SpaceX pulled off its first spacewalk in the early hours of Thursday morning, Sept. 12. The marquee event of the private Polaris Dawn mission went smoothly, with two of the crew members stepping outside of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, “Resilience.” It’s the first time civilians, rather than government astronauts, have performed a spacewalk.
Forget the rice: If your phone gets wet, turn it off immediately to prevent a short circuit. Remove the cover, wipe down the phone, and then let it air dry in a cool place. Keep it upright with the ports facing downward to let any remaining water drain. The hardest part? Waiting at least 24 hours to turn it back on.
Everything old is new again
Remember when Amazon’s Kindle was the hottest gadget on the block, selling out in just five hours in 2007? It’s making a surprising comeback, here’s the scoop.
💦 I’ll tumble for you: Forgetting about clothes in the washer is the worst. GE’s new Profile Ultrafast washes and dries. It’s super energy-efficient, saves space and can finish a load in two hours. Hey, look! It’s on sale on Amazon. I have a similar machine on my boat, and I’m lucky if I can get three towels in it.
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A cold-brew cup of Joe is made by steeping the grounds in cold water, a process that takes between 12 and 24 hours. But Australian scientists say they’ve gotten that down to 3 minutes using what technology? Is it … A.) Ultraviolet waves, B.) Ultrasound waves, C.) Radio waves or D.) X‑rays?
2-plus hours
Time per day the average person spends “dreamscrolling.” This is when someone’s looking at things online they can’t afford and want to own someday. That time-suck works out to an average of 36 days of “dreamscrolling” a year. I can think of 50 better uses for my time.
Amazon driver ignores a house fire
A family’s home burned for over three hours. The crazy part is, just 20 minutes in, an Amazon driver arrived to drop off a package. Watch what happens when he enters the smokey garage.
X marks the spot: When Elon Musk took over Twitter two years ago, he told employees they’d need to work “extremely hardcore” with “long hours at high intensity.” Those who didn’t agree within 24 hours were fired. It turns out that not responding doesn’t legally count as resignation. A canned employee got $600,000.
NYC to London in 1.5 hours: NASA’s officially working on commercial aircraft with speeds between Mach 2 and Mach 4, or from 1,535 to 3,045 miles per hour — twice the F/A-18’s Mach 1.8. That’s so fast your in-flight peanuts will catch up with you at the baggage claim.
What wood you do? A Georgia man lost his phone at night in the woods, and, while looking for it, he fell down a 50-foot well. He called for help but spent a long, cold night in the well. Rescuers took almost two hours to get him out using special equipment. PSA: Don’t walk around alone at night in the woods.
Prime Day skepticism
Curious why Google searches for “Is Prime Day a scam?” skyrocketed by 300% in just 24 hours? Here’s the scoop.
Have a Yelp page? Businesses that include their hours, phone number, website and a photo on Yelp get 7.6 times more pageviews per month. Dang. Log in and make sure yours is up to date!
A buck is a buck: If you stream music on Spotify, you’re most likely on the $11.99-a-month plan that includes 15 hours of audiobooks a month, too. Don’t use ‘em? Go into your account and downgrade to “Basic” ($10.99 per month). Hey, it all adds up!
Best day to apply for a job: Data from ZipRecruiter says Tuesday (that’s today!) is the day for job seekers. Why? Most jobs are uploaded that day, and it’s your best bet to apply within the first 24 to 48 hours.
The election: Donate to the candidate's official website only
Just hours after last week’s verdict, the Trump campaign raised $35 million. That kind of money attracts cybercriminals with fake donation sites. Here’s how to avoid them.
🤦♀️ Neither snow nor rain nor heat (but not fire!): An Amazon driver with hardly a brain opened a garage door, walked through the smoke, left a package inside the burning garage and didn’t bother calling 911. By the time a passerby called three-and-a-half hours later, it took fire departments from 10 surrounding towns to put out the flames. Watch the story here. Unbelievable.
Mom needs to be a mom: Instead of being strong with her 12-year-old son, an Ohio mom is suing the makers of Fortnite and the Madden NFL game series over her son’s gaming addiction. He’s glued to the screen up to 10 hours a day (paywall link), leading to severe emotional distress, a shrinking friend circle and serious anger flare-ups. PSA: Take away the gaming console, put the kid in counseling and grow a set.
$16,000 price tag
For a 4-foot-tall robot. A “humanoid agent AI avatar,” to be exact. Chinese robotics company Unitree’s latest model can walk, run, lift about four pounds and … uh, that’s about it. When is two hours not long? When we’re talking about this robot’s battery dying instead of the duration of something else in your life.
Dead end: A man turned his terminally ill father into a chatbot. After recording hours of his life story, it answers him in Dad’s voice. Would you want your family members to do this for you? If not, talk to them or add a line to your estate documents.
2-hour flight
Travel time from NYC to London by 2030. Research from the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority says traveling at supersonic speeds is coming … fast. The expected time flying from London to Sydney? Just two hours. In no time at all, you could be joining an Australian game party in the LAN down under.