CraneTechnology

Between the  wildfires , the  hurricanes , and the droughts, one thing that this summer has made clear is not just that the climate is going to change, but that  climate change is already here. We can still work to make the effects of climate change less severe. But more and more, the decisions being made about those interventions seem less grounded in what’s best for the American people and more focused on benefiting a handful of special interests—specifically, propping up a flagging coal industry that currently  employs fewer people than the fast food chain Arby’s . But even if you ignored the impact of  coal power plants  on carbon emissions, burning coal for power still wouldn’t be great for the environment. And it still wouldn’t be great for humans. That’s because in addition to carbon dioxide, coal powered plants emit a host of noxious pollutants. For example, each year, coal fired plants pump out 146,000 tons of PM2.5 pollution, a form of part...

When  choosing a smartphone , you'll find lots of models to compare and contrast—at least you know whatever handset you pick will be able to perform the same standard tasks, such as making calls, sending texts, and running your favorite apps. When it comes to smartwatches, you've also got all kinds of devices, but they offer different functions and features, which makes finding the right one even trickier. We're here to dispel some of the confusion and worry so you can choose the right smartwatch for your specific needs. From the different makes on the market to the blurring lines between fitness trackers and smartwatches, we'll outline some of the features to look for first before moving on to our picks for the best watches and fitness wearables out there. Features to look for For a smartwatch to be considered a smartwatch, it must be able to tell time—that much is a given. However, it's just about the only constant in a field where the choice...

The  Burmese python  mating season can be a cramped affair. In southwestern Florida, the snakes sometimes gather in burrows dug by gopher tortoises. For python-tracking scientists, this presents an opportunity. In 2015, Ian Bartoszek was searching for pythons amongst the scrub when he got a ping from one of his radio-tagged snakes, dubbed Kirkland. He and his team quickly located the burrow this snake had sought out—and realized that Kirkland was not alone. Another tagged male was in the hole, along with four other males and a 14-foot female. “There were 240 pounds of python in one hole in the ground,” says Bartoszek, a wildlife biologist at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples. “They just kept coming out, one after the other, and it just didn’t stop.” The scientists gathered their scaly bounty, and rescued a gopher tortoise they discovered trapped at the back of the burrow. “He was forced to watch all of this snake behavior,” Bartoszek says. While the snake...

Things were looking good for NASA at the beginning of 1966. The Gemini program was halfway done and well on track to accomplish all the major program goals by the end of the year, and Apollo was in the pipeline on track to begin manned missions early in 1967. And flights in support of Apollo's lunar goal were well underway by this point. Tests of the Saturn I rocket and flights of boilerplate Apollo Command Modules (CSM) had begun in 1961. And from the start NASA had been using a straightforward and self-evident naming scheme: a letter denoting the rocket and payload and number standing for the rocket type and launch number. There were ten Saturn I launches designated by “S” or “AS” followed by a number from 100 to 110. The 100-series numbers were reserved for the Saturn I rocket, so AS-101 would be the first Saturn I launch. Five Little Joe launched tests of the CSM were noted by "A" followed by a number from 1 to 4; the first was an unnumbered qualification fligh...

Squirrels are smart. One that runs afoul of a homeowner has to be relocated several miles away, preferably across a body of water, or else it will resolutely find its way back home. And this isn’t the only way that the rodents show their savvy. In a study published today in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers at the University of Berkeley present evidence that eastern fox squirrels, a common sight in North America, organize the 3,000-10,000 nuts they stockpile each year by variety, quality, and possibly even personal preference. Under certain conditions, the squirrels may even use a complex cognitive strategy called “chunking” to organize their nut booty. The average human can hold about four items in their working memory – the short-term memory we rely on to recall the steps necessary to cook a recipe, for example, or to perform the mental math it takes to hand over cash at the checkout line. If four items seems awfully low, that’s because humans have learned to ha...