• Clear Case - $37.00, down from $49.00


• Silicone Case - $22.00, down from $49.00

• Clear Case - $34.00, down from $49.00


• Silicone Case - $22.00, down from $49.00

• Clear Case - $34.00, down from $49.00


• Silicone Case - $34.00, down from $49.00

• Clear Case - $37.00, down from $49.00


• Silicone Case - $37.00, down from $49.00

For the wayfinders and navigators that practice Polynesian voyaging, the clues of where to go are all around the big blue and beyond. Once you can see them, it’s all about working with–not against–the elements, as Disney’s Moana showed to audiences in 2016.    

Polynesian Voyaging Society Program Director and Captain Lehua Kamalu felt right at home when she first climbed aboard Hōkūleʻa. This authentic replica of an ancient Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe was built in the 1970s and has since voyaged thousands of nautical miles. 

“I really just fell in love with the place, the people, obviously Hōkūleʻa itself and her legacy is really powerful,” Kamalu tells Popular Science. “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t feel hooked almost immediately.”

[Related: ‘Fingerprints’ confirm the seafaring stories of adventurous Polynesian navigators.]

In addition to her work traversing the Pacific Ocean, Kamalu served as an advisor on the original film and its new sequel, Moana 2. While she learned about wayfinding growing up in Hawai’i through the school curriculum, it wasn’t until adulthood that she was first able to board Hōkūleʻa and try it out for herself. In the roughly 15 years since, she’s been a part of the crew that has taken Hōkūleʻa around the same waterways that have been sailed for millennia. 

“It’s understanding what was going on and getting out on the water,” says Kamalu. “Understanding the stars and the weather from different places on the island.”

Generally speaking, wayfinding is the act of orienting and traveling from place to place. Both humans and animals are capable of wayfinding, like when a pet returns home after escaping from a yard or animals go back to the same places every year. Wayfinding includes all of the processes that make it possible for humans and animals to orient themselves. 

Navigating is a bit more technical. It involves understanding where you are on the water compared to where you want to go and how to get there. Polynesian voyagers use the stars, wind, clouds, marine animals, and more to find their way without using a compass, sextant, or other tools. They have to rely on other things–first and foremost, the canoe herself.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday.

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

“One of the first things you start to understand is just how a vessel like this is assembled,” explains Kamalu. “Where the stress points on this vessel are, how and why it’s designed the way it is, how the sail moves flexibly over the waves.”

To ensure this respect for the craft, all of the crew members take part in the assembly and the maintenance of the vessel. These canoes are primarily made of wood and tied together with lots of rope. They are a precursor to modern catamarans, but without the fiberglass and fancy gadgets. Grasping the ins and outs of the boat and where its weaker points are while on dry land is crucial for everyone’s safety. 

“In Hawaii, we don’t really have lagoons or lakes,” says Kamalu. “Once you’re in the water, you are in the ocean. So it’s a very swift baptism into the high seas.”

One of the most universally human components of voyaging is using the night sky as a map. The stars help voyagers find their way, since they travel without tools that tell direction. Voyagers study where stars, constellations, and planets should be depending upon which hemisphere they are in and the time of year and how they move across the night sky. Hawai’i is in the Northern Hemisphere where the brilliant North Star is a constant guide.

“It’s really forcing yourself to build a map of how the world works in a very human way,” says Kamalu.

The movie depicts a constellation called Maui’s fish hook. Also known as the fish hook or Scorpius, it represents demigod Maui’s fish hook and has traditionally helped voyagers position themselves in the Pacific. Making Maui’s fish hook look the right way was very important for Kamalu and the other voyaging advisors on the films.

“We really wanted to make sure that was accurate. They are actual stars! It is not on a fantasy planet. You can go outside your house, maybe not immediately, but sometimes you can go out and hopefully see the same stars that we can see around the world,” says Kamalu.

During the daylight hours when the stars are invisible, voyagers rely on other natural signs. The types of clouds gathering on the horizon are a good indicator of what kind of weather is ahead. Voyagers must also understand what changes in the wind and wave patterns could mean. When it comes to finding land, animals tend to be the most crucial.

“The animals have just a natural ability to find home, find land, find their islands. Understanding which animals can guide you closer to an island or away from an island is pretty critical,” says Kamalu. “It’s just, there’s just a whole world of clues out there.”

