Unfortunately, we can’t just send a bunch of wooden planks and roofing shingles to Mars. That would be crazy expensive, and probably not all that protective against the radiation that constantly bombards Mars’ surface. Instead, we’ll have to use materials at hand. That’s why scientists at Northwestern University are whipping up batches of concrete made from ‘martian’ soil–and it doesn’t even require any precious water. To make their martian concrete, doctoral candidate Lin Wan and colleagues heated up sulfur—a common component on Mars—past its melting point of 240 degrees Fahrenheit, then mixed in a simulated Martian soil....

On a work trip to Ghana, Juni (whose sweet tooth was legendary) went looking for a place to buy ice cream at seven a.m. After reminding her that she was in West Africa, her colleagues asked why on earth she wanted ice cream for breakfast. “Because I’m a grown woman, and I can eat whatever I want,” she replied. When Juni tells that story now, she shakes her head in disbelief....

The first phase of development is to create the sensors for detecting humans and to conduct feasibility experiments. Then comes the building of a prototype with fully functional sensors. At that point, a third phase would try to establish whether a pack of such robots — about three to five in number — could realistically be used for missions involving, according to the proposal, “search and rescue, fire-fighting, reconnaissance, and automated biological, chemical, and radiation sensing with mobile platforms....

You can start by picking up these pet products designed to help you care for them better: DNA My Dog Breed Identification Test Unsure about your dog’s actual breed? With a quick cheek swab, this award-winning DNA kit fills you in on your pet’s DNA composition, breed mix, predisposition to disease, and more, allowing you to know and care for them better. Normally $79, it’s on sale for $59.99....

Incurring DOMS is normal, but the good news is you can make it bearable with a massage. You can even do the massage yourself with a tool like the Restore-32 Massage Gun, which is designed to deliver effective deep tissue massage, ideal for muscle soreness and post-workout therapy. As you can tell by the name, Restore-32 is specifically built to help restore your aching muscles. Its pulsating action provides percussive therapy, which not only soothes muscle pain but also helps facilitate blood circulation....

In 2010, a friend and I started the Richmond Grows Seed Lending Library. It’s a lot like a regular library, but instead of books, we lend packets of seeds. You can check them out, plant them at home, and harvest new ones that you’re welcome to return to us for the next person to use. A century ago, just about every farmer in this country saved seeds from their crops to replant the following year....

As sociologist-in-residence at the Scarehouse, Kerr also uses her findings to help design the attraction for maximum horror. But Kerr’s work is about more than achieving the maximum air during a jump scare. While fear is generally regarded as a negative emotion—albeit one that has helped us survive as a species—her latest research suggests that it can also do wonders for your mood and, paradoxically, help you relax. People who chose to go through a frightening experience came out feeling happier and less stressed, she and her colleague at the University of Pittsburgh found....

However, design programs don’t come cheap, so the moment they’re on sale, it’s best to take advantage. Right now, you can score extra savings on these already discounted apps and courses during our Your Bundle, Your Way sale. You can combine two of these deals and save 20% off with code YOURWAY20 as long as your cart totals $49 or more. Or, you can purchase all three deals for 30% off with code YOURWAY30....

When North Korea tested their second nuclear device in 2009, Seismologists Paul Richards and Won-Young Kim from the Earth Institute of Columbia University compared the readings with data from North Korea’s first nuclear test, in 2006. The Earth Institute wrote at the time: For this latest test, Won-Young Kim says “Based on a standard formula between body-wave magnitude and yield (on hard rock site and fully coupled explosion), it would be about 3....

For decarbonization to work, it’ll mean building in energy storage so that grids are functional when renewable sources aren’t readily available. Doing so will mean expanding lithium battery storage for renewable sources like wind or solar energy. Thankfully, that technology is becoming more and more accessible. According to a Yale Environment 360 report, the country saw a record 1.2 gigawatts of battery storage installed in 2020. That number is expected to increase within the next few years to a little more than 7 gigawatts by 2025....

