The city of Austin has completed its first round of bond-funded street safety projects as part of its Vision Zero initiative, reports Kelsey Thompson for KXAN.

The projects followed a $15 million Vision Zero allocation as part of a mobility bond passed in 2016. “Through the program, Meyer said Vision Zero has taken a more holistic approach toward transportation improvements, focusing on investments that not only benefit drivers but pedestrians, cyclists and other forms of commuters.”

The funds were focused on safety improvements such as crosswalks, shared-use paths, signal timing, and street lighting. City officials say low-cost, quick-build improvements have shown impressive effectiveness at reducing crashes, deaths, and serious injuries. 

“Some of those with the most bang for their buck include traffic signal timing changes, leading pedestrian intervals (LPIs) and protected left-turn lanes,” Thompson adds. “Over the next three years, Vision Zero will be tackling a dozen more intersection safety projects courtesy of the city’s 2018 and 2020 mobility bonds.”

• Austin
• Vision Zero
• Urban Planning
• Pedestrian Safety
• Road Safety
• Crosswalks
• Traffic Deaths
• Pedestrian infrastructure

It’s trivia night at your favorite bar. The questions are flying, and you don’t know anything that isn’t related to pop culture. One about Tom Holland? Easy. One about Dean Koontz? Uh…who’s that? Exactly. He’s a famous author, but you already got that question wrong.

Reading more—fiction and nonfiction—might be your key to becoming the trivia master. If you don’t have time to sit and read cover to cover, a book summary app like Instaread helps you finish them in as little as 15 minutes. Grab lifetime access here for $79.99 (reg. $300)—you won’t find a better price anywhere else.

Getting better at trivia means broadening your horizons. Instareads has more than 6,000 books in pretty much any subject you want—fiction, science, art, self-help, sports, health, and some originals. Try dabbing into a little from each area to cover all types of trivia questions.

Here are a few titles we were excited to see on Instareads:

• The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
• Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
• The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino 

The best part is that you don’t even have to read if you don’t want to. Turn on the audio book summaries and get the essence of your chosen book in minutes, not hours. Of course, you could read the summary, and Instareads also has flashcards if you want something even quicker.

Try reading or listening to at least one Instareads summary each day. By the next trivia night, you’ll already be familiar with dozens of new authors, books, and even some nonfiction concepts if you dabble into some of those.

It’s the new way to read. Get an Instareads lifetime subscription with our unbeatable price of $79.99 (reg. $300).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

The post I sucked at trivia … until I downloaded this appeared first on Popular Science.

• iPhone 16 Launch Month Is Here: Everything We Know

Features and blogs took center stage on Planetizen last month, capturing eight of our top 10 most popular content slots for August. Those stories included a deep dive into debunking of redlining map myths to important conversations about housing, including Project 2025’s potential impact on housing policy, housing preservation, and the role of ADUs in making homeownership more attainable. Top news headlines included Congress’s move to limit the size of SUVs and trucks and the urgent need to relocate communities at risk from climate change.

Here is the full list:

1. Putting the Myth of the Redlining Maps to Rest

The feature article by Alan Mallach debunks the myth that historical Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps are a primary cause of racial inequities in today’s Black neighborhoods. Research shows it’s a false narrative that needs to be put to rest, lest we risk investing in strategies that don’t result in any meaningful improvement to the lives of struggling low-income Black families.

2. ADUs as Condos: What Does it Mean for Homeownership?

The article explores how California's AB-1033 law that allows the sale of ADUs as condos could impact homeownership in the state, including making homeownership more attainable, especially in high-cost urban areas where median home prices are out of reach for many.

3. We Must Relocate to Prepare for Climate Change, and We Must Do it Now 

This article highlights the critical need to relocate communities at risk from climate change and immediately prepare for its impacts, arguing that proactive measures are essential to protect vulnerable populations and build resilience against increasing climate-related threats.

4. Good As New: The Vital Role of Preservation in Solving the Housing Crisis

The article discusses how historic preservation can play a crucial role in addressing the housing crisis. By repurposing and maintaining existing structures, communities can increase affordable housing options while preserving cultural heritage and reducing environmental impact.

