When you turn on a brand-new computer, you expect the latest cutting-edge technology, from stunning pictures to crystal-clear audio. While your experience will be satisfactory straight out of the box, desktop operating systems like Windows and macOS cater to the interests and preferences of the majority of users, which may or may not be the…
“Emily,” one of my girlfriends who enjoys tinkering with her health, just purchased the ura Ring, a clever little device. It appears to be a regular silver ring from the outside, but it’s actually laced with sensors that track heart rate, breathing, temperature, body mobility, and other factors. On her iPhone, algorithms are analyzing data…
Intense auroral emissions from the universe’s tiniest stars may offer a new technique to search for rocky planets that would otherwise go unnoticed. Bursts of radio waves can be produced as a planet passes through its star’s magnetic field. The event is similar to one that scientists have been studying attentively right here in our…
Note from the Editor (10/8/21): One of the writers of this 2006 study, David Julius, is a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2021 for discoveries into how the human body feels temperature and touch. The pain was throbbing, itching, aching, stabbing, stinging, pounding, and piercing. Pain has a variety of…
The Federal Communications Commission has unveiled its first set of proposed cybersecurity guidelines from the Biden administration. The FCC proposes to solve a severe problem known as SIM swapping, a frequent kind of digital identity theft that is nearly impossible to prevent. “Unfortunately, this is a case where government regulation is required,” says Allison Nixon,…
DARPA successfully demonstrated a hypersonic missile last week. The missile fell briefly after being launched from a plane, but then its strong engine accelerated it to Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. Hypersonic vehicles travel at speeds more than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. This missile just sped…
With high-profile data breaches making headlines regularly, you may be asking what you can do to protect your data. As it turns out, the answer is quite a bit. We’ve already talked about how to keep your Facebook, Google, and other accounts safe. It’s now Apple’s turn. If you’re an Apple lover, you’re likely to…
We rely on our smartphones to keep connected to the rest of the world. However, the more apps we download, the more notifications we receive, and the flurry of incoming alerts can make it impossible to pick out the changes that are important to us—or to focus on anything else. It’s critical to manage the…
Raul Puente-Martinez has been punctured by cacti needles on numerous occasions. He’s been studying prickly pears and chollas, which are known for their barbed spines, for decades as a research botanist and curator of living collections at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. The worst cholla attack he’s ever seen happened while he was hiking…
When you want to log into Facebook, Gmail, or iCloud, your password doesn’t work, and you can’t access your most critical online accounts. This worst-case scenario could make you feel nauseous and helpless. Fortunately, you have options when it comes to dealing with digital vandalism. If you’ve been locked out of your accounts, major internet…