• Apple Announces iPhone Air With Ultra-Thin Design


• Apple Reintroduces MagSafe Battery, for iPhone Air Only


• iPhone Air Gets New Accessories: Clear Case, Bumpers, and Crossbody Strap


• Here's What Apple's New iPhone Lineup Looks Like


• Apple's iPhone Air Battery Pack Costs $99, Extends 27 Hour Battery to 40 Hours


• All New iPhone Models Feature 18MP Front-Facing Camera With Center Stage and Square Sensor


• iPhone Air Limited to 20W MagSafe Charging


• Apple's New 2025 iPhone Lineup: All Storage Options and Prices


• eSIM-Only iPhone Air Available in China Through China Unicom


• iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Limited to USB 2


• iPhone 17 Lineup Features Apple's Custom N1 Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 Chip


• iPhone Air Gets Faster and More Efficient C1X 5G Modem, But No mmWave


• iPhone Air Battery: What You're Trading for the Thinnest iPhone Ever


• A19 vs. A19 Pro: iPhone 17 Chip Differences


• iPhone Air Weight: How Apple's Thinnest iPhone Compares


• iPhone Air First Look: Apple's Thinnest iPhone Feels Premium

• Apple Announces iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max With New Design, Larger Battery, and More


• Apple Unveils New TechWoven Case and Crossbody Strap for iPhone 17 Pro


• iPhone 17 Pro Ditches Titanium, Here's Why


• iPhone 17 Lineup Starts at 256GB Storage, Pro Max Gets 2TB Option


• iPhone 17 Pro Only Comes in Three Colors, With No Black Option


• iPhone 17 Battery Life Comparison: 6+ Hour Improvement Over iPhone 16


• iPhone 17, Air, and iPhone 17 Pro: Here's How Much RAM in Each Model


• iPhone 17 Pro Has Toggle to Disable Screen Flickering (PWM)

• Apple Announces iPhone 17 Featuring Larger 6.3-Inch Display With ProMotion Support


• iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17 Pro Pre-Orders Begin on September 12


• All New iPhone Models Now Feature ProMotion Displays


• Apple Launches New Line of Cases and Crossbody Straps for iPhone 17 Models


• iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Models Are eSIM-Only in These Countries


• iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Models Support 25W Qi2.2 Charging


• Apple's New MagSafe Battery Won't Work on iPhone 17 Models


• iPhone 17 Models Feature Faster USB-C Charging With Apple's New 'Dynamic' Power Adapter

• Apple Announces AirPods Pro 3 With Better Active Noise Cancellation, Heart Rate Monitor, and More


• AirPods Pro 3 and New Apple Watch Models Now Available for Pre-Order

• Apple Watch Series 11 Announced With Hypertension Detection, Sleep Score, and More


• No New Apple Watch Chip for the First Time Ever: All Models Stick to S10


• Here's What the New Apple Watch Lineup Looks Like


• Apple Watch Series 11 Gets First-Ever Battery Life Increase to 24-Hours

• Apple Watch SE 3 Announced With Always-On Display, Fast Charging, and More

• Apple Watch Ultra 3 Announced With Largest Ever Display, 5G, Satellite Connectivity, and More

• Get Ready for Liquid Glass: You Can Download iOS 26, macOS Tahoe and More on September 15


• Apple Seeds iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 Release Candidates


• Apple Seeds macOS Tahoe Release Candidate


• Apple Seeds watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26 Release Candidates


• Here Are the Full iOS 26 Release Notes


• iOS 26 Will Let You Match Your Home Screen Icons to Your iPhone Case

• Apple Discontinues iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max


• Apple Discontinues iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus


• Hypertension Alerts Coming to Older Apple Watch Models


• New Live Translation Feature Coming to AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2


• Beats Announces Three New iPhone Cases


• Apple Extends Free Access to Satellite Features Across iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 Models


• Apple Updates Trade-In Values Following iPhone 17 Event

• iPhone 17 - 30 hours video playback, 27 hours streaming video playback.


• iPhone Air - 27 hours video playback, 22 hours streaming video playback.


• iPhone 17 Pro - 33 hours video playback, 30 hours streaming video playback.


• iPhone 17 Pro Max - 39 hours video playback, 35 hours streaming video playback.


• iPhone 16 - 22 hours video playback, 18 hours streaming video, 80 hours audio.


• iPhone 16 Plus - 27 hours video playback, 24 hours streaming video.


