Main theme: This week, the podcast panel opens the mailbag to answer your pressing questions about car buying, maintenance, safety, and the auto industry. We even bring in some special guests! Audience Questions• Should I get a new car if my really old car still works fine?• Does the “don’t buy a new car in…
Growing up in the Sacramento Valley in Northern California doesn’t prepare you for an East Coast winter. Weather that’s 100° F, relentless sunshine, warm days in November? Sure, I can handle it. A snowstorm in April? I don’t think I’ll ever get acclimated to that. An electric blanket is an obvious solution to the misery…
This is not a true duffel bag so much as “the world’s first true wide-mouth packing system,” as Rux calls it, but it is nevertheless an impressive piece of equipment from a company known for its modular gear-toting systems. Not unlike a foldable version of the popular 70L storage container, the Duffel box starts completely…
A new study by researchers at Northwestern University has set off alarm bells about the future of academic research, warning that the publication of fraudulent science is growing at a faster rate than that of legitimate research. Over the last four centuries, an implicit contract has been established between scientists and states: in exchange for…
HDR, short for high dynamic range, is now found in a vast majority of midsized to large sets. It increases the contrast between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks a TV can produce. To do a good job with HDR video, a TV needs to get bright enough to display brighter, more colorful images…
As a new parent myself, I can tell you unequivocally that when babies become mobile, the world becomes their playground. Coffee tables become climbing gyms, cabinets become treasure troves, and phone chargers become rope toys. Babyproofing your home isn’t about bubble-wrapping your life; it’s about thinking like a young mind and getting one step ahead…
What it is: A microscopic fungus that lives both outdoors and in, mold spreads via tiny airborne spores that can grow on almost any damp surface. Over a thousand types have been found in U.S. homes, according to the nonprofit National Center for Healthy Housing. Some mold (and mildew, another type of fungus) can cause…
Mushroom hunting is cool and fun, but you know what’s not cool and fun? Having slugs or other mushroom hunters discover your secret spot. Or, worst of all, accidentally collecting the wrong kind of mushroom that could make you quite sick—or worse. Ideally, you’d be able to grow your favorite kind of mushrooms safely in…
The launch of Switch 2 brings with it a selection of retro GameCube games for subscribers to the Nintendo Switch Online service. As it did for the NES, SNES, N64, and even Sega Genesis/Mega Drive when games from those platforms joined the library, Nintendo has released a perfect recreation of the original controller, allowing you…
One of the biggest TV stories of the year is the arrival of RGB Mini LED TVs from Hisense, LG, and Samsung. These LCD sets use thousands of tiny red, green, and blue LEDs in the backlight to create color directly, rather than relying on a white or blue backlight with color filters. Like other…