Heavy Weather:

Many states and localities experienced extreme weather and climate conditions in 2013.

NOAA's National Climatic Data Center

Averaged nationally, 2013 was a comparatively calm weather and climate year in the United States. There were fewer than 900 tornados, the least since 1989. The number of North Atlantic hurricanes was below average. Temperatures were only 0.3 degrees above those of the 20th century average, tying with 1980 for 37th warmest year in 119 years of record-keeping, and two to three degrees cooler than 2012, the hottest year on record.

Dig down to state and local levels, though, and temperature and precipitation extremes were felt from coast to coast, according to data released on Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Agency scientists told reporters on Wednesday that 2013 was the driest year recorded in California, with two inches less precipitation than the prior record. Alaska, meanwhile, experienced its third wettest autumn on record—up about 43 percent from the 1971-2010 average. 

NOAA climate scientist Jake Crouch said that above-average sea surface temperatures in the North Pacific helped create climate conditions that contributed to both phenomena.

California's temperatures tied its 12th warmest year, while Alaska's summer was 2.7 degrees F above the 1971-2000 average, the second warmest summer in 95 years. The state sweated through its third warmest June, fifth warmest July, and 11th warmest August.

Alaska Statewide Temperature Anomalies 1918-2013

NOAA's National Climatic Data Center

Although 2013's national averages proved less remarkable than what happened at state and local levels, “We're very confident we see, in the data, increases in three variables related to climate change,” said Deke Arndt, chief of climate monitoring at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. “We expect to see more big heat over the long term. We expect to see more big rain, in the form of the biggest events getting bigger, and a typical place in the US depending upon big events to get their annual rainfall,” while there will be “fewer big cold events.”

Oregon and Washington had record-breaking rainfall in September—usually a dry month in the Pacific Northwest—but overall saw notably less rainfall than average.

In the East, New York, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida each had their wettest summer on record. Twenty states from Florida to Maine had three-month precipitation totals that added up to their top 10 wettest on record. New York and Florida saw some of the hottest summer temperatures on record, while the entire Eastern Seaboard felt above average summer heat.

The agency is still gathering data on the total dollar amount of weather and climate-related destruction in the U.S. last year, saying it will release the final amount in June. The scientists stated that seven events in 2013 caused more than $1 billion in damages, however, including five tornados or groups of tornados, one flood, and the ongoing drought and heat in the Western U.S.

The total number of tornados for the year was below historical averages, said Ardnt, after notable increases in 2011 and 2012. But several of 2013's twisters were remarkably large and destructive, like the EF-5 storm in May that hit Moore, Okla. 

Scent Rhythm

Heat-formed plastic protects the watch’s innards, while cushy foam softly grips a wearer’s wrist.

Dan Bracaglia

1) Scents

Each of four glass bulbs holds about a milliliter of unique fragrance. Every six hours, the watch releases the scent selected for that time of day—e.g., espresso when it’s time to wake up and chamomile when it’s time to sleep. 

2) Dispersion

The watch aerosolizes fragrances like a mini fog machine. A piezoelectric atomizer sits above each bulb, and when activated by the watch’s circuitry, it vibrates at ultrasonic frequencies to convert some of the fluid into vapor.

3) Power

A small lithium-ion battery pack inside the watch charges via a micro-USB port on the wristband. One charge typically lasts 24 hours.

This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Popular Science.

Good news, 3-D printing enthusiasts: Adobe thinks your weird little hobby could actually be a thing! The company's adding support for 3-D modeling files to its Photoshop software, letting users manipulate objects, then send them off to a home 3-D printer or a third-party service, like Shapeways, for fabrication. 

The software, available today at $50 for new sign-ups or free for Creative Cloud subscribers, doesn't actually come with any 3-D modeling tools built in, so you're not about to build an object from the ground up. The tools are more for refining images: adding texture, playing with colors, etc. (You know, the kind of thing Photoshop does with regular ol' 2-D images.) So maybe this isn't a huge leap forward for home 3-D printing, although it's a good sign that Adobe thinks it's worthwhile to add the features to a popular software package .