Spending time understanding the water with the stars, wind, clouds, and marine life teaches voyagers what they each indicate on their own, but also how they work together. Much like how the team must work together.

What makes the voyages undertaken by the fictional Moana and the real-life navigators so special are the people who make it possible. Wayfinding connects our species with a part of the Earth that few will ever experience.

For Kamalu, a moment in the first film that truly captures that essence is when the spirit of Moana’s deceased grandmother appears in the water as a beautiful bioluminescent stingray to guide her.

“I think in wayfinding, we can really focus on those very mechanical parts. But it’s an important question to always check our own sort of internal feelings. There are elements of remembering the teachers that brought you there, and remembering that you are not just alone. There’s a lot of people that are rooting for you that have helped you get there. I think that’s why that scene always also makes me remember that, because every time I’m out there in those moments where I’m struggling, I can think about family and grandma and everyone who’s there with me.”

Moana 2 is now playing in theaters nationwide. 

The post ‘We know the way’: How Polynesian voyagers navigate Earth’s biggest ocean appeared first on Popular Science.

Atlanta transit advocates are calling on the  Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) to restore consistent and frequent weekend service, arguing that cuts to weekend transit are having a detrimental impact on  cultural events and the local economy. The city is hosting major sporting events in the coming years, which will require the agency to move hundreds of thousands of attendees.

According to an article by Alex Ip, “An investigation by The Xylom shows that tracking-related service cuts have slowed down the frequency of trains on the north-south route for almost 80% of weekends since October 2023, according to our weekend service cancellation dashboard created using publicly available data from MARTA.”

The agency took almost 5,500 weekend trains out of service last year, Ip adds. “Since the pandemic began, MARTA has ramped up single-tracking — which means it runs trains on one track instead of the usual two — and has experienced operator shortages, all of which disrupt rail service and necessitate ‘special schedules.’” This has amounted to long wait times and packed trains during major weekend events, concerts, and to and from Atlanta’s international airport. 

Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman said MARTA should consider expanding services to accommodate the anticipated spike in ridership. “While building out new rail transit infrastructure will take time, restoring consistent weekend service is low-hanging fruit for MARTA to bring back more riders.”

• Atlanta
• MARTA
• Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
• Public Transit
• Transit Service
• Transit Ridership
• Transit Frequency

A 106-mile network of underground pipes could hold the key to clean energy in New York City. 

As Tope Alake and Linda Poon explain in Bloomberg CityLab, the city’s subterranean pipes currently deliver roughly 15 billion pounds per year of 370-degree steam to some of the city’s buildings. 

The system, operated by Consolidated Edison Inc., serves large-scale clients such as the Empire State Building and the United Nations complex. “For now, Con Ed’s steam system is entirely focused on Manhattan, where the main steam pipes already exist. Expanding into other boroughs would require crossing a river, making it much more challenging — though not necessarily impossible for a company that owns small pieces of real estate in other boroughs.”

Now, new legislation and a focus on renewable energy could lead to an expansion of the steam system and allow buildings to decarbonize using their own boilers. 

While New York’s system operates on natural gas, “Many of the US’s other systems, sometimes called ‘steam loops,’ are also working to decarbonize. Vicinity Energy Inc., which operates systems in a dozen US cities, has committed to electrifying its entire portfolio by 2050 — including in the greater Boston area, where its steam pipe system delivers heat to some 70 million square-feet of building space.”

• New York City
• Steam
• Steam Power
• Steam Loops
• Renewable Energy
• Clean Energy

A polar bear sits seemingly unbothered by a heavy snowstorm pummeling down. Photographer Daniel Valverde Fernandez captured the moment (seen above) the bear gave a vigorous shake to send the powder flying into the swirling winds. The image earned runner-up honors in the Mammals category of the 2024 European Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Spanish photographer Jaime Rojo took the top prize for his ethereal image (seen below) of monarch butterflies in the trees of Mexico’s El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary.

Almost 1,000 photographers submitted upwards of 18,000 images. The judges gathered in Potsdam, Germany to select honorees across 12 categories.

