Spice Things Up
Apr. 22nd, 2025 10:05 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png)
This comic is made possible with the help of our backers on Patreon. Go to War and Peas to read more comics and find all links.
This comic is made possible with the help of our backers on Patreon. Go to War and Peas to read more comics and find all links.
Tired of your phone feeling more like a distraction than a tool? The NanoPhone keeps things simple. It’s got the essentials, fits in your pocket, and helps you stay connected while staying focused. And right now, you can secure your own miniaturized smartphone for just $89.97, $110 off the usual price, through April 27.
Tired of oversized phones and endless notifications? The NanoPhone packs the essentials—a touchscreen, key apps, and a camera—into a sleek, pocket-sized design that keeps things simple.
No extra data plan, no hassle. Just slide in your current SIM card and you’re good to go with most 4G carriers.
The NanoPhone’s 2MP front camera and 5MP rear camera let you enjoy snapping photos and video chatting, just like on its larger counterpart. And Bluetooth capabilities make it easy to connect to wireless headphones or a smartwatch for seamless integration.
Don’t let the size fool you. The NanoPhone’s battery can go the distance, holding enough charge to last all day. And at just 3.5 by 1.8 inches, it’s the perfect backup for the gym, a night out, or any time you want to stay connected without hauling around a brick. It’s also a great backup phone to have in emergencies.
Secure your own NanoPhone for just $89.97 (reg. $199.99), with no coupon required, now through April 27.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
NanoPhone – A Miniaturized Smartphone Packed with Mega Features! – $89.97
The post Shrink your screentime—literally—with this $90 mini smartphone appeared first on Popular Science.
What’s the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you’ll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci’s hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every-other Wednesday morning. It’s your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals the editors of Popular Science can muster. If you like the stories in this post, we guarantee you’ll love the show.
By Kate Downey
So for context, I get severe period cramps. I have since I was 14. For the last year, I’ve been making the podcast CRAMPED, where I tried to find answers to what I think are very basic questions about my body and my cramps. After all, 90% of menstruating people experience period pain. But it turns out when you try to look into these basic questions and get them answered… there may not be answers out there, largely because of how female bodies are treated in the medical system.
So obviously, if we’re talking about severe period pain, my question was: what’s causing it? And I’ve had this question for 22 years. Like truly what is happening inside my body? I went ahead and did the research, I looked up the medical papers, I found the best information that the internet could give me.
Most folks think they know what’s going on in there—the uterus is squeezing to get the blood out, right? But what’s causing the uterus to squeeze? Why do some people feel mild discomfort while others feel excruciating pain that can cause them to vomit or pass out? Surely science has answers for us…? As it turns out, NOPE! Current studies conducted by the GyRL Lab in Evanston, IL are discovering that, in fact, everything we thought we knew about period cramps might be wrong.
Listen to this week’s episode of Weirdest Thing to hear more about the shockingly recent history of scientific investigation into period pain, and check out CRAMPED for loads more info.
By Laura Baisas
A rat may not be up to the task of selecting a great wine pairing for your dinner anytime soon, but some new research shows that these rodents can learn to differentiate between varieties of vino. The findings are detailed in a study published in the journal Animal Cognition in February.
It’s no secret that rats have great “smellers.” They have about 1,200 genes that function as smell receptors, compared to around 400 for humans. This new research put those receptors to the test. A team from the University of Trento, the University of Lincoln, the University of London and the University of Vienna took nine adult male domesticated rats and trained them to distinguish between sauvignon blanc and riesling. Turns out, they could tell the grape varietals apart fairly well—with one rat named Peanut sticking out. Find out more on this week’s episode.
One of the points I make in the dating and courtship chapter of my book “Been There Done That: A Rousing History of Sex,” is that whatever the hot new technology is, people will probably find a way to use it for dating (and also making porn, but that’s another story).
For instance, in the 80s people would go into little studios and record their bios on VHS tapes that could be sent around to prospective partners.
But what about dating with…pneumatic tubes???
In a 2017 Atlas Obscura article, Michael Waters shared how nightclub patrons in Berlin used pneumatic tubes to send messages to other tables starting in the 1920s. The Resi and the Femina were two clubs said to have spearheaded this trend.
The Resi had live music and space for 1,000 people, plus it apparently had this big water jet show with flashing lights, and it also had both phones and pneumatic tubes, plus paper for writing notes on. Tables had big glowing numbers to designate them, and you could call or send a message to any other table. You could even ask the switchboard to send another patron a gift from a list of available options (via tube, of course).
Listen to this week’s episode of The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week for more on the thrilling history of pneumatic tube usage, from sending sick cats to the vet to package delivery systems that put our modern food delivery robots to shame. Also: at least one marriage proposal.
The post Scientists don’t actually know why period cramps hurt appeared first on Popular Science.
Mortgage applications decreased 12.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 18, 2025.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 12.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 11 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 20 percent from the previous week and was 43 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 7 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 6 percent compared with the previous week and was 6 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
“Overall mortgage application activity declined last week, as rates increased to their highest level in two months. The 30-year fixed rate rose for the second straight week to 6.9 percent, an almost 30-basis-point increase over two weeks,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “These higher rates drove a 20 percent drop in refinance applications, especially for higher balance loans, with the average loan size falling substantially. The refinance share of applications at 37.3 percent was the lowest since January. Similar to the previous week, economic uncertainty and rate volatility impacted prospective homebuyers as we saw a 7 percent decline in purchase applications. Both conventional and government purchase activity fell relative to the week before, but the overall level of purchase applications was still 6 percent higher than a year ago.”