Leaking pipes

A new study found 5,893 natural gas leaks under the streets of Washington, D.C.

Duke University / Environmental Science & Technology

"If you dropped a cigarette down a manhole ... it could have blown up," Robert Jackson, professor of environmental sciences at Duke who led the study, told USA Today. "I was shocked."

The scientists sniffed out the leaks "under all 1,500 road miles within Washington using a high-precision Picarro G2301 Cavity Ring-Down Spectrometer installed in a GPS-equipped car," the statement noted. Tests on the chemical composition of the methane then confirmed that it matched the signature of methane from the pipeline. When high methane concentrations were detected with the spectrometer, further tests were carried out with sensors lowered into manholes. 

The local utility, Washington Gas, told USA Today it responded to all reports of gas leaks; Betty Ann Kane, who chairs the D.C. Public Service Commission, said findings could mistakenly alarm residents and that there hasn't been an accident or explosion from a pipeline leak in the area for at least 20 years. However, four months after notifying city authorities about the 12 worst leaks, scientists returned to find that eight were still emitting potentially explosive levels of methane, according to the Washington Post. 

The study was published today (Jan. 16) in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. 

Genes to the Rescue

Ryan Snook

Jonathan Wyatt is less of a nuisance these days, his wife Diana told the BBC. Wyatt was the first volunteer to receive an experimental new gene therapy for a condition he has, choroideremia, that has slowly robbed him of his vision since he was 19. Two years after he received his treatment, he's able to read three more lines on the optometrist's chart. Diana Wyatt, of course, has other ways of measuring his improvement: "He is more independent, he can find things he couldn't before, he can go to the shops on his own and he's less of a nuisance!" she said.

Since 2011, other things have gone well for this trial, too. Five other patients joined it. The team of European and U.S. researchers working on the trial report today that six months after their initial treatment, two of the six volunteers—those with the most advanced choroideremia—could read two to four more lines on eye charts. The others could see better in low light, The Wall Street Journal reports.

To learn more about this advance, I recommend the BBC article for fun quotes from the two most improved patients, and The Wall Street journal article for a deeper discussion of the history of experimental gene therapies and the potential drawbacks. The two together also provide a good explanation of how the choroideremia gene therapy works.

Feel like you've read something like these stories before? Perhaps you have. In recent years, another team of researchers has reported similar, early-stage success in reversing some blindness caused by another genetic disease, Leber's congenital amaurosis. These reports are all good signs that in the future, gene therapy may also work for other genetically-caused blindness, such as age-related macular degeneration.

If you are a crow or an especially pro-crow person, consider averting your gaze. Otherwise, Holy God, look at these crazy falcons attacking crows. (And it's actually for science.)

Suzanne Kane, a researcher at Haverford College, recently published a study looking at how falcons trap their prey. Rather than using computer models--which is a way common way of doing this sort of thing--she actually had falconers attach tiny (adorable) cameras to the birds' heads, then let them loose. 

Falcon Cam

Robert Musters

By deconstructing the footage frame by frame, Kane and an undergraduate researcher, Marjon Zamani, determined where the falcons were most likely to be while hunting prey. After ruling out two theories--that they follow the same path as the prey, or approach them in a spiral formation--the duo determined that the falcons would fly up on an unwitting crow from behind, keeping it dead-center in their vision the whole time. By focusing the crow in the falcons' visual cross-hairs, if a crow turned ahead of them, the falcons could readjust and quickly catch up. In a statement, Kane offered this analogy: "Think about chasing a toddler around in the playground: they keep zigging and zagging away from you… so you just have to head them off."

Nissan Sport Sedan Concept

At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week, the level of exuberance seemed more amped up than in previous years—automakers are throwing it all against the wall to see what awesomeness sticks. With the economy rebounding, there were a lot more concepts on the floor of Cobo Center, a few of them jaw-dropping (we’re looking at you, Toyota FT-1 and Kia GT4 Stinger).