5. Project 2025 and Housing Policy

The blog examines the potential influence of Project 2025, a conservative policy platform from the Heritage Foundation, on housing policy, including potential impacts on affordability and development

6. Pedestrian-Friendly Cities: The Impact of Walkability Grants

This blog discusses how pedestrian-friendly city designs and walkability grants contribute to urban improvement. It highlights the benefits of such grants in enhancing walkability, reducing traffic, and fostering healthier, more vibrant communities.

7. Congress Introduces Bill to Limit Size of SUVs and Trucks

In late August, Congress introduced a bill to limit the size of SUVs and trucks to address safety and environmental concerns. The proposed legislation aims to reduce traffic accidents and lower emissions by setting size restrictions on these vehicles.

8. Book Excerpt: Rochester, New York’s Forgotten Subway

The book excerpt from Lost Subways of America: A Cartographic Guide to the Past, Present, and What Might Have Been by Jake Berman tells the story of Rochester, New York's long-since-shuttered subway system.

9. Book Review: Killed By A Traffic Engineer

Planetizen blogger Michael Lewyn offers his perspective on Killed By A Traffic Engineer by engineering professor Wes Marshall. The book explores the engineering errors that have led to the U.S.’s high traffic fatality rates.

10. Planners Be Nimble, Planners Be Quick

Planning should be methodical and responsive to community needs, but not to the point of inefficiency, Too much planning can be just as harmful as too little, writes Planetizen blogger Todd Litman.

To stay on top of the latest planning news, sign up for Planetizen’s biweekly Newsfeed email newsletter or our once-a-month Planetizen Updates email newsletter.

Editor’s note: Portions of this Planetizen blog post were generated using OpenAI’s language model, ChatCPT. Planetizen editors have been looking into ethical uses of AI in journalism and wanted to test it. In this post, ChatGPT was used to summarize previously published Planetizen stories, which provided text that served as a starting point and then was edited and refined further. We want to assure our readers that any policies adopted around the use of AI on Planetizen content will be grounded in transparency.

• Planetizen Top Articles

• Apple creates unnecessary steps to impede or deter users from switching to alternative app stores or downloading apps outside of the App Store.


• Apple does not make it easy for consumers to change their default settings.


• Apple's browser choice screen does not provide enough information for consumers to make an effective choice, and the choice screen is "confusing, complex and creates negative friction."


• Apple uses non-neutral language to scare consumers away from choosing alternative payment services or subscribing to cheaper services outside of an app. This is in reference to the disclosure screens that Apple presents when consumers use alternative payments.


• Apple does not allow end users to easily uninstall first-party apps, and while Safari can be deleted by the end of 2024, Apple was required to allow that feature by March.


• Apple does not provide adequate compliance reports to the European Commission, and has delayed the implementation of some of its DMA measures, a "blatant violation" of the DMA.

• New default apps will be able to be set for phone calls, messaging, password managers, keyboards, navigation, translation, and call spam filters.


• There is a new Default Apps section in the Settings app, which specifically addresses one of the complaints in the BEUC's report. It was confusing to consumers to have to go to the "Safari" settings to manage a non-Safari default browser.


• Safari, ‌App Store‌, Messages, Camera, and Photos apps will be able to be deleted.


• The browser selection screen shown to consumers at setup will include a description about the browser, an option to set a default right from the screen, and a requirement to scroll all the way down before choosing a browser.


• When a default browser that is not Safari is selected, that browser's icon will replace Safari's icon on the Home Screen or Dock.

They were noises even a veteran astronaut admitted he wouldn’t ever want to hear in space. On August 31, Boeing Starliner’s (not) stranded crewmember, Butch Wilmore, radioed NASA from aboard the International Space Station with yet another perplexing problem—a speaker aboard the already malfunctioning spacecraft had begun to emit inexplicable pinging sounds.

“There’s a strange noise coming through… I don’t know what’s making it,” Wilmore explained to mission control on Saturday. “… I’ll let y’all scratch your heads and see if you can figure out what’s going on.”