...
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($806,500 or less) increased to 6.90 percent from 6.81 percent, with points increasing to 0.66 from 0.62 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
emphasis added
Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p > 0$, and let $V$ be a finite-dimensional linear representation of $\mathrm{GL}_2$. Consider the semidirect product $G = V \rtimes \mathrm{GL}_2$, where $\mathrm{GL}_2$ acts naturally on $V$. The group $G$ contains a subgroup isomorphic to $\mathrm{GL}_2$, namely $H = \{(0, g) \mid g \in \mathrm{GL}_2\}$.
Is it true that every subgroup of $G$ isomorphic to $\mathrm{GL}_2$ is conjugate to $H$?
Over a field of characteristic zero, the answer would be yes by Mostow's theorem. In our case, a Levi complement still exists. However, the question is whether this complement is unique up to conjugacy.
Summer is right around the corner, but is your pool ready? If you’re tired of manual pool cleaning, the AIPER Seagull SE Cordless Robotic Pool Cleaner is ready to tap in.
Right now, this handy cleaning device is half off the usual price tag at just $99.99.
You’ve got better things to do than clean your pool. Let the Seagull SE take care of it for you. It automatically glides across your pool floor, easily picking up dirt and debris thanks to its powerful 1,320GPH suction. And it self-parks near the pool wall after cleaning, or when the battery is low, so all you have to do is charge it up, drop it in, and click a button, and then go about your day.
The Seagull SE is equipped with a large-capacity filter bag or canister to tackle the bottom of messy pools. There’s also a chemical dispenser that balances and purifies your pool’s water while it tidies up, offering your pool a thorough clean.
A full charge provides 90 minutes of cleaning. Once the Seagull SE is out of battery, it’s easy to get out of the water with a retrieval hook. And when you power the Seagull SE back up, you can experience 50% faster charging.
The filter tray also couldn’t be easier to clean—just remove the cover and rinse the filter with a hose.
Curious why you’re getting such a great price? The Seagull SE comes with a grade A refurbished rating, which means it will arrive to you in near-mint condition, with minimal to zero amounts of scuffing (and you still get to enjoy the deep discount).
Get the AIPER Seagull SE Cordless Robotic Pool Cleaner now for just $99.99 (Reg. $199) in time for summer.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
AIPER Seagull SE Cordless Robotic Pool Cleaner (Refurbished) – $99.99
The post The future of pool cleaning is here with this robotic pool cleaner, now 50% off appeared first on Popular Science.
Stationary phase method is a powerful tool to estimate ocsillatory integrals. Now let $F$ be a p-adic field, $a,b\in F^\times$, $f(x)$ is a locally constant function on $F^\times$, $\psi$ is a nontrivial additive character of $F$. Consider the integral $$I(a,b)=\int f(x)\psi(ax+\frac{b}{x})dx.$$ Is there a method to estimate $I(a,b)$?
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Join our workshop on Shinyscholar – a template for producing reproducible analytic apps in R, which is a part of our workshops for Ukraine series!
Here’s some more info:
Title: Shinyscholar – a template for producing reproducible analytic apps in R
Date: Thursday, June 5th, 18:00 – 20:00 CEST (Rome, Berlin, Paris timezone)
Speaker: Simon Smart is a software developer in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Leicester, UK. He has a background in plant and agricultural science and began developing Shiny apps in 2018, originally for forecasting yield in tomato and potato crops. He developed the shinyscholar package for creating reproducible apps and has applied it to create Disagapp for epidemiological modelling and refactor MetaInsight for evidence synthesis. He strives to create flexible, robust and reproducible apps using modern workflows that break down barriers for performing complex analyses.
Description: Shiny is an increasingly popular method for researchers to develop apps but they are typically not reproducible and a lack of training in software development results in substandard coding practices that make apps hard to maintain. The shinyscholar package addresses these problems by providing a template for producing apps that enable complex reproducible analyses, without having to learn best practices from scratch. In the workshop you will learn how to create a new application and the steps in developing shinyscholar modules, including prototyping, creating functions, checking for valid inputs, generating outputs, enabling reproducibility and automated testing.
Minimal registration fee: 20 euro (or 20 USD or 800 UAH)
Please note that the registration confirmation is sent 1 day before the workshop to all registered participants rather than immediately after registration
How can I register?
If you are not personally interested in attending, you can also contribute by sponsoring a participation of a student, who will then be able to participate for free. If you choose to sponsor a student, all proceeds will also go directly to organisations working in Ukraine. You can either sponsor a particular student or you can leave it up to us so that we can allocate the sponsored place to students who have signed up for the waiting list.
How can I sponsor a student?
If you are a university student and cannot afford the registration fee, you can also sign up for the waiting list here. (Note that you are not guaranteed to participate by signing up for the waiting list).
You can also find more information about this workshop series, a schedule of our future workshops as well as a list of our past workshops which you can get the recordings & materials here.
Looking forward to seeing you during the workshop!