Here are our top picks from the show.

The heat is on at the Australian Open

Conditions were so bad that Canadian tennis player Frank Dancevic hallucinated and saw Snoopy, the cartoon dog, before passing out. Uzbek-American player Varvara Lepchenko won her first set, before falling ill due to the high heat, sobbing on the sidelines at times and losing 12 of her last 13 games. The hard court also got so sizzly it "burned the bum" of Serbian tennis player Jelena Jankovic. 

Is the high heat due to climate change? It is impossible to say with any accuracy that any one instance of high heat is due to global warming, and Melbourne is always hot in the austral summer. But a recent study found that global warming has increased the chance for extreme heat by up to four times. And Australia has been warming up in recent years--2013 was its hottest year on record, so steamy that officials had to come up with a new color to represent the highest temperatures on heat maps. 

Read more about the Aussie heat and climate change connection at The Guardian. 

Pap Smear

Wikimedia Commons, National Cancer Institute

A new study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that female-to-male (FTM) transgender patients were 10 times more likely to have an inadequate Pap test than female patients.

FTM transgender people, also known as transgender men, identify as male and were born with female reproductive organs. Many of these individuals eventually undergo complete sex reassignment surgery (also known as gender confirmation surgery), which removes the uterus and cervix. But in the years before they undergo that procedure, they are vulnerable to cervical cancer, and regular diagnostic Pap tests are indicated.

Pap smears take a sample of secretions and cells from the cervix and are used to detect cervical cancer or precancerous changes. Inadequate Pap tests can't be evaluated due to a lack of sufficient cells or because of obscuring blood that renders the test unreadable.

Transgender men were less likely to have tests that were obscured by blood, but more likely to lack enough cells for the test to be done properly, possibly an effect of testosterone treatments that FTM take to help penile development and muscle growth. The increase in testosterone causes the tissue of the vagina and cervix to thin, shrink, and dry up, which makes the test more difficult to perform along with being more painful for the patient.

Furthermore, psychological issues regarding identity contributed to inadequate test results. According to the study, Pap smears can be challenging for a transgender man to contemplate, due to a disconnect between biological sex and gender identity – many pre-operational transgender people wish to ignore the existence of their natal reproductive organs entirely. Another study with six transgender men found that "gynecologic exams are often a unique time when extreme emotional conflict between self-perceptions and physical anatomy are heightened because of physical touch." Another possible factor includes discomfort and lack of education on the part of physicians treating transgender patients.

The researchers worked with Fenway Health, the largest healthcare facility serving the LGBT community in Boston, to analyze Pap test results from 233 FTM and 3625 female patients between 2006 and 2012. They found that FTM patients were more likely to have an inadequate Pap, more likely to have multiple inadequate tests, and delayed follow-up testing five times longer than female patients.

But there are preventive care alternatives to Pap smears, such as human papilloma virus DNA testing which could be a more effective method of screening transgender men for cervical care. Historically, some individuals would keep the cervix to preserve sexual pleasure and inner pelvic architecture, but recent studies have not found any clear benefits for this option. For FTM patients who opt for total hysterectomies that remove the cervix along with the uterus, over partial hysterectomies that leave the cervix intact, there would be no need for a Pap test at all.

Health care issues, including health disparities and access to non-discriminatory facilities, are a continuing subject of active discussion in the LGBT community.

Testing An Anti-Poaching Drone In KwaZulu-Natal

Mulero-Pázmány M, Stolper R, van Essen LD, Negro JJ, et al

Welcome to the drone age! Six U.S. states are now testing drones for the FAA, and there are new developments in unmanned aerial vehicle technology daily. Here's a round-up of the week's best drone news, designed to capture the military, commercial, non-profit, and recreational applications of flying robots. 

