Granted, I made that last part up, but the fact that I invented it doesn’t make it less of a truth. Using a dirty camera lens is like looking at the world through a dirty window, and even a few tiny specks of dirt or rain will affect the photo you’re taking. Just look at the image below—it’s a great shot except for the blurry bit right in the middle caused by a water droplet on my lens....
Let’s start with the gross stuff: up to ten grams of poop can wash off a little kid’s butt in a pool. Ten grams is a pretty small amount, but multiply that by the number of children in your average public pool over the course of a hot summer day. Think about how much poop that is. And now think about the last time you got an infection from swimming in a pool....
Cutting back on air pollution improves the local population’s health, which reduces the cost of healthcare. At the same time, energy companies are free to pollute the atmosphere with carbon with no penalty—an unaccounted-for cost. If we included those missing benefits and costs, investing in renewables suddenly looks a lot more appealing, according to a new analysis published Tuesday in Environmental Research Letters. And where you build those renewables can substantially affect the magnitude of the benefits....
But if you’re going to do it, you should do it right. Here’s how: Choose your tool: Smartphone or DSLR? A few years ago, this was an easy question to answer: DSLR all day. Yes, you’ll still get better photos if you know how to use a dedicated camera (whether that’s a DSLR or mirrorless one), but you’re more likely to mess things up if you don’t. Anyway, smartphone cameras are so good now that they’re the most sensible option for almost everyone....
So how much sleep do adolescents really need and how can parents help them achieve it? The first thing to understand is that teenagers are still growing and their brains are still developing—so they need more sleep than adults. They also have different sleep-wake rhythms and release melatonin (a natural hormone to prepare for sleep) later, which means evening sleepiness takes longer to occur and they have a tendency to go to bed later and to sleep later in the morning....
Samsung’s new folding phone has been rumored since last year. We’ve seen other companies with prototypes and last fall the Samsung dropped some cryptic details about its upcoming device. Today, however, the Galaxy Fold became official and it’s pretty much exactly as absurd—at least when compared to the rest of the smartphones on the market—as everyone expected. The big draw, of course, is the folding screen. When closed, the Fold looks like two smartphones stacked on top of each other....
Everyone should spend a week paddling in a canoe—if not every year, at least once in their life. There’s no better way to get to know someone than being stuck in the same boat for days on end, and it’s been the boat of choice for hunters and anglers for centuries. There are paddling routes all across the world, and many in your backyard. Some will challenge you as a paddler, while others can help you and your family relax....
Kindle Paperwhite, $99.99 (Was $139.99) The Kindle Paperwhite is the best e-reader for most people, and it’s currently down to its lowest price ever. The Paperwhite’s 6.8 300 PPI (pixel per inch) e-ink display makes text look incredibly clear, and it won’t show a glare in the sun like the LCD screen on an iPhone or iPad. The e-reader’s battery can last “weeks” per charge assuming you use it for 30 minutes a day and use its backlights judiciously....
Here are some of the best bodyboards currently on the market. The Morey Mach is the flagship bodyboard from the company of the synonymous surfer who’s credited with inventing the bodyboard back in 1971. Made from high density polypropylene for a blend of buoyancy and stability, it comes in a classic two-tone finish for maximum style and high visibility, and it supports riders weighing up to 180 pounds. At 43 inches long and 23 inches wide, this is a sturdy and timeless design that offers up the bodyboarding experience the way it was intended to be....
Best overall: Singsation Karaoke Machine The all-in-one Singsation Karaoke machine includes one microphone, a 10-foot cord, and an adjustable mic stand with a smartphone holder on top to place your phone. Controls on the base of the stand allow you to choose from 25 LED lighting modes, 10 sound effects, and 60 voice modifiers like reverb or a helium effect. Connect your tablet or smartphone via Bluetooth to play the media....
