Oh, Holey Light

We consider ourselves well-versed when it comes to the technical literature plastered on hardware store parts. Acronyms don’t frighten us, and our Google-fu is strong enough to overcome most mysteries. One bit of dark magic we didn’t understand was the gobbledygook on LED lamps. Wattage is easy and color temperature …read more

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Tattoos damage skin sweat glands, landmark study claims

Do tattoos impair the skin’s ability to sweat? Despite the global ubiquitousness of tattoos this question has received surprisingly little research attention. A new, first-of-its-kind study is suggesting inking skin may damage sweat glands and reduce t… Continue reading Tattoos damage skin sweat glands, landmark study claims

Into the Belly of the Beast with Placemon

No, no, at first we thought it was a Pokemon too, but Placemon monitors your place, your home, your domicile. Instead of a purpose-built device, like a CO detector or a burglar alarm, this is a generalized monitor that streams data to a central processor where machine learning …read more

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Bike Computer Powers on Long After Your Legs Give Out

A typical bicycle computer from the store rack will show your speed, trip distance, odometer, and maybe the time. We can derive all this data from a magnet sensor and a clock, but we live in a world with all kinds of sensors at our disposal. [Matias N.] has the …read more

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Home Monitoring, Without All the Sensors

Smart homes come with a lot of perks, not least among which is the ability to monitor the goings-on in your home, track them, and make trends. Each piece of monitoring equipment, such as sensors or cameras, is another set of wires that needs to be run and another “thing” …read more

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Home Monitoring, Without All the Sensors

Smart homes come with a lot of perks, not least among which is the ability to monitor the goings-on in your home, track them, and make trends. Each piece of monitoring equipment, such as sensors or cameras, is another set of wires that needs to be run and another “thing” …read more

Continue reading Home Monitoring, Without All the Sensors

Human-induced climate change reversed 6,500-year global cooling trend

What would Earth’s climate naturally be doing if it weren’t for human intervention? Researchers at Northern Arizona University have now analyzed over 12,000 years of climate data, and found that human-induced warming interrupted and reversed a long-ter… Continue reading Human-induced climate change reversed 6,500-year global cooling trend

Human-induced climate change reversed 6,500-year global cooling trend

What would Earth’s climate naturally be doing if it weren’t for human intervention? Researchers at Northern Arizona University have now analyzed over 12,000 years of climate data, and found that human-induced warming interrupted and reversed a long-ter… Continue reading Human-induced climate change reversed 6,500-year global cooling trend

Earth’s forests are getting shorter and younger as the climate shifts

A new study has determined that Earth’s forests are transforming in response to a combination of human actions and natural processes such as wildfires, causing them to lose their oldest trees and grow shorter. Sadly, this trend is likely to continue as… Continue reading Earth’s forests are getting shorter and younger as the climate shifts

Why one part of the ocean bucked the trend and cooled last century

For the last century or more, much of Earth’s land and ocean surfaces have been steadily warming, which we now understand is a product of climate change. But in parts of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, sea surfaces cooled considerably since the e… Continue reading Why one part of the ocean bucked the trend and cooled last century