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As the globe went ga-ga for Obama on the eve of his inauguration, builders and pundits at the recent transportation conference in Washington were angling for a piece of the green stuff Obama’s pledged – and some eco street-cred, too. Making rock-and-tar-like mixes like asphalt gobbles up energy and spews out C02 and other noxious fumes from plant smokestacks. And that’s before the rocks and stinky, steamy stuff are trucked from distant quarries and plants to highway- and bridge-building sites....

In a draft statement, the US Preventive Services Task Force, an independent group of experts that advise on disease prevention and evidence-based medicine, have updated their recommendations, saying that for older adults, preemptively taking aspirin is not worth the risks. Specifically, the panel states that while starting on aspirin to prevent the onset of heart disease may be beneficial to younger adults (aged 40 to 59) on a case by case basis, adults aged 60 and older should not start the regimen....

But astrophysicists have long known that the story couldn’t be that straightforward. While stars are simple, round balls of gas, many of these ex-stars have complicated, not-at-all-spherical shapes. In these cases, something, likely a nearby star, must have gotten roped in at the hour of death, spurring a furious and hard-to-model tango. Now, using Chile’s ALMA observatory, a team of astronomers has snapped the sharpest image yet of one such system (dubbed HD101584) mid-dance, giving theorists a detailed look at this rare event....

Selling cars out of a giant robotic vending machine might sound like a fun gimmick, but doing something radically different from other dealerships, according to Garcia, makes a lot of economic sense. “The lack of differentiation locked everyone into the exact same cost structure that forced them to attract customers with a low-priced car, and then put them in a back room and try to sell them thousands of dollars of things they don’t really need, in order to make up for their undifferentiated cost structure,” Garcia told Popular Science....

Pediatricians just published a study in the journal Pediatrics showing that 230,676 children under the age of 15 months went to the emergency room from 1990 to 2014 with injuries related to their walkers. More than 90 percent of those were head injuries. Three-quarters were from falling down the stairs, a mishap which manufacturers were supposed to prevent with updates to their designs. The problem of baby walker injuries was so bad that the Consumer Products Safety Commission introduced new regulations to address the 21,000 injuries that occurred in 1990 alone....

If you happen to be one of the newly-minted plant parents with a newfound love for greens, you may want to take it up a notch and expand your knowledge on all things flora. For starters, you can expand the plant library you have in your head by identifying as many plants as you can. The NatureID app can help, thanks to its ability to recognize thousands of plant species in a snap....

Best sunrise alarm clock: Hatch Restore Sound MachineBest alarm with nature sounds: JALL Wake-Up Light Sunrise Alarm ClockBest smart alarm clock: Echo Dot with clock (4th Gen)Best alarm clock for kids: I.Code Time To Wake Up Alarm ClockBest modern alarm: Tivoli Audio Model One Digital (Gen. 2)Best travel alarm: Travelwey Digital Travel Alarm ClockBest cheap alarm clock: Peakeep Twin Bell Alarm Clock How we selected the best alarm clocks We selected the best alarm clocks by taking the necessary, well, time....

There are dozens of technicalities to consider when purchasing all mountain skis, from the type of ski you’re looking for based on terrain, to the length and width you want (often correlated to skill), to whether you can shift into touring mode. The right set will allow beginners to make easy turns, and speed-demons to feel stable when cruising at high speeds. We’ve rounded up some of the best options on the market that will serve you well, no matter where you’re ripping up powder....

Best overall: NewAir AB-1200 Beverage Refrigerator and CoolerBest undercounter: Aaobosi Beverage and Wine Cooler Dual ZoneBest for beer: Antarctic Star Beverage RefrigeratorBest for wine: Ivation Compressor Wine CoolerBest mini: NewAir Mini-Fridge Beverage Refrigerator and CoolerBest budget: Frigidaire EFMIS129-RED Mini Portable Fridge How we chose the best beverage coolers I’ve been writing and recommending gear for over 10 years for publications like CNN Underscored, Gear Patrol, and Popular Science. During that time, I’ve recommended a number of devices for home tech, from the best energy-efficient air conditioners to the best carbon monoxide detectors....

Best road-bike helmet: Giro Aether Spherical Adult Road-Bike HelmetBest mountain-bike helmet: Smith Optics Forefront 2 MIPSBest kids’ bike helmet: Giro ScampBest cold-weather bike helmet: Lazer DissentBest budget bike helmet: Giro Register MIPS What to consider when searching for the best bike helmet There are a few important considerations to make before shopping for cycling helmets. The best bike helmet will be the one that works for your lifestyle. There are subtle differences between road bike helmets, mountain bike helmets, dirt bike helmets, and those used for leisurely rides....