• iPhone 16 Pro - 27 hours video playback, 22 hours streaming video.


• iPhone 16 Pro Max - 33 hours video playback, 29 hours streaming video.

• iPhone Air - 5.82 ounces (165 grams)


• iPhone 17 - 6.24 ounces (177 grams)


• iPhone 17 Pro - 7.27 ounces (206 grams)


• iPhone 17 Pro Max - 8.22 ounces (233 grams)


• iPhone 16 - 6 ounces (170 grams)


• iPhone 16 Plus - 7.03 ounces (199 grams)


• iPhone 16 Pro - 7.03 ounces (199 grams)


• iPhone 16 Pro Max - 7.99 ounces (227 grams)

• A19 - 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU


• A19 Pro (iPhone Air) - 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU


• A19 Pro (iPhone 17 Pro) - 6-core CPU, 6-core GPU

Countless factors may (and may not) contribute to a mosquito’s thirst for your blood over others. And while there’s no single answer to this millennia-old question, researchers at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands think they identified at least a couple influences that may increase your insect attractiveness: booze and certain nocturnal activities.

While the team’s study is still in review ahead of its publication, their experiment offers an interesting and possibly life-saving approach to studying mosquito behavior. The blood-suckers are by far the world’s deadliest animal because they serve as vectors for dangerous diseases like dengue, West Nile, Zika, and malaria. It’s estimated that mosquitos are directly responsible for around 2.7 million deaths every year, while millions more must deal with the pathogens’ often severe symptoms.

Managing mosquito populations and preventing the spread of disease are vital to global public health, and those endeavors can benefit from a better understanding of who is most often targeted by the pests. Entomologists already know one of a mosquito’s first tip-offs to a potential meal is the carbon dioxide exhaled by their unsuspecting hosts as they breathe. A litany of additional sensory cues also play a part in where the insects land, but previous research suggests that olfactory indicators may be a particularly strong guide for mosquitos.

Researchers led by biologist Felix Hol decided to investigate what biological and sensory contributors may have the most sway over a mosquito’s dining habits. But instead of asking volunteers to come to their lab, they visited a location known to boost the body’s physical responses: an outdoor music festival.

For three days in 2023, Hol and colleagues oversaw a pop-up laboratory inside connected shipping containers at Lowlands, a music festival that takes place every year about 42 miles east of Amsterdam. They then asked concertgoers to fill out a questionnaire about some of their most recent (and personal) hygiene, diet, and lifestyle decisions. 

Roughly 500 music fans volunteered to not only answer the survey, but stick their arms into a custom-designed cage buzzing with hungry mosquitos. Importantly, none of the participants were in any danger of covering their arms in itchy welts. Researchers built the apparatus to feature holes that were tiny enough for the insects to smell a person, but not pierce their skin using their needle-sharp proboscis. The team then recorded videos of the mosquito responses compared to responses to a sugar feeder placed on the other side of the cage. After analyzing the accumulated data, the study’s authors noted that their insects often displayed a “clear preference.”

To put it politely: they enjoyed people who enjoyed themselves. Those who drank beer and had sex the night before the experiment were around 1.35 times more attractive to mosquitos than the more sober, abstinent volunteers. Conversely, the pests were less likely to try snacking on an arm if it had been recently washed and/or had sunscreen applied to it.

The researchers’ self-titled “Mosquito Magnet Trial” is the largest study of its kind to date to their knowledge. At the same time, they conceded their experiment took place in a “loosely controlled setting,” with a selection bias towards “science-loving festivalgoers,” and that more investigation is needed before drawing any concrete conclusions. Regardless, they felt confident in asserting that mosquitos “are drawn to those who avoid sunscreen, drink beer, and share their bed.”

“They simply have a taste for the hedonists among us,” they wrote.
But even if their theory eventually requires some caveats, the overall suggestions are backed by science. It’s never a bad idea to limit your alcohol intake, while applying sunscreen daily. As for that third habit, consensual fun is scientifically certified for your health.

The post Mosquitos seem to like beer drinkers who recently had sex appeared first on Popular Science.

The sticky, slimy tongues of chameleons and salamanders may not sound like a great inspiration for engineering projects or medical innovations. But according to researchers at the University of South Florida, the same biological mechanics used to capture and devour bugs could accomplish similar feats inside your bloodstream—and even in outer space.