There are several noises I'd prefer not to hear inside my spaceship, including this one that @Boeing Starliner is now making. pic.twitter.com/NMMPMo5dtt

The full conversation, first highlighted by meteorologist Rob Dale on the NASA Spaceflight forum and subsequently reported by Ars Technica, lasted less than two minutes. After holding a microphone to the speaker, Wilmore’s audio highlighted a clear, semiregular echoing resembling the tone often heard in submarines—or Alien franchise films. An unnamed NASA worker then confirmed they could also hear the mystery pattern through their communications relay.

“And, Butch, just to make sure I’m on the same page, this is emanating from the speaker in Starliner? You don’t notice anything else—any other noises, any other weird configs in there?” they asked before confirming they would investigate.

“There are several noises I’d prefer not to hear inside my spaceship, including this one that Boeing Starliner is now making,” former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield posted to X along with a clip of the pings on Sunday.

After a day’s worth of internet speculations, NASA posted an update to the social media site on Monday confirming the “pulsing sound… has stopped.” According to the agency’s analysis, the noises resulted due to the audio configuration between Starliner and the ISS.

“The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback,” NASA explained, adding that crewmembers are asked to always report any inexplicable sounds within the comms arrays. The feedback, while potentially unnerving, posed “no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations,” including Starliner’s uncrewed undocking currently scheduled for no earlier than September  6.

[Related: Starliner astronauts are watering plants and fixing urine pumps on ISS.]

Although odd-sounding radio blips are reportedly normal occurrences on the ISS, the current status of Boeing’s first reusable spacecraft is both unprecedented and accidental. After years of production delays followed by weeks of technical difficulties, Starliner finally launched with two crew members on June 5. Wilmore, fellow astronaut Suni Williams, and NASA ground control reported issues almost immediately during its trip to the ISS. After successfully docking with the station, engineers soon confirmed multiple thrusters were malfunctioning, and have since spent weeks attempting to solve the problems. What was originally scheduled to be an eight-day mission for Wilmore and Williams is now a multi-month visit to the ISS that will actually make them part of NASA’s Crew-9 rotation.

At this point, the pair aren’t due to return to Earth until February 2025—leaving them plenty of time to occupy themselves with science experiments, urine pump maintenance, and potentially uncovering more spooky sounds.

The post NASA can explain Starliner’s spooky, pulsing sounds appeared first on Popular Science.

Seattle city council members will consider a proposal to remove restrictions on co-living developments, known as congregate housing or microhousing.

According to the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, the city first instituted restrictions a decade ago, limiting microhousing to certain parts of the city. Now, “Proponents of the bill and sponsor Tammy Morales say the changes will help address Seattle’s housing supply while encouraging ‘a relatively lower cost housing option without direct subsidy.’”

City regulations define congregate housing as “a use in which sleeping rooms are independently rented and lockable and provide living and sleeping space, and residents share kitchen facilities and other common elements with other residents in a building.”

Much like college dorms, co-living spaces can lower housing costs for residents, offer more common amenities, and provide access to supportive services and social opportunities.

• Seattle
• co-housing
• Co-Living
• Zoning
• Congregate Housing
• Housing Costs
• Supportive Housing
• Affordable Housing
• Microhousing
• Housing Supply

Pet owners know keeping fur from collecting in corners, couch crevices, and our clothes is a Sisyphean task, but a robot vacuum for pet hair can help. It doesn’t matter if scritch sessions end in a handful of Himalayan or husky; our fate is to vacuum again and again, forever. But that kind of menial, repetitive task can easily be outsourced to a robot vacuum that will never tire—even during seasonal shedding. Since their debut, robot vacuums have gotten smarter, stronger, and added a bunch of bells and whistles like scheduling, hands-free emptying, and mops so you can delegate more cleaning tasks (all featured in our best overall pick, the ECOVACS Deebot T30S Combo). Here’s our guide to finding the best robot vacuums for pet hair so that you can spend more time with your furry friend(s) and less worrying about the floors.

