Materials Mini breadboard6 candle-flicker LEDs (2 red and 4 yellow)6 100-ohm resistors2 NPN transistorsInfrared phototransistor5-kilohm resistorJumper wires3 AAA battery box with switch3 alkaline AAA batteries Tools Side-cutting pliersWire strippers Instructions This article originally appeared in the October 2015 issue of Popular Science, under the title “Build a Flameless Hack-o’-Lantern.”
Researchers estimate that in the US alone, more than 1 million wild birds die every day from collisions with glass windows, doors, and buildings. The real number may be as much as three times larger. This human-borne problem requires humans to solve it, and there’s no better time than migration season to make the buildings you occupy less hazardous to birds. The best way to keep birds away from clear glass windows is to turn off all interior lights at night....
Such multi-day excursions include the classic family road trip, which can be intimidating due to the logistics of planning mealtimes, sleep times, and activities to keep your kid entertained while away from the comfort of your home, not to mention all of the unknown variables that may arise. As someone who has logged thousands of miles with my little one across the continental US, including a cross-country drive, I have learned what it takes to keep young passengers active and engaged....
Laboratory studies have shown that prolonged exposure to high-intensity blue light damages retinal cells in mice. But epidemiological studies on real people tell a different story. As an assistant professor at The Ohio State University College of Optometry, I teach and conduct vision research, including work with retinal eye cells. I also see patients in the college’s teaching clinics. Often, my patients want to know how they can keep their eyes healthy despite looking at a computer screen all day....
Sometimes the most basic projects are the most ingenious. So we’re looking for projects that are simple, useful, and (of course) quick. The subject and materials are wide-open: it can be anything with a science, technology or productivity element to it, from DIY iPod docks to a level made from a laser pointer. Here are a few examples from past issues to give you an idea about what works: – Noise-canceling earbuds – Musical cash stash – Greenhouse made from CD cases Things to keep in mind before you begin: Make sure the project truly takes about five minutes to do....
Hide replies Twitter introduced this feature in 2019, but you still may not be familiar with it. If you click (or tap) the three dots next to a reply to one of your tweets, you’ll see a Hide reply option. This won’t delete the reply, but it’ll disappear and anyone viewing your tweet (including you) will see only a small icon that indicates the existence of hidden replies. Viewers will need an extra click to actually see them, though....
And it’s not that deleting your Facebook account is hard. It only requires you to go to the account deletion page on your computer or in the app, click on “Delete My Account,” and enter your password. After a two-week cooling-off period—designed to give you the chance to reconsider—your information disappears from the platform. Allegedly. I want out because Facebook is a privacy nightmare. It has constantly failed to meet user expectations and has a long history of privacy issues....
While great for standard lighting and security applications, hobbyists can use these sensors to control a wide range of electronics. Don’t worry if you don’t have a microprocessor or any experience with this kind of tech; you can have fun and improve your life with PIR sensors no matter your skill level. Microcontroller not required While PIR sensors can be used with Arduino and other microcontroller boards, those best-suited for hobby use (the kind with a white golf ball-like semi-sphere lens, electrical connectors called headers, and a pair of potentiometer knobs) are smart enough to perform simple tasks without any programming....
A motorcycle trip can be whatever you want it to be. Want to go somewhere new and different? There’s no better way to take in the sights than from the seat of a motorcycle. Maybe you want to reconnect with old friends or visit your folks. Whatever compels you to take a few days (or more) to get out and ride, proper planning can make the experience a lot more fun....
Apple security basics You should be putting up strong barriers at every door into your Apple world. That means a long, unique password on your MacBook, a lengthy PIN on your iPhone, and a long, unique password for your iCloud account. Passwords should contain a mix of lowercase and uppercase letters, plus special characters and numbers, to make them as difficult to crack as possible. (And no, “Passw0rd!” isn’t good enough....
