[{"totalItems":"32,812","totalPages":4102,"currentPage":0,"items":[{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235396","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235396,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235396","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/educba-design-multimedia-lifetime-subscription-bundle","path_alias":"educba-design-multimedia-lifetime-subscription-bundle","label":"Get lifetime access to over 200 courses on design and digital creativity","content":" Unlock over 700 hours of content for only $19. The library covers graphic design, 3D modeling, video post production, character animation, drawing and illustration, game development, and much more. Stack Commerce From app design through to 3D animation, the creative sector is booming. If you want to turn freelance or start a new career, the eduCBA Design & Multimedia Lifetime Subscription Bundle can help you get started. With over 200 courses and 700 hours of content, the library covers Photoshop, InDesign, CAD, Unity, Maya, and so much more. You can currently get lifetime access for only $19 via the PopSci Shop. This learning platform is perfect for beginners and improvers alike. You learn from experienced instructors, who show you how to use the tools of your chosen trade. For budding graphic designers, that means loads of lessons on Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. If game design is more your thing, there are 14 courses made just for you. The library also covers 3D modeling, video post production, character animation, drawing and illustration, game development, and more. You get plenty of hands-on experience, and the lessons are backed up with quizzes and mock tests. You can even claim a certificate of completion at the end of each course\u2014a nice addition to any creative r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Order now for $19 to get lifetime access to this epic library. ","teaser":" Unlock over 700 hours of content for only $19. The library covers graphic design, 3D modeling, video post production, character animation, drawing and illustration, game development, and much more. Stack Commerce From app design through to 3D animation, the creative sector is booming. If you want","ss_name":"billycadden","tos_name":"billycadden","ss_name_formatted":"billycadden","tos_name_formatted":"billycadden","is_uid":1680,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-03-16T20:30:03Z","ds_changed":"2018-03-16T20:35:01Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-03-16T20:35:01Z","bs_field_sponsored":true,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":true,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
Unlock over 700 hours of content and get lifetime access to over 200 courses on design and digital creativity for only $19.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
Unlock over 700 hours of content and get lifetime access to over 200 courses on design and digital creativity for only $19.<\/div>","timestamp":"2018-03-16T20:35:02.113Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/03\/sale_14533_primary_image_0.jpg?itok=eXSdmT6M&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[true],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[200577,204971,224547],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["no channel"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Mark Myerson \/ Stack Commerce"],"tm_vid_1_names":["sponsored post goods"],"spell":["Get lifetime access to over 200 courses on design and digital creativity"," Unlock over 700 hours of content for only $19. The library covers graphic design, 3D modeling, video post production, character animation, drawing and illustration, game development, and much more. Stack Commerce From app design through to 3D animation, the creative sector is booming. If you want to turn freelance or start a new career, the eduCBA Design & Multimedia Lifetime Subscription Bundle can help you get started. With over 200 courses and 700 hours of content, the library covers Photoshop, InDesign, CAD, Unity, Maya, and so much more. You can currently get lifetime access for only $19 via the PopSci Shop. This learning platform is perfect for beginners and improvers alike. You learn from experienced instructors, who show you how to use the tools of your chosen trade. For budding graphic designers, that means loads of lessons on Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. If game design is more your thing, there are 14 courses made just for you. The library also covers 3D modeling, video post production, character animation, drawing and illustration, game development, and more. You get plenty of hands-on experience, and the lessons are backed up with quizzes and mock tests. You can even claim a certificate of completion at the end of each course\u2014a nice addition to any creative r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Order now for $19 to get lifetime access to this epic library. ","sponsored post goods","Mark Myerson \/ Stack Commerce","
Unlock over 700 hours of content and get lifetime access to over 200 courses on design and digital creativity for only $19.<\/div>","
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Deposit Photos Most of us do our best not to think too much about baby poop. But, as it turns out, stool has a lot more power than we think\u2014and not just in terms of its pungent smell. Our poops can say a lot about our health, and that\u2019s true from the first time we soil a diaper. Recently, researchers have found that the bacteria that live inside our guts\u2014known as the microbiome \u2014are crucial to keeping us healthy. But understanding which bacteria help and which hurt\u2014and how we can maintain a gut full of \u201chealthy bacteria\u201d\u2014is still something that scientists are figuring out. Studying an infant\u2019s stool might be a key way to do so. During the first year of life, as a baby is growing, their intestines are fostering a nursery of bacteria. Those microbes are important in that they help to digest food and create a healthy immune system. But our microbiomes may not be as healthy as they once were. Back in December of last year, a group of researchers investigated whether they could replace a key species of good bacteria known as bifidobacterium infantis in the guts of babies who lacked them. They could, but found that when they did so the pH of those infants\u2019 stools changed drastically, becoming more acidic. Adding those bifidobacterium back made the infants\u2019 guts more normal, so the researchers presumed that a lower stool pH might indicate a gut full of the right microbes. To figure that out, the researchers looked back at studies from 1926 to 2017 that had analyzed the pH of infant stool (apparently, scientists have been interested in the pH of infant stool for a while) to see if they could identify any trends. The results, published last week in the journal mSphere, show that over the past 100 years, infant stool pH has gone up (meaning that it has become more basic)\u2014changing from an average reading of 5.0 to 6.5. (For reference, the more acidic something is, the lower its pH and the more basic, the higher the pH. Pure water is a neutral 7.0). That seems like a small increase, but it\u2019s actually quite significant for a scale that only goes from zero to 14. But okay, our babies\u2019 poop pH has gone up. Is that such a big deal? The researchers think that this change in pH could be because we have slowly lost that specific strain of bacteria, bifidobacterium, from our guts. Since mothers pass their gut microbiomes on to their babies when they are born, its disappearance in an adult can lead to a brood of bifidobacterium-less kids. \u201cWe put this paper together as a call to action to let them know that there has been a major shift in this fecal pH,\u201d says co-author Bethany Henrick, a researcher at Evolve BioSystems, a biomedical company in Davis, California. But what\u2019s so special about bifidobacterium? According to Henrick and her co-author Jennifer Smilowitz, a nutritional biologist at the University of California, Davis, this type of bacteria binds exclusively to human milk oligosaccharides, which are sugars found only in breast milk. The bacteria use these sugars as food so they can grow and reproduce. Once they\u2019ve taken over the gut (which is normal for the first few years of life) they essentially prevent bad bacteria, like pathogens that make us sick, from taking up residence in the gut. When we don\u2019t have enough bifidobacterium, these bad bacteria keep getting in, says Smilowitz. Our immune systems then have to then fight them off, which researchers think might be why some people go on to develop allergies and certain autoimmune diseases,\u2014often characterized by an overactive or indiscriminate immune system. Around 80 percent of the cells that make up our immune systems are in our guts.\u201cThere\u2019s this intimate connection between the gut microbiome and our immune system,\u201d says Henrick. Recent studies have supported this idea, showing that young children followed through their first years of life are more likely to develop autoimmune diseases if they lack substantial amounts of the right bacteria.. But there\u2019s still a lot we don\u2019t know. Jack Gilbert, director of the Microbiome Center at the University of Chicago, agrees that the observed change in pH is an interesting observation, and one that fits the current understanding that bifidobacterium lowers stool pH. But, he says, the relationship between a baby\u2019s poop pH, the amount of the bifidobacterium in their guts, and whether they have human milk oligosaccharides (from their mom\u2019s milk) hasn\u2019t been untangled yet. In other words, we still aren\u2019t 100 percent sure that bacteria are driving the change in pH. However, he says, this study and others are absolutely leaning that way. If it does prove causal, the researchers\u2019 ultimate goal is to get this bacterial strain back into all of our babies\u2019 guts. And they think the only way to do that is to use supplements at birth. But before that happens, more research is needed to understand what exactly constitutes a healthy microbiome: Which strains of bacteria should be in our guts and at what times? We need more research, more questions, and of course, more poop. But for now, how can you keep your microbiome (and your infant\u2019s) healthy? Research is beginning to show that as babies develop their microbiomes, three big factors influence which bacteria grow: How often a baby gets antibiotics, if they are breastfed, and whether they were delivered via cesarean section or through natural birth. All of these things can influence a developing microbiome, though it is still unclear by what degree and whether one is more influential than the other. Doctors and new moms can try to help nurture a healthy microbiome in their youngins by limiting the use of antibiotics and cesarean sections when possible. Breastfeeding might help, too, but this isn\u2019t always possible or practical. Studies like this\u2014that help us understand what a healthy microbiome is and what conditions foster one\u2014might eventually enable us to help those infants who require antibiotics early in life or whose mothers aren\u2019t able to breastfeed. As for us adults, eating a healthy diet full of fiber is essential. Our microbes love themselves some roughage. This article has been updated to reflect the fact that the pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, not 0 to 10. We regret the error. ","teaser":" Our stool is a window into the health of our guts. 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It turns out, stool has a lot more power than we tend to think\u2014and not just in terms of its pungent smell. Our poops can say a lot about our health, and that\u2019s true from…<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
It turns out, stool has a lot more power than we tend to think\u2014and not just in terms of its pungent smell. Our poops can say a lot about our health, and that\u2019s true from the first time we soil a diaper.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