Delivery, In Development

Last December, delivery company DHL used drones to carry medicine across the Rhine river in Bonn, Germany. This is borderline gimmick drone territory; we've seen multiple stunt delivery drone services before. Even big announcements, like the one Amazon made in late 2013, can over-promise so much that it looks more like marketing than new technology. DHL made eight deliveries a day for five days. The drones were piloted by people, and required a transfer of control midway across the river to the pilot on the opposite side. Consider this, then, more of a technological test than anything else. Drones can do new things, like carry small parcels across rivers easily, but their full usefulness is still years away.

Amateur Photographers Overhead

Cooliris, a photo-sharing app company, recently partnered with Aibotix, a drone company, to build a platform for seamless sharing of aerial photos with friends. If a user has both a Cooliris account and an Aibotix drone, they'll be able to share the photos the drone takes easily with a group. It's not exactly commercial photography, which is still in a legal grey area, but it's close. The FAA will, sooner or later, have to figure out the extent to which it will allow amateur photographers to use unmanned flying cameras.

And In Your Pocket

The Pocket Drone is a Kickstarter project that promises to make flying robot cameras easy to steer, easy to conceal transport, and not that expensive (less than $500 for project backers). It's probably not coming to a nearby window anytime soon, but with 472 backers already promised drones, expect them to eventually film something they shouldn't.

Anti-Poaching Technology, Tested

Thanks to demand from booming economies in Asia, poaching is a lucrative enterprise. New technology is one way to fight that -- poisoned rhino horns, tagging animals, and cameras triggered by movement are all proposed ideas for protecting endangered creatures. A recent project, funded in part by the European Commission, the government of Spain, and the Centre for Wildlife Management at South Africa's University of Pretoria, tested different kinds of drone cameras in different environments and at different altitudes. They wanted to see how useful the gadgets would be in anti-poaching efforts.The project found, unsurprisingly, that "open areas facilitated target detection, while forest habitats complicated it." Thermal cameras worked best in the morning and at night. This isn't the first time drones have done anti-poaching work, but it's good to have some research back up the idea that drones are useful here.

Transformers, Testing Soon

Black Knight Transformer Truck Copter

Advanced Tactics

The Black Knight, developed with funding from Congress, is an optionally manned helicopter-truck designed to switch between flying and driving during military evacuation missions. The rotors collapse against the vehicle's body for navigating tight streets, and extend for flying. The goal: a remotely operated rescue machine that can operate in conditions too dangerous for an on-board human pilot. 

Google Glass

Unless you've been living under a rock -- a rock without wi-fi -- you know that wearable technology is the Next Big Thing. From rings to running shoes to the fabrics in our clothes, we'll soon carry around a host of gadgets that record our lives, monitor our health, and, of course, pester us with coupons from every coffee shop we pass.

The most high-profile of these soon-to-arrive gadgets is Google Glass. But strange as it may seem, some folks aren't so keen on the idea of people peering constantly into the middle distance to check their Facebook news feed.

Among those folks: legislators, who are especially worried about distracted driving. Heck, Google Glass isn't even officially on sale yet, and already elected officials in West Virginia and Wyoming are trying to prevent drivers from wearing it. And a woman in California received a traffic ticket for sporting Google Glass behind the wheel.

Next, the battle heads to New York, where Brooklyn Assemblyman Felix Ortiz has proposed banning Google Glass for drivers in the Empire State. He's described the device as "extremely dangerous technology" and has introduced a bill to outlaw anyone from wearing it while driving.

Our Take

We understand the concerns that Ortiz and some of his colleagues have about Google Glass. Obviously, anything that can distract drivers from the task at hand seems like a very, very bad thing, and Google Glass looks like one of the biggest potential distractions yet.

However, we also understand that this genie is out of the bottle. Wearable technology is coming, whether we like it or not. Rather than banning devices like Google Glass outright, we'd like to see legislation that keeps people safe, but also acknowledges that this new technology is quickly going to become a part of people's daily lives.

For example, many states govern the ways in which drivers use their cell phones by prohibiting texting or requiring that calls be made hands-free. But no state in the country prohibits drivers from using their phones entirely. Even Diaz knows that: he helped craft New York's cell phone law.

