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Movement produces kinetic energy, which can be converted into power. In the past, devices that turned human kinetic energy into electricity, such as hand-cranked radios, computers and flashlights, involved a person’s full participation. But a growing field is tapping into our energy without our even noticing it. Consider, for example, a health club. With every step you take on a treadmill and with every bicep curl, you turn surplus calories into motion that could drive a generator and produce electricity....

If you’ve ever sprained a joint, you’ve most likely used one of these bandages. They’re kept in almost every first aid kit, and work perfectly if you’re dealing with a recent injury and not at the point of needing a more permanent brace. Just wrap the bandage around your injury and clip it into place. This knee brace is great for anyone who’s suffering from an injury or trying to stave one off....

Twenty-five years ago, I never dreamed of exploring the ­Arctic—​I worked as a bank clerk in England. Then I saw the chance of a lifetime: a classified ad seeking “ordinary” women to join the first all-­female team to the North Pole. The trip required half a million dollars in total, and the two organizers thought amateurs would get more funding. Of course, no one was ordinary except for me—they were all outdoorswomen and mountaineers....

The pain and suffering measles inflicts may be shocking. But it’s not, unfortunately, all that surprising. In Clark County, the Washington-Oregon borderland in the midst of a severe measles outbreak, 1 in 4 kindergarteners are not completely vaccinated. For many parents, the decision not to inoculate their children is born of fear the vaccine will cause autism. This kind of anxiety, fear-mongering, and misinformation isn’t atypical in the history of vaccines: In 1796, for example, Englishman Edward Jenner devised a solution for smallpox, which involved extracting cowpox from livestock and injecting it into healthy people....

Every person on Earth has grown up with their own generation’s crises and dilemmas. But today’s kids are dealing with something that’s unprecedented in human history: They’re trying to survive in a world marred by climate change, while also leading widespread action against it. When interviewing young folks for her soon-to-be-released book on climate activism, 19-year-old environmentalist Mya-Rose Craig was struck by the ages of her subjects. “They’ve been aware of these issues and have been fighting since they were young children,” the UK resident says....

FACT: Birds are real By Purbita Saha This fact might be blatantly obvious to listeners of a famous science podcast, but it’s important to clear the air with all the misinformation flying around the internet. In 2017, a student from Tennessee launched a national campaign called Birds Aren’t Real. He claimed that the CIA replaced every feathered creature, starting with rock pigeons, with drones during the Cold War. Apparently, these well-disguised machines are still used to surveil Americans today....

One of their most common tools to stress us out is called the Shepard tone. Named after cognitive scientist Roger Shepard, who pioneered graphical visualizations of complex statistical data, this classic auditory illusion’s signature psychoacoustic effect gets triggered when sounds like the pitch of a scale seem to continuously ascend or descend, getting ever higher or lower. It’s a technique favored by film sound designers and composers—most popularly, Hans Zimmer for Christopher Nolan films such as Inception and Interstellar—to create a dramatic and ominous quality....

This Year “The dolphin kick is going to be used as a weapon in Beijing,” says Russell Mark, biomechanist manager of the US national swim team. During the last four years, Mark says the best American swimmers, including Phelps, have been especially focused on honing the technique. Engineers at George Washington University studying fluid dynamics recently calculated that more than 75 percent of the propulsive force of the dolphin kick comes from snapping the ankle....

“Imagine being able to see the components of a potentially dangerous situation in live 3D and in fine detail without even having to survey the area,” says Brian Goddin, from the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center public affairs, in a video produced by the military. As he speaks, the video highlights the interior of a garage. The laser-constructed vision is surreal, almost unearthly, with objects visible not as whole forms but instead reflected lines adjacent to each other in space....

1. Beef liver Organ meats pack more nutrients than muscles. Livers in particular contain so much vitamin A that overindulgence overloads our own livers—and increases intracranial pressure to hazardous levels. Average Woman: 770 cups (359 pounds) Average Man: 924 cups (431 pounds) 2. Avocado This fatty fruit contains almost twice as much po­tas­sium as a banana. When too much of the metal hits the bloodstream, it interrupts the heart’s rhythmic beating, causing it to slow—or even stop....