Health<\/a><\/div>","timestamp":"2018-03-16T17:33:24.629Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/03\/baby_in_diaper.jpg?itok=JB9kY-Yd&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[200373,208739,201483,224500,205157,108,208010,212430,216073],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["health"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Claire Maldarelli"],"tm_vid_1_names":["microbiome poop babies gut health gut microbes public health nutrition Health"],"spell":["They don\u2019t make baby poop like they did in 1926, that\u2019s for sure. Here\u2019s why scientists care."," Our stool is a window into the health of our guts. The pH of American babies' stool has gone up over the past 100 years. Some researchers think a loss of certain bacteria could be the cause. Deposit Photos Most of us do our best not to think too much about baby poop. But, as it turns out, stool has a lot more power than we think\u2014and not just in terms of its pungent smell. Our poops can say a lot about our health, and that\u2019s true from the first time we soil a diaper. Recently, researchers have found that the bacteria that live inside our guts\u2014known as the microbiome \u2014are crucial to keeping us healthy. But understanding which bacteria help and which hurt\u2014and how we can maintain a gut full of \u201chealthy bacteria\u201d\u2014is still something that scientists are figuring out. Studying an infant\u2019s stool might be a key way to do so. During the first year of life, as a baby is growing, their intestines are fostering a nursery of bacteria. Those microbes are important in that they help to digest food and create a healthy immune system. But our microbiomes may not be as healthy as they once were. Back in December of last year, a group of researchers investigated whether they could replace a key species of good bacteria known as bifidobacterium infantis in the guts of babies who lacked them. They could, but found that when they did so the pH of those infants\u2019 stools changed drastically, becoming more acidic. Adding those bifidobacterium back made the infants\u2019 guts more normal, so the researchers presumed that a lower stool pH might indicate a gut full of the right microbes. To figure that out, the researchers looked back at studies from 1926 to 2017 that had analyzed the pH of infant stool (apparently, scientists have been interested in the pH of infant stool for a while) to see if they could identify any trends. The results, published last week in the journal mSphere, show that over the past 100 years, infant stool pH has gone up (meaning that it has become more basic)\u2014changing from an average reading of 5.0 to 6.5. (For reference, the more acidic something is, the lower its pH and the more basic, the higher the pH. Pure water is a neutral 7.0). That seems like a small increase, but it\u2019s actually quite significant for a scale that only goes from zero to 14. But okay, our babies\u2019 poop pH has gone up. Is that such a big deal? The researchers think that this change in pH could be because we have slowly lost that specific strain of bacteria, bifidobacterium, from our guts. Since mothers pass their gut microbiomes on to their babies when they are born, its disappearance in an adult can lead to a brood of bifidobacterium-less kids. \u201cWe put this paper together as a call to action to let them know that there has been a major shift in this fecal pH,\u201d says co-author Bethany Henrick, a researcher at Evolve BioSystems, a biomedical company in Davis, California. But what\u2019s so special about bifidobacterium? According to Henrick and her co-author Jennifer Smilowitz, a nutritional biologist at the University of California, Davis, this type of bacteria binds exclusively to human milk oligosaccharides, which are sugars found only in breast milk. The bacteria use these sugars as food so they can grow and reproduce. Once they\u2019ve taken over the gut (which is normal for the first few years of life) they essentially prevent bad bacteria, like pathogens that make us sick, from taking up residence in the gut. When we don\u2019t have enough bifidobacterium, these bad bacteria keep getting in, says Smilowitz. Our immune systems then have to then fight them off, which researchers think might be why some people go on to develop allergies and certain autoimmune diseases,\u2014often characterized by an overactive or indiscriminate immune system. Around 80 percent of the cells that make up our immune systems are in our guts.\u201cThere\u2019s this intimate connection between the gut microbiome and our immune system,\u201d says Henrick. Recent studies have supported this idea, showing that young children followed through their first years of life are more likely to develop autoimmune diseases if they lack substantial amounts of the right bacteria.. But there\u2019s still a lot we don\u2019t know. Jack Gilbert, director of the Microbiome Center at the University of Chicago, agrees that the observed change in pH is an interesting observation, and one that fits the current understanding that bifidobacterium lowers stool pH. But, he says, the relationship between a baby\u2019s poop pH, the amount of the bifidobacterium in their guts, and whether they have human milk oligosaccharides (from their mom\u2019s milk) hasn\u2019t been untangled yet. In other words, we still aren\u2019t 100 percent sure that bacteria are driving the change in pH. However, he says, this study and others are absolutely leaning that way. If it does prove causal, the researchers\u2019 ultimate goal is to get this bacterial strain back into all of our babies\u2019 guts. And they think the only way to do that is to use supplements at birth. But before that happens, more research is needed to understand what exactly constitutes a healthy microbiome: Which strains of bacteria should be in our guts and at what times? We need more research, more questions, and of course, more poop. But for now, how can you keep your microbiome (and your infant\u2019s) healthy? Research is beginning to show that as babies develop their microbiomes, three big factors influence which bacteria grow: How often a baby gets antibiotics, if they are breastfed, and whether they were delivered via cesarean section or through natural birth. All of these things can influence a developing microbiome, though it is still unclear by what degree and whether one is more influential than the other. Doctors and new moms can try to help nurture a healthy microbiome in their youngins by limiting the use of antibiotics and cesarean sections when possible. Breastfeeding might help, too, but this isn\u2019t always possible or practical. Studies like this\u2014that help us understand what a healthy microbiome is and what conditions foster one\u2014might eventually enable us to help those infants who require antibiotics early in life or whose mothers aren\u2019t able to breastfeed. As for us adults, eating a healthy diet full of fiber is essential. Our microbes love themselves some roughage. This article has been updated to reflect the fact that the pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, not 0 to 10. We regret the error. ","microbiome poop babies gut health gut microbes public health nutrition Health","Claire Maldarelli","
It turns out, stool has a lot more power than we tend to think\u2014and not just in terms of its pungent smell. Our poops can say a lot about our health, and that\u2019s true from…<\/div>","
It turns out, stool has a lot more power than we tend to think\u2014and not just in terms of its pungent smell. Our poops can say a lot about our health, and that\u2019s true from the first time we soil a diaper.<\/div>","
Health<\/a><\/div>"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[false],"im_field_author":[216073],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":[""],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_subtitle":["Our stool is a window into the health of our guts.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_field_tags":[200373,208739,201483,224500,205157,108,208010,212430],"im_vid_2":[216073],"sm_vid_Authors":["Claire Maldarelli"],"im_vid_1":[200373,208739,201483,224500,205157,108,208010,212430],"sm_vid_Tags":["microbiome","poop","babies","gut health","gut microbes","public health","nutrition","Health"]},{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235414","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235414,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235414","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/science-microwave-cake","path_alias":"science-microwave-cake","label":"Add a dash of chemistry for the best microwave mug cake of your life","content":" This single-serving dessert takes 60 seconds\u2014and some science. Chocolate Microwave Cake You could make this dessert in under five minutes. Mr. Michael Phams\/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 There\u2019s something incredibly neat about a microwave cake. A cake tin full of batter takes 45 minutes or more to bake fully; a few ingredients in a coffee mug transform into a sweet treat in just sixty seconds. How does that magical humming box transform a liquid mixture into a single-serving dessert? It starts, of course, with the microwave itself. Inside each oven, usually behind a small panel of mica or high-grade plastic on the right side of the machine, you'll find a component called a magnetron. This device uses electricity from an outlet to generate microwaves, radio waves (RF) that have wavelengths ranging from one millimeter to one meter. The oven channels those RF waves into the box, where they penetrate any food inside. Related: April 1968: Popular Science Tests the Brand-New Microwave Oven The waves excite water molecules in the food, heating it up. A turntable continually rotates the dish, evenly distributing microwave energy throughout its contents. How does this affect your would-be cake? That depends on the ingredients you put into it. Any fluffy baked good needs two components: architecture, the thing that gives it shape and structure, and a leavening agent, to make it rise. In this recipe, the architecture comes from gluten in the flour and rise from baking powder. (Author\u2019s note: If you\u2019ve ever wondered about the difference between baking powder and baking soda, think of the classic elementary-school volcano experiment, in which baking soda combines with acidic vinegar to form water and bubbles of carbon dioxide. Baking powder contains both baking soda and an acid, as well as corn starch to stabilize the components. When exposed to heat, the powder's ingredients react, creating bubbles.) The trick to a perfectly cooked cake (in the microwave or in the oven) is making sure your architecture sets at the same time that your leavening agent\u2014in our case, baking powder\u2014forms air bubbles to make the batter rise. Of course, you'll need more than flour and baking powder to get a good microwave cake. Like a full-size cake, these desserts require additional liquid, sugar or another sweetener, and some sort of flavoring\u2014our recipe uses vanilla extract and chocolate chips. And then there's another key component: eggs. Many recipes, including the one below, call for egg yolks without the whites. Yolks act as emulsifiers, allowing fats and liquids to combine. However, if your cake is too dry, you can try adding egg whites as well. Just be aware that proteins within the white can denature, or lose their structure, which affects the texture of the cake, according to Craig Nold, Principal Design Engineer, Cooking Product Development for GE Appliances. Although egg whites give some desserts extra lift, they won't affect your mug cake's architecture unless you beat them first, says Matt Hartings, a professor of chemistry at American University. When you're doling out these ingredients, Hartings says you should use a kitchen scale rather than cups and spoons. To demonstrate why to his students, Hartings performs an experiment on the first day of his "The Chemistry of Cooking" class. He asks the students to measure out two cups of flour, then weigh it. \u201cThere is a lot of variation, even when properly measured,\u201d he explains. \u201cMeasuring is the way to go for precision.\u201d Ingredients aren't the only things that will affect your cake's success. The mug in which you cook it will also influence the final dessert. Hartings recommends using a small, narrow cylinder: The shape of the container forces the gas within the batter upwards, creating lift and forming the architecture your cake needs. And Nold notes that the material of your mug can also be a variable, since different materials will heat at their own rates based on cook time. However, with a 60-second cook time, mug material should not make a huge difference\u2014just go with a standard ceramic one. In addition, be careful how much batter you use. Nold says that, when recipe testing, you should actually cook with more batter, not less. Microwave energy is meant to excite water molecules within the food, so adding more batter will ensure there\u2019s enough liquid to heat and distribute the energy. Ultimately, a microwave cake is a science experiment you can perform at home. It may not always turn out perfect, but it will still be a warm, gooey treat you can enjoy. And you can always take notes, learn from your errors, and modify the recipe in the future. Stats Time: About 5 minutes Cost: Depends how many ingredients you already have in your kitchen Difficulty: Easy Ingredients 2 tbsp butter (28.25 grams) 1\/4 cup flour (31.25 grams) 1 large egg yolk 2 tbsp white sugar (25 grams) 1 tbsp milk (15 grams) 1 tsp vanilla extract (5 grams) 1 tsp baking powder (4 grams) Optional: 2 tbsp chocolate chips (20 grams) Instructions Put butter into a microwave-safe mug and melt it in your microwave. This should take 30 to 40 seconds. Combine the rest of the ingredients, except the chocolate chips, in the mug. Stir the mixture with a fork until you get a smooth batter. Add chocolate chips to the batter and stir again. (Author's note: There's no such thing as too many chocolate chips, so throw in a few extras for good measure.) Microwave the mixture for 60 seconds. At this point. the top should be firm. If it's not, then microwave the cake in 10 second intervals until it is. Remove your dessert from the mug to share it with a loved one, or\u2014let's be honest\u2014eat it straight out of the mug. ","teaser":" This single-serving dessert takes 60 seconds\u2014and some science. Chocolate Microwave Cake You could make this dessert in under five minutes. Mr. Michael Phams\/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 There\u2019s something incredibly neat about a microwave cake. A cake tin full of batter takes 45 minutes or more to bake","ss_name":"jasonlederman","tos_name":"jasonlederman","ss_name_formatted":"jasonlederman","tos_name_formatted":"jasonlederman","is_uid":892,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-03-16T14:00:00Z","ds_changed":"2018-03-16T19:02:47Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-03-16T19:02:47Z","bs_field_sponsored":false,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":false,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