And just to be clear: lawmakers shouldn't be solely responsible for ensuring that wearable devices are safe. Some of that burden falls on the shoulders of gadget-makers, too. Google, for example, should create an easily activated "do not disturb" feature on Glass like the one found in the current iPhone operating system, which would turn itself on when the device is being worn by a driver. Encouragingly, other Google Glass features and apps already exist to help keep drivers awake and focused.

Will Diaz's bill pass? We'd give it a 50/50 shot. On the one hand, it seems like a sensible bill that could garner widespread support. On the other hand, it's coming from the same man who tried to outlaw salt in New York restaurants, which may have cost him a few friends in Albany.

This article, written by Richard Read, was originally published on The Car Connection, a publishing partner of Popular Science. Follow The Car Connection on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

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Texting

Flickr/Sleepyneko

According to a report just released by The Guardian, the National Security Agency has been collecting and storing 200 million text messages a day--at random, according to leaked documents--in the hopes of tracking down undesireables. 

Sinister PowerPoint? Yes, sinister PowerPoint! This one's called “SMS Text Messages: A Goldmine to Exploit.” ("Surely this will never leak!" a roomful of NSA employees once chuckled to themselves.)

The secret program, known as Dishfire, has led the NSA to track down information like travel plans and banking info, even for people who aren't under suspicion of illegal activity. A second program, known as "Prefer," then auto-analyzed the messages for hints of wrongdoing. The collection of U.S. phones was "minimized" according to the documents, but not so for numbers compiled around the rest of the world. In April 2011, an average of 194 million texts a day were collected under the program, which gave the NSA about 5 million missed-call alerts, 110,000 names from electronic business cards, and geolocation information from 76,000 messages, according to The Guardian. The NSA, for its part, told the news agency that the text-mining only went on for “valid foreign intelligence targets."

Read the full report here. 

Snuppy

At the time of the findings that Woo Suk Hwang's human stem cell papers were faked, his lab also created the world's first cloned dog, named Snuppy. Seoul National University verified that the Snuppy work was genuine.

Seoul National University

Ten years ago, South Korean geneticist Woo Suk Hwang made big news, twice. First, scientists heralded him for creating a population of stem cells from human embryos, which scientists had hoped could eventually go into personalized stem cell therapies. Then, Hwang hit the headlines again when investigations found that he made up the data in two of his landmark papers. It's unlikely the cells he made were true clones, although he maintains they were. In addition, his students told reporters they donated their own eggs for Hwang's experiments—a scenario ethicists discourage, because students might feel pressured by their mentors to "donate" to the cause.

It was one of the most famous cases of fraud in the history of science. In my own little sphere, I saw college professors start using this story as a cautionary tale against cheating in science. He will never work again, one of my professors told my class. You wouldn't want that to happen to you, would you?

In fact, however, Hwang continued to work. Nature and Science, the world's top science journals, both published features this week looking at what he has been doing since his outing and expulsion from Seoul National University.

Hwang, a veterinarian by training, has been cloning animals, hundreds of them. And his new lab has published papers in reputable journals about their advances. He's had a hand in many recent high-profile cloning projects, including the cloning of talented police dogs and attempts to clone endangered species. His research is part of the rising success of putting cloned animals to real-world uses, including breeding them with dairy cattle and riding them into polo matches.

Check out the Science and Nature profiles for more on Hwang's long journey since 2004. Both features are good and have similar information. One thing both journals also reported: Hwang wants to work again on cloning human cells for therapies, but so far, the Korean health ministry has turned down his proposals.

TrackingPoint's .338 Lapua Magnum XS1

TrackingPoint

Consider it performance enhancement for snipers. Guns made by a company called TrackingPoint, which include a special computer and targeting system built into the gun itself, turn inexperienced marksmen into expert shots on the first try, and could make already-trained snipers and sharpshooters even better. Now, the technology is no longer just a novelty for wealthyhunters; at SHOT Show (a major gun exposition), a marketing official from Trackingpoint revealed that the United States Army bought "several" of the rifles, and is rumored to be evaluating them for military use.

