"The avocado is highly regarded by many people as delicious and nutritious, but the most extraordinary thing about avocados may be their very existence."
Michael Aranda hosts SciShow. [Video Link]
Avocados should not exist
How to fly a helicopter on Mars
On Sunday, Ingenuity—the small helicopter delivered to the surface of Mars by the Perseverance rover—will, hopefully, take its first flight. The distance between Earth and Mars means that lagtime precludes real-time remote control. The helicopter flies autonomously, but the helicopter's digital twin had a lot of practice in simulations back on Earth. At IEEE Spectrum,… READ THE REST
Can you slap a chicken until it's cooked?
Turns out, you can — if you can get the slapping machine to stay alive long enough for the 135,000 slaps required to get it to a minimum safe temperature to eat. Science! Image: Screengrab READ THE REST
Concrete gets tougher with graphene
Perhaps someday we will once again achieve Roman levels of concrete artistry. Graphene Exponent: In July 2020, Thomas Swan, a global chemical manufacturing company signed an agreement with Concrene for a graphene-enhanced concrete product. That concrete product is now planned to be available in the US market in April 2021. The products in the lineup… READ THE REST
Get a fully refurbished Dell gaming rig with Periphio accessories at a huge discount
For decades, Dell has been one of the go-to brands for that trusty, reliable desktop computer tower, particularly its heritage Optiplex series. While many may blow past the old desktop in favor of newer, flashier, more portable laptops or mobile devices, there's at least one simple fact shoppers need to keep in mind: Despite all… READ THE REST
The Boox blur the lines between an e-reader and a tablet
Technology lines always blur over time. And no area is this more evident in recent years than in the morph between e-readers and tablets. E-readers used to just be used for curling up with an e-book and, well, reading. But with the advent of smaller components and more capabilities packed into a smaller space, e-readers… READ THE REST
Prepare yourself for spring and summer with this brilliant $140 outdoor grill and smoker
You can grill 365 days a year, rain or shine. If you're brave enough, you can even grill in the snow. But you have to admit that firing up the coals and slapping some meat on a building blaze in the middle of beautiful spring and summer weather is truly the pinnacle of any grillmaster's… READ THE REST