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Best portable: Lasko 7050 Misto Outdoor Misting FanBest battery-operated: RYOBI 18-Volt ONE+ Bucket Top Misting Fan KitBest outdoor oscillating fan: NewAir AF-600 Outdoor Misting FanBest wall-mounted: HydroMist 18-inch Shrouded Oscillating FanBest budget: HOMENOTE Fan Misting Kit for a Cool Patio Breeze Who needs an outdoor misting fan? Summer can be brutal. Not only uncomfortable, but high temperatures can also be dangerous for plants, pets, and people. It starts with inconvenient sweating that can lead to dehydration....

No one wants to lug around extra source components like a Blu-ray player, so many of the best portable projectors accept HD or 4K content from streaming sticks, SD cards, or USB keys. In fact, some projectors have smart TV and streaming capabilities built in. A well-rounded portable projector also delivers surprisingly robust audio—again, who wants to haul speakers when you can have all the equipment built into one device?...

So whether you’re looking for a boost when bulking or just a way to stay a little healthier, the best protein powder can be a great place to start. There are many options out there, so we’ve put together a short guide to help you find the best protein powder for your lifestyle. Best for beginners: Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein PowderBest casein: Kaged Muscle Kasein Protein PowderBest vegan: Garden of Life Raw Organic ProteinBest with caffeine: PB2 PerformanceBest hydrolyzed: Dymatize ISO100 Hydrolyzed Whey Protein PowderBest flavored: KOS Chocolate Peanut Butter Plant-Based Protein PowderBest budget: Muscle Milk...

Best overall: Bissell MultiClean Wet Dry VacBest powerful: Ridgid WD1450 Wet Dry VacBest mini: Armor All 2.5 Gallon Wet Dry VacuumBest cordless: Milwaukee 0880-20 Wet Dry VacBest budget: Stanley SL18910P-3 How we chose the best shop vacs In short, the best shop vac can do just about anything. Sometimes referred to as bucket vacuums, these machines resemble little R2D2s. Used most often in construction, shop vacuums are durable enough to suck up dust, dirt, and most other debris found at a worksite....

Purchasing the best smart sprinkler controller is a luxury, to be sure and it’s not as if it’s impossible to properly irrigate your grass without one. But it will optimize the process, adjusting automatically to rainfall and drastically decreasing the amount of time you spend worrying about—and watering—your lawn. So, if an irrigation controller is a luxury you can afford, keep reading for more information on the tool that could very well transform (and shrink!...

Smart thermostats offer easy access to your home’s environmental controls. Some include easy-to-use manual interfaces or connect to multiple room sensors for more precise temperature control. The best smart thermostats offer heating and cooling schedules, adapt to homeowner behavior, and let you make temperature adjustments when you’re away from home. Let’s not forget the fact that they look high-tech and modern, too. Take a peek at the latest in smart home technology with our best smart thermostat list, plus a few tips for choosing one that’s right for you....

There are so many brands and features to choose from—so we’re here to help you understand the latest products and features at a glance, so you can pick the best smartwatch for your budget and lifestyle. Best smartwatch for battery life: Garmin Fenix 6 Pro SolarBest android and iPhone-compatible smartwatch: Samsung Galaxy Watch 3Best smartwatch display: Apple Watch Series 6Best health and fitness smartwatch: Fitbit SenseBest “smart home” smartwatch: Samsung Gear Sport SmartwatchBest budget smartwatch: Apple Watch Series 3...

Best overall: True Temper Ergonomic Snow ShovelBest snow pusher: The Snowplow “the Original Snow Pusher” Best electric: Greenworks 12-Inch 40V Cordless Snow ShovelBest for seniors: ORIENTOOLS Heavy Duty Rolling Snow Shovel Best ergonomic: Suncast SC3250 18-Inch Snow Shovel/Pusher ComboBest for cars: BIRDROCK HOME 34″ Folding Emergency Snow Shovel for CarBest battery-operated: Earthwise 40-Volt Cordless Electric Snow ShovelBest budget: Snow Joe SJ-SHLV01 Shovelution Strain-Reducing Snow Shovel How we chose the best snow shovels Shoveling your driveway is just one aspect of winter safety and preparedness....

When it comes to picking out snowboard goggles, you’ll be saturated with many options. It can be difficult to choose the right pair for you, which is why we have created this brief guide that includes helpful tips and our favorite models to get you started; you’ll be ready to shred in no time. Best for large faces: Oakley Fall Line XLBest for small faces: Anon WMIBest for kids: Smith Young Daredevil Snow GogglesBest OTG/prescription: Smith I/O Mag XL Snow GogglesBest anti-fog: Julbo Airflux Snow GogglesBest with interchangeable lenses: Anon M4 Perceive Toric GoggleBest frameless: Oakley Flight Deck XMBest budget: Smith Range Snow Goggles...