TrackingPoint rifles are expensive, running up to $27,000 apiece. For comparison, the M4 carbine, currently a standard rifle used by the United States military, runs about $700 apiece. The M70, a sniper rifle used by the U.S. Marine Corps since the 1960s, cost about $6,500 in 2006. But the point of the gun isn't for cost savings (though there may be some in reduced time to train snipers, if it becomes adopted); the point of the gun it to make the first shot count.

It does that by using a computer to calculate the perfect shot: First, the shooter sees the target on their screen, which is a camera instead of the usual telescopic lens. Then the shooter tags the target, and adjusts the gun until its crosshairs match up with the tagged target (for hunters, an animal, and for snipers, a human). Sensors in the gun and the camera feed into into the computer, making sure that the shot flies true, accounting for the wind speed and temperature and other factors that could make shooting difficult. Then and only then does the gun fire, making the first shot far more likely to be a hit than if an average shooter were relying on eyesight and judgement along.

It's not yet known if the Army will adopt the guns, and if they do, to whom they would be assigned. Still, having the guns on hand for testing is the first step to a terrifying future of point-and-click sniping.

[Defense Tech]

Aquarium fish

Monterey Bay Aquarium/Randy Wilder

Researchers have begun to analyze DNA in water samples to find out what fish live nearby. A new study of DNA in a small sample of water from central California's Monterey Bay Aquarium correctly identified most of the fish that live there; it also correctly calculated the relative abundance of sardine, tuna, dolphinfish, and mackerel (based on the relative quantities of genetic material). At first, the presence of DNA from an Atlantic species confused the scientists, until they found that it came from menhaden, which is used to feed the aquarium's residents, according to a statement. 

This environmental DNA (or eDNA) presents a treasure trove of data about what organisms live in the environment, and scientists are beginning to figure out how to sift through and make sense of it. Identifying species from this DNA is no cake-walk, but determining population counts is more difficult still, and this study was one of the first to do the latter. These type of studies are particularly useful for finding rare, endangered, or invasive species, which may not be easy to spot otherwise. For example, the presence of Asian carp DNA found in Lake Michigan suggests that the fish are likely to invade the lake soon if drastic measures aren't taken.

Rhinos in trouble

Coralie via WikiMedia Commons

The rhinos are killed for their horns, which mostly end up in Vietnam and China, where they are valued for their supposed medicinal value. Research shows that they have none, however, and that they are made up of the same material as human fingernails. Most of the animals were killed in Kruger National Park. A total of 343 alleged poachers and traffickers were arrested in 2013, an increase from 267 arrests in 2012. But that's clearly not getting the job done. 

There have been some innovative projects to fight rhino poaching, such as putting GPS chips and poison into horns to dissuade poachers. Environmentalists say that more needs to be done to prevent the animals from going extinct. "2014 must mark the turning point where the world, collectively says 'enough is enough' and brings these criminal networks down," said Tom Milliken, a rhino expert for TRAFFIC, a group that monitors wildlife trade. "Rhino horn trafficking and consumption are not simply environmental issues, they represent threats to the very fabric of society."

Bird backpack tracker

Courtesy Michael Shafer/Northern Arizona University

To study migrating birds, engineers have been developing a sensor-loaded backpack that would power itself with vibrations produced by flight. A special ceramic material would convert those vibrations into electricity.

The Parts

A) System battery

B) Piezoelectric energy harvester & wireless communications antenna

C) Circuit board with sensors, radio, memory, clock, and microcontroller

D) Leg-loop harness

Source: Michael Shafer of Northern Arizona University and Ephrahim Garcia of Cornell University

This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Popular Science.

Smart Contact Lens

Google

The Google X labs are at it again. But instead of trying to engineer flying generators or spread WiFi with a balloon, the clandestine research center is developing contact lenses that measure blood-sugar levels in the wearer's tears. This could get rid of the invasive process that most diabetics endure which involves drawing their own blood to be read by an electronic reader in order to keep track of their glucose levels.