Chameleons and salamanders don’t encounter one another in the wild. Chameleons prefer to stick to warmer climates amid branchy trees and bushes, while salamanders mostly keep to moist, shaded environments such as decaying leaf debris and dark caves. But being total ecological strangers doesn’t mean they have nothing in common. All you need to do is watch them eat to see the striking similarity.

“They evolved the same architecture in their bodies to fire their tongues at high speed,” University of South Florida biologist Yu Zeng said in a statement. “What’s surprising is that they achieve this using the same ordinary tissues, tendons, and bone that other vertebrates have.”

For years, Zeng has focused on ways to adapt the mechanics of insect flight to technology. More recently, however, he became interested in the animals that use their tongues to hunt them. Zeng partnered with USF animal physiology expert Stephen Deban on an interdisciplinary project aimed at better understanding the unique tongues of these specialized reptiles and amphibians.

The resulting study, published on September 8 in the journal Current Biology analyzes over a decade’s worth of video documentation of salamander and chameleon tongue utilization. Zeng and Deban’s work is the first side-by-side comparison between the two species, and shows that the animals remarkably share a “unifying mechanical model.”

What they found is that both a chameleon and salamander use this “ballistic tongue” like a slingshot. After spotting their prey and taking aim, the animals squeeze musculature inside their mouths to propel a tapered skeletal rod inside their tongues. Each species is capable of projecting their tongues as fast as 16 feet per second.

“This design decouples muscle action from skeletal movement,” the authors explained in their study, adding that the 30-fold range in body size represents “some of the most efficient energy transfer in vertebrate movements.”

The researchers believe this shared biological mechanism can provide a scalable blueprint using soft or flexible materials across a range of applications.

“Nature has already solved these problems, now we’re learning how to adapt those solutions for us,” said Deban.

Deban and Zeng say they are already having discussions with engineers about biomedical applications, including tiny devices armed with artificial ballistic tongues that clear blood clots. The same underlying principles could theoretically work for retrieving inaccessible targets in a disaster zone, or possibly even snatching the ever-growing blanket of space junk orbiting above Earth.

“It is gratifying to have a unifying story about these amazing tongues, as well as potential engineering applications after so many years of focusing on the biology of these animals,” said Deban.

The post A chameleon’s ‘ballistic tongue’ may inspire blood clot-clearing robots appeared first on Popular Science.

In an ideal world, we would all wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to face the day. But if you’re anything like me, you can barely pry your eyes open when your alarm goes off and your bed seems to exert a strong magnetic pull on your body.

Enter the 90-minute sleep cycle hack, which promises to help you rise feeling energized. The idea is to time your sleep and wake times in such a way that you sleep in 90-minute increments. This means counting backward from your desired wake-up time in 90-minute blocks to find your ideal bedtime. (There are several calculators on the internet that will do this for you.) For example, to wake up at 7:00 a.m., you could go to bed at 10:00 p.m. for six 90-minute cycles (9 hours of sleep) or 11:30 p.m. for five cycles (7.5 hours of sleep). 

The trend became so popular on social media that almost one in 10 American adults have tried it, according to a 2024 survey by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. But is there any scientific evidence behind this ‘sleep hack?’

The concept dates back to the 1950s, when researchers discovered that sleep happens in cycles (which they called ultradian cycles), says Dr. Fouzia Siddiqui, the medical director of the Sentara Rockingham Memorial Hospital (RMH) Sleep Center. Your brain and body journey from light stage 1 and 2 sleep, to deep stage 3 sleep, followed by a period of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep with dreaming, before the cycle begins again. 

Light sleep serves as a transition from being awake to being in deep sleep. Deep sleep is when your body repairs and restores itself, and dream-filled REM sleep allows your brain to process emotions and consolidate memories. 

A single sleep cycle typically lasts around 90 minutes, says Dr. Andrea Matsumura, a board-certified sleep medicine physician and founder of the Sleep Goddess Method. “Most people complete four to six cycles per night.” 

The logic behind the 90-minute sleep cycle hack is simple: Waking up at the end of a completed cycle, when you are in a lighter stage of sleep, makes you feel more refreshed than if you are jolted out of deep sleep.

The problem is that real sleep is messier than textbook descriptions. Matsumara explains that while sleep cycles average around 90 minutes, their length varies from person to person. 

