Risk implies a true and real potential for peril. Free climbing, sword swallowing, darting across the six lanes of the West Side Highway against the light: These are all things for which the question isn’t if something bad is going to happen, but when. They are also nonstarters for a generally cautious person like me. When we were recording the episode of the PopSci podcast The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week that accompanies this issue, Executive Editor Rachel Feltman resurfaced a quote that, for years, has had me second-guessing my second guesses: “Running into a pole is a drag, but never being allowed to run into a pole is a disaster....

From abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ essays on the horrors of slavery to ad hoc social media footage of police brutality, the documentation of brutality against Black people is nothing new. But in this era, in which the power of a camera lies at nearly everyone’s fingertips, the stories have taken a visceral, viral turn. On March 3, 1991, George Holliday stood on a balcony across from Hansen Dam Park in Los Angeles, filming four officers as they beat and tased Rodney King....

Samsung’s long-awaited VR headset is ready to enter the rift. Starting today, the Oculus-ready system is available for pre-order, and will ship later this month. A lighter-weight version of the developer models is already out in the world. Gear VR enhances a (Samsung-only) smart-phone experience. You’ll be looking at the phone’s screen and using its processor for the games and videos you play and watch, but the headset itself is built with more sensitive and responsive motion trackers than the phones are really capable of housing....

Now he’s put out a book of sand imagery, along with colleagues Carol Kiely, an adjunct professor at Lehigh University, and Kate Clover, a gallery program manager at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul. Kiely worked with NASA in 2008 to examine lunar dust particles collected during the Apollo missions, and ended up using Greenburg’s technique to capture some spectacular images. Clover grew up on white sand beaches and formed a love for geology....

The leaf blower pushes air through its nozzle at 530 cubic feet per minute, or CFM. A mid-level leaf blower offers between 200-400 CFM, making this one a good pick for a larger yard. The blower includes a high-efficiency brushless motor that reduces vibrations, extends motor life, and allows the blower to run for a longer amount of time. At the same time, it keeps the whole tool relatively light and compact at 7....

Those may not be the bargain basement TV prices you’re used to during an event like Prime Day, but OLED TVs are different. Rather than relying on a series of larger backlights illuminating the entire picture, each pixel in an OLED display illuminates itself. That means individual pixels can turn all the way off when they’re not needed to create extra-deep black levels that make color and contrast truly pop....

We don’t keep great track of these folks, but 28 states maintain counts of how many kindergarteners enter school undervaccinated, and how many of those have exemptions their parents applied for based on religious or philosophical objections. Of those states, 26 have MMR vaccine coverage under the herd immunity threshold of 95 percent (meaning that not enough people are vaccinated to reliably keep measles from spreading). But if every kid without an exemption got vaccinated, the CDC estimates that 20 of those states could get over the threshold....

In 2013, a team of Polish biologists, led by Wojciech Czechowski, stumbled across a huge population of wood ants trapped inside an abandoned munitions bunker in western Poland, originally built in the ’60s to store nuclear weapons. Hundreds of thousands of unlucky insects had apparently wandered too far from their nearby nest and managed to fall into an open ventilation pipe. This accidental trapdoor dropped the ants into a sealed chamber with no light, heat, or food sources....

Captured by NASA on January 20, this image shows the central part of North America, covering an area from Mexico almost to Canada, and bounded by the Rockies in the left of the picture, and Western Florida and the Great Lakes to the right. You’ll be forgiven for not seeing all that at first glance as the majority of the picture is obscured by the four horsemen of the apocalypse a giant swath of snow, ice, wind, and cold....

Rosy-cheeked Santa Claus may be the physical embodiment of holiday cheer, but the snow-coated fantasy of the big guy in the red suit isn’t without tension. Between eggnog and Christmas carols, parents are plagued by philosophical and psychological considerations: Should you share seasonal untruths about that portly fellow from the North Pole in the first place? And if you do, when is the right time to confess no one’s shimmying down chimneys to deliver gifts—that there was never anything magical about Christmas morning at all?...