Restaurants and chefs have all sorts of escamotages they hope will ensure that your experience is memorable and meaningful. That seashell stunt, for example, is chef Heston Blumenthal’s signature plate, Sound of the Sea, and it uses those additional elements to enhance your perception of the meal. Cooking is, after all, the intersection of science and art, and eating is a unique experience strongly influenced by many sensory systems. Sure, the gustatory system plays a role, but only a small one—some researchers think it may even comprise less than half of the whole tasting experience....

Currently, and in the past, forces fighting on both sides of Russia’s invasions of Ukraine—first the 2014 occupation of the Donbas and now the February 2022 invasion of the country—have used commercial drones in their fight. These machines, built from kits or purchased as complete and assembled products from a retailer, offered troops on the ground something never before available: cheap, easy access to an overhead view of their own position, and that of nearby enemies....

Tips From Marques Brownlee Learn From The Best “When I see a shot in a video or movie I like, I’ll Google it to find out what it is and how to do it. I watch a lot of YouTube tutorials. The more often I do it, the more steps I remember—and the easier it gets.” Shoot For The Editor “At events I’ll make a list of everything I want to capture, shoot it, and then record audio back at my hotel since it’s a more controlled environment....

If you’re looking to bring some feathered friends to your yard in time for Mother’s Day, a homemade birdbath is the perfect weekend project to produce a unique, functional gift. Rather than just buying a concrete bowl from the store, consider building a birdbath from scratch with repurposed materials. A few household items are all you need to attract wild birds year-round. No matter what inspiration you find online or where your imagination takes you, almost all birdbath designs boil down to some type of water basin atop some type of vertical base....

How do you start inventing a language? I separate the process into three distinct branches: sounds, word meanings, and grammar. I usually start with the sound system, which affects grammar, and also with nouns. Then I base the language on whatever desire I have for the grammar’s shape to take. In the real world, languages evolve over time. Do yours? I am creating the language to look as if it evolved in the real world, so it has to have a realistic character to it....

DIY picture frames are a simple, straightforward project that any beginner can take on. They’re also an excellent educational endeavor, as they form the foundation of many projects, like the wall-mounted laundry drying rack I made a few months ago. You can make something simple, like the basic frame I describe below, or try out some creative upgrades. Maybe you want to add splines, make the frames out of fancy moulding, or even explore how to do inlays for visual contrast....

How to prevent falls Falling is the most common type of at-home injury. Sometimes people slip. Other times they trip over something on the floor or simply their own feet. Children can fall off beds and other furniture, or can take a tumble while running during play. Falls can cause strains, sprains, broken bones, and concussions. Even if a fall injury seems minor, call your primary care physician if you feel any pain or have hit your head, says Sonja Rosen, chief of geriatric medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California....

Where to look for gold The key to successful gold panning, also known as placer mining, begins with location. After all, while precious minerals can be found just about anywhere, gold, especially in discoverable concentrations, is rare indeed. It exists naturally in three to four parts per billion within the earth’s crust, but you’ll need to find a spot where it’s at least 100 times more available (about three to four hundred parts per billion), explains Mickey Fulp, a field geologist and mining analyst who goes by the title “Mercenary Geologist....

In all of those scenarios, bad sound quality has the power to ruin your efforts. If you’re trying to transcribe an interview, you’ll miss words and phrases; if you’re sharing the audio with an audience, listeners will get frustrated with the low volume or intrusive background noises. The same goes for filming videos: You don’t want distorted sounds to spoil your vacation clips or DIY movies. That’s not to say that you need to carry a full sound studio around with you....

Biochemists have found them in the bodies of 97 percent of Americans, as well as in breast milk, and researchers believe exposure to these compounds may be associated with multiple health problems, such as immune system disruption, developmental issues, impaired fertility, liver damage, and various kinds of cancer. Most of the PFAS that make it into our bodies do it through drinking water, but because there’s not one single source of exposure, you can still curb some of these chemicals in your everyday life....