Best gift for the grad who wants to retune their time: SONY Walkman Waterproof Bluetooth MP3 Player HeadphonesBest gift for the grad who is hoping to do more of less: Sun Squad Sloth Pool FloatBest gift for the grad who wants to park it poolside: Igloo Heritage Backpack 28-Can CoolerBest gift for the grad who wants on-the-water footage: GoPro HERO8 Waterproof Action CameraBest gift for the grad who’s an aspiring underwater photographer: Greatever G2 Full-Face Snorkel Mask with Camera MountBest gift for the grad whose ideal ride floats: Advanced Elements AdvancedFrame Inflatable KayakBest gift for the grad who can’t afford a new phone: JOTO Universal Waterproof PouchBest gift for the grad whose most-visited body of water is the bathtub: Bubbly Belle Bath Bombs Gift Set Best gift for the grad who loves splashy sports: Bestway Hydro-Force Inflatable Stand-Up Paddle Board and KayakBest gift for the grad who needs water-friendly footwear: Birkenstock Arizona EVA Sandals...

Best electric lawn mower: Greenworks Pro 80V 21-inch Cordless Push Lawn MowerBest gas lawn mower: PowerSmart 170cc 21-inch Lawn MowerBest riding lawn mower: Cub Cadet XT1 Enduro LTBest self-propelled lawn mower: CRAFTSMAN M270Best robotic lawn mower: WORX WR150 Landroid LBest cheap lawn mower: Murray 21-inch Walk-Behind Push Mower Choose the best lawn mower for your yard Before shopping for a new mower, it’s good to narrow your options. At this point, brands are not important—but styles and features are....

Best overall: Mos Eisley CantinaBest old school: Millennium FalconBest modern: The Razor CrestBest for display: Darth Vader HelmetBest for adults: Luke Skywalker’s LandspeederBest for kids: 501st Legion Clone TroopersBest budget: Millennium Falcon Microfighter How we chose the best Lego Star Wars sets I had a bucket of mixed Lego pieces that was passed down to me when I was young and I’ve never stopped building. As an editor at TechnoBuffalo, I covered Lego and Toy Fair, an annual toy industry convention, many times....

Best for getting through work: Sony WH-1000XM4Best for when industrial design is the apple of your eye: Apple AirPods MaxBest for capturing every detail: Audio-Technica ATH-M50XBest for making sure all the stuff is good stuff: beyerdynamic DT 1990 ProBest for saving money without sacrificing the mood: Soundcore by Anker Life Q30Best for getting lost in the moment…for hours: HIFIMAN Arya What to consider when shopping for the best over-ear headphones Whether you’re video conferencing, commuting, live streaming, sculpting beats, or just immersing yourself in any genre of music, the best over-ear headphones provide you with harmonious accompaniment....

In the shoe emporiums of olden days, polite salespeople accurately measured feet and offered sage advice. These days, many shoe stores at the mall lack helpful experts, and customers are left to their own devices to find the right fit. As for online shopping, trying to buy the most comfortable sneakers through the mail can lead to too many returns and much hassle. How can you tell what fits and what shoe will work best for walking?...

If you will be primarily wearing your gloves for outdoor winter sports like skiing, you will want to find warm, waterproof gloves that allow for moisture-wicking as well as a secure fit at the wrist to keep snow and cold out. For a cold commute, the best winter gloves will allow you to use touchscreen technology without going barehanded. For people with cold sensitivity, there are even gloves with heating technology....

The best feature of the Ortlieb Back-Roller Pannier is that it’s fully and truly waterproof. Unless it never rains where you live, or you’re not planning on biking in less than ideal weather, it’s worth considering getting a fully waterproof pannier, particularly if you plan on carrying electronics like a laptop. The Ortlieb has one main compartment, and the clips on the back easily adjust to your bike rack, so the panniers stay secure while you’re biking....

But, as a group of mammalogists learned through trial and error, that bait will not tempt the shrew-rats of Luzon Island. “We weren’t catching any of them,” says Eric Rickart, vertebrate zoology curator at the Natural History Museum of Utah, of an expedition to Luzon, in the Philippines, to find shrew-rats in 1988. “We knew they were there, but we didn’t know how to trap them.” That is, until, days before the expedition’s end, when Rickart and his colleagues accidentally trapped two Rhynchomys, also known as shrew- or tweezer-beaked hopping rats....

Teen suicide rates among black youth are increasing. In 2016 and again in 2018, national data revealed that among children age 5-11, black children had the highest rate of death by suicide. For the years 2008 to 2012, 59 black youth died by suicide, up from 54 in the years 2003 to 2007. Also, the 2015 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported that compared to non-Hispanic white boys, black high school age boys are more likely to have made serious suicide attempts that require medical attention....

Coding literacy enables you to gain a deeper understanding of tech, the very mechanisms that you deal with every day. It also significantly boosts your problem-solving and logic skills, as well as helping you pursue passion projects since you have the technical skills to actually do it yourself. And what’s great about coding is you don’t need a ton of resources to start learning. The Coding 101 Bootcamp Beginners Bundle is an excellent springboard, and it’s on sale for under $30....