• Best overall: ECOVACS Deebot T30S Combo
• Best splurge: roborock S8 MaxV Ultra Robot Vacuum & Sonic Mop
• Best value: iRobot Roomba s9+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum
• Best self-emptying: Shark RV912S EZ Robot Vacuum with Self-Empty Base
• Best for hardwood floors: Bissell SpinWave Hard Floor Expert Pet Robot, 2-in-1 Wet Mop and Dry Robot Vacuum
• Best budget: eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 11S MAX

As long-time pawrents, we understand fur is nature’s glitter; it’s magically everywhere, hard to remove, and turns up where you least expect it. It takes a combination of frequent maintenance and deep cleaning to keep a house clear of tumbleweeds of fluff and allergens. As much as robot vacuums have stronger suction than they used to (we recommend paying, at a minimum, for models with at least 2500Pa—aka Pascals, the vacuum force for listing debris), they are best at tackling the frequency part of the equation. Have them do a lap around the house a few times a week (or daily!) to delay how often you need to drag out a traditional vacuum and its arsenal of brushes and tools for furniture. (And here are our suggestions for regular vacuums for pet hair.) With that in mind, we made recommendations based on hands-on experience, research, and reviews to find a reliable robot helper.

The right robot vacuum depends on how many furry friends you have, their coats, how much they shed, and what floor types need to be cleaned. A house with an American domestic short-hair cat and hard floors may want a machine that can pick up litter and do some mopping. Anyone with a herd of shepherds may want a self-emptying base to minimize how often they dump all that hair. Or maybe you want an affordable machine to supplement your other vacuum. Either way, we’ve got you covered.

Specs

• Robot dimensions: 4.1 inches tall by 13.9 inches wide 
• Robot weight: Not provided
• Base dimensions: 20.8 inches tall by 21.8 inches wide by 17.4 inches deep
• Surfaces: Carpets and hard floors
• Bin size: 3 liters
• Run time: Maximum 290 minutes (silent mode, sweep only)

Pros

• Self-empties and self-cleans mop pads
• Relatively quiet
• Lots of cleaning modes
• App is easy to navigate
• Dries mops pads once complete
• TrueDetect 3d is very gentle with obstacles
• Includes a handheld vacuum with attachments

Cons

• Expensive
• Docking station takes up a lot of room
• Handheld vacuum doesn’t last very long

The ECOVACS Deebot T30S Combo is a feature-packed, multi-purpose machine capable of keeping most areas of your home clean. The star of the show is the robot that doubles as a vacuum and mop. You can use it to only vacuum, vacuum and mop, or vacuum and then mop. There are options for three different water flow rates, four suction power modes, three cleaning speeds, and one or two passes, so you can truly customize your cleaning. It even has an AI feature called Intelligent Hosting, which will generate settings based on your cleaning habits, cleaning history, floor materials, room types, and how dirty the floors are.  

The robot portion is connected to Wi-Fi, and it uses a top-mounted LiDAR system to deliver a map of your home to the app. Once the initial TrueMapping is completed, you can adjust it to add or combine rooms, name rooms, or create virtual boundaries. The initial map of our apartment was a bit wonky and required some adjustments to get an accurate layout, and adjusting the map was a tad annoying. But, once it’s set up, it allows you to clean only certain rooms or create custom scenarios. For example, when I’m working from home, I don’t want the robot cleaning my office, but I can set it to clean the rest of the house without manually selecting each room. 

When it comes to vacuuming, the robot’s 11,000Pa suction is plenty powerful, even in the standard suction mode. It easily gathers all the loose dog and cat hair, even on our plush rug. Then, it self-empties when done, so I don’t have to remember to do it before I need to run it the next time. As an added benefit, the standard suction mode is much quieter than my previous iRobot vacuum, so it’s less obtrusive to run when I’m home. And, thanks to a 3D structured light-plus-lasers system, there were no issues with obstacles.

For mopping, it self-fills with clean water, returning to the base during a job to empty the dirty water, detect how dirty the water is and if the job needs to keep running, hot wash the mop pads, and refill clean water. When it’s all done, it again self-cleans the mop pads and dries them, so they aren’t sitting there damp, liable to form mold. The dual mopping pads lift automatically when the robot finds a rug or carpet, and I haven’t found a wet mess on my rugs yet. The mop pads turn quickly to produce an actual scrubbing motion and do a fantastic job of cleaning our laminate floors. I set up the machine while my husband was on vacation, and he commented how clean and shiny the floors looked when he got home, which never happens. 