Even in the same person, a sleep cycle doesn’t always last the same amount of time. “Factors like stress, alcohol, illness, or even what time you went to bed all impact your sleep cycle so this method isn’t really a guarantee that you’ll wake up less groggy,” she says. 

Jade Wu, a board-certified sleep psychologist, agrees that the 90-minute sleep cycle hack is not scientifically sound. “Sleep cycle length varies depending on how much sleep you need that night, hormones, your sleep environment, what you ate, what you did, where you are, what season it is, what time you went to bed, how much you’ve slept recently, and more,” she says. “There’s no way to predict or regulate cycles to be exactly 90 minutes.” 

As the night progresses, sleep cycles tend to get longer, with the first sleep cycle ranging from 70 to 100 minutes, and later cycles lasting between 90 and 120 minutes.

What causes you to jolt awake right before falling asleep?

Why do some people need less sleep?

Can tracking make my sleep worse? The quiet torment of sleep tech.

Why do we talk in our sleep? ‘It’s a glitch.’

What’s the purpose of dreaming?

In theory, the 90-minute sleep cycle hack promises to help you avoid waking up from deep stage 3 sleep, which is more difficult and leaves you feeling groggy. But Wu explains that the hack doesn’t make sense because sleep cycles change over the course of the night. Early in the night you spend more time in deep sleep, while the later hours are increasingly dominated by REM sleep. “In fact, in the second half of the night, healthy sleepers usually don’t get deep sleep at all—so people shouldn’t be waking up out of deep sleep in the morning anyway,” she says.

“Instead of relying on such a hack, it’s better to prioritize a consistent sleep schedule, so your body naturally wakes up closer to the end of a cycle,” says Matsumura. This means going to bed and waking up at the same time—even on weekends.

Research shows that adults between 18 to 65 years need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep, says Siddiqui. (That is, unless you are one of the lucky few who thrive on six hours of sleep or less.)

Both Siddiqui and Matsumura advise avoiding screens close to bedtime and keeping your room quiet and comfortable to help you get a better night’s sleep. Also limit sleep disruptors like alcohol and caffeine in the evening.

Wu says that it’s normal to feel groggy for 20 to 30 minutes after waking, even with healthy sleep. Natural sunlight in the morning can help to wipe away your grogginess, says Matsumura. It resets your internal clock and boosts alertness by signaling to your brain to reduce melatonin (the sleep hormone) and increase cortisol (for alertness).

If daytime fatigue lingers, Wu recommends screening for sleep disorders such as apnea, reviewing medications with your doctor, since these can significantly affect sleep and daytime alertness.”

The 90-minute sleep cycle hack may sound scientific, but it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Experts agree that maintaining good sleep hygiene is far more effective than chasing calculator-approved bedtimes.

This story is part of Popular Science’s Ask Us Anything series, where we answer your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the ordinary to the off-the-wall. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.

The post Is it better to sleep in cycles? Edison and Tesla tried. appeared first on Popular Science.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has released a new proposal that would shift almost $400 million from a special transit fund usually reserved for capital investments to operations.

The agency is scrambling to comply with a court order that bars the agency from implementing service cuts and fare hikes, explains Mike D’Onofrio in Axios. “The order stems from a lawsuit brought by riders who argue SEPTA's cuts disproportionately affect people of color and lower-income riders.”

The proposal to redirect funds must be approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The $400 million would support the agency’s operations for two years. However, the agency plans to increase fares by 21.5 percent systemwide on September 14, regardless of the decision.

• Philadelphia
• Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
• SEPTA
• Public Transit
• Transit Funding

Recently, Microsoft released a report that has gone viral in social media. It includes a list of 40 jobs that AI will make obsolete. Geographer is on the list.

As a professional geographer, I think Microsoft has it wrong. Breakthroughs in AI have made a meaningful career in geography more exciting, essential, and impactful than ever before.

The study by Microsoft evaluated tasks that were effectively performed or supported by Co-Pilot, stratified by career. The study scored how well the AI completed or assisted tasks, and labelled careers with a high degree of successful task completion as likely to suffer job loss. We don’t know for certain, but it’s likely the AI assistant succeeded at tasks like name identification and navigation. 

Without putting too fine a point on it, there’s a lot more that goes into being a geographer than memorizing country names and capitals. Let’s talk about what a geographer does in 2025. 

At parties, people are always surprised to learn that I direct a geographic research center because their assumption is that all the bodies of water are already named. What could we possibly be researching?

