there—and leaving a strange pair of voids in its wake. The formation is also pulled together by dense, cool gas, giving it an hourglass-like appearance. With data collected from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, APEX telescope, and the now-retired SOFIA and Herschel space instruments, a team of international researchers dove into RSW 36’s deserted regions....

The Affordable Care Act mandates that employers must provide coverage for birth control at no out-of-pocket cost. Houses of worship are exempt from this requirement. Religiously affiliated organizations such as universities and hospitals, and some for-profit companies, have had an accommodation that allows them to opt out of directly paying for birth control; if they give notice of their objection, their health insurer would cover the cost. But the new decision, in which Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, allows more employers to refuse to provide health insurance that covers the cost of contraception....

Most of the tests conducted on Tasers have been on the X26 model, the one that is most common among law enforcement agents; it can reach a suspect from 35 feet away. Some of the risks associated with Tasers have been well documented; the shocks can induce seizures, collapse lungs, cause skin burns or eye damage, and result in injuries to muscles, joints or tendons. Unsurprisingly, the biggest issues result from suspects’ uncontrolled falls, which can result in head injuries and death—Amnesty International says that Tasers have caused 490 deaths between 1990 and 2012, according to the Chicago Tribune....

You can listen right here in the player embedded above, subscribe via iTunes, add us on Stitcher, follow on Anchor, or check it out on Spotify. You can also join us on Twitter to talk smack or share your recipes for sweet chili chicken wings. Here’s a quick peek at what’s in this week’s episode. Techathlon Decathlon Don’t Stat Me: iPod Edition The iPod is one of the most influential gadgets of all time, and last week, Apple announced an update to the last remaining model, the iPod Touch....

That’s right, owners of Tesla Model S and Model X electric vehicles woke up today to cars suddenly empowered to drive themselves down the road. The company’s software update—Tesla Version 7.0, installed via WiFi—includes its new Autopilot technology, which imparts a degree of autonomy to the sleek, high-tech cars. Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the update via conference call yesterday, stressing that it was still in beta and that drivers will not be able to completely disengage themselves from the act of driving....