A microwave can transform a mug of batter into a single-serving dessert in 60 seconds. Here's how that magical humming box turns a liquid into a fluffy treat.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
A microwave can transform a mug of batter into a single-serving dessert in 60 seconds. Here's how that magical humming box turns a liquid into a fluffy treat.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
DIY<\/a><\/div>","timestamp":"2018-03-16T19:02:47.81Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/03\/3285263773_ffc2210466_o.jpg?itok=AbP1Vf6N&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[202871,201505,200246,220670,207232,64,224390,200299,217081],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["diy"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Jason Lederman"],"tm_vid_1_names":["cooking baking chemistry culinary science microwaves DIY life upgrades food"],"spell":["Add a dash of chemistry for the best microwave mug cake of your life"," This single-serving dessert takes 60 seconds\u2014and some science. Chocolate Microwave Cake You could make this dessert in under five minutes. Mr. Michael Phams\/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 There\u2019s something incredibly neat about a microwave cake. A cake tin full of batter takes 45 minutes or more to bake fully; a few ingredients in a coffee mug transform into a sweet treat in just sixty seconds. How does that magical humming box transform a liquid mixture into a single-serving dessert? It starts, of course, with the microwave itself. Inside each oven, usually behind a small panel of mica or high-grade plastic on the right side of the machine, you'll find a component called a magnetron. This device uses electricity from an outlet to generate microwaves, radio waves (RF) that have wavelengths ranging from one millimeter to one meter. The oven channels those RF waves into the box, where they penetrate any food inside. Related: April 1968: Popular Science Tests the Brand-New Microwave Oven The waves excite water molecules in the food, heating it up. A turntable continually rotates the dish, evenly distributing microwave energy throughout its contents. How does this affect your would-be cake? That depends on the ingredients you put into it. Any fluffy baked good needs two components: architecture, the thing that gives it shape and structure, and a leavening agent, to make it rise. In this recipe, the architecture comes from gluten in the flour and rise from baking powder. (Author\u2019s note: If you\u2019ve ever wondered about the difference between baking powder and baking soda, think of the classic elementary-school volcano experiment, in which baking soda combines with acidic vinegar to form water and bubbles of carbon dioxide. Baking powder contains both baking soda and an acid, as well as corn starch to stabilize the components. When exposed to heat, the powder's ingredients react, creating bubbles.) The trick to a perfectly cooked cake (in the microwave or in the oven) is making sure your architecture sets at the same time that your leavening agent\u2014in our case, baking powder\u2014forms air bubbles to make the batter rise. Of course, you'll need more than flour and baking powder to get a good microwave cake. Like a full-size cake, these desserts require additional liquid, sugar or another sweetener, and some sort of flavoring\u2014our recipe uses vanilla extract and chocolate chips. And then there's another key component: eggs. Many recipes, including the one below, call for egg yolks without the whites. Yolks act as emulsifiers, allowing fats and liquids to combine. However, if your cake is too dry, you can try adding egg whites as well. Just be aware that proteins within the white can denature, or lose their structure, which affects the texture of the cake, according to Craig Nold, Principal Design Engineer, Cooking Product Development for GE Appliances. Although egg whites give some desserts extra lift, they won't affect your mug cake's architecture unless you beat them first, says Matt Hartings, a professor of chemistry at American University. When you're doling out these ingredients, Hartings says you should use a kitchen scale rather than cups and spoons. To demonstrate why to his students, Hartings performs an experiment on the first day of his "The Chemistry of Cooking" class. He asks the students to measure out two cups of flour, then weigh it. \u201cThere is a lot of variation, even when properly measured,\u201d he explains. \u201cMeasuring is the way to go for precision.\u201d Ingredients aren't the only things that will affect your cake's success. The mug in which you cook it will also influence the final dessert. Hartings recommends using a small, narrow cylinder: The shape of the container forces the gas within the batter upwards, creating lift and forming the architecture your cake needs. And Nold notes that the material of your mug can also be a variable, since different materials will heat at their own rates based on cook time. However, with a 60-second cook time, mug material should not make a huge difference\u2014just go with a standard ceramic one. In addition, be careful how much batter you use. Nold says that, when recipe testing, you should actually cook with more batter, not less. Microwave energy is meant to excite water molecules within the food, so adding more batter will ensure there\u2019s enough liquid to heat and distribute the energy. Ultimately, a microwave cake is a science experiment you can perform at home. It may not always turn out perfect, but it will still be a warm, gooey treat you can enjoy. And you can always take notes, learn from your errors, and modify the recipe in the future. Stats Time: About 5 minutes Cost: Depends how many ingredients you already have in your kitchen Difficulty: Easy Ingredients 2 tbsp butter (28.25 grams) 1\/4 cup flour (31.25 grams) 1 large egg yolk 2 tbsp white sugar (25 grams) 1 tbsp milk (15 grams) 1 tsp vanilla extract (5 grams) 1 tsp baking powder (4 grams) Optional: 2 tbsp chocolate chips (20 grams) Instructions Put butter into a microwave-safe mug and melt it in your microwave. This should take 30 to 40 seconds. Combine the rest of the ingredients, except the chocolate chips, in the mug. Stir the mixture with a fork until you get a smooth batter. Add chocolate chips to the batter and stir again. (Author's note: There's no such thing as too many chocolate chips, so throw in a few extras for good measure.) Microwave the mixture for 60 seconds. At this point. the top should be firm. If it's not, then microwave the cake in 10 second intervals until it is. Remove your dessert from the mug to share it with a loved one, or\u2014let's be honest\u2014eat it straight out of the mug. ","cooking baking chemistry culinary science microwaves DIY life upgrades food","Jason Lederman","
A microwave can transform a mug of batter into a single-serving dessert in 60 seconds. Here's how that magical humming box turns a liquid into a fluffy treat.<\/div>","
A microwave can transform a mug of batter into a single-serving dessert in 60 seconds. Here's how that magical humming box turns a liquid into a fluffy treat.<\/div>","
DIY<\/a><\/div>"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[false],"im_field_author":[217081],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":[""],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_subtitle":["This single-serving dessert takes 60 seconds\u2014and some science.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_field_tags":[202871,201505,200246,220670,207232,64,224390,200299],"im_vid_2":[217081],"sm_vid_Authors":["Jason Lederman"],"im_vid_1":[202871,201505,200246,220670,207232,64,224390,200299],"sm_vid_Tags":["cooking","baking","chemistry","culinary science","microwaves","DIY","life upgrades","food"]},{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235431","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235431,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235431","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/hispaniola-solenodon-genome-venomous-butt-nipples","path_alias":"hispaniola-solenodon-genome-venomous-butt-nipples","label":"These animals have nipples on their butts and that is not the most fascinating thing about them","content":" The tiny, venomous mammal outlived the dinosaurs, but might go extinct due to extreme clumsiness. A Hispaniola solenodon Eladio Fernandez Caribbean Nature Photography If any animal were going to outlive the dinosaurs, you probably wouldn\u2019t guess it\u2019d be this lil shrew-lookin\u2019 dude. Look at it, with its little eyes and almost-creepily-bald snout. Crocodiles, deep-sea sharks\u2014they look like they\u2019ve survived millennia. But this guy? Nah. But as it turns out, this little solenodon is part of one of the earliest branches of the mammalian family tree, departing from the rest about 74 million years ago. They are also one of the very few existing venomous mammals, and among a small group of animals that survived the human settlement of the Caribbean islands. Most others died off as their environment changed, but solenodons kept scurrying along in their maze of underground tunnels with their mini shovel paws. But now, the Hispaniola solenodon is in danger of going extinct, so biologists are trying to preserve its genome for study before it disappears forever. Taras K. Oleksyk, a molecular geneticist at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayag\u00fcez, just won the ICG12 GigaScience prize for work he and his colleagues did to provide a rough draft of the solenodon genome. The team published their work in an open access journal so anyone can use the data. It\u2019s not exactly easy to sequence the genome of a small, elusive population of creatures. For starters, you have to find them. Solenodons are nocturnal, so during the day (when it would be easiest to spot them), they\u2019re chillin\u2019 below ground in their tunnels. They\u2019re social animals and live in family units consisting of a parental pair and a small group of younguns. They come out at night to hunt insects, worms, snails, and sometimes even mice. Each female has two nipples that are located almost on her butt. That\u2019s not really relevant, but it seems worth noting. Taras Oleksyk holding a solenodon by the tail to keep it from biting him with its venomous teeth. Courtesy Taras Oleksyk Until humans showed up, they lived a relaxing life in the moist forests of Hispaniola, never worrying about predators of any kind. And as a result, they never really learned how to run properly. The International Wildlife Encyclopedia notes that \u201cthey run on their toes with a stiff ungainly waddle, following an erratic almost zigzag course\u201d and that \u201cwhen a solenodon is alarmed and tries to put on speed it is as likely as not to trip over its own toes or even tumble head-over-heels.\u201d That technique is, as you can imagine, fairly ineffective when you\u2019re trying to escape a mongoose or a dog. Ever since humans introduced those animals to the island of Hispaniola, solenodons have been struggling to survive. The IUCN now considers them endangered. Oleksyk and his team asked two local guides to help them locate the little buggers. Nicol\u00e1s Corona and Yimell Corona guided the scientists through the forest, looking for tracks, burrows, or droppings during the day and setting up \u201cambushes\u201d at dawn. The fabled solenodon gait came in handy here, since the paper notes the researchers were able to simply chase down their targets and pick them up by their tails to avoid getting bitten. In less than 10 minutes, a veterinarian was able to draw a small amount of blood from each of the five animals they were able to catch, draw on their tails with a Sharpie, and release the solenodons back into the forest. Researchers taking a blood sample from a solenodon Courtesy Taras Oleksyk The problem with only being able to collect a few samples from poorly studied, wild animals is that it\u2019s tough to get high-quality DNA. And without that, it\u2019s challenging to put together a complete genome. Luckily for these biologists, solenodons are very genetically homogeneous, meaning they have little genetic diversity. It\u2019s a small population that\u2019s lived in isolation for years, so the similarity between any two individual animals is going to be very high. And that means they could pool the samples from the five solenodons they caught into one uber-sample. Once they had pieced together the genome, the researchers were able to start investigating some of the solenodon\u2019s weird genetic anomalies. Its venom, for example, seems to not be closely related to any other kind of venom, including other mammalian toxins. This shouldn\u2019t be all that surprising, given that their evolutionary branch split off 74 million years ago. Despite how shrew-like they look, solenodons aren\u2019t all that related to shrews, so even though both have venom in their tiny, sharp teeth it makes sense that they would have developed different formulations. Hopefully there will be many more revelations about these evolutionary survivors now that we\u2019ve sequenced their genome. They are truly a bizarre branch of the mammalian tree, and we could learn more about how an animal from the Cretaceous period managed to stick around for this long. That is, as long as we don\u2019t kill them off first. ","teaser":" The tiny, venomous mammal outlived the dinosaurs, but might go extinct due to extreme clumsiness. A Hispaniola solenodon Eladio Fernandez Caribbean Nature Photography If any animal were going to outlive the dinosaurs, you probably wouldn\u2019t guess it\u2019d be this lil shrew-lookin\u2019 dude. Look at it, with","ss_name":"Sara Chodosh","tos_name":"Sara Chodosh","ss_name_formatted":"Sara Chodosh","tos_name_formatted":"Sara Chodosh","is_uid":1530,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-03-16T13:00:00Z","ds_changed":"2018-03-16T13:00:01Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-03-16T13:00:01Z","bs_field_sponsored":false,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":false,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