Being a geographer involves thinking about our planet holistically. It’s leveraging cutting-edge technology to connect the where and the why, not sifting through dusty atlases in the back of a library.

Simply put, in 2025, being a geographer is about using the lens of place and a systems approach to people and the planet to solve some of our most pressing challenges. From affordable housing and sustainable businesses to food security and physical security, geographers are actively working across organizations and agencies to map a better future.

Geographers have historically been hard to spot, which means they’re not top of mind. After all, nobody hangs a shingle that says “geographer for hire.” But geographers work in many fields and across all levels of agencies. Geographers solve health epidemics, triage resources during disasters, manage water availability, track supply chains, and find optimal locations for everything from conservation areas to the best place to open a new coffee shop. Geography touches every industry you can imagine, and the approaches to solving location problems are just as diverse.

AI is not taking over for geographers. It’s actually empowering them with new tools and capabilities that operationalize and make sense of massive amounts of geographic data that already exist and the petabytes of new data created every day. We also check our AI tools all the time via specific methods to compare AI results to validation data. This is particularly true in image analysis when data are extracted or classified. 

There is more geographic data available today than ever before. Thanks to the proliferation of GPS-enabled devices, drones, and satellites, there’s been an explosion of data about the built and natural world. Today’s geographers routinely leverage data from cell phones, weather stations, vehicle navigation, and satellites that measure everything from the atmosphere to geology. AI makes the process of sifting through that data and transforming it into actionable insights easier and faster.

For geographers, AI is a heaven-sent tool that enables us to have more impact — and fun. Geographers are systems thinkers who use the lens of location to tackle issues relating to people and place. Speeding up data crunching means that geographers can spend more time on higher order tasks.

For example, my graduate research on forest change required that I start by mapping trees from a satellite image. I spent 80 percent of my two-year degree writing code to map trees, leaving little time for addressing substantive questions that can inform decisions and improve forest management. Today, AI could map those trees in seconds. Which means today’s geographers have more time to do the creative and impactful work that addresses meaningful challenges. AI can count cars in an image, interpolate missing data, and even translate images into text descriptions. But it takes a human to analyze and combine traffic counts, dwell patterns, utility networks, and local regulations to realize that the corner of Main and Second is the best place to build a new EV charger.

AI is not replacing the geographer; it is super-charging them. Geographers are poised to have the biggest impact on communities, businesses, and the planet in decades.

Of course, not all geographers are AI wonks. It’s a diverse field. But, for anyone considering careers with potential for employment and impact, the intersection of AI and massive amounts of novel spatial data make the skills and perspectives of geographers more powerful and essential. AI makes geography more relevant than ever in the modern world.

If you’re looking for a meaningful career that will be energized, rather than threatened by developments in AI, consider geography.

Professor Trisalyn Nelson is the Jack and Laura Dangermond Chair of Geography at the University of California Santa Barbara. She is director of the Center for Spatial Studies and Data Science. Nelson is a Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project. This piece first appeared on The Santa Barbara Independent.

• Geography
• Mapping
• Artificial Intelligence
• AI
• Geographers

An actual treasure chest filled with around $1 million in gold coins is hidden somewhere in Canada. However, the mystery isn’t tied to a centuries’ old pirate bounty or unsolved bank heist, however. These riches were instead intentionally hidden by a mining consortium to celebrate the country’s “rich mining heritage and spirit of adventure.”

“Like the prospectors before you, you’re chasing discovery–driven by grit, curiosity, and the pursuit of exploration,” reads the Great Canadian Treasure Hunt’s official website description.

Despite its complex, often problematic history, gold mining has been an integral industry in Canada for centuries, and remains the nation’s most valuable mined commodity. In 2023, gold mining yielded 196,000 tons of the resource, generating about $10.9 billion in revenue. Apart from its status as a luxury item, gold is integral across multiple industries for its electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion.

Although gold exists in all 10 provinces, around 70 percent of it is concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. This is owed to the “Canadian Shield,” a gigantic region of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rock that blankets most of eastern and central Canada.

The 217 one-ounce coins in the Great Canadian Treasure Hunt probably won’t end up in a scientific satellite or particle accelerator. At the very least, it will take some time before they’re claimed, as the grand prize is tucked away somewhere on publicly accessible land in a country that encompasses about 3.5 million square miles.

