Innovation

Inside the budding economy of buying and selling shoutouts on Fiverr
"Check this man out." The Instagram Story is beamed to my phone. Sure enough, there is my handle, "@Luke_Winkie" in red-and-yellow neon, hovering in the feed of a meme page with 62,000 followers. The whole transaction took less than a minute. I sent…
By Luke Winkie
By rolling back fuel efficiency standards, Trump could be dooming the U.S. auto industry
By AJ Dellinger
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced that it will officially roll back fuel efficiency standards for the automotive industry, securing a major policy victory for the president — and a significant step back for everyone else. Under the new…
Scientists believe human pee might be the key to colonizing the moon
By Vanessa Taylor
Future astronauts heading to the moon may end up living in bases made out of their own pee. That's according to a recent study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, which found that human urine may be the perfect building material for…
You can see the whole universe by looking into a black hole, according to new research
By Brittany Vincent
It isn't advisable to stare straight into a black hole, but if you did, you might find some particularly dazzling sights. If you looked closely enough, you may just see the entire universe, according to a recent edition of the journal Science…
There are a lot of similarities between climate change deniers and coronavirus skeptics
By AJ Dellinger
When Donald Trump was first presented with the potential threat of coronavirus, he dismissed it. In an interview on CNBC, he described the outbreak as "one person coming in from China" and said that the situation was "totally under control." Behind…
A guide to time traveling in 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons'
By Brittany Vincent
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the most chilled out games you could possibly play during these trying times. Unfortunately, that also means it's one of the slowest to get into. The relaxing, no-pressure nature of the Nintendo Switch game is…
2019 was the worst year for Australia's environment "in a century or more"
By Vanessa Taylor
Australia’s Environment report is an annual scorecard of the country’s environmental standing. Now in its fifth year, the most recent edition was released on Sunday and paints a bleak picture. After examining a number of environmental conditions,…
Scientists just found two more potentially inhabitable planets
By Brittany Vincent
Another day, another exoplanet discovery! At least, that's certainly what it feels like as of late, with astronomers successfully seeking out the celestial objects and stumbling upon some pretty impressive discoveries. Most recently, two new…
This weird new bacteria will eat our toxic plastic
By Vanessa Taylor
Humans produce over 300 million tons of plastic waste each year. According to the UN, that’s roughly the weight of the entire global population. A lot of plastic! But a new study published today in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology reports that…
Coronavirus is creating a staggering amount of medical waste
By AJ Dellinger
Hospitals around the world are doing everything in their power to protect the public against the coronavirus pandemic. You've likely seen the calls for more personal protective equipment to deal with sudden shortages — essentials including masks,…
The EPA is using the coronavirus as an "open license to pollute," advocates warn
By Vanessa Taylor
Under President Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency has rolled back policy after policy. But coronavirus has apparently provided the Trump administration with perfect excuse to hack away at more environmental protections. On Thursday, the EPA…
Nintendo just announced a ton of new games to keep you occupied long into quarantine
By Brittany Vincent
Nintendo knows we're all stuck inside thanks to the coronavirus pandemic shaking the globe. What better time, then, to introduce a surprise Nintendo Direct presentation? On Thursday, the event kicked off without any fanfare as viewers were treated…
Low-income families without internet access are now dangerously isolated
By AJ Dellinger
The coronavirus pandemic has many doing their best to replicate much of their normal lives online: working from home instead of going to the office, calling friends and family instead of meeting up, joining video conferences that serve as virtual…
The Zoom iOS app is secretly giving Facebook your data
By Tebany Yune
The Zoom iOS app is quietly sending user information to Facebook, Motherboard reports, and it's doing so even if you don't have a Facebook account. The data includes information about when a user starts the app, what kind of device they use, where…
How to quickly make cold hard bells in 'Animal Crossing'
By Brittany Vincent
As much as we might want to believe in an altruistic version of the universe, cash still rules everything around you in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In fact, you're in debt from the moment you set foot on your new island home, with most of your…
The Bernie Sanders subreddit where Trump voters come to confess
By Claire Wang
Conner Bourque, 19, was set on voting for Donald Trump when he wandered upon a subreddit one day last November. With nearly half a million members, r/SandersForPresident is by far the most populous Bernie Sanders support group on the platform. Out…
A new game lets you compete with friends over who can stay at home the most
By Vanessa Taylor
How do apps designed to help you get out and explore avoid becoming obsolete when a global pandemic forces everyone inside? One company may have found a solution. The location-sharing app Zenly has made a game out of social distancing. Describing…
This bot will fight your landlord if you can't pay rent due to coronavirus
By Tebany Yune
DoNotPay, a chatbot that provides help with legal issues, can now assist users with obtaining deadline extensions on bills due to financial strain caused by coronavirus. The app will automatically pinpoint where the user lives, check if there are…
Is it actually possible to break the internet?
By AJ Dellinger
Millions of people around the world are being encouraged to shelter in place and work remotely in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. And while it's taking people out of the office, kids out of school, and cars off the road (and at least…
Speech recognition systems misunderstand Black users 35 percent of the time, study finds
By Vanessa Taylor
We've all had the frustrating experience of voice assistants like Siri or Alexa being unable to understand what we're saying, but according to a recent study it may be happening to Black users more than others. Published on Monday, the study from…
PG&E, California's largest public utility, will plead guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter
By Ray Levy-Uyeda
Pacific Gas and Electric, the utility company that provides natural gas and electric services to 16 million Californians, announced this week that it would plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2018 Camp Fire.…