📚 Turn “da-da” into data: Get your kiddo ready for the future (and AI) with these 30 free STEM resources. The list includes apps, games and classes to teach youngsters stuff like coding, aeronautics, mathematics and, yes, data science. You could have the next little Elon.
Gadget or gimmick? The truth behind viral tech products
ChatGPT
Oh, it’s Friday. Let’s lighten our tech brains and hearts.
Every week, some new gadget promises to make your life easier. There’s a fine line though between “tech that improves your life” and “tech that ends up in a junk drawer next to the USB lava lamp.”
I ran them through the highly scientific Kim Scale™ so you don’t have to. Let me break down the viral tech everyone’s talking about.
👓 Blue Light Glasses
Claim: Reduce eyestrain and improve sleep by filtering blue light from screens.
Reality: Studies show these glasses might help with sleep, but most digital eyestrain comes from not blinking and staring too long, not blue light itself.
Kim Scale: ★★☆☆☆
Verdict: A little helpful if you’re doomscrolling at night, but don’t expect miracles. Honestly, blinking more often is free. Your move, capitalism.
📴 EMF Blockers
Claim: Shield your body from harmful electromagnetic radiation.
Reality: There’s no solid scientific proof that EMF-blocking stickers or necklaces actually do anything, but they’re big business.
Kim Scale: ☆☆☆☆☆
Verdict: Science and I both say skip it. It’s giving a “tinfoil hat, but make it on Etsy” vibe.
🖥️ Anti-Spy Screen Filters
Claim: Keep people from viewing your screen from side angles.
Reality: These actually work! If you’re checking email at a coffee shop or handling private info on a plane, they’re a smart choice.
Kim Scale: ★★★★☆
Verdict: Privacy win. Good for privacy, or for pretending you’re working when you’re definitely not.
🛏️ The Self-Making Smart Duvet
Claim: Makes your bed with the push of a button.
Reality: This thing literally inflates inside your duvet to straighten your sheets every morning. Cool? Yes. Practical? Depends how lazy you want to get.
Kim Scale: ★★☆☆☆
Verdict: Equal parts impressive and ridiculous. Coming soon: a Roomba that brushes your teeth and tells you you’re special.
🍌 The Banana Phone
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The Satanic space flight
Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket launch with Katy Perry and Gayle King is under fire online. Not for science, but for satanic symbols and staged space drama.
Playing God: Now, this is nuts. British scientists just kicked off a mega-funded plan to build human DNA from scratch. The goal? A fully synthetic chromosome (just 2% of the genome) for now. Cue the ethical dilemma of gene creation and editing. Some say it’s lifesaving science, others say it’s biotech’s Jurassic Park moment.
1.6 million
Americans living with type 1 diabetes who just got a sliver of hope. Ten people (out of 12 in trials) are now insulin-free thanks to a single infusion from a new drug. If you’re still waiting for your miracle, science is catching up.
📚 Keep their brains busy: Want your kids to stay sharp in math or science this summer? Check out Khan Academy. Free lessons include short videos, practice exercises and hints. There’s even an AI tutor they can chat with when they’re stuck (it’s $4/month). Pro tip: Track their progress with a parent account.
10,000 years
That’s how long ago Meuse Woman walked the Earth, give or take a Netflix binge. Before the wheel, before writing, before Stonehenge, there was her. Now she’s got a face (thanks, science) and a pending fan vote to pick her name out of Margo, Freya or Mos’anne.
95%
A new blood test is that good at spotting early signs of Alzheimer’s. It checks for two proteins tied to the disease: amyloid beta 42/40 and p-tau217. People with Alzheimer’s usually have more of the second one. The best part? The test is already FDA-approved and way cheaper (and less scary) than a spinal tap. Science wins again.
AI vs. cancer: AI just helped design a new breast cancer treatment … with zero cancer drugs. Using high-cholesterol and anti-booze meds, GPT-4 suggested combos, and some worked better than standard care. Yes, it spit out actual useful science instead of writing a bad screenplay. GPT is slowly turning into Dr. House without the Vicodin.
🐶 Dogs look like their owners? Science says it’s not just in your head. We might subconsciously choose pups that resemble us or our kids. Women have hair similar in length to their dog’s ears. And yep, they match our vibes, too. The longer we’re together, the more they start to copy us. Look at my Bella!
#7
Where computer science ranks among majors with the highest jobless rates. Congrats, grads, now you’re competing with laid-off senior devs and chatbots that don’t sleep. Next stop, look into AI ethics, prompt engineering and cloud or quantum computing.
“Destroying my mind”: That’s how 22-year-old Sarah Hills felt about her Oura Ring (paywall link). Every spike in heart rate or dip in her “readiness score” sent her into a panic. It’s called “Oura paranoia,” and she’s not alone. Oura’s own head of science says he takes breaks from wearing his ring. You might want to do that with a wearable, too.
1 hour
The weekly amount of weight training needed to gain muscle. One study found just two 30-minute sessions a week helped participants get noticeably stronger and more jacked (paywall link), no five-day grind or bro science required. One set per exercise. Nine moves. That’s it. I hear you: “Instead of calling my bathroom the John, I call it the Jim. That way I can tell people I go to the Jim every morning.”
🧠 OpenAI’s new models: The recently released o3 and o4-mini aren’t your typical chatbots. They’re trained to think deeply and come up with their own experiments. So, perfect for science, tech, engineering and math. The kicker? It might cost $20,000 a month!
3,700 miles
How far a man’s body was flown from the UK to Michigan to be stored in a liquid nitrogen cryogenic chamber. The goal? Freeze now and hope science figures out how to bring him back to life later. Think advancements in AI, stem cell research and nanotechnology. Hey, it’s a long shot, but when you’re already dead, what have you got to lose?
❤️ Heartfelt science: Scientists have unveiled a pacemaker smaller than a grain of rice that can be injected and powered by light. Tailored for newborns with heart issues, this tiny tech marvel dissolves when its mission is complete. Talk about a disappearing act.
AI upgrade: Hit this link to try Google’s new Gemini 2.5 free. All you need is a Google account. What’s different? Version 2.5 “thinks” before it replies for higher-quality answers, and it beats the other big AI bots in math and science.
🧠 How every zombie movie starts: Scientists recently revived activity in a dead pig’s brain by pumping it full of a special chemical cocktail designed to mimic blood flow. The result? Brain cells started producing proteins and showing signs of life, but it wasn’t conscious. Now they want to try this on a human brain. Personally, I can think of a few better ways to spend science funding that don’t sound like a prequel to The Walking Dead.
Over $500,000
How much AI scientists can make per year because the skills are in such high demand. The kicker? You don’t even need a computer science degree. Everything you need to learn is available online (paywall link). Remember, If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.
🪑 Fidgeting at your desk? Science says that’s your body’s way of telling you to get off your butt. Even if you feel comfortable, sitting too long can cause pain and mess with your concentration. Every 30 minutes, stand up and stretch, or at least switch your seating positions. You’ll boost your blood flow, lower stress and even keep your brain sharp. And no more cankles!