But adventurers aren’t flying blind on their quest. A series of monthly hints released over the next year will help them chart the course. The “master clue” consists of a 13-stanza poem referencing a phoenix, “zinc-toned waters,” and “sunken whispers,” among many other pointers. An additional clue was released on September 3, and reads:

Though crystal clear and calm it seems,

This mirror hides more than it gleams.

A single step may seal your fate,

Best not disturb the water’s state.

There are a few things to keep in mind before dusting off your pickaxe and heading into the wilderness. For one, the hunt is restricted to Canadian citizens. And if you are clever enough to track down the treasure, don’t expect the need to arrange a way to haul back a bunch of gold. The chest itself instead contains an alphanumeric code similar to a lottery ticket that will serve as proof of your success, after which you can claim your riches.

Unlike authentic lost treasure, the prize won’t simply remain missing until someone finds it. According to the contest’s guidelines, the reward is forfeited if it isn’t located by December 31, 2026.

The post A $1 million treasure hunt is underway in Canadian wilderness appeared first on Popular Science.

If you’re in the US right now, you’re probably starting to get into the fall mood. So are the birds, which means they would really appreciate a snack from a well-stocked bird feeder. While there are some great smart bird feeders out there with built-in cameras, you could also get a ton of enjoyment out of a basic model. Amazon has a bunch of different options for their lowest prices of the year right now, so grab one and do your feathered friends a solid.

Sometimes a simple feeder is the best. This is a steel tube that holds up to two pounds of bird feed with each fill. The integrated hanging mount has a sloped roof to shed snow and unwanted diners. To further improve squirrel resistance, weight-activated purchase slide the feeding holes closed when a heavy squirrel gets onto them. The birds are free to eat while the squirrels are out of luck. Plus, it’s very affordable so you’ll have

This is a lightning deal, so it’s only good until the early morning of September 9th, but it drops the price of the video-enabled smart bird feeder to less than half of its normal price. It has a built-in 5-megapixel camera taht shoots photos and videos of feathered friends as they arrive to feed. It’s not as advanced as some of the other models on the market, but it’s a lot cheaper and the wooden design is very appealing.

• Harymor Bird Feeder with Camera with AI Identify $100 (was $160)
• Heapats Smart Bird Feeder with Camera Solar Powered $60 (was $130)
• Faddial Bird Feeder with Camera – 2K HD Live View $90 (was $270)
• Azonanar Bird Feeder with Camera $70 (was $100)

• Hanizi Bird Feeder Outdoor Hanging for Wild Bird Seed, Brown $13 (was $17)
• LCSEVEN Bird Feeders for Outdoors Squirrel Proof with Weight-Activated Perches $21 (was $28)
• Birdream 2 Pack Bird Feeders for Outdoor Hanging $12 (was $22)
• Buteafly Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder for Outdoors Hanging $34 (was $40)
• LBTING Bird Feeder for Outside $10 (was $26)
• Hanging Bird Bath $10 (was $13)

The post Shop Amazon’s bird feeder clearance and make new feathered friends appeared first on Popular Science.

As federal enforcement decreases under the Trump administration, racial bias in home appraisals continues to undermine property values and widen the racial wealth gap. This op-ed argues that cities can take the lead, and Philadelphia offers a model.

Philadelphia created a Home Appraisal Bias Task Force in 2021, and the effort expanded under Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration. The city requires fair housing and valuation bias training for appraisers, launched a Home Appraisal Equity Program, and incorporated anti-bias strategies into its $2 billion H.O.M.E. housing plan. State reforms, such as alternative licensing pathways and mandatory training in Pennsylvania, complement local action.

The authors caution that appraisal bias is systemic, not anecdotal, but transparency in appraisal data remains limited. With federal protections weakened, local governments have an opportunity — and responsibility — to implement reforms that promote fairness in home valuation, stabilize housing markets, and help close the racial wealth gap.

• Appraisal
• Home Appraisal
• Housing Discrimination
• Equity
• Homeownership

A former mall parking structure in West Los Angeles has been transformed into a 201-unit luxury apartment building, reports Roger Vincent in the Los Angeles Times.

The former Westside Pavilion mall site will also house a UCLA biomedical research center. “The mall makeover is part of a decades-long trend of repurposing dead shopping centers, devastated by the pivot to online shopping.”

LA pioneered adaptive reuse, or the conversion of buildings from one use to another, with its 1999 ordinance that allowed the conversion of some downtown commercial buildings to housing. Now, “With downtown L.A.’s office rental market struggling with high vacancies and falling values, stakeholders are lobbying for city support to convert high-rises to housing.”