“We should finish where we began, with viewing an old subject through a new lens,” judge Marcus Westberg wrote on behalf of the jury. “After a weekend of intense debates and split votes, it is somehow fitting that selecting the overall winner was among the easiest decisions of the entire judging process, requiring virtually no discussion. Jaime’s classically beautiful Monarch butterfly photograph, with its layers of depth and detail, is timeless. ‘Suddenly, an animal that you have seen many times before becomes something altogether new,’ in the words of one judge. The image contains within it ‘a slow dawning of magnificence … an awe of discovery, a testament to the power of photography’.” The full gallery can be viewed on the German Society for Nature Photography website.

The post 13 marvelous images from the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards appeared first on Popular Science.

If you’ve been waiting to pick up an iPad or you want to spoil someone with a great gift, jump on this $259 iPad deal happening for Black Friday. Apple’s newest tablet retails for $349, but it typically overs just above $300, so this really is a solid price. You can also pair it with the Apple Pencil, which is currently $60 and siting at its lowest price of the year. That’s like getting the iPad with the Pencil for $30 less than the retail price of the iPad on its own. Hard to pass that up.

Apple

This is the base model iPad, but it has a beautiful 10.9-inch screen and enough processing power inside to handle any task you could possibly throw at it. The A14 Bionic chip can handle everything from high-end gaming to video editing. It comes in four colors, but there’s randomly an extra $9 off coupon if you specifically buy the white version.

While it can be tempting to splurge on the very excellent iPad Pro, this is likely a better buy for the vast majority of people. It has a similar design to the most recent Pro models, but it costs 4-5 times less. This deal applies to the base model, but you can also get 18% off the 256GB storage model, which comes in at $409.

Apple

Yes, the charging design is slightly awkward, but this is a steal of a price and it does everything you need the Pencil to do on your new iPad. It offers incredible sensitivity and precision. Plus, it’s great for hand-writing notes, lists, or just doodling when you should be paying attention. You can replace the tip when it wears down and a cap protects the charging port when not in use. You can step up to the second-gen Apple Pencil for $79 if you want the magnetic attachment and charging.

The post Hurry and grab the latest-gen iPad for just $259 before this Black Friday deal sells out appeared first on Popular Science.

• iOS 18.1: How to Type to Siri

• Write me a poem about Apple


• Create a song about Google


• Help me write a letter to my friend


• Write three paragraphs about orange cats


• Write me a social media post about Thanksgiving


• Rewrite this to be more concise


• Create a bedtime story about a dragon

• What are five types of edible mushrooms in North Carolina?


• What should I pack for a beach trip in winter?


• What are must see places in Paris?


• What should I do this weekend?


• I want a recipe for banana bread


• Give me instructions on cutting a mango


• When is avocado season?


• Suggest good songs for a quiet Friday night


• What's a good indoor activity to do when it's raining?

• Write code


• Debug code


• Get help with homework


• Do calculations, translations, conversions, and more


• Generate gift ideas


• Come up with names for businesses, pets, characters, and more


• Create trivia questions or riddles


• Plan trips


• Create meal plans


• Get recipes for ingredients you have


• Generate jokes


• Suggest movies, TV shows, and books based on specific parameters


• Summarize TV shows and movies


• Generate drawing/writing prompts

• Show me the files Eric sent me last week.


• Find the email where Eric mentioned ice skating.


• Find the books that Eric recommended to me.


• Where's the recipe that Eric sent me?


• What's my passport number?

• Moving files from one app to another.


• Editing a photo and then sending it to someone.


• Get directions home and share the ETA with Eric.


• Send the email I drafted to Eric.

• Genmoji in iOS 18.2


• Image Playground in iOS 18.2


• Apple Intelligence Image Wand: All the New Features in iOS 18.2


• Everything You Need to Know About Apple Intelligence


• Everything New in the iOS 18.2 Beta

• Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a stainless steel frame. The back of the devices will supposedly have a new "part-aluminum, part-glass" design.


• Rectangular camera bump: On a related note, the devices are expected to have a "larger rectangular camera bump" made of aluminum.


• A19 Pro chip: iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to use Apple's next-generation A19 Pro chip, which will reportedly be manufactured with TSMC's newer third-generation 3nm process. Like usual, expect modest year-over-year performance gains and power efficiency improvements compared to the current iPhones.


• Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip: At least one iPhone 17 model is rumored to get a Wi-Fi 7 chip designed by Apple rather than Broadcom.


• 24-megapixel front camera: All four iPhone 17 models are said to feature an upgraded 24-megapixel front-facing camera, whereas all iPhone 16 models are equipped with a 12-megapixel front-facing camera.


• 48-megapixel rear Telephoto camera: An upgraded 48-megapixel Telephoto camera is rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models, up from the 12-megapixel Telephoto camera on iPhone 16 Pro models.


• 12GB of RAM: An increased 12GB of RAM was initially rumored exclusively for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but later the iPhone 17 Pro as well. This upgrade should help to improve the performance of Apple Intelligence and multitasking. All four iPhone 16 models have 8GB of RAM.


• A smaller Dynamic Island for iPhone 17 Pro Max: A change rumored exclusively for the iPhone 17 Pro Max is a "much narrowed Dynamic Island," as a result of Apple adopting a "metalens" for the Face ID system.

To keep warm during the most recent ice age, early humans needed protective clothing. What these garments looked like and just how they were put together has remained an archeological mystery. Now, a team in Wyoming found that Paleolithic North Americans likely made needles using the bones of foxes, hares, rabbits, bobcats, mountain lions, lynx, and even the now-extinct American cheetah. Archaeologists also recently found the oldest known bead in the Americas at this site–which was made from the bone of a hare. The bone needles are described in a study published November 27 in the journal PLOS ONE. 

The bone needles were uncovered at a Wyoming archaeological site that sheds light on some of the early inhabitants of North America called La Prele. Previously, archaeologists uncovered  evidence that humans killed or scavenged a Columbian mammoth about 13,000 years ago.  La Prele was occupied during the final years of the last Ice Age, when it was likely around nine to 11 degrees colder in Wyoming. 

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday.

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

“Our team on this study largely adheres to the notion that the first Americans arrived south of the North American continental ice sheets sometime around 13,000 years ago and are associated with the Clovis cultural complex,” Spencer Pelton, a study co-author and Wyoming State Archaeologist, tells Popular Science. “Given its age, the occupants at La Prele could have been the grandchildren or great grandchildren of the first Americans.”

According to Pelton, bone needles are common during this period in the North American archaeological record because sewing complex weather garments for freezing weather was a necessity in response to the cold climate shift brought on by the last ice age. Early humans at northern latitudes likely created tailored garments with closely stitched seams that provide a better barrier against the elements. There has been little direct evidence of such garments, but bone needles and the bones of the fur-bearing animals used to make pelts provide some indirect evidence of this early tailoring. 

“Bone needles are extremely small, but when they pop up on the screen they’re pretty unmistakable once you get an eye for them,” says Pelton. 

To identify the bone needles and bead, the team on this study used zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS), micro-CT scanning, and extracted collagen from the 32 bone needle fragments. They compared the bone needle peptides–short chains of amino acids–with peptides from animals known to have lived in the area during the Early Paleondian Period in North America (about 13,500 and 12,000 years ago). 

[Related: Ice Age humans may have used pikes to hunt mammoths.]

They found that the bones from several animals were probably used to make these needles: red foxes, bobcats, mountain lions, lynx, the American cheetah, hares, and rabbits were used to make needles at the LaPrele site. These animals were surprising to the team, since Early Paleoindian sites on the Great Plains are typically dominated by the bones of large animals like bison and mammoths. Remains of fauna including red fox, rabbits, and cats indicate that humans were likely running trap lines to catch the smaller animals. 

“[This] really altered our perception of Early Paleoindians as solely large game hunters,” says Pelton. 

While there are currently no examples of preserved Paleolithic clothing, the team believes that these bone needles are some of the best evidence yet of what clothing may have looked like at this time and how similar it is to clothing worn by Indigenous peoples living today. 

“They were complex garments fringed with the furs of red fox, hare, and cat, some of which with feet still attached as is common among modern trappers,” says Pelton. “They were likely comparable to similar garments worn by the Inuit, able to withstand the cold and windy conditions of Wyoming’s last Ice Age.” 