If any animal were going to outlive the dinosaurs, you probably wouldn\u2019t guess it\u2019d be this lil shrew-lookin\u2019 dude. Look at it, with its little eyes and…<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
If any animal were going to outlive the dinosaurs, you probably wouldn\u2019t guess it\u2019d be this lil shrew-lookin\u2019 dude. Look at it, with its little eyes and almost-creepily-bald snout. Crocodiles, deep-sea sharks\u2014they look like they\u2019ve survived millennia. But this guy? Nah. But as it turns out,…<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
Animals<\/a><\/div>","timestamp":"2018-03-16T13:00:02.285Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/03\/credit_eladio_fernandez_caribbean_nature_photography_1.jpg?itok=k7KNtGVW&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[209969,200293,200305,200259,200200,223472],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["animals"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Sara Chodosh"],"tm_vid_1_names":["short science articles EVOLUTION genetics conservation Animals"],"spell":["These animals have nipples on their butts and that is not the most fascinating thing about them"," The tiny, venomous mammal outlived the dinosaurs, but might go extinct due to extreme clumsiness. A Hispaniola solenodon Eladio Fernandez Caribbean Nature Photography If any animal were going to outlive the dinosaurs, you probably wouldn\u2019t guess it\u2019d be this lil shrew-lookin\u2019 dude. Look at it, with its little eyes and almost-creepily-bald snout. Crocodiles, deep-sea sharks\u2014they look like they\u2019ve survived millennia. But this guy? Nah. But as it turns out, this little solenodon is part of one of the earliest branches of the mammalian family tree, departing from the rest about 74 million years ago. They are also one of the very few existing venomous mammals, and among a small group of animals that survived the human settlement of the Caribbean islands. Most others died off as their environment changed, but solenodons kept scurrying along in their maze of underground tunnels with their mini shovel paws. But now, the Hispaniola solenodon is in danger of going extinct, so biologists are trying to preserve its genome for study before it disappears forever. Taras K. Oleksyk, a molecular geneticist at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayag\u00fcez, just won the ICG12 GigaScience prize for work he and his colleagues did to provide a rough draft of the solenodon genome. The team published their work in an open access journal so anyone can use the data. It\u2019s not exactly easy to sequence the genome of a small, elusive population of creatures. For starters, you have to find them. Solenodons are nocturnal, so during the day (when it would be easiest to spot them), they\u2019re chillin\u2019 below ground in their tunnels. They\u2019re social animals and live in family units consisting of a parental pair and a small group of younguns. They come out at night to hunt insects, worms, snails, and sometimes even mice. Each female has two nipples that are located almost on her butt. That\u2019s not really relevant, but it seems worth noting. Taras Oleksyk holding a solenodon by the tail to keep it from biting him with its venomous teeth. Courtesy Taras Oleksyk Until humans showed up, they lived a relaxing life in the moist forests of Hispaniola, never worrying about predators of any kind. And as a result, they never really learned how to run properly. The International Wildlife Encyclopedia notes that \u201cthey run on their toes with a stiff ungainly waddle, following an erratic almost zigzag course\u201d and that \u201cwhen a solenodon is alarmed and tries to put on speed it is as likely as not to trip over its own toes or even tumble head-over-heels.\u201d That technique is, as you can imagine, fairly ineffective when you\u2019re trying to escape a mongoose or a dog. Ever since humans introduced those animals to the island of Hispaniola, solenodons have been struggling to survive. The IUCN now considers them endangered. Oleksyk and his team asked two local guides to help them locate the little buggers. Nicol\u00e1s Corona and Yimell Corona guided the scientists through the forest, looking for tracks, burrows, or droppings during the day and setting up \u201cambushes\u201d at dawn. The fabled solenodon gait came in handy here, since the paper notes the researchers were able to simply chase down their targets and pick them up by their tails to avoid getting bitten. In less than 10 minutes, a veterinarian was able to draw a small amount of blood from each of the five animals they were able to catch, draw on their tails with a Sharpie, and release the solenodons back into the forest. Researchers taking a blood sample from a solenodon Courtesy Taras Oleksyk The problem with only being able to collect a few samples from poorly studied, wild animals is that it\u2019s tough to get high-quality DNA. And without that, it\u2019s challenging to put together a complete genome. Luckily for these biologists, solenodons are very genetically homogeneous, meaning they have little genetic diversity. It\u2019s a small population that\u2019s lived in isolation for years, so the similarity between any two individual animals is going to be very high. And that means they could pool the samples from the five solenodons they caught into one uber-sample. Once they had pieced together the genome, the researchers were able to start investigating some of the solenodon\u2019s weird genetic anomalies. Its venom, for example, seems to not be closely related to any other kind of venom, including other mammalian toxins. This shouldn\u2019t be all that surprising, given that their evolutionary branch split off 74 million years ago. Despite how shrew-like they look, solenodons aren\u2019t all that related to shrews, so even though both have venom in their tiny, sharp teeth it makes sense that they would have developed different formulations. Hopefully there will be many more revelations about these evolutionary survivors now that we\u2019ve sequenced their genome. They are truly a bizarre branch of the mammalian tree, and we could learn more about how an animal from the Cretaceous period managed to stick around for this long. That is, as long as we don\u2019t kill them off first. ","short science articles EVOLUTION genetics conservation Animals","Sara Chodosh","
If any animal were going to outlive the dinosaurs, you probably wouldn\u2019t guess it\u2019d be this lil shrew-lookin\u2019 dude. Look at it, with its little eyes and…<\/div>","
If any animal were going to outlive the dinosaurs, you probably wouldn\u2019t guess it\u2019d be this lil shrew-lookin\u2019 dude. Look at it, with its little eyes and almost-creepily-bald snout. Crocodiles, deep-sea sharks\u2014they look like they\u2019ve survived millennia. But this guy? Nah. But as it turns out,…<\/div>","
Animals<\/a><\/div>"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[false],"im_field_author":[223472],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":[""],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_subtitle":["The tiny, venomous mammal outlived the dinosaurs, but might go extinct due to extreme clumsiness.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_field_tags":[209969,200293,200305,200259,200200],"im_vid_2":[223472],"sm_vid_Authors":["Sara Chodosh"],"im_vid_1":[209969,200293,200305,200259,200200],"sm_vid_Tags":["short science articles","EVOLUTION","genetics","conservation","Animals"]},{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235432","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235432,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235432","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/origins-of-life-human-ancestors-primer","path_alias":"origins-of-life-human-ancestors-primer","label":"A primer on the primal origins of humans on Earth ","content":" Our history is complicated. Our pre-history, even more so. Where did we come from? Archeologists and anthropologists are trying to figure that out. Deposit Photos How on Earth did we get here? No, not whatever political or environmental or existential crisis just sprung into your mind. How did we, as humans, end up where we are today? Discoveries pushing back milestones in human development happen all the time. That can get confusing. So here\u2019s a very basic (but not brief) cheat sheet of the current research and findings\u2014for the next time the origin of humanity comes up during happy hour. Stone age burial from Morocco. Abdeljalil Bouzouggar How did we spread around the world? The oldest fossils of humans and their relatives show up in Africa, where they\u2019ve been preserved for thousands or even millions of years. But while Africa has earned its popular designation as the Cradle of Humankind, it's not as if our ancient ancestors stayed confined to the nursery for long. Researchers think that modern humans and other hominins left via the Middle East, taking advantage of the land bridge between Eurasia and Africa. But how much connection there was between these different areas is still a matter for debate. In a new study in Science, archeologist Johannes Krause and colleagues looked at 15,000 year old bones from Morocco to see where they might have come from. They were associated with a group that researchers thought might have European roots, potentially crossing back into Africa from Europe via the Strait of Gibraltar during the last Ice Age. But that story wasn\u2019t holding up as we got more evidence. \u201cArcheologists recently showed that the technology found at the site doesn\u2019t look European. It looks more like the Near Eastern technologies, and that has raised some interesting questions," says Krause. "How does that Near Eastern technology come to Western Africa?\u201d So he and his team took DNA samples to see where the people buried in those sites were really from. \u201cTo our surprise we found that \u2154 of their ancestry is indeed Near Eastern, like the Levantine hunter gatherers, the so-called Natufians who were living in the Near East before agriculture emerged in this region," he says. "The missing third, surprisingly, was from an African population... we have actually no clue where it comes from. It\u2019s related to East Africa, West Africa, and Southern Africa. The wide mixture of African relatedness indicates to us that this African component is quite old, and is probably a ghost population\u2014a population of Sub-Saharan Africans that is not present any more.\u201d For Krause, the data shows that long before the Romans and Greeks and Phoenicians took a stab at sailing across the Mediterranean, other groups of humans were mixing and moving, just like we\u2019ve always done. \u201cWe\u2019re not stable, we\u2019re not like, \u2018my ancestors have been in this valley for 20,000 years\u2019\u2014that will never happen," Krause explains. "People have moved all over the place all the time.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s important information for a lot of people today," he adds, "with a new form of nationalism looming in a lot of places of the world. What we see here is that, at least in the past, people have been extremely mobile. If people want to now build walls and borders and force people to stay in a certain place, then that is the exception. That is not the rule.