Best baby water shoes: BMCiTYBM Baby ShoesBest toddler water shoes: KEEN Unisex Kid Newport H2 SandalBest hiking water shoes: Merrell Hydrotrekker Water ShoeBest river shoes: Chaco Z1 Classic Sport SandalBest cheap water shoes: Nautica Athletic Water Shoes Factors to consider when choosing the best water shoes You could try wearing an old pair of sneakers as your swimming shoes. But we don’t recommend it. Your standard pair of land-shoes will stay wet for a long time, leading to funky odors and blisters....

This story was published in partnership with Nexus Media. The US is facing two massive threats—climate change and the coronavirus—that we cannot solve without science. One is playing out slowly, over decades, growing inexorably worse as we continue to burn fossil fuels. The other is advancing rapidly, exacting a grim toll in human lives, as we fail to contain the spread of the virus. In many ways, these dual crises amount to a national test of our science literacy—our basic understanding of what scientists know and how they gather that knowledge....

Back in July 2020, the Parker Solar Probe snapped the first-ever images of the Venusian surface in full visible light. It took a similar set of images during a February 2021 flyby. Now, astrophysicists have finally analyzed those visuals to get a better sense of the planet’s cloudy atmosphere and shrouded landscapes. In the report, just published in Geophysical Research Letters, a team from the Naval Research Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center described two types of light captured by the probe: surface and night glow....

In a time when biodiversity is taking hits from all sides, whether it be climate change, human development, or pestilence, the California Academy of Sciences’ BigPicture Photography Competition both celebrates wildlife and brings the many issues it faces to the fore. This year’s winners and finalists span everything from the “insect apocalypse” to predator-people conflicts to fascinating mating behaviors. Here are our favorites from the judges’ savvy choices (we’ll never turn down the chance to share a good bee orgy)....

The NSA project, disastrously named Skynet, uses cellular network traffic in Pakistan to identify and monitor potential threats, according to leaked documents on The Intercept. Like many machine learning algorithms in big data, it takes millions of values as input, and tries to match certain patterns. This was revealed by the Intercept in 2015, but the Ars investigation dives into how ineffective the program could really be. This is much like the machine learning used by tech companies today to govern most of what we see online....

We walked into his garage. It was July and approaching 100 degrees in the countryside north of Stillwater. The building was filled with freezers where Crismon and his wife store the food they grow, catch, shoot, and smoke. Deer and coyote tails covered corrugated-tin walls. On a desk in the corner, beside a hand-labeled bottle of peach brandy, sat a Dell laptop connected by a cable to a buried seismometer....

Urinary tract infections are insanely common. Alone, they make up almost 25 percent of all infections, and more than half of women will get at least one in their lifetimes. In parallel, they’re also becoming increasingly harder to treat as the bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. Some urinary tract infections (UTIs) now manage to survive multiple rounds of antibiotic treatment, require bacterial cultures, and last much longer than the usual few days....

The map traces the 250-micrometer fruit fly hemibrain–about a third of the total organ. It measures less than one-fifth the thickness of a dime and contains regions associated with key functions like learning and memory. Through the map, researchers hope to better grasp the fly’s nervous system. The central complex brain circuit, for example, contributes to motor control, navigation, and sleep (yes, fruit flies sleep!) The broader field of connectomics, which emerged within the past two decades, aims to understand how brain structure relates to crucial neurological functions....

To determine lead’s impact on IQ, researchers specifically looked at the consumption of leaded gas—car exhaust was a major source of lead exposure until 1996, when leaded gas was banned. The research team also used historical census data, as well as records of lead levels in blood, to assess the extent of lead exposure to US children between 1940 and 2015. Lead is neurotoxic, and health experts say that there really is no such thing as a safe exposure level....

The TB-001 Scorpion, Tengoen’s flagship vehicle, is a twin-engine, double-tail drone. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 2.8 tons, a range of more than 3,700 miles, and provisions to carry two 220-pound bombs or missiles. Tengoen has also partnered with Chinese delivery company SF Express to build a souped-up TB-001 for cargo delivery, increasing the drone’s size to 3.3 tons, with a 1.2-ton payload. In December 2017, the modified TB-011 showed off its capability by para-dropping supplies to a Huawei repair crew fixing a cell tower in the mountainous Yunnan Province....

I recently had the honor of hosting a conversation on stage during the Web Summit conference in Dublin, Ireland with Jacques Méthé, president of Cirque du Soleil Media. He filled me in on the latest developments, and gave me a glimpse of what’s in store for the international brand when it comes to technology. To the outside world, I’m certain I looked like an idiot as I spun around wearing the Samsung Gear Virtual Reality device and helmet on my head, watching “KURIOS: Cabinet of Curiosities....