The Combo portion of this setup includes a handheld vacuum and three attachments. It’s lighter than cordless vacuums that double as handheld machines, making it easy to spot clean quick messes here and there. It takes a few seconds to wind up to full suction, but then it is quite powerful. Unfortunately, that power doesn’t last very long, and you’ll need to charge it up after only about 15 minutes of cleaning. The Combo version also has a very large docking station, so you’ll need plenty of room in your home for this setup.

Specs

• Robot dimensions: 3.7 inches tall by 13.9 inches wide by 12.6 inches deep
• Base dimensions: 20.8 inches tall by 15.5 inches wide by 17.4 inches deep
• Surfaces: Carpets and hard floors
• Bin size: Reported 90 days of dirt
• Water tank size: 4 liters
• Run time: Maximum 210 minutes

Pros

• 3D mapping
• Four cleaning modes: vacuum only, mop only, vacuum before mop, vacuum and mop
• Mop pads lift when not in use
• OMNI station automates emptying, water refilling, and drying
• AI-controlled obstacle avoidance
• Lidar sensor
• YIKO voice assistant
• Wi-Fi connected

Cons

• Pricey
• Durability to be determined

While the Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni Robot Vacuum and Mop isn’t The Jetsons’s Rosey, it’s getting close. This flagship model comes stacked with high-tech features like artificial intelligence to suggest how to clean up a mess, as well as a LiDAR sensor—a type of laser detection and ranging technology used on self-driving cars and other autonomous vehicles. It maps in 3D and can be sent to spot clean by pointing it out on the app. Also, its internal sensor array (rather than the top-mounted version of the T30 above) allows it to slip underneath couches and tables more easily.

It also comes with a voice assistant and can make two-way video calls if you want to see what your pet is up to. We haven’t done an in-home test yet, but we saw a demonstration where the squared-off robot successfully dodged toys, power cords, and expensive short-throw projectors on hardwood, holding a tight line with a wall while also sensing the need to lift its mop pads as it went over a carpet (15mm of lift helps clearance). 

In addition to the kind of tech that can keep a vacuum from knocking over a pet’s water bowl, and 8000Pa suction to get all the stray kibble and undercoat, the X2 Omni has a mode where vacuuming and mopping happen simultaneously. It’s a time saver and a big plus if vacuums stress out your pet (after all, we want to clean up any puppy puddles, not inspire new ones). The dock, dubbed the Omni station, automates a lot of the floor care that most people don’t want to deal with, like emptying the dust bin, refilling the robot’s water tank, and cleaning and drying the dual mop pads after use. The convenience comes at a recommended price of $1,499, but we’ve seen deals that knock that down to a grand.

Specs

• Robot dimensions: 13.8 x 13.9 x 4.06 inches
• Robot weight: 32.19 lbs.
• Base dimensions: 16.1 x 16.5 x 18.5 inches
• Surfaces: Carpet and hard floors
• Bin size: Up to 7 weeks’ worth of debris
• Run time: 180 minutes

Pros

• Robust app and features
• Easy set-up
• Great object detection

Cons

• Smart doesn’t mean error-free
• Expensive
• Doesn’t fully replace a human

I haven’t had the best luck with robovacs. The last one I tested—a Neato D10, which I feel comfortable naming since the company ceased sales operations—was absolutely awful, constantly getting stuck because my apartment is not an empty square box, but rather a place with furniture, shoes strewn around, and charging cords acting as tripwires. I gave the robot a name—Donny Neato—and called him my dumb robot son, as anthropomorphizing him stopped me from throwing him in the dumpster. After donating Donny Neato, I determined that a person controlling the vacuum cleaner was the best option for getting the cleanest clean. I still stand by that, but my roborock S8 MaxV Ultra Robot Vacuum & Sonic Mop, christened Rocky, has done a great job of getting close to what a human can accomplish.

