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Researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory added environmentally friendly solvents to an explosive called TATB, as part of a project supported by the Transformational Material Initiative Laboratory Research and Development initiative. The result was improved crystal quality and chemical purity of the explosive. According to Larry Fried, the project’s principle investigator, improved crystal quality and purity leads to safer explosive material, because the material is less likely to react violently to heat or impact....

Opportunities for the youngest future vets But she also emphasized the importance of participating in sports and club activities, as kids need social skills to work in the veterinary field. Veterinary science is more of a team endeavor than just standing in a room by yourself treating a cat’s broken paw. There’s collaboration in everything from research to rehabilitation, and veterinarians spend a large amount of time communicating with humans such as farmers or pet owners, Moyal says....

Now if you don’t mind playing in the comfort of your own home, the TruGolf Mini Golf Simulator offers a realistic experience, and you only have to pay once for unlimited rounds. For our Deals Day event, you can get it on sale for $189 until July 14th. Rated 5/5 stars by verified purchasers, the TruGolf Mini offers an innovative approach to learning the game of golf. This interactive swing studio analyzes and displays swing data after every shot, helping golfers understand the game better no matter their skill level....

PopSci editors will pick 10 inventions that best represent the spirit of homegrown ingenuity and solve real-world problems in a practical and innovative way. And we’ll show them to our seven million readers in our June 2009 issue. Here are a few guidelines: Click here to see last year’s winners.

We found some accessories and add-ons that will keep you from hunching over your computer like some kind of tech-obsessed Gollum. Kick back and pamper yourself a little while you work. The worst feeling in the world is getting all settled for lap top work only to realize you’ve forgotten a pen or your phone, necessitating you having to extricate yourself out from under your computer to get up and take care of it....

In a new study in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, a team of interdisciplinary Italian biologists, architects, and engineers characterized another path of destruction: invisible invaders in the form of bacteria and fungi. With a wide array of scientific instruments, they analyzed the microbiome of Carlo Bononi’s 17th century easel painting, “Coronation of the Virgin.” The resulting paper identified potentially troublesome populations of Staphylococcus, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, and Alternaria—and a probiotic strategy that could restore the painting’s health....

With that, I released the brake and sat back as our unassuming 3 Series sedan accelerated of its own volition down a short straightaway, whipped ably into a right-hander, and then moved wide to set itself up for a fast curve to the left. I was, as instructed, holding on ever-so-slightly, but that felt weirder than just watching the wheel turn on its own, as if I were sitting in the lap of a ghost driver—which is pretty much what I was doing....

Though Facebook and Instagram never directly sold guns to users, they each served as a medium for people to sell guns to each other in posts, as well as private groups, messages or pages, often without the need for a background check. In 2014, Facebook limited gun sales by preventing sales to minors. Now Facebook will update its policy of items prohibited for sale to include guns. According to The New York Times, that list also includes “marijuana, pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs....

Earlier today, the Oversight Board announced its findings from an appeals process regarding the previous removal of a Columbian political cartoon depicting police brutality. In a statement published online this morning, the board explained why Facebook should remove the artwork from Facebook’s AI-assisted Media Matching Service banks, a system that uses AI-scanning to identify and remove flagged images that violate the website’s content policies. They also argued why the entire current system is massively flawed....

Gerald Jackson, a former Fermilab physicist, thinks antimatter could propel us to the nearest star system in 10 years or less. For more than a decade, Jackson and his colleague, physicist Steven Howe, have been trying to get NASA and other investors to pay attention to their idea for an antimatter propulsion system. Now, Forbes reports, Jackson and his colleagues are appealing directly to the public. This month they plan to launch a $200,000 Kickstarter to get things going....

With so much of our time spent tapping away at a keyboard, a boost in typing speed can make you more productive in almost any line of work—whether it’s powering through your inbox, writing up reports, or staying in touch with team members on messaging apps, many us could make our days easier by typing a little faster. What’s more, you don’t have to enroll in a course to get your typing speed up a notch or two, because plenty of online apps are available for you to use right at your desk—you could even set aside 10 minutes each day and then see how far you’ve progressed at the end of the month....

Here’s how he got there: Santa has to deliver gifts to around 200 million children spread over 200 million square miles. Because each household has 2.67 children, there are about 75 million homes to visit and the average distance between homes is about 1.63 miles, Santa needs to cover 122 million miles. To cover that distance in 24 hours on Christmas, Mr. Claus’s sleigh would need to travel at a whopping average speed of 5,083,000 mph....

We love Audio-Technica headphones—like the studio-grade ATH-50xBT2—for DJ use and mixing music. Get a taste of that professional pedigree for less than $100 with the ATH-ANC700BT, which features 40mm drivers and noise-cancellation technology powered by a four-microphone multi-feedback system. This means you can listen to high-fidelity lofi hip-hop while you relax or enjoy a classic rock compilation on YouTube sans distraction during a focused study session. Bluetooth wireless connectivity, along with touch and swipe controls built into the earcup, means you can answer calls and control music without taking your phone out of your backpack....

What is the Goal Zero Yeti 1000 Core? Capable of charging via wall outlets or optional solar panels, the Goal Zero Yeti 1000 Core is a dynamic solar generator. It offers an admirable 983 watt-hour capacity in a comparatively lightweight 31.68-pound package. While it’s theoretically capable of stepping in for any mobile or emergency power need, I think its capacity and size make it a good fit for camping or road tripping....

The task force, which drew heavily on the existing aviation and retail industries, released their proposed rules for registering drones this weekend. While the task force won’t set the law, their recommendations will likely shape what drone law actually becomes. Officially titled the “Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Registration Task Force (RTF) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC)”, the group was assembled by the FAA last month to solve the problem of registering unmanned aircraft — an expansive definition for flying machines that may include everything from jet-sized Global Hawk drones to tiny paper airplanes with motors attached....

To replace the protein, food chemists need an edible molecule that forms strong, mesh-like structures that can trap water as a solid at high temperatures, and then release it back as a liquid as the bread cools. To put it another way, you need something that melts in reverse. Scientists at Dow approached the challenge by starting with plant cellulose, a long and stringy molecule. They then added molecular side groups along the backbone of cellulose to give it different properties....

If you don’t need the latest and the greatest, going the refurbished route may turn out to be your smartest decision. You’re still getting a perfectly functioning device in near-mint condition at a quarter of the price of newer models, and if there are any components that were replaced, you can rest assured that they’re all genuine Apple parts. You’ll be helping the environment, too, since you’re not purchasing a brand new unit....

Click here to see all of PopSci’s COVID-19 coverage. There are currently more than 150 different COVID-19 vaccines under development. Of these, more than 50 have reached human trials, three have been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA. These include two mRNA-based vaccines—one from the biotechnology company Moderna and the other from drug giant Pfizer—and one so-called viral vector vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. And, as of this week, one—Pfizer’s COVID vaccine, which is now officially called Comirnaty—has been granted full FDA approval....

My vision began to materialize when I first spotted the beat-up, creamed corn-colored electric roaster at a sprawling upcycle warehouse just over the Washington, D.C. line in Edmonton, Maryland. I was there, I thought, to find a discarded dresser that I’d paint, top with a reclaimed basin, and then plumb. Instead, I paid Community Forklift $99 for a vintage piece with some dents and a bit of rust, but also a chrome top that popped open on the first try....