Chinese smartphone maker Meizu, however, took the concept of a sealed phone another step. There are no physical buttons. There are no ports. There isn’t even a slot for the SIM card. As a result, the phone is IP68 rated when it comes to water and dust resistance, which means it can sit in up to five feet of water for a half hour and still be fine. It looks pretty cool, too....

First, a disclaimer: while studies in mice and rats show a slew of health benefits—including weight loss—from intermittent fasting, there’s less research on whether those same benefits also apply to humans. “At this point, the group we have the most research in outside of animals are people who are overweight or obese, not as much in people who are a healthy weight,” says Colleen Tewksbury, a senior research investigator and bariatric program manager at Penn Medicine....

Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0, $224.99 (Was $399.99) The Bonfire 2.0 is a mid-sized fire pit with a unique design that continually circulates airflow and burns off smoke before it would reach you. Some smoke will still come up, but not enough to become a bother. As your wood burns, its ash falls into a removable pan, which you can easily discard once the fire pit has fully cooled off. We’re recommending the Bonfire 2....

From the 1960s to the ’80s, Monty Hall, host of Let’s Make a Deal, presented this puzzle: Players had to choose among three doors. Two hid a gag gift (like a goat); the third, a prize (say, a car). Simple, but the game preys on how we handle predictions and outcomes. After the contestant chooses a door—say, door one—the all-knowing host would often open a remaining door. Say he picks two: a goat....

That’s not stopping GM from building the largest solar array in the world at their factory in Zaragoza, Spain. With 85,000 modules on the roof (compared to only about 10,000 at Google) covering an area as big as a small town (about 44 acres), GM plans to pump 10 megawatts of power into the assembly plant, which builds 480,000 vehicles per year. Partnering with Clairvoyant Energy (a company that designs photovoltaic solar devices) and Veolia Environmental (an energy management company based in Paris), the array will be completed by October 1....

With its top- and side-firing speakers, this new Sony flagship is ready to delight home viewers searching for a 7.1.2 system that won’t take up the entire room. Support for all the latest object-based, immersive audio formats—Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio, etc.—makes movies and music pop within a larger spatial context. The HT-A7000’s internal digital signal processing (DSP) also upconverts any audio to make full use of its speaker array....

Wireless shooters have been around since Kodak’s EasyShare-One debuted in 2005 (and won a PopSci Best of What’s New award). Subsequently Canon, Nikon and Panasonic have offered Wi-Fi models. And Eye-Fi (another BOWN winner) adds wireless to any camera with an SD card slot. But none of these setups provides a browser that lets you log into any commercial Wi-Fi hotspots that require you to enter a credit card number or even free ones that still require you to click on a terms-of-service acknowledgment button....

This week, Sony is launching a new camera aimed specifically at YouTubers. The ZV-1 looks a lot like the compact RX-100, which is about the size of a bar of soap and has a built-in zoom lens that you can’t swap out. If you’re familiar with camera terminology, it offers the same zoom range you’d get out of a 24-70mm lens on a full-frame camera. That puts it slightly wider than the typical smartphone camera when zoomed out, but not as wide as the ultra-wide cameras found on smartphones like the iPhone 11 Pro....

The mission, called Demo-1, is currently set to launch at 2:49 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. As of Tuesday, NASA officials give an 80 percent chance of favorable weather. In case any problems arise, a backup date of March 5 has been set as well. As part of Demo-1, Crew Dragon will dock to the space station on March 3 (around 6:00 a....

The Biden Administration rolled out a plan in February to provide $8 billion to numerous states around the country to produce, process, and store hydrogen as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Applications for the funding opened up this month, and the Department of Energy is working on deciding where it will be awarded to. The vast majority of the hydrogen currently produced in the US goes into the industrial processes like creating ammonia fertilizer and refining petroleum....