\u201d Other evidence goes back even farther into our past. Last month, in a paper presented in Science, researchers led by Israel Hershkovitz announced the discovery of bones and tools at a site in Israel called Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel. They dated the artifacts and remains to around 180,000 years ago, pushing back the time that members of our species left Africa by 50,000 to 85,000 years. "Misliya is an exciting discovery," said study co-author and anthropologist Rolf Quam in a press release. "It provides the clearest evidence yet that our ancestors first migrated out of Africa much earlier than we previously believed. It also means that modern humans were potentially meeting and interacting during a longer period of time with other archaic human groups, providing more opportunity for cultural and biological exchanges." Tools made by humans in the Olorgesailie Basin. Around 320,000 years ago, they began using color pigments and manufacturing more sophisticated tools, using resources from beyond their immediate environment. Human Origins Program, Smithsonian Let\u2019s talk tools. Speaking of cultural and biological exchanges: in a new set of papers also published in Science this week, researchers focused on a technological transition in Kenya. Rocks and tools are some of the most durable parts of the archaeological record, and these showed a huge shift away from the hand axes that dominated hundreds of thousands of years of early human history. Instead, they were using smaller, more precisely crafted stone tools, made from obsidian found miles away, and decorating items with pigments. \u201cThat\u2019s where there\u2019s a similarity to technology in recent times; things start out big and clunky and they get small and portable," says Richard Potts, head of the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program and a co-author of the papers. "The history technology has been the same ever since.\u201d But why the shift away from our clunky, durable hand axes? \u201cOne of the things we see is that around 500,000 years ago in the rift valley of southern Kenya, all hell breaks loose. There's faulting that occurs, and earthquake activity was moving the landscape up and down. The climate record shows there is a stronger degree of oscillation between wet and dry. That would have disrupted the predictability of food and water, for those early people,\u201d Potts says. \u201cIt\u2019s exactly under those conditions that almost any organism\u2014but especially a hunter-gatherer human, even an early one\u2014would begin to expand geography of obtaining food or obtaining resources. It's under those conditions that you begin to run into other groups of hominins and you become aware of resources beyond your usual boundaries.\u201d Potts thinks that the environmental changes encouraged early trade and social networks to start developing between these people around 320,000 years ago. But we still don't know exactly who these people were. \u201cWe wish we knew,\u201d Potts laughs. \u201cWould they have been pretty archaic looking, more like the species known as Homo heidelbergensis that we have evidence of back to 600,000 years ago in Eastern Africa, or did they look more like us, homo sapiens? We don\u2019t know the answer to that.\u201d Ancient DNA One way that we can start painting a better picture of our ancient relatives is by looking into DNA. Scientists have tested and categorized thousands of remains in ways that wouldn\u2019t have been possible five years ago, especially not with remains from Africa. \u201cAfrica is a really warm place, and here\u2019s a correlation between temperature and preservation,\u201d Krause says. \u201cIt's like a piece of meat: you keep in the fridge, you don\u2019t put it on the table, because it gets smelly after two days or so. And what we\u2019re analyzing used to be a piece of meat.\u201d But advances in genetic testing, and a better understanding of what parts of our body best preserve DNA (the inner ear bones, according to Krause) mean that we\u2019re getting more information than ever about where we came from. \u201cIt\u2019s been speculated that people left Africa 45,000 years ago to become Europeans, Asians, Australians, Native Americans, and so forth," he says. "But was there then migration to back to Africa? Was there gene flow between Africa and other parts of the world? That\u2019s [a question we've] been trying to address through anthropology and archeology, but now we have this beautiful new tool called genetics and ancient DNA.\u201d \u201cNow we can measure it directly. We don\u2019t have to look at shards or ceramic or ancient bones. We can look at ancient DNA, and we can measure how much genetic closeness or mixture we can see between different populations. And that\u2019s really exciting,\u201d Krause says. How did our ancestors interact with other early human species? Without a time machine, we\u2019re never going to have a full picture of inter-species relationships in the Homo genus. But a growing pile of genetic evidence shows that we had a very close relationship with others. Modern humans are all members of the species Homo sapiens. We\u2019re the last hominins standing, having endured longer than other species and sub-species, including H. neanderthalensis, better known as neanderthals, perhaps our most famous ancient human relatives. While neanderthals didn\u2019t persist to the present, many humans alive today do share many genes with neanderthals. Yes, those genes mean what you think they do: there definitely was some interbreeding. Then there are the Denisovans, which we only know of from the genetic analysis of a fossilized pinky finger, but who likely interbred with us as well. A study published this week in Cell suggests it happened at least twice. A lot has changed in the past few hundred thousand years, not in the least because we are now alone. Once upon a time, humans had a decent amount of company. Our species shared the world\u2014and interacted with\u2014all sorts of other humans for a very, very long period of time. When did humans show up in the first place? That\u2019s one of the biggest questions in anthropology. And in a lot of cases, it comes down to where you want to draw the line. Did we become human when we started walking on two legs? One of the earliest accepted members of the human family tree is Sahelanthropus tchadensis, which lived roughly around 6.5 million years ago and was likely bipedal. But what if we become human when we started making tools? Fast-forward a few million years, and Homo habilis arrives. H. habilis was one of the earliest members of our genus, and we see fossil evidence of this species dating to 2.4 million years ago in Africa. This was once thought to be one of the earliest species to make and use stone tools\u2014hence the name, which means handy man\u2014but older evidence of stone tool use has since emerged, and some researchers are reconsidering whether or not they should really be included in our genus, anyway. We\u2019re inching closer to our species. Early fossils of distinctly H. sapiens individuals have been found and dated to between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago, mostly in East Africa, but they could have shown up even earlier. Last year, researchers announced that tools and fossils found at Jebel Irhoud Morocco dated to roughly 315,000 years ago. These fossils share some features with Homo sapiens, enough to cause a debate as to whether or not they count as members of our species, or if they\u2019re close precursors. But one thing that\u2019s important to remember is that while we can identify different species in the fossil record, the pace of evolution is way more messy than a chart in a textbook might have you believe. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to emerge as a package,\u201d says Shara Bailey, who worked on the Jebel Irhoud site. \u201cIt\u2019s not like all of a sudden you\u2019re going to have people that look like you and me. You might have teeth that look modern, but backs of the skull that don\u2019t.\u201d Potts (whose research focuses on a different part of the continent, but roughly the same time period as Bailey's) agrees. "We\u2019re really dealing with a transition. We like putting things into categories, is it homo sapiens or not, but we\u2019re really dealing with an evolutionary transition in the ways in which the those early humans looked," Potts says. The full picture of our morphological history is still emerging. The discovery in Morocco may also expand the potential range of our ancestors (or at least, our relatives) beyond East Africa and across the continent. And then there\u2019s our tools, our innovation, our social structures, and all the other things that make us human today. That\u2019s where the studies Potts worked on enter the picture again. \u201cI think what we\u2019re dealing with are a suite of behaviors. Innovation in not only technology, but changes of social life with regard to this resource exchange, and evidence of more complex symbolic behavior, the ability to communicate with groups that are distant and that you might not see every day,\u201d Potts says. \u201cThese are the behaviors that may have distinguished our gene pool and Homo sapiens from that of our ancestors.\u201d So what comes next? There\u2019s a lot more of our human history yet to be excavated around the world, and a lot more tools available for scientists to use. There\u2019s no reason to think the pace of discovery will slow any time soon. \u201cThat's what science is about. We\u2019re constantly working our way closer to whatever truth is out there," Bailey says. "So at any given time, we can only draw conclusions based on the evidence that we have. As we find more evidence, we have to be flexible enough to rethink our hypotheses." Stromatolites, mats of cyanobacteria are believed to be similar to some of the earliest life on Earth Harclade\/Flickr When did life start on Earth? This is one of the more hotly contested debates in biology. Researchers are still trying to figure out where and how life began, let alone the time period during which our planet shifted from a population of zero to Pop. 1+. When it comes to timing, the scale of the evidence that biologists are looking for is nearly impossible to comprehend. They\u2019re searching for fossils that have not only managed to survive for billions of years, but that were left behind by lifeforms the size of bacteria. Given the fragility and size of microbes and the rate of change on our dynamic planet, it\u2019s incredible that the first Earthlings left any physical traces at all. But some examples do exist. Some of the oldest fossils many researchers agree on are microfossils from Australia that clock in at 3.43 billion years old. But other scientists have found fossils they claim are older. (For more, read Popular Science\u2019s feature from our September\/October 2017 issue: A new finding raises an old question: Where and when did life begin?.) But fossils aren\u2019t the only evidence we can use to scout out the origins of life. Chemical and geological analysis of rocks might indicate life going back 3.8 billion years, and maybe even as far back as 4.1 billion years. ","teaser":" Our history is complicated. Our pre-history, even more so. Where did we come from? Archeologists and anthropologists are trying to figure that out. Deposit Photos How on Earth did we get here? No, not whatever political or environmental or existential crisis just sprung into your mind. How did we,","ss_name":"Mary Beth Griggs","tos_name":"Mary Beth Griggs","ss_name_formatted":"Mary Beth Griggs","tos_name_formatted":"Mary Beth Griggs","is_uid":242,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-03-15T21:54:29Z","ds_changed":"2018-03-15T21:54:29Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-03-15T21:54:29Z","bs_field_sponsored":false,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":false,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
Discoveries pushing back milestones in human development happen all the time. That can get confusing. So here\u2019s a very basic (but not very brief) cheat sheet of the…<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
Discoveries pushing back milestones in human development happen all the time. That can get confusing. So here\u2019s a very basic (but not very brief) cheat sheet of the current research and findings\u2014for the next time the origin of humanity comes up during happy hour.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