• Los Angeles
• westside pavilion
• Malls
• Adaptive Reuse
• mall conversion

Flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) may look like they are perpetually smiling, but these five foot-long fish are no laughing matter in regions where they do not belong. The opportunistic predators are now one of the top predators in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River, creating a major threat to the local food web. Without any natural predators to keep them in check, these enormous fish can alter a river system in only a matter of years. 

Flathead catfish are native to several parts of the United States, including the Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, and Rio Grande river basins. They are most recognizable by their broad flat head (as the name suggests) and lower jaw. It also sports a distinctive tail fin outline that is square or slightly notched. 

They are also really big. They can grow up to 60 inches long and weigh roughly 30 pounds on average. Some have even been known to tip the scales at over 100 pounds. According to Pennsylvania Sea Grant, their coloration can vary, but most adults have an olive-colored back and sides with dark brown to yellow-brown mottling. 

One thing that separates them from other catfish species is their diet. They are considered obligate carnivores and primarily prey on live fish. 

When the flathead catfish was introduced in Georgia’s Altamaha River it eliminated the bullhead catfish and caused an 80 percent reduction in redbreast sunfish numbers. Flathead Catfish have also eliminated native catfish populations in several North Carolina rivers.

While flathead catfish are native to western Pennsylvania, the first report of the species in the  Delaware River basin further east was from Blue Marsh Reservoir and in the Susquehanna during the 1990s. Since then, they have continued to spread throughout regions of the Delaware, Schuylkill, and Susquehanna rivers.

“Flatheads grow fast in this river system, attain large body sizes and can eat a variety of prey,” Olivia Hodgson, a master’s student at Penn State University, said in a statement. “Because adult flatheads have few natural predators, flathead catfish can exert strong control over the ecosystem.”

Hodgson is the co-author of a study recently published in the journal Ecology, which found that the flathead catfish are now considered apex predators. They are higher on the food web than resident top predators like the channel catfish and smallmouth bass. Since the channel catfish now have a lower position in areas where the flathead catfish are present, they have to eat lower on the food web. In areas with flathead catfish all species showed broader and overlapping diets, according to the study. 

“This suggests that resident species are changing what they eat to avoid competing with or being eaten by the invader,” Hodgson said. 

These findings support the tropic disruption hypothesis. When a new predator enters an ecosystem, the existing species must alter their behavior, diets, and roles within the already established food web.

“This can destabilize ecosystems over time. Our study highlights how an invasive species can do more than just reduce native populations — it can reshape entire food webs and change how energy moves through ecosystems,” explained Hodgson.

[ Related: Please stop releasing pet goldfish into the wild. ]

The team also took a closer look at the ecological role played by various species within the Susquehanna River by looking at their isotopic niche. An isotopic niche is the range of carbon and nitrogen markers that are found within the tissues of an organism. 

When fish eat, their bodies take in the isotopic signature of their food. When sampling their tissues, scientists can measure nitrogen isotopes to determine what they are eating. Carbon isotopes indicate how they are using the habitat. Comparing isotopic signatures across regions can indicate both habitat shifts and how fish are migrating. 

They collected a total of 279 fish (79 flathead catfish, 45 smallmouth bass, 113 channel catfish and 42 minnows comprising nine species) and 64 crayfish for stable isotope analysis. All of the samples were oven dried and ground to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle for a process called stable isotope analysis. This widely used scientific tool can help explain patterns in  a food web, highlighting links between where animals are positioned in the food web.

The stable isotope analysis explained the patterns within the Susquehanna food web in habitats that are already invaded by flathead catfish and those that are not. 

“It allowed us to understand links between different species in the river food web and how invasive species might lead to changes in how native species interact and compete, what they eat and how their diets overlap, and if they might be displaced from preferred habitats by the invader,” Hodgson said. 

By understanding how these resources are being used by the fish, the team can better understand the potential competition for resources and how flathead catfish affect the habitats they take over. 

According to Pennsylvania Sea Grant, preventing the introduction and spread of the flathead catfish is currently the best way to protect natural habitats from harm. The agency recommends several prevention and control tips including knowing how to identify and report flathead catfish, not releasing any that are caught, and properly disposing of unused live bait. 

The post Monster catfish and its creepy smile invade PA rivers appeared first on Popular Science.