The post Ice age humans made needles from animal bones, archeologists discover appeared first on Popular Science.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) provide an affordable and effective way to combat climate change while fostering biodiversity and enhancing human well-being. These solutions, such as wildlife corridors, wetland restoration, and cover cropping, leverage natural systems to mitigate climate risks like flooding and erosion at a fraction of the cost of traditional infrastructure. Despite their proven benefits — highlighted by research showing that NbS outperformed engineering solutions in cost and effectiveness in over 65 percent of studies — global financing for NbS remains insufficient. Governments have the tools to bridge this gap by redirecting subsidies from harmful industries and incentivizing private investment to meet the growing demand for sustainable, nature-positive projects.

A significant barrier to advancing NbS is the exclusion of natural assets from conventional financial accounting. Current systems prioritize resource extraction over ecosystem preservation, discouraging investments in forests, wetlands, and watersheds. However, frameworks from organizations like the Natural Assets Initiative and the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board offer pathways to value and account for natural resources. Recognizing these assets in national and corporate balance sheets could unlock substantial funding for NbS while fostering a paradigm shift toward sustainability-focused economies. Governments must adopt these frameworks to integrate NbS into financial systems, ensuring their scalability and impact.

Additionally, biodiversity credit markets can play a transformative role in funding NbS by rewarding efforts to restore ecosystems and conserve biodiversity. Building on lessons from carbon markets, biodiversity credits can incentivize responsible land management, nature-based infrastructure, and sustainable production. Initiatives like the Framework for High-Integrity Biodiversity Credit Markets provide the foundation for these systems, promoting transparency and accountability while addressing concerns like greenwashing. For NbS to reach their full potential, inclusive decision-making that values local and Indigenous knowledge is critical. 

• nature-based solutions
• Sustainability
• Climate Change
• climate action
• Resilience
• Biodiversity
• Conservation

The Southern California Association of Governments  (SCAG) received a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve pedestrian safety in Los Angeles and the greater region ahead of major international events happening in the region in 2026 through 2028.

According to an article by Liz Carey in Transportation Today, “The funding will support Pedestrianization of Roadways for LA28 and Beyond aimed at creating safe street reconfiguration along key Los Angeles corridors to prioritize safe walking, biking and transit riding.”

Southern California is preparing to welcome millions of visitors in advance of these events. “The Events and Games Pedestrian Safety Program is designed to provide a safe, accessible experience during these high-profile events and use what we learn to make lasting improvements to our active transportation infrastructure,” said SCAG Executive Director Kome Ajise.

• Los Angeles
• 2028 Olympics
• Pedestrian Safety
• Road Safety
• SCAG
• Pedestrian infrastructure

Tesla may advertise its impending Cybercab robotaxi fleet as a self-driving service, but new job listings indicate human workers may still be required to remotely drive the cars. As spotted on Wednesday by Gizmodo, Tesla is currently accepting applications for C++ software engineers to join the Teleoperation wing of its “Tesla Bot and Robotaxi” division. Employees will focus on designing a system to provide “remote access to our robotaxis and humanoid robots” as they “operate autonomously in challenging environments.”

“As we iterate on the AI that powers them, we need the ability to access and control them remotely,” the company stipulates.

To do this, software engineers will reportedly first help build a program using Unreal services that will allow Remote Operators to take over robotaxis and Optimus bots during particularly difficult and complex tasks. This will involve being “transported into the device’s world” through a “state-of-the-art VR rig,” that is still in development.

“Our goal is to integrate our hardware, firmware and backend expertise to achieve a cutting-edge system… Working with hardware teams, you will drive requirements, make design decisions and implement software integration for this custom teleoperation system,” Tesla says on its application page.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday.

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

The potential future of Tesla’s Cybercab and robotaxi services align an ongoing industry trend of advertising “autonomous,” AI-powered products that are often overseen by human gig workers. General Motors’ Cruise robotaxi company, for example, currently subs in remote employees to help steer vehicles out of difficult-to-compute situations. Similar approaches are also rumored to be in place for competitors like Zoox and Waymo. Meanwhile, autonomous vehicle programs, particularly Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” Mode, have faced increasing industry criticism and regulatory investigations over their potential hazards posed to both passengers, other drivers, and pedestrians.