The roborock S8 MaxV Ultra Robot Vacuum & Sonic Mop has 10,000Pa of suction power, so no crumbs are left behind (until they are automatically emptied in the substantial bin/dock), and its FlexiArm side brush gets the nooks and crannies your stick vacuum can’t. The sonic mopping system can scrub a spot 4,000 times per minute, has auto detergent dispensing, and pads lift 20 millimeters above the ground so your carpets remain dry. Speaking of dry, it has hot air self-drying.

The robovac’s obstacle recognition and LiDAR navigation are where it shines. I haven’t had to rescue my vacuum from carpets and corners, and it’s only sucked up a rogue umbrella or wayward cable a handful of times. And it maps out my house and remembers previously detected objects to prevent a fiasco, while getting as close to the edges as robotically possible.

The roborock S8 MaxV Ultra Robot Vacuum & Sonic Mop has pet-friendly features that I did not utilize since my cat, JunkJunk, is terrified of all vacuums. Video Call lets you check on pets by scheduling automated cruises to track down Fido and/or Fluffy and enjoy two-way video calls. Pet Snaps lets the S8 MaxV Ultra capture snapshots of furry companions during cleanups. The app also has a button that makes the S8 MaxV Ultra track down your pet like it’s Kyle Reese (or the T-800), your furry friend is Sarah Connor, and you just want to say, “Don’t knock that over if you want to live.” You can actually say, “Hello Rocky,” to start and adjust cleaning once everything is set up properly.

Although it’s a smart robovac, it’s still a little dumb sometimes. Even at $1,799, these things aren’t perfect. Rocky has had a hard time getting back onto her base more than once. She’s eaten the computer charger to my boyfriend’s work computer (OK, anti-capitalist queen!). She hasn’t mastered utilizing her mop. But, as someone who loves saving time and trouble by having an assistant do a scheduled daily sweep that gets the litter and dust bunnies, she’s perfect.

Specs

• Robot dimensions: 3.5 inches tall by 12.3 inches wide
• Robot weight: 8.2 pounds
• Base dimensions: 19 inches tall by 11.5 inches wide by 15 inches deep
• Surfaces: Carpets and hard floors
• Bin size: 60 days of dirt
• Run time: Maximum 120 minutes

Pros

• Self-emptying design
• Three levels of cleaning
• Smart mapping
• D-shaped robot
• Dual rubber brushes
• Customizable no-go zones
• Alexa, Siri, and Google voice assistant compatible
• WiFi connected

Cons

• Pricey
• Noisy
• Some app complaints

So many intelligent features are packed in the iRobot Roomba s9+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum that they’re hard to list. The WiFi-connected robot features smart mapping, programmable no-go zones, and the ability to send it out for spot cleaning. It is also compatible with many voice assistants, including the big three: Alexa, Siri, and Google.

The black-and-bronze robot effortlessly weaves through furniture. Its D-shape allows it to maneuver into corners better than some round machines we’ve tested. Its various sensors help it dodge socks and toys we fail to pick up. The powerful suction and dual rubber brushes easily pick up large debris and ably pull up dog hair ground into the carpet. Occasionally, it leaves a wad of fur in its wake when it goes to empty the bin, but it often picks it up as it shimmies through a second sweep (though not always). Not all robot vacuums have self-emptying bases, but pet owners will find it well worth it to avoid handling a mix of fur and floor grunge. The Roomba s9+ empties itself into a bag, which may need frequent replacing in a high-fluff house.

When the Roomba s9+ debuted, it was the top-of-the-line vacuum with a matching price of $1,000. However, Roomba has released new models and dropped the cost of the s9+ considerably, making it a better value. It can also be linked to iRobot’s Braava Robot Mop (included in our best Roombas guide). Users report two main complaints: the app has occasional weirdness, like losing maps, and both the 2500Pa robot and its dock are loud.

