The end-of-week dispatch from PopSci's commerce editor. Vol. 58.
My job is to find cool stuff. Throughout the week I spend hours scouring the web for things that are ingenious or clever or ridiculously cheap.
Five rad and random things I found this week
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Livestreams now reward people just for paying attention
The Blizzcon Facebook stream took the attention economy to a whole new level.
This year, BlizzCon, an annual video game convention, built prizes into the livestream to reward users simply for paying attention.
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Florence and Michael might be retired from the Hurricane naming book
Meteorologists routinely retire names of severely devastating storms.
Hurricanes are often so ruinous that any mention of the storm's name causes extreme discomfort. To ease the pain, meteorologists often retire these storm names. It’s…
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Gunshot wound first aid can save a life. Here's what to do.
There are life-saving measures any bystander can take.
“Someone at the scene is going to have to intervene to save those injured victims. EMS can’t get there in time.”…
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Tesla is making the Model 3 faster with a software update
Track Mode shows the potential of electric cars to go fast.
Tesla's Model 3 update makes it faster on the track.
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Gravitational waves could solve a cosmological crisis within five years—or shake physics to its core
We’re closing in on one of the most important numbers in the universe.
This could be the last decade that cosmologists debate how fast the universe is expanding.
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MEGAPIXELS: NASA provides a powerful view of California’s deadly wildfires
Capturing the terrifying blazes from above.
A terrible combination of low humidity, dry vegetation, and high winds had Californians racing to escape multiple massive fires on Friday.
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The best way to deal with fall leaves
It would be so much easier to just...leave them.
Fall is here, and with it one of the most dreaded of chores: wrangling dead leaves. We’ve talked to the experts about how to handle leaves with maximum efficiency.
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Email aliases are the easiest path to privacy—and an organized inbox
And setting them up is a snap.
An email alias is an alternative address that your manage from your original account. Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail all let you use these—here's why.
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Lyme disease is thriving thanks to climate change
Rising temperatures are creating new habitats for ticks.
Climate change is expected to cause a 21 percent rise in Lyme disease cases in the United States.
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Nine apps that will improve your productivity at work
Manage your time, stay calm, avoid distractions, and more.
Technology can help you do your best work. We selected apps to make your time at the office calmer, more productive, and maybe even enjoyable.
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Visualizing California's current fires, some of the deadliest and most destructive on record
These graphics show how the fires have spread over the last few days.
California is ablaze once again, and despite an already horrific season these new fires are still setting records.
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Last week in tech: Folding phones, electric Harleys, and the never-ending Black Friday
Don't let the looming shopping season make you miss important tech news.
Do you want a folding phone? Well, too bad! You're getting one anyway.
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Do plants poop?
And other important questions.
Well, sort of. It depends on what exactly you mean by “poop.”…
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How architects made California’s Getty Museum fireproof
Suppressing sparks isn’t easy in wildfire-prone Los Angeles.
Indoor and outdoor sprinklers, flame-proof materials, and more help the Los Angeles-based Getty Museum resist Southern California’s regular fires.
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This change can make your online browsing faster and more private
Consider choosing what DNS service you use. Don’t worry, it’s easier than it sounds.
There is a small, simple step you can take right now that promises to make your online browsing faster and more private.
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Want your kid to be an elite athlete? Let them play the field.
Specializing in one sport won’t turn your child into an elite athlete—and it might get them hurt.
Research suggests that kids are focusing on one sport earlier, and that this is leading to an uptick in overuse injuries.
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California's forest management isn't the problem
Despite accusations, the state has excellent manage policies—it's just also built to burn.
Though the legacy of America's old fire suppression strategy resulted in the buildup of excess flammable brush, there are two other key reasons why California is the…
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See how much of California has burned in the last five years
It's a lot.
Most of California’s hottest fires have burned since 2000—13 out of 20 total—as higher temperatures have made wildfires increasingly likely and destructive.
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Canon's long-awaited EOS-R camera is easy on the eyes and tough on your thumb
Design tweaks aside, the EOS-R is an impressive camera.
Sample images and hands-on impressions with a landmark camera…
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More Pages to Explore .....