News that human workers will frequently handle robotaxi and Optimus operations follows a similar pattern for the company. Tesla’s first “reveal” of its humanoid robot in 2021 involved a person wearing an Optimus costume. Last month, the company’s “We, Robot” event on the Warner Bros. Discovery studio included actual robots crafting cocktails for guests—but it didn’t take long before it was revealed the supposedly autonomous machines were actually remotely piloted by humans. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly promised the impending debut of his company’s robotaxi fleet on public roads, and currently estimates Cybercab services to arrive by the end of 2026. Any interested applicants will work out of Tesla’s Palo Alto offices, and can expect a salary somewhere between $120,000 and $318,000, “cash and stock awards,” as well as benefits.

The post Tesla seeks human ‘remote operators’ to help ‘autonomous’ robotaxi service appeared first on Popular Science.

Using an example from a New Jersey segment of the East Coast Greenway, the nation’s longest biking and walking route, Asia Mieleszko highlights the danger raised by the intersection of greenways with highways and major arterial roads.

“While its most beloved segments are secluded and separated from motorized traffic, as much as 65% of the ECG involves interacting with cars and trucks that are moving at high speeds.” This puts the people biking and walking on the trail at risk, and has in some cases resulted in fatal crashes. In many places, the crossings are denoted only by a painted crosswalk, and drivers routinely ignore speed limits.

One problem, Mieleszko points out, is that the standards that county roads are held to often don’t match up with local realities. “ Often, they’re thought of as connectors between distant places, a means of getting from one side of town to the other, from one city to another dozens of miles away. As such, they prioritize the speed and throughput of vehicles in order to make that ride from A to B as efficient and seamless as possible.”

In practice, many of the country’s most dangerous, fast-moving roads intersect with pathways for people walking and biking. It takes consistent effort from local advocates to get state and county agencies to make changes that could, in theory, contradict their mandate to maintain fast traffic throughput.

• Bikeways
• Greenways
• Highways
• Road Safety
• Traffic Safety
• Crashes
• Road Design
• Traffic Calming

Smartphone gaming is fun, but with help from the Razer’s Kishi Ultimate, your device becomes a full-fledged portable console. The USB-C controller plugs directly into your device and offers an experience that’s indistinguishable from a proper, first-party video game console controller. We chose the Razer Kishi Ultimate as the best splurge pick in our guide to the best mobile game controllers, but it’s less expensive than ever thanks to an early Black Friday deal.

Brandt Ranj / Popular Science

The Kishi Ultimate actually lives up to its name as the ultimate gaming mobile controller because Razer cut made no compromises in its design. Its handles are incredibly comfortable to hold, the joysticks move with impeccable precision, and the buttons and triggers provide the right amount of tension. This game controller is compatible with both the iPhone (15 and later), Android phones, and iPad Minis (6th generation and later), and requires no additional software for setup. Razer includes spacers for specific devices to ensure a proper fit. You do have the option to install Razer’s Nexus mobile app for customization options and to use as a game launcher.

Once you use the Razer Kishi Ultimate, it’s hard to go back to using touch screen controllers, which are far less precise and require you to block part of your screen with fingers. The Kishi Ultimate is compatible with any game or app featuring controller support—which is more than you may think—including emulators and game streaming services. If you want to use your smartphone or tablet as a true mobile gaming system, this is the best tool for the job.

• UGREEN Cell Phone Stand, $6.99 (Was $10.99)
• Scosche BTFM9 FM Bluetooth Transmitter Car Charger, $16.99 (Was $24.99)
• Anker Prime 67W USB C Charger, $35.99 (Was $59.99)
• Anker MagGo Power Bank, $51.99 (Was $69.99)
• UGREEN Nexode Power Bank 20000mAh 130W Portable Charger, $64.99 (Was $99.99)
• BACKBONE One Mobile Gaming Controller for iPhone (Lightning), $69.99 (Was $99.99)
• Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe, $119.99 (Was $149.99)

The post Our favorite smartphone game controller is down to its lowest price ever for Black Friday appeared first on Popular Science.

While it is not quite as big as a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, fossilized poop can help paleontologists recreate lost worlds. It can tell scientists what extinct animals like dinosaurs ate, but more importantly the role that they played in their environment. Now, some 200-million-year old fecal and vomit samples are helping scientists recreate how these giants became the kings of a prehistoric ecosystem. The findings are detailed in a study published November 27 in the journal Nature.