Specs

• Robot weight: 12.2 pounds
• Base dimensions: 11.4 inches tall by 18.5 inches wide by 13.4 inches deep
• Surfaces: Carpets and hard floors
• Bin size: 30 days of dirt
• Run time: Maximum 60 minutes

Pros

• Self-emptying base
• Bagless
• Room mapping
• Google and Alexa compatible
• WiFi connected
• Can schedule cleaning

Cons

• Noisy
• Not great at edges and corners
• Some users have difficulty with the app

You don’t have to drop a fortune to get a self-emptying base for a robot vacuum. The Shark RV912S EZ Robot Vacuum with Self-Empty Base is an older but reliable model that empties itself into a bin with no bag. Just dump the container after about a month of cleanings. The EZ Robot goes row by row to clean a room and can resume a cleaning where it left off should it recharge before the room is done. Google Assistant, Alexa, or the app can be used to control and schedule cleanings, though some users report issues with the app connecting. The round bot is a little clunky. It has a built-in bumper, which is good because it sometimes bumps into furniture.

Specs

• Robot dimensions: 4 inches tall by 13 inches wide by 14 inches deep
• Robot weight: 7.5 pounds
• Surfaces: Hard floors, low- to medium-pile carpets
• Run time: 130 minutes

Pros

• Vacuums and mops
• Two-tank system
• Uses cleaning solution specially designed for wood floors
• Donates money to support homeless pets with every purchase
• Cleans with reusable pads
• Can schedule cleaning
• WiFi connected
• Quiet

Cons

• No mapping
• Sometimes bumps into furniture
• Must use Bissell cleaners or warranty is voided

Bissell has long made wet/dry vacuums, but the Bissell SpinWave Hard Floor Expert Pet Robot, 2-in-1 Wet Mop and Dry Robot Vacuum is its first robot that does both. Swap in the dry tank to have it vacuum, or put in the water tank to mop with two spinning, washable pads. This versatility helps out pet parents with a lot of hard floors to keep clean. At this mid-range price, the SpinWave delivers more than expected, like an app that offers customized cleaning priorities, the option to build a cleaning schedule, and quiet operation.

Even though it doesn’t have advanced mapping features, the SpinWave cleans in tidy rows instead of bumping around randomly. The mopping mode avoids carpets with a soft surface sensor and is safe for hardwood floors, vinyl, and tile. The SpinWave also uses Bissell’s range of proprietary cleaners instead of the plain water most robot mops suggest. However, the solution evaporates rather than being suctioned up, so furry friends should be kept out until dry.

Specs

• Robot dimensions: 2.9 inches tall by 12.8 inches wide by 12.8 inches deep
• Robot weight: 5.7 pounds
• Surfaces: Carpets and hard floors
• Run time: Maximum 100 minutes

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Quiet
• Remote control
• Amazon Echo compatible

Cons

• Not “smart”

Look no further than the eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 11S MAX for an affordable robot vacuum. It’s a bit old-school because it doesn’t map or go row by row. Instead, it cuts a random path through a room but features anti-collision technology and drop-sensors so it doesn’t fall down stairs. It has about 100 minutes of cleaning time, 2000Pa of suction, and is relatively quiet. It’s also under three inches tall, easily fitting under couches where fluff transforms into dust bunnies. At around $250 (and often on sale), it’s a highly rated model for people looking for simple operation without apps or cameras.

As robot vacuums have become more common, their prices have dropped while the features you can get for your money have increased. Entry-level robot vacuums can start around $100, but they’re often made by obscure or unknown brands and have that erratic, bump-and-go style. Determine your budget and think about how smart—or not—you want the robot to be. Remember that more expensive connected smart-home models often have advanced features, like sophisticated sensors, voice control, and mapping technology.

In the robot vacuum world, short kings reign supreme. It’s worth measuring low furniture to see how much clearance is available. Can a robot move freely under a platform bed, or will it get trapped? A robot’s shape can impact cleaning, too. D-shaped or squared-off bots can get closer to corners and edges than round ones.

A regular vacuum can live in a closet or a spare corner, but a robot vacuum needs space around its dock. Manufacturers’ guidance varies, but they often recommend a foot and a half to three feet of space on either side of the dock and four feet of empty space in front of it. And you’ll need a power plug.