Best overall: Polk Reserve R500Best smart speaker: B&W ZeppelinBest for home: Bluesound PULSE SOUNDBAR+Best wireless: KEF LS50 Wireless IIBest budget bookshelf: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2Best budget floorstanding: Fluance Ai81 Elite Powered 2-Way Floorstanding Tower Speakers How we chose the best stereo speakers To select the best stereo speakers from hundreds of choices, we narrowed our focus to specific applications, focusing on listening to music in indoor spaces, with the caveat that many listeners enjoy music and movies on the same media system....
There are a couple of things you’ll want to consider to make sure you order the best winter hat for you. So we’ve created this little guide to help you answer all the important questions before you hit “add to cart.” Here’s to staying warm—and looking good—all season long. Best overall: Canada Goose Aviator Hat Best beanie: Patagonia Wool Pom BeanieBest beanie runner-up: North Face Shinsky BeanieBest wide-brim: Lack of Color RancherBest beret: Laulhere Heritage Tradition French BeretBest for exercise: Smartwool Merino Sport BeanieBest for kids: ViGrace Winter Hat SetBest budget: Carhartt Acrylic Beanie...
The appeal of the Corvette in general is that it brings what was once only available in supercars to the larger middle-class masses. The C8-generation Corvette launched in 2020 is the first widely-available mid-engine supercar to carry the Corvette name, and its starting price of $60,900 is within reach of many buyers. But the recent announcement raises a question that many might have: What’s the difference between a vehicle that’s electric, and one that’s electrified?...
Down Decor, based in Ohio, provides the fill for the Brooks-Range Mojave, one of the first jackets to feature the treated feathers. Down Decor mists the down with a layer of perfluoroalkyl acrylate, a hydrophobic polymer that forces water to bead up. The company says its insulation absorbs one quarter of the moisture of untreated down and dries five times as quickly. BROOKS-RANGE MOJAVE Care: Machine wash Price: $299 The Test To measure the water resistance of Down Decor’s insulation, we set up a side-by-side test against untreated down....
Looking for the complete list of 100 winners? Check it out here. Grand Award Winner: Smart water recycling by Hydraloop: A compact, easy-to-use gray water recycling system Gray water is the stuff that spirals down your shower and sink drains, and it’s mostly clean, usable H2O that goes to immediate waste. Recycling this wastewater is doable, but the required systems are frequently large, maintenance-intensive, and involve a complicated jumble of pipes and valves....
There are steps farmers can take to make sure the soil retains as much carbon as possible, namely disturb the soil as little as possible and till the earth only where necessary. Keep the soil covered in a diverse array of deep-rooted crops. Rotate between cash crops, like wheat, and cover crops, like ryegrass, which nurture the soil and can be fed to livestock. Avoid the use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers....
The Hyperloop concept is a vision of high-speed, ultra-safe travel introduced by Elon Musk in 2013. The idea is that a closed system of tubes sends pods hurtling between destinations at speeds in excess of 750 miles per hour. It’s a great idea, but has one problem: no one knows how to make it work — yet. Plenty of private companies are working on designs and test tracks and now students are getting in on the game....
A: No. But… it would be really great if we could. Researchers are looking for all kinds of variables (heat, pressure underground, gasses released, tremors, etc) that might indicate that an eruption is immanent. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other organizations monitor volcanos constantly, because while there are tell-tale signs that magma is on the move inside a volcano, volcanoes don’t follow a set script. They can still erupt unpredictably after a period of calm, or subside back into slumber after rumbling a bit....
Collaborating with the university’s NIMBUS Lab (that’s Nebraska Intelligent MoBile Unmanned Systems), the journalism school used an unmanned aerial system (UAS) to gather imagery from along the Platte River and surrounding farmland to supplement their report–a pretty pedestrian, uncontroversial use of the technology. But while the idea of using drones for news collection isn’t necessarily new, the Drone Journalism Lab is the first program we know of at an accredited university to aggressively pursue this kind of data collection in the name of journalism using unmanned aerial systems....