Yet, determining the best skincare routine can be a daunting task. Estimated at $141 billion, the skincare industry produces countless serums, moisturizers, cleansers, toners, and more that promise to fix everything from eczema to hyperpigmentation. Deciphering strange ingredients on the backs of bottles can be overwhelming—and consulting with a dermatologist is the best way to be sure you’re doing what’s right for the skin you’re in—but understanding the structure of skin, how these products work, and the chemistry behind them can help you navigate the available options on your own....

Perhaps the most buzzed-about change is “clips,” a video creation and sharing tool Slack teased and began testing last year. The update—which is rolling out for those on the service’s paid plans—lets users create audio, video, and screen recordings within the platform that can be shared across channels or in direct messages. For example, a manager could record a brief video explaining goals for their division, then share that in a dedicated Slack channel with their team....

Microsoft’s Surface lineup can do a wide range of tasks, making them an excellent investment for anyone who often engages in digital work. But if you’re not ready to throw your money on one just yet, you may want to look into buying a refurbished unit. For a limited time, you can take advantage of this deal on the refurbished Microsoft Surface 3, and bring it home for under $250....

The EcoFlow DELTA Power Station brings dynamic power and versatility to all of your charging needs with its innovative technology and it helps you tackle better energy conservation in 2023. The best part is the power station is now price-dropped at nearly 30 percent off for the Same You, New Green Mindset event. Recognized as one of the most technically advanced power station brands and successfully funded on Kickstarter, The EcoFlow DELTA Power Station packs quite the punch for mobile efficiency....

“These data suggest that natural protective immunity to this virus indeed exists,” says Dan Barouch, a coauthor of the two studies and the director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “These studies are good news and overall they increase our optimism that the development of a vaccine is likely going to be possible.” At this point, little is known about how our immune systems respond to COVID-19....

The ReCardio system retrofits standard exercise equipment to capture energy from the machine and send voltage directly back to the utility grid. An installation in Gainesville on 15 elliptical machines has already created more than 200 kilowatt-hours without a minute of required maintenance. Progress Energy, a Florida utility company, agreed this week to split the bill with the University of Florida for installations on 40 machines, with the potential for more....

Of course, the beauty of these tiny tech marvels is that they can feel personal and also appeal to the masses. In that spirit, Popular Science proudly presents its favorite crowd-approved GIFs of 2019. Netflix’s I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson became a viral sensation, but perhaps the most famous sketch is the “Focus Group,” featuring character actor Ruben Rabasa. In the short but hilarious segment, he suggests a car with “a good steering wheel that doesn’t fly off your hand while you’re driving,” makes fun of another group member, Paul, and stands by his ideas even as others vehemently oppose them....

The best weather apps you can put on your phone Thanks to climate change, the Earth’s weather is getting a whole lot weirder. You might think a simple glimpse out the window is enough to inform you of Mother Nature’s plans for the day, but she’s not playing by the old rules anymore. If you don’t want to be caught in a sudden snow squall or drenched by a downpour while grilling in the backyard, you’ll need a reliable source of weather information....

But the New York Giants weren’t the only losers last night. Fandango’s movie ticket pre-sale provided much trouble for anxious Star Wars: Episode VII fans, including your author. As I noted in my post yesterday, the whole plan was that the tickets were supposed to be available for purchase following the Star Wars: Episode VII trailer premiering at halftime. As it turned out, the pre-sale tickets were actually available earlier than that, as observed by some news sites and some lucky Star Wars ticket buyers, meaning some fans were able to secure their tickets far before halftime hit....

And now: we’re coming clean about the products that’ll make your digs shine, from inventive tech to the stand-bys we swear by. Cleaning doesn’t have to be a chore—especially if there are robots. Which there are. So many robots. Sometimes elbow grease doesn’t cut it. Connect the Brush Hero Wheel water-powered brush to your hose or shower to cut through tougher build-up with ups to 15 pounds of turning force....