Science<\/a><\/div>","timestamp":"2018-03-15T21:54:30.923Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/03\/depositphotos_115106534_original.jpg?itok=gzgen_ei&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[205578,200293,205640,62,212470],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["science"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Mary Beth Griggs"],"tm_vid_1_names":["human ancestors EVOLUTION humans Science"],"spell":["A primer on the primal origins of humans on Earth "," Our history is complicated. Our pre-history, even more so. Where did we come from? Archeologists and anthropologists are trying to figure that out. Deposit Photos How on Earth did we get here? No, not whatever political or environmental or existential crisis just sprung into your mind. How did we, as humans, end up where we are today? Discoveries pushing back milestones in human development happen all the time. That can get confusing. So here\u2019s a very basic (but not brief) cheat sheet of the current research and findings\u2014for the next time the origin of humanity comes up during happy hour. Stone age burial from Morocco. Abdeljalil Bouzouggar How did we spread around the world? The oldest fossils of humans and their relatives show up in Africa, where they\u2019ve been preserved for thousands or even millions of years. But while Africa has earned its popular designation as the Cradle of Humankind, it's not as if our ancient ancestors stayed confined to the nursery for long. Researchers think that modern humans and other hominins left via the Middle East, taking advantage of the land bridge between Eurasia and Africa. But how much connection there was between these different areas is still a matter for debate. In a new study in Science, archeologist Johannes Krause and colleagues looked at 15,000 year old bones from Morocco to see where they might have come from. They were associated with a group that researchers thought might have European roots, potentially crossing back into Africa from Europe via the Strait of Gibraltar during the last Ice Age. But that story wasn\u2019t holding up as we got more evidence. \u201cArcheologists recently showed that the technology found at the site doesn\u2019t look European. It looks more like the Near Eastern technologies, and that has raised some interesting questions," says Krause. "How does that Near Eastern technology come to Western Africa?\u201d So he and his team took DNA samples to see where the people buried in those sites were really from. \u201cTo our surprise we found that \u2154 of their ancestry is indeed Near Eastern, like the Levantine hunter gatherers, the so-called Natufians who were living in the Near East before agriculture emerged in this region," he says. "The missing third, surprisingly, was from an African population... we have actually no clue where it comes from. It\u2019s related to East Africa, West Africa, and Southern Africa. The wide mixture of African relatedness indicates to us that this African component is quite old, and is probably a ghost population\u2014a population of Sub-Saharan Africans that is not present any more.\u201d For Krause, the data shows that long before the Romans and Greeks and Phoenicians took a stab at sailing across the Mediterranean, other groups of humans were mixing and moving, just like we\u2019ve always done. \u201cWe\u2019re not stable, we\u2019re not like, \u2018my ancestors have been in this valley for 20,000 years\u2019\u2014that will never happen," Krause explains. "People have moved all over the place all the time.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s important information for a lot of people today," he adds, "with a new form of nationalism looming in a lot of places of the world. What we see here is that, at least in the past, people have been extremely mobile. If people want to now build walls and borders and force people to stay in a certain place, then that is the exception. That is not the rule.\u201d Other evidence goes back even farther into our past. Last month, in a paper presented in Science, researchers led by Israel Hershkovitz announced the discovery of bones and tools at a site in Israel called Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel. They dated the artifacts and remains to around 180,000 years ago, pushing back the time that members of our species left Africa by 50,000 to 85,000 years. "Misliya is an exciting discovery," said study co-author and anthropologist Rolf Quam in a press release. "It provides the clearest evidence yet that our ancestors first migrated out of Africa much earlier than we previously believed. It also means that modern humans were potentially meeting and interacting during a longer period of time with other archaic human groups, providing more opportunity for cultural and biological exchanges." Tools made by humans in the Olorgesailie Basin. Around 320,000 years ago, they began using color pigments and manufacturing more sophisticated tools, using resources from beyond their immediate environment. Human Origins Program, Smithsonian Let\u2019s talk tools. Speaking of cultural and biological exchanges: in a new set of papers also published in Science this week, researchers focused on a technological transition in Kenya. Rocks and tools are some of the most durable parts of the archaeological record, and these showed a huge shift away from the hand axes that dominated hundreds of thousands of years of early human history. Instead, they were using smaller, more precisely crafted stone tools, made from obsidian found miles away, and decorating items with pigments. \u201cThat\u2019s where there\u2019s a similarity to technology in recent times; things start out big and clunky and they get small and portable," says Richard Potts, head of the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program and a co-author of the papers. "The history technology has been the same ever since.\u201d But why the shift away from our clunky, durable hand axes? \u201cOne of the things we see is that around 500,000 years ago in the rift valley of southern Kenya, all hell breaks loose. There's faulting that occurs, and earthquake activity was moving the landscape up and down. The climate record shows there is a stronger degree of oscillation between wet and dry. That would have disrupted the predictability of food and water, for those early people,\u201d Potts says. \u201cIt\u2019s exactly under those conditions that almost any organism\u2014but especially a hunter-gatherer human, even an early one\u2014would begin to expand geography of obtaining food or obtaining resources. It's under those conditions that you begin to run into other groups of hominins and you become aware of resources beyond your usual boundaries.\u201d Potts thinks that the environmental changes encouraged early trade and social networks to start developing between these people around 320,000 years ago. But we still don't know exactly who these people were. \u201cWe wish we knew,\u201d Potts laughs. \u201cWould they have been pretty archaic looking, more like the species known as Homo heidelbergensis that we have evidence of back to 600,000 years ago in Eastern Africa, or did they look more like us, homo sapiens? We don\u2019t know the answer to that.\u201d Ancient DNA One way that we can start painting a better picture of our ancient relatives is by looking into DNA. Scientists have tested and categorized thousands of remains in ways that wouldn\u2019t have been possible five years ago, especially not with remains from Africa. \u201cAfrica is a really warm place, and here\u2019s a correlation between temperature and preservation,\u201d Krause says. \u201cIt's like a piece of meat: you keep in the fridge, you don\u2019t put it on the table, because it gets smelly after two days or so. And what we\u2019re analyzing used to be a piece of meat.\u201d But advances in genetic testing, and a better understanding of what parts of our body best preserve DNA (the inner ear bones, according to Krause) mean that we\u2019re getting more information than ever about where we came from. \u201cIt\u2019s been speculated that people left Africa 45,000 years ago to become Europeans, Asians, Australians, Native Americans, and so forth," he says. "But was there then migration to back to Africa? Was there gene flow between Africa and other parts of the world? That\u2019s [a question we've] been trying to address through anthropology and archeology, but now we have this beautiful new tool called genetics and ancient DNA.\u201d \u201cNow we can measure it directly. We don\u2019t have to look at shards or ceramic or ancient bones. We can look at ancient DNA, and we can measure how much genetic closeness or mixture we can see between different populations. And that\u2019s really exciting,\u201d Krause says. How did our ancestors interact with other early human species? Without a time machine, we\u2019re never going to have a full picture of inter-species relationships in the Homo genus. But a growing pile of genetic evidence shows that we had a very close relationship with others. Modern humans are all members of the species Homo sapiens. We\u2019re the last hominins standing, having endured longer than other species and sub-species, including H. neanderthalensis, better known as neanderthals, perhaps our most famous ancient human relatives. While neanderthals didn\u2019t persist to the present, many humans alive today do share many genes with neanderthals. Yes, those genes mean what you think they do: there definitely was some interbreeding. Then there are the Denisovans, which we only know of from the genetic analysis of a fossilized pinky finger, but who likely interbred with us as well. A study published this week in Cell suggests it happened at least twice. A lot has changed in the past few hundred thousand years, not in the least because we are now alone. Once upon a time, humans had a decent amount of company. Our species shared the world\u2014and interacted with\u2014all sorts of other humans for a very, very long period of time. When did humans show up in the first place? That\u2019s one of the biggest questions in anthropology. And in a lot of cases, it comes down to where you want to draw the line. Did we become human when we started walking on two legs? One of the earliest accepted members of the human family tree is Sahelanthropus tchadensis, which lived roughly around 6.5 million years ago and was likely bipedal. But what if we become human when we started making tools? Fast-forward a few million years, and Homo habilis arrives. H. habilis was one of the earliest members of our genus, and we see fossil evidence of this species dating to 2.4 million years ago in Africa. This was once thought to be one of the earliest species to make and use stone tools\u2014hence the name, which means handy man\u2014but older evidence of stone tool use has since emerged, and some researchers are reconsidering whether or not they should really be included in our genus, anyway. We\u2019re inching closer to our species. Early fossils of distinctly H. sapiens individuals have been found and dated to between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago, mostly in East Africa, but they could have shown up even earlier. Last year, researchers announced that tools and fossils found at Jebel Irhoud Morocco dated to roughly 315,000 years ago. These fossils share some features with Homo sapiens, enough to cause a debate as to whether or not they count as members of our species, or if they\u2019re close precursors. But one thing that\u2019s important to remember is that while we can identify different species in the fossil record, the pace of evolution is way more messy than a chart in a textbook might have you believe. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to emerge as a package,\u201d says Shara Bailey, who worked on the Jebel Irhoud site. \u201cIt\u2019s not like all of a sudden you\u2019re going to have people that look like you and me. You might have teeth that look modern, but backs of the skull that don\u2019t.\u201d Potts (whose research focuses on a different part of the continent, but roughly the same time period as Bailey's) agrees. "We\u2019re really dealing with a transition. We like putting things into categories, is it homo sapiens or not, but we\u2019re really dealing with an evolutionary transition in the ways in which the those early humans looked," Potts says. The full picture of our morphological history is still emerging. The discovery in Morocco may also expand the potential range of our ancestors (or at least, our relatives) beyond East Africa and across the continent. And then there\u2019s our tools, our innovation, our social structures, and all the other things that make us human today. That\u2019s where the studies Potts worked on enter the picture again. \u201cI think what we\u2019re dealing with are a suite of behaviors. Innovation in not only technology, but changes of social life with regard to this resource exchange, and evidence of more complex symbolic behavior, the ability to communicate with groups that are distant and that you might not see every day,\u201d Potts says. \u201cThese are the behaviors that may have distinguished our gene pool and Homo sapiens from that of our ancestors.\u201d So what comes next? There\u2019s a lot more of our human history yet to be excavated around the world, and a lot more tools available for scientists to use. There\u2019s no reason to think the pace of discovery will slow any time soon. \u201cThat's what science is about. We\u2019re constantly working our way closer to whatever truth is out there," Bailey says. "So at any given time, we can only draw conclusions based on the evidence that we have. As we find more evidence, we have to be flexible enough to rethink our hypotheses." Stromatolites, mats of cyanobacteria are believed to be similar to some of the earliest life on Earth Harclade\/Flickr When did life start on Earth? This is one of the more hotly contested debates in biology. Researchers are still trying to figure out where and how life began, let alone the time period during which our planet shifted from a population of zero to Pop. 1+. When it comes to timing, the scale of the evidence that biologists are looking for is nearly impossible to comprehend. They\u2019re searching for fossils that have not only managed to survive for billions of years, but that were left behind by lifeforms the size of bacteria. Given the fragility and size of microbes and the rate of change on our dynamic planet, it\u2019s incredible that the first Earthlings left any physical traces at all. But some examples do exist. Some of the oldest fossils many researchers agree on are microfossils from Australia that clock in at 3.43 billion years old. But other scientists have found fossils they claim are older. (For more, read Popular Science\u2019s feature from our September\/October 2017 issue: A new finding raises an old question: Where and when did life begin?.) But fossils aren\u2019t the only evidence we can use to scout out the origins of life. Chemical and geological analysis of rocks might indicate life going back 3.8 billion years, and maybe even as far back as 4.1 billion years. ","human ancestors EVOLUTION humans Science","Mary Beth Griggs","
