The end-of-week dispatch from PopSci's commerce editor. Vol. 37.
Throughout the week I spend hours scouring the web for things that are ingenious or clever or ridiculously cheap.
Five rad and random products I found this week
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The best ways to preserve your flowers
Save your Valentine’s Day blossoms.
To preserve your Valentine's Day flowers, you need to remove their moisture with a process like air-drying, pressing, or nuking them in the microwave.
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The Little Rover That Could
We think you can, Opportunity.
On Saturday, February 17, Opportunity will experience its 5,000th Martian sunrise.
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China's J-20 stealth fighter jet has officially entered service
Ready to "safeguard China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity."
China's J-20 stealth fighter is ready to take to the skies, thought it's waiting for new engines.
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You can (and should) train yourself to sleep on your back
Get back to basics.
Changing your sleep position can reduce pain and help you wake up ready to tackle the day.
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Last week in tech: President’s Day sale on fresh content
HomePod has a problem, robots are adorable, and Bitcoin is just doing what it does.
Take a break from cruising mattress sales to catch up on last week's biggest tech stories.
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The botany in Obama's official portrait represents his history
Artist Kehinde Wiley employed the language of flowers.
President Obama's official portrait uses flowers to tell his story.
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This year’s flu vaccine is only 36 percent effective—and that’s great news
Yes, you should still get your flu shot.
In a season as severe as this one, any outcome that’s better than expected is cause for celebration. And that’s not even the best part.
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How to test your smartphone's speed
And improve its performance.
Is your phone performing as well as it can? These tools and apps will help you check your device's speed. Then you can decide how to fix any slow-downs.
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You might be inhaling bits of toxic algae
Breaking waves can send algal blooms airborne.
The mischief caused by algal blooms does not end at the water’s edge.
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China is building the world's largest facility for robot ship research
Wanshan covers more than 225 square nautical miles of ocean.
Moving on from drone taxis and armed robots, China is now looking to take a lead in building unmanned ships.
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Athletes with asthma tend to do better at the Winter Olympics
But it's not really clear where the advantage comes from.
Up to one in four winter Olympians have asthma—and they actually tend to do better than competitors without the condition.
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Prehistoric lizards could sprint on two legs
Fossilized footprints provide new insight on ancient lizard behavior
Fossilized lizard footprints dating back to the Cretaceous indicate the little scaly beasts could get up and run on two legs.
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Cool, weird, and gross stuff we played with at Toy Fair 2018
Robots, coding toys, Marvel stuff, and an odd amount of poop-themed toys.
Check out all the new playthings from this massive toy trade show.
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Thanks, anti-vaxxers: Measles is on the rise in Europe
Our grip on infectious diseases is slipping as people turn away from vaccination.
Before the measles vaccine existed, 9 out of every 10 kids got the disease before age 15. Two million people died from it every year. And now we're backsliding.
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'Speed reading' isn't real, but you can still train yourself to read faster
Speedier reading is good enough for me.
Speed reading seems to have been an unscientific fad. But you can still pick up the pace with these tips.
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Bats help grow our crops, but climate change has them on the move
Rising temperatures are shifting bat migration patterns, with possible consequences for farmers.
Bats play an important role in agriculture. Now, they are changing their migratory behavior as a result of a warming planet.
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Razor-sharp snowflakes are wreaking havoc on Olympians’ skis
In super-cold temperatures, it's more like skiing on sand than snow.
Turns out that in the right temperatures, snowflakes can turn from fluffy sparkles into razor-sharp, ski-destroying spikes.
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An amateur astronomer accidentally caught an exploding star on camera—and it gets better
He was excited to test his new camera, but he also captured something totally unique.
Victor Buso was looking forward to testing his brand-new camera. He had no idea he would help capture the start of one of the most unpredictable events in the universe;…
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It doesn’t matter how many legs the new lobster emoji has
Emojis are symbols, not images in a textbook.
Sometime later this year, 157 new emojis will grace your phone or computer, and one of them will be a lobster.
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