Currently, the prototype has tiny wireless chips and glucose sensors placed in between two lenses which are able to generate a reading once per second. Google is exploring integrating tiny LED lights that would flash if levels have crossed above or below safe thresholds. According to Google, the chips and sensors are so small they look like bits of glitter, with an antenna thinner than a human hair.

The corporation is still in talks with the Food and Drug Administration and plan to partner with experts in bringing products like this to the market. Diabetes affects approximately one in 19 people on the planet.   

Remarks

President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference, August 2013, about reforming U.S. intelligence programs.

U.S. White House

The NSA's gathering of Americans' phone call metadata is going to see a few changes. President Barack Obama promised several reforms to U.S. intelligence-gathering activity in a speech he gave today, although critics arewarning the changes will be minor. The speech was the culmination of a long debate in the U.S. over revelations, stemming from classified documents Edward Snowden handed over to reporters, of the extent of federal surveillance on both Americans and American allies.

Among the biggest reforms Obama announced included a revamping of the metadata program, which is one of the most contentious programs Snowden revealed. The program records when calls are made between phone numbers, plus how long those calls last, though not the calls' contents. How different the program's replacement will be, however, is still unclear. Obama also addressed worries about spying on U.S. allies, an issue that first garnered attention when German newsmagazine Der Spiegel found that the U.S. had tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone for years.

Many of the changes Obama promised came from recommendations he received from an independent panel of advisors he convened after Snowden's revelations. But he didn't take all of the recommendations. As The New York Times points out, one major omission was that he didn't talk about the National Security Agency's hacking into the encryption that American tech companies use to protect their customers' emails and other data. The NSA maintains technological "back doors" in such software, which makes them not only vulnerable to domestic surveillance, but also to attacks from criminals. Obama also didn't make many changes to how intelligence officials use national security letters, which are the demands for data they issue to companies when they're seeking information on individual people.

Over gradual steps, Obama wants to scrap the NSA's phone data-collecting program altogether. It'll have a replacement, although exactly what that will look like is still up in the air. It will have to be more acceptable to privacy advocates than the old program, but still provide U.S. intelligence agencies with information, which Obama emphasized could be helpful in a crisis. "For example, if a bomb goes off in one of our cities and law enforcement is racing to determine whether a network is poised to conduct additional attacks, time is of the essence," he said. "Being able to quickly review phone connections to assess whether a network exists is critical to that effort."

Those who run the phone metadata program will have to present Obama with an alternative by March 28, when the program is due for reauthorization. One option includes having another entity, not the U.S. government, store phone metadata until intelligence officers want to search it. But that idea has some problems, Obama said, including what laws would apply to that other party.

As for surveillance on non-Americans, Obama wrote a policy directive that states some restrictions on how intelligence on non-Americans will be used. It won't be used for suppressing criticism or civil rights activism, as it was when U.S.officials monitored anti-Vietnam War activists and civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. Data on foreign calls won't be used to give American companies a competitive edge.

The U.S. also won't monitor leaders in countries that are close allies with the U.S. "unless there is a compelling national security purpose," Obama said.

Throughout the speech, the president took care to acknowledge both sides of the debate. He was especially supportive of the NSA and those who worked there. He defended U.S. programs as they are, framing his reforms as protections for the future, not amendments for the past.

"The men and women of the intelligence community, including the NSA, consistently followed protocols designed to protect the privacy of the American people," he said. They did nothing illegal, he added. "They're not abusing authority." Their work is difficult and vital to preventing terrorist attacks on the U.S., he said.

But, he added, it's clear that the way intelligence programs are structured now makes them open to abuse in the future. It's good that Americans are learning more about what American intelligence does, and that they're having this debate. Nevertheless, he was not a fan of how Americans came to talk about the NSA. "The sensational way in which these disclosures have come out have often shed more heat than light," he said.