Discoveries pushing back milestones in human development happen all the time. That can get confusing. So here\u2019s a very basic (but not very brief) cheat sheet of the…<\/div>","
Discoveries pushing back milestones in human development happen all the time. That can get confusing. So here\u2019s a very basic (but not very brief) cheat sheet of the current research and findings\u2014for the next time the origin of humanity comes up during happy hour.<\/div>","
Science<\/a><\/div>"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[false],"im_field_author":[212470],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":[""],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_subtitle":["Our history is complicated. Our pre-history, even more so.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_field_tags":[205578,200293,205640,62],"im_vid_2":[212470],"sm_vid_Authors":["Mary Beth Griggs"],"im_vid_1":[205578,200293,205640,62],"sm_vid_Tags":["human ancestors","EVOLUTION","humans","Science"]},{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235433","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235433,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235433","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/lyft-subscription-self-driving-car","path_alias":"lyft-subscription-self-driving-car","label":"Someday, you might subscribe to a self-driving taxi service, Netflix-style","content":" Lyft said they\u2019d like to eventually offer a subscription option. Lyft just announced a partnership with Magna, which makes car components. They're going to be working on self-driving tech together. Lyft Would you subscribe to a ride-hailing service like Lyft if you could, just as you might sign up for Netflix or Spotify? On Wednesday, Logan Green, the CEO of Lyft, said that was the future for his company. \u201cWe are going to move the entire [car] industry from one based on ownership, to one based on subscription,\u201d he said. For example, Green added that a subscription to Lyft could cost something along the lines of $200, which gets you 1,000 miles of traveling around. \u201cYou rely on the Lyft network for all your transportation needs,\u201d he said. It\u2019s worth noting that for Lyft, the idea is hypothetical. A Lyft representative pointed out that a subscription option (for either an unlimited amount of travel, or a fixed number of rides) could coexist with the traditional way of buying a ride\u2014all of this is at some point in the future. But the key to making the subscription model possible? Self-driving cars, Green said. Fleets of self-driving vehicles interest companies in this space financially for a simple reason: there\u2019s no driver to pay if the car has no human pilot. For outfits that sell transportation as a service, like Uber and Lyft, there is \u201ca dramatic reduction in the cost per mile with the introduction of autonomous vehicles,\u201d says David Keith, an assistant professor of system dynamics at MIT\u2019s Sloan School of Management. Beyond not having to pay the driver, he adds, \u201cIf cars can drive themselves to pick up customers, there\u2019s a belief that cars can be used more intensively, to really drive down the cost per mile.\u201d Lyft took another step towards its no-driver-required goal yesterday when it announced, at the media event where Green spoke about the subscription model of ride-hailing, that it is partnering with Magna, a large automobile component company. Magna is what\u2019s known in the automotive industry as a \u201ctier one\u201d manufacturer\u2014they make components, like all-wheel drive systems, and mirrors, that go in vehicles, and even manufacture entire vehicles in Austria. The idea behind the partnership is that Lyft will develop the software and hardware for self-driving cars, while Magna will actually make the components. Of course, Lyft would love for that technology to then be installed in the cars that automakers create, and for those autonomous vehicles to be a part of Lyft\u2019s network. Lyft has already partnered with other companies in this field, like nuTonomy, and opened up its own engineering center to work on autonomous technology. Uber has taken a different tactic. Its Advanced Technologies Group has rolled out cars that can steer themselves on the road in Pittsburgh and Phoenix; they pick up customers if the conditions are right. For someone who takes a lot of Uber or Lyft rides, subscribing to one of them could make sense. But there\u2019s an incentive for the platform itself to offer that option, too. Right now, anyone who has both the Uber and Lyft apps on their phone can easily choose between the two services, and compare how long each will take them to get where they need to go, and how much it will cost. Picking the faster, cheaper one is quick\u2014unlike, say, changing which cell phone plan you use. \u201cLyft wants me to be a dedicated Lyft user,\u201d Keith says, which they could create by offering those subscription plans. \u201cIn terms of a way of capturing customers to stay on their platform, you can see what the attraction for the platform operator is.\u201d Of course, self-driving cars are key in the subscription equation, and Uber and Lyft are far from being the only companies at work in the field. Take General Motors, for example\u2014they\u2019re touting a vehicle called the Cruise AV, a car so confidently self-driving that it does not even have pedals or a steering wheel. GM intends that vehicle to be part of a taxi-like fleet that people could hail, just like an Uber. And then there\u2019s Waymo, which has an \u201cearly rider\u201d program for people who want to use their self-driving cars to get from place to place in the Phoenix area, and plans to open an autonomous taxi service there for the general public sometime this year, too. Ultimately, what companies like Lyft would love is for people to use their service instead of owning a car. After all, people don\u2019t really buy CDs anymore\u2014they buy the right to stream their music. The same could happen with mobility. \u201cThis a shift from a product-based business to a service-based business,\u201d Keith says. Update on March 16: Lyft confirmed on Friday that it has already been offering subscription plans for its human-driven cars. "For the past few months, we\u2019ve been testing a variety of All-Access Plans for Lyft passengers," a Lyft spokesperson said by email. In one case, Lyft offered a plan priced at $199 for 30 rides in 30 days, as long as the trips are below $15. ","teaser":" Lyft said they\u2019d like to eventually offer a subscription option. Lyft just announced a partnership with Magna, which makes car components. They're going to be working on self-driving tech together. 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Would you subscribe to ride-hailing service like Lyft if you could, just as you might sign up for Netflix or Spotify?<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
Would you subscribe to ride-hailing service like Lyft if you could, just as you might sign up for Netflix or Spotify?<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
Technology<\/a><\/div>","timestamp":"2018-03-16T21:40:08.423Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/03\/lyft_presskit_23.jpg?itok=O1Mhw2Dv&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[219507,212537,209850,63,224104],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["technology"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Rob Verger"],"tm_vid_1_names":["Lyft uber self-driving cars Technology"],"spell":["Someday, you might subscribe to a self-driving taxi service, Netflix-style"," Lyft said they\u2019d like to eventually offer a subscription option. Lyft just announced a partnership with Magna, which makes car components. They're going to be working on self-driving tech together. Lyft Would you subscribe to a ride-hailing service like Lyft if you could, just as you might sign up for Netflix or Spotify? On Wednesday, Logan Green, the CEO of Lyft, said that was the future for his company. \u201cWe are going to move the entire [car] industry from one based on ownership, to one based on subscription,\u201d he said. For example, Green added that a subscription to Lyft could cost something along the lines of $200, which gets you 1,000 miles of traveling around. \u201cYou rely on the Lyft network for all your transportation needs,\u201d he said. It\u2019s worth noting that for Lyft, the idea is hypothetical. A Lyft representative pointed out that a subscription option (for either an unlimited amount of travel, or a fixed number of rides) could coexist with the traditional way of buying a ride\u2014all of this is at some point in the future. But the key to making the subscription model possible? Self-driving cars, Green said. Fleets of self-driving vehicles interest companies in this space financially for a simple reason: there\u2019s no driver to pay if the car has no human pilot. For outfits that sell transportation as a service, like Uber and Lyft, there is \u201ca dramatic reduction in the cost per mile with the introduction of autonomous vehicles,\u201d says David Keith, an assistant professor of system dynamics at MIT\u2019s Sloan School of Management. Beyond not having to pay the driver, he adds, \u201cIf cars can drive themselves to pick up customers, there\u2019s a belief that cars can be used more intensively, to really drive down the cost per mile.\u201d Lyft took another step towards its no-driver-required goal yesterday when it announced, at the media event where Green spoke about the subscription model of ride-hailing, that it is partnering with Magna, a large automobile component company. Magna is what\u2019s known in the automotive industry as a \u201ctier one\u201d manufacturer\u2014they make components, like all-wheel drive systems, and mirrors, that go in vehicles, and even manufacture entire vehicles in Austria. The idea behind the partnership is that Lyft will develop the software and hardware for self-driving cars, while Magna will actually make the components. Of course, Lyft would love for that technology to then be installed in the cars that automakers create, and for those autonomous vehicles to be a part of Lyft\u2019s network. Lyft has already partnered with other companies in this field, like nuTonomy, and opened up its own engineering center to work on autonomous technology. Uber has taken a different tactic. Its Advanced Technologies Group has rolled out cars that can steer themselves on the road in Pittsburgh and Phoenix; they pick up customers if the conditions are right. For someone who takes a lot of Uber or Lyft rides, subscribing to one of them could make sense. But there\u2019s an incentive for the platform itself to offer that option, too. Right now, anyone who has both the Uber and Lyft apps on their phone can easily choose between the two services, and compare how long each will take them to get where they need to go, and how much it will cost. Picking the faster, cheaper one is quick\u2014unlike, say, changing which cell phone plan you use. \u201cLyft wants me to be a dedicated Lyft user,\u201d Keith says, which they could create by offering those subscription plans. \u201cIn terms of a way of capturing customers to stay on their platform, you can see what the attraction for the platform operator is.\u201d Of course, self-driving cars are key in the subscription equation, and Uber and Lyft are far from being the only companies at work in the field. Take General Motors, for example\u2014they\u2019re touting a vehicle called the Cruise AV, a car so confidently self-driving that it does not even have pedals or a steering wheel. GM intends that vehicle to be part of a taxi-like fleet that people could hail, just like an Uber. And then there\u2019s Waymo, which has an \u201cearly rider\u201d program for people who want to use their self-driving cars to get from place to place in the Phoenix area, and plans to open an autonomous taxi service there for the general public sometime this year, too. Ultimately, what companies like Lyft would love is for people to use their service instead of owning a car. After all, people don\u2019t really buy CDs anymore\u2014they buy the right to stream their music. The same could happen with mobility. \u201cThis a shift from a product-based business to a service-based business,\u201d Keith says. Update on March 16: Lyft confirmed on Friday that it has already been offering subscription plans for its human-driven cars. "For the past few months, we\u2019ve been testing a variety of All-Access Plans for Lyft passengers," a Lyft spokesperson said by email. In one case, Lyft offered a plan priced at $199 for 30 rides in 30 days, as long as the trips are below $15. ","Lyft uber self-driving cars Technology","Rob Verger","