Your computer is not as secure as you think. If you use it to store sensitive information—think tax forms, legal documents, and other files—you need to take extra steps to keep that data safe from prying eyes. Protect files on your computer Stashing sensitive files on your computer is much more convenient than hoarding stacks of papers in filing cabinets. But just as you lock your filing cabinet with a key, you need to lock those digital files so thieves and hackers can’t access them....
There are lots of reasons why you might want to take a screenshot on your computer or phone: to prove you finally completed that video game, to record a website layout for safe keeping, or even to make some desktop wallpaper from your favorite movie. Whatever the reason, here’s how to get it done on all the major platforms, whether it’s Windows, macOS, Android, or iOS. How to take a screenshot on Windows There are other keyboard shortcuts to know about which make use of the Windows key (if your keyboard has one): press Windows+PrtScn and the shot will be automatically saved into a Screenshots folder within your account’s Pictures folder....
For any online video: Kast Kast is the most comprehensive video-watching option here, but it comes with a price. The free tier only lets you invite people to watch whatever’s available on free Kast TV, but sign up for the base membership ($10 per year) and you unlock the ability to share your screen with your virtual party guests—even if they have a free account. There’s also a premium level ($78 per year) that offers additional perks such as HD screen sharing....
Formula One’s hybrid engines definitely bring the innovation, but they’re a bit short on sensory thrill. “That’s the slightly embarrassing thing,” Ross Brawn, Formula One’s managing director of motorsports, tells me later that day from a hermetically white hospitality room two buildings and a road removed from the circuit. “Everyone remembers how great the cars used to sound.” Another V-8 screams down the track, its wail piercing our air-conditioned sanctum, and he fights a smile....
In a study published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences researchers looked at the fossilized remains of 95 species found in a flooded cave in the Bahamas. Of that motley assortment of fish, reptiles, birds and mammals, 39 species are now extinct. How did they get that way? The scientists found that 17 of those (all birds) died out between 15,000 and 9,000 years ago, just at the end of the last ice age....
Scientists aren’t sure how these critters will fare on the Red Planet, however, and an essay published recently in Microbial Ecology says that’s a big problem. Most talk of microbes in space has previously focused on how we might avoid littering alien worlds with our stowaway species, but the authors of this new paper argue that contamination is inevitable. Instead of speculating on how to minimize an astronaut’s microbial footprint, they say, the space community will eventually need to focus on harnessing the critters to work for us....
Headphones Choosing a favorite pair of headphones from 2019 was difficult, but in the end, Sony’s noise-canceling WH-1000xM3 headphones took the prize. Not only are they lightweight and incredibly comfortable, they also have advanced, customizable noise-cancellation features to better suit your listening experience. When you’re setting up the headphones, you can choose to turn on options like “Adaptive Sound Control,” which listens to your environment and automatically adjusts to ambient noise....
I was classically trained in piano for about twelve years, and this stupid little gadget has immediately negated all of my hard work. The Gocen, created by a team at the Tokyo Metropolitan University, is a scanner which can read hand-written sheet music, interpret it, and play back in real time as you wave the scanner over each bar. It can even read words like “piano” and “guitar” to distinguish between instruments, or interpret which key the piece is in, and it decides volume based on the size of the note....
On Wednesday, California suspended its mandatory drought restrictions, saying that the state is turning over responsibility of the water restrictions to individual communities, letting them set their own restrictions based on their water budgets, with the state only stepping in if the budgets are unrealistically optimistic. But how can a community keep track of its water budget? IBM’s Watson program has already beaten Jeopardy!, invented its own recipes, assisted in treating patients with chronic conditions, and is currently used by over 80,000 developers....
How exactly does meat consumption affect the environment? Red meat production, which includes all of the steps that go into supplying the animals that turn into hamburgers, takes a toll on the environment in the form of greenhouse gases and the land we use. “Red meat production has major impacts on almost every aspect of [the] environment,” says Walter Willett, a Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard. “The greenhouse gas production is probably one of the most serious and acute because it’s apparent that our planet is warming faster than anybody anticipated even just a few years ago....