All smart tech comes with privacy concerns; robot vacuums are no different. Robots that map our homes are inherently collecting private data. Devices that connect to WiFi open the possibility of that data being accessed by someone else by accident or design. The advanced cameras some models use to map and identify objects also capture images of our home’s interior and potentially our family members. If this freaks you out, opt for a bot that doesn’t connect to the internet or has cameras, but it won’t be able to avoid pet waste.

Your pet’s reaction will be highly individual. The internet is full of videos of cats triumphantly riding robot vacuums and dogs barking aggressively at them. My doggo gives robot vacuums plenty of space, preferring to monitor them from the top of a couch and occasionally giving them a suspicious sniff when they’re docked. She doesn’t care for traditional vacuums, either.

After stories of a Roomba smearing dog poo went viral back in 2016, iRobot unveiled a P.O.O.P. (Pet Owner Official Promise) for select models to replace a vacuum if it runs over solid waste. Since then, many manufacturers released models with avoidance technology, like advanced cameras and artificial intelligence, but those aren’t standard features.

Pet hair and human hair can both get stuck in a robot vacuum, though rubber rollers seem to avoid this better than bristle brushes. Like all vacuums, regular maintenance will be required to keep brushes, rollers, filters, and bins from getting clogged.

• Best overall: ECOVACS Deebot T30S Combo
• Best splurge: roborock S8 MaxV Ultra Robot Vacuum & Sonic Mop
• Best value: iRobot Roomba s9+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum
• Best self-emptying: Shark RV912S EZ Robot Vacuum with Self-Empty Base
• Best for hardwood floors: Bissell SpinWave Hard Floor Expert Pet Robot, 2-in-1 Wet Mop and Dry Robot Vacuum
• Best budget: eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 11S MAX

Robot vacuums were practically made for pet owners, saving time and effort. While we think the self-emptying base, advanced mapping features, and ability to block out no-go zones make iRobot Roomba s9+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum the best overall pick for a robot vacuum, all of the options on this list can ably cut down fur and dander without a ton of human effort.

The post The best robot vacuums for pet hair in 2024 appeared first on Popular Science.

Hundreds of homes in the Rancho Palos Verdes community are without power as a safety measure after Southern California Edison deemed the area at risk due to land movement.

According to an article by Lisa Jacobs in the Daily Breeze, the Southern California Gas Company first shut off service to 135 homes in July. Now, Edison will cut off power to 140 more homes in Portuguese Bend and 105 in Seaview.

City officials issued evacuation warnings to the affected homes. “Residents were warned not to use water or plumbing after the electricity is shut off for fear of triggering a sewage spill in the area.” SoCalGas cut off natural gas service to some homes in late July, while Cal Water says it will continue providing water service to the area.

As Jacobs notes, “The steady, creeping landslide has rattled the Rancho Palos Verdes community for many months. Just this week, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council extended a local emergency, spurred by the land movement that increased following the heavy rains that impacted the area starting in the spring of 2023.” Meanwhile, a group of residents is suing the city and and government agencies, claiming they failed to protect residents and contributed to the landslide damage by not acting sooner.

• Rancho Palos Verdes
• Landslides
• Coastal Erosion
• Displacement

The last of four dams on the Klamath River on the border between California and Oregon was demolished last week, signaling the completion of the nation’s largest-ever dam removal project.

As Rachel Ramirez explains in an article for CNN, “The removal of the four hydroelectric dams — Iron Gate Dam, Copco Dams 1 and 2, and JC Boyle Dam — allows the region’s iconic salmon population to swim freely along the Klamath River and its tributaries, which the species have not been able to do for over a century since the dams were built.”

The project is hailed as a victory for local tribal nations such as the Yurok, who have been fighting for the dams’ removal for decades. Although the dams were built to produce hydroelectric power, they only contributed 2 percent or less of PacifiCorp’s energy supply. Mark Bransom, chief executive officer of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, says the corporation will now engage in further restoration work that includes the planting of almost 16 billion native plant seeds in the Klamath Basin.

• Dam Removal
• Dams
• Klamath River
• Klamath River Renewal Corp.
• Salmon
• Native Americans
• Tribal Fisheries
• Tribal Lands
• Yurok
• Conservation
• Hydroelectric Dams