“The most surprising aspect was discovering how well-preserved and diverse the food remains inside the fossilised droppings and vomits,” Martin Qvarnström, a study co-author and a paleontologist at Uppasala University in Sweden, tells Popular Science. “We found bones, teeth, fish scales, plant fragments, and even tiny beetles, which give us a unique glimpse into ancient diets.”

These specimens were uncovered in present day Poland and date back to the Late Triassic and early Jurassic. During this era, Earth’s land was locked into one giant super continent called Pangea. When the landmass began to break apart, internal seaways brought some more moisture and humidity to a previously dry climate. 

“At the end of the Triassic it became more humid in [the] Polish Basin, and ferns and various moisture-loving plants flourished,” Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki, a study co-author and Uppasala University paleontologist, tells Popular Science. “Herbivorous dinosaurs loved these fern forests and fed on them.”

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday.

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Initially, large amphibians and non-dinosaur reptiles dominated the landscape with some of the first small mammals, turtles, and pterosaurs. However, about 200 million years ago during the  Triassic-Jurassic transition, dinosaurs truly rose to dominance while other animal groups became extinct. 

In the study, Qvarnström, Niedzwiedzki, and other paleontologists from Norway, Poland, and Hungary examined over 500 fossilized remains of digestive material called bromalites. Using advanced synchrotron imaging, they visualized the hidden, internal parts of the fossilised faeces–or coprolites–in detail. They identified the undigested food remains of plants and animal prey with climate data and information from other fossils to recreate the structure of the ecosystems when dinosaurs rose to dominance in the northern regions of Pangea. 

“I think that dinosaurs felt good in this world, they wandered among the floodplains of large rivers, looking for the best places to feed,” says Niedzwiedzki. “Probably from time to time there were dramas, when herds of herbivores were attacked by predators. Their numerous three-toed, with large claw imprints, 40 cm [15 inches] long tracks of predators are found.”

Some of the poop fossils contained the remains of fish, insects, larger animals, and plants. Others had bones chewed up by predators that would have crushed bones to get to various salts and marrow, similar to what modern hyenas do. The coprolites from long-necked sauropods–aomg the first herbivorous dinosaurs–contained large quantities of tree ferns and other types of plants. 

“In one of the coprolites we found incredibly preserved plant remains, they are preserved with details like cells or various structures in a leaf,” says Niedzwiedzki. “They passed through the digestive tract of dinosaurs, probably thanks to bacteria they were well preserved.”

The herbivore droppings also had traces of charcoal. The team believes that the sauropods ate the charcoal to detoxify stomach contents, since ferns can be toxic to herbivores.

[Related: The Poozeum: Fossilized bug farts, T. rex poop, and more ancient coprolites.]

According to the team, the study addresses a 30-million-year gap in our understanding of dinosaur evolution. While much is known about their lives and extinction, less is known about the ecological and evolutionary processes that led to their eventual successes as a species. 

“Studying the processes that led to the rise of dinosaurs over 200 million years ago might feel distant, but it’s both fascinating in itself and relevant today,” says Qvarnström. “Understanding how dinosaurs rose to dominance teaches us about the long-term impacts of climate change and extinction events. These ancient patterns can help us better grasp the modern and future challenges of climate change and extinction.”

The post 200-million-year-old dinosaur poop and vomit reveal a lost Jurassic world appeared first on Popular Science.

As climate disasters make some parts of the world increasingly unlivable, billions of people — an estimated 3.5 billion by 2070 — will have to relocate to safer ground.

As Ayana Elizabeth Johnson explains in a piece for Wired, “To date, most climate migration has occurred within nations, but as the regions affected by extreme weather expand, that will need to change.”

We will have to be vigilant about keeping xenophobia at bay, acknowledging the cruel injustice at play as the lowest greenhouse gas emitting nations, like the Pacific islands, are the first to be inundated.

Johnson notes that governments at all levels are starting to take note, creating policies such as relocation buyouts and limiting new developments in risky areas. To prepare for relocating its residents once sea levels make the island unlivable, the government of the South Pacific nation of Kiribati purchased land in Fiji.

“Already, 11 percent of Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming, and roughly 75 percent are hesitant to buy homes in areas with high climate risks like wildfires (more than 30 million homes in the lower 48 US states are at risk of being hit with wildfires).” Meanwhile, insurance companies are hiking rates or pulling out of certain areas altogether.

As Johnson points out, governments will need proactive policies to manage the climate migration that will become a fact of life. “It’s not that people want to move, to leave the communities and ecosystems they love and call home; it's that they must.”

• Climate Migration
• Climate Change
• Displacement
• Relocation
• Managed Retreat

If your kitchen is looking a little long in the tooth, Black Friday is the ideal time to upgrade your appliances with ones that’ll last a lifetime. Right now you can save hundreds of dollars on a powerful Vitamix Blender. The best part is you don’t have to wait until Black Friday to take advantage of the deal, it’s available right now.

Vitamix

If you’re used to a puny blender that struggles to crush ice, the Propel Series 750 will be a massive improvement. It has five four food presets for smoothies, hot soups, frozen desserts, and dips and spreads. You can also push a pulse button or choose a speed setting between one and 10 for manual control. Vitamix uses durable stainless steel blades and a 2.2 horsepower motor to ensure your food it blended to a smooth consistency every time. The Propel Series 750 has a 64-ounce container, so you can easily meal prep or cook for a crowd. Once you’re done cooking, you can use blender’s cleaning preset or pop the container into the dishwasher to rinse it off. Vitamix’s Propel Series 750 is still a big investment with this Black Friday discount, but it may well be the last blender you ever buy.

• Instant Pot Stand Mixer Pro, $189.95 (Was $299.99)
• NutriMill Artiste Kitchen Electric Stand Mixer, $199 (was $299)
• KitchenAid Classic Series 4.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer, $249.99 (Was $329.99)
• KitchenAid Artisan Series 5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield, $329.95 (Was $459.99)
• KitchenAid® 7 Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer, $499.95 (Was $599.99)

• Magic Bullet Blender (Small), $29.49 (Was $49.99)
• Nutribullet Full-Size Blender Combo, $67.99 (Was $129.99)
• Nutribullet SmartSense Blender Combo, $89.49 (Was $149.99)
• Ninja Blender Compact Kitchen System, $99.99 (Was $159.99)
• Nutribullet Triple Prep System, $139.99 (Was $229.99)
• Ninja Detect Power Blender Pro, $149.99 (Was $179.99)
• Vitamix E310 Explorian Blender, $299.95 (Was $379.95)
• Vitamix 5200 Blender, $349.95 (Was $428)

• Toshiba Rice Cooker 6 Cup Uncooked Japanese Rice Cooker, $104.99 (Was $149.99)
• Zojirushi NS-LGC05XB Micom Rice Cooker & Warmer, $121.76 (Was $194.50)
• KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker, $219.95 (Was $299.99)

• Toshiba 5.5QT Air Fryer with Heat-Q Technology, $49.99 (Was $99.99)
• Instant Pot Vortex Plus 4QT Air Fryer, $59.95 (Was $129.99)
• Cuisinart 6QT Stainless Steel Air Fryer, $79.95 (Was $149.95)
• Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4-in-1 5QT Air Fryer, $79.99 (Was $119.99)
• Ninja DZ401 Foodi 10 Quart 6-in-1 DualZone XL 2-Basket Air Fryer, $129.99 (Was $229.99)
• Cuisinart Air Fryer + Convection Toaster Oven, $149.95 (Was $229.95)

• Proctor Silex 4 Slice Toaster, $24.65 (Was $37.99)
• Cuisinart 4 Slice Toaster, $49.95 (Was $69.95)
• KitchenAid 4 Slice Toaster, $129.99 (Was $159.99)
• Wolf Gourmet 2-Slice Extra-Wide Slot Toaster, $237.45 (Was $479.99)
• KitchenAid Pro Line Series 2-Slice Automatic Toaster, $249.99 (Was $299.99)

• PIEZANO Crispy Crust Pizza Oven, $99.99 (Was $149.95)
• Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven, $129.95 (Was $399.95)
• CHEFMAN Indoor Pizza Oven, $199.99 (was $499.99)
• Ooni Volt 12 Electric Pizza Oven, $719.20 (Was $899)

The post Save $230 on this Vitamix Black Friday deal and you’ll never need to buy another blender appeared first on Popular Science.