Would you subscribe to ride-hailing service like Lyft if you could, just as you might sign up for Netflix or Spotify?<\/div>","
Would you subscribe to ride-hailing service like Lyft if you could, just as you might sign up for Netflix or Spotify?<\/div>","
Technology<\/a><\/div>"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[false],"im_field_author":[224104],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":[""],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_subtitle":["Lyft said they\u2019d like to eventually offer a subscription option.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_field_tags":[219507,212537,209850,63],"im_vid_2":[224104],"sm_vid_Authors":["Rob Verger"],"im_vid_1":[219507,212537,209850,63],"sm_vid_Tags":["Lyft","uber","self-driving cars","Technology"]},{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235395","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235395,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235395","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/army-gear-ultimate-led-bundle","path_alias":"army-gear-ultimate-led-bundle","label":"Get more adventurous with this trio of tactical LED lights","content":" They\u2019re waterproof, powerful and now only $25. Every adventure is a little different, so this bundle gives you three options. All the lights are tough as nails and waterproof, so they make a great addition to your emergency kit. Stack Commerce If you\u2019re the adventurous type, exploring the hills after dark sounds like a great night out. The Army Gear Ultimate LED Bundle helps you stay safe, with three tactical lights that are waterproof and virtually indestructible. In fact, these lights are used by the special forces\u2014so they should survive anything you can throw at them. Right now, the bundle is only $25 at the PopSci Shop. Army Gear Ultimate LED Bundle Stack Commerce Every adventure is a little different, so this bundle gives you three options. The tactical flashlight has an adjustable beam, with five distinct zoom settings. It\u2019s small enough to fit in your pocket, but the aluminum shell can withstand serious abuse. At eight inches tall, the LED lantern is more useful around your campsite. It produces enough light to be seen from miles away, and it can fold down to just five inches. For any time when you need your hands free, the headtorch provides a neat alternative. The included strap can be adjusted to your head, and the LEDs provide plenty of power. All three lights are tough as nails and waterproof, so they also make a great addition to your emergency kit. It\u2019s worth $99.99, but you can grab the three-pack now for just $25. ","teaser":" They\u2019re waterproof, powerful and now only $25. Every adventure is a little different, so this bundle gives you three options. All the lights are tough as nails and waterproof, so they make a great addition to your emergency kit. Stack Commerce If you\u2019re the adventurous type, exploring the hills","ss_name":"billycadden","tos_name":"billycadden","ss_name_formatted":"billycadden","tos_name_formatted":"billycadden","is_uid":1680,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-03-15T20:30:16Z","ds_changed":"2018-03-15T20:35:02Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-03-15T20:35:02Z","bs_field_sponsored":true,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":true,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
Get more adventurous with this trio of tactical waterproof and powerful LED lights for only $25.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
Get more adventurous with this trio of tactical waterproof and powerful LED lights for only $25.<\/div>","timestamp":"2018-03-15T20:35:02.546Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/03\/product_21722_product_shots5_image.jpg?itok=_4n2eUFL&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[true],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[200577,204971,224547],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["no channel"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Mark Myerson \/ Stack Commerce"],"tm_vid_1_names":["sponsored post goods"],"spell":["Get more adventurous with this trio of tactical LED lights"," They\u2019re waterproof, powerful and now only $25. Every adventure is a little different, so this bundle gives you three options. All the lights are tough as nails and waterproof, so they make a great addition to your emergency kit. Stack Commerce If you\u2019re the adventurous type, exploring the hills after dark sounds like a great night out. The Army Gear Ultimate LED Bundle helps you stay safe, with three tactical lights that are waterproof and virtually indestructible. In fact, these lights are used by the special forces\u2014so they should survive anything you can throw at them. Right now, the bundle is only $25 at the PopSci Shop. Army Gear Ultimate LED Bundle Stack Commerce Every adventure is a little different, so this bundle gives you three options. The tactical flashlight has an adjustable beam, with five distinct zoom settings. It\u2019s small enough to fit in your pocket, but the aluminum shell can withstand serious abuse. At eight inches tall, the LED lantern is more useful around your campsite. It produces enough light to be seen from miles away, and it can fold down to just five inches. For any time when you need your hands free, the headtorch provides a neat alternative. The included strap can be adjusted to your head, and the LEDs provide plenty of power. All three lights are tough as nails and waterproof, so they also make a great addition to your emergency kit. It\u2019s worth $99.99, but you can grab the three-pack now for just $25. ","sponsored post goods","Mark Myerson \/ Stack Commerce","
Get more adventurous with this trio of tactical waterproof and powerful LED lights for only $25.<\/div>","
Get more adventurous with this trio of tactical waterproof and powerful LED lights for only $25.<\/div>"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[true],"im_field_author":[224547],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":["
popsci shop<\/div>"],"sm_field_subtitle":["They\u2019re waterproof, powerful and now only $25.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_field_tags":[200577,204971],"im_vid_2":[224547],"sm_vid_Authors":["Mark Myerson \/ Stack Commerce"],"im_vid_1":[200577,204971],"sm_vid_Tags":["sponsored post","goods"],"sm_field_sponsor":["stackcommerce"]},{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235374","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235374,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235374","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/china-nuclear-submarine-aircraft-carrier-leak","path_alias":"china-nuclear-submarine-aircraft-carrier-leak","label":"A Chinese shipbuilder accidentally revealed its major navy plans","content":" Nuclear submarines, giant aircraft carriers, robot warships. Dalian Shipyard Dalian Shipyard, part of CSIC, is where China's first domestic carrier, CV-17, was built. It will also likely be the builder for China's first, nuclear powered supercarrier. cjdby.net For a brief moment, the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), put online China's next big naval projects (but quickly pulled them down). The revelation, of which screenshots were taken before censors intervened, provided a picture of China's ambitions for a world class navy. Type 003 This new display at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, was newly installed for the PLA's 90th anniversary. While it has speculative features like four catapults, J-20 fighters and stealthy UCAVs, the nuclear powered Type 003 supercarrier probably won't enter service until after 2030. Oedo Soldier CSIC is a major shipbuilder for the People's Liberation Army Navy, responsible for high ticket items like aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. The biggest item in CSIC's not-so-secret portfolio is China's first nuclear-powered carrier. Popularly identified as the Type 003, it will be the largest non-American warship in the world when its launched in the late 2020s. CSIC's Dalian Shipyard, which refurbished the aircraft carrier Liaoning, and launched China's first domestically built carrier, CV-17, in 2017, will presumably build China's first "Type 003" CVN. The Type 003 will displace between 90,000-100,000 tons and have electromagnetically assisted launch system (EMALS) catapults for getting aircrafts off the deck. It'll likely carry a large air wing of J-15 fighters, J-31 stealth fighters, KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft, anti-submarine warfare helicopters, and stealth attack drones. When joined with Type 055 destroyers and next-generation attack submarines, it would provide the PLAN a highly capable task force for representing China on global missions. Type 095 SSN The Type 095 SSN, seen in this speculative fanmade CGI, will likely have VLS cells for launching a wide range of cruise missiles, pumpjet propulsion and improved quieting technology. The first Type 095 will likely begin production in late 2017 at the giant new BSHIC factory, with many more to follow in the 2020s. Medico-MAX CSIC's website also boasted that it would build a new nuclear-powered submarine, likely the Type 095 nuclear attack submarine (SSN). The Type 095 SSN would be built at CSIC's Bohai Shipyard, which is China's sole nuclear submarine shipyard. Compared to the Type 093 SSN, the Type 095 SSN will include new noise reduction measures, like an integrated electric propulsion system and possibly a shaftless rim drive, single hull, and electronic noise cancellation. CSIC is also working on a separate 'quiet' submarine project, presumably to be built at its Wuhan conventional submarine shipyard. This submarine is presumably quieter than the air-independent propulsion (AIP) Type 039B Yuan submarine; it'll likely have quieting measures like a single hull, a new AIP system, and lithium-ion batteries. A new generation of Chinese submarines could help the PLAN remedy its historic technologic disadvantage against the submarines forces of the American and Japanese navies. Large AUV This large AUV, similar to the USN's LDUUV, is used for long term autonomous missions; its size allows for it to carry modular payloads of sensors, mine warfare and ASW. It could be the precursor to larger Chinese armed UUVs carrying torpedoes and missiles. www.top81.cn The big CSIC announcement also covers 21st century naval wish lists, like autonomous robot submarines. This is the first official confirmation of China pursuing armed unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), in addition to unmanned surface vehicles already offered for exports. Autonomous UUVs, armed with torpedoes and missiles, could act as expendable scouts or wingmen for manned Chinese submarines and surface warships, such as undertaking dangerous missions like probing enemy minefields, launching sneak attacks, and drawing away enemy forces. Underwater Great Wall of China The Underwater Great Wall may be centered around stationary sensors on the ocean bed, but autonomous UUVs will be a critical enabler in not just tracking enemy submarines, but finding them. www.top81.cn To defend Chinese home waters and expand the anti-access\/area denial umbrella underwater, CSIC is designing an underwater attack and defense system. It could likely be an armed variant of the "Underwater Great Wall" of UUVs, other maritime robots and seafloor sensors. With built in modularity, it could be tailored to defend naval bases with surveillance UUVs and counter torpedo defenses on one end, and at the other end of the spectrum; a networked minefield of armed and smart UUVs supported by automated underwater listening posts. These capabilities would require not just the platforms, though; CSIC would need to master emerging technologies like underwater high capacity datalinks, combat AI, and multi-spectrum sensors. You may also be interested in: China is building the world's largest facility for robot ship research The Great Underwater Wall Of Robots: Chinese Exhibit Shows Off Sea Drones China's making major progress with its aircraft carrier tech Is this a model of China's next aircraft carrier? China\u2019s new aircraft carrier suggests a powerful navy in the works China's new submarine engine is poised to revolutionize underwater warfare China is building the world's largest nuclear submarine facility ","teaser":" Nuclear submarines, giant aircraft carriers, robot warships. Dalian Shipyard Dalian Shipyard, part of CSIC, is where China's first domestic carrier, CV-17, was built. It will also likely be the builder for China's first, nuclear powered supercarrier. cjdby.net For a brief moment, the","ss_name":"jching87lin","tos_name":"jching87lin","ss_name_formatted":"jching87lin","tos_name_formatted":"jching87lin","is_uid":291,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-03-15T19:30:07Z","ds_changed":"2018-03-15T18:49:21Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-03-15T18:49:21Z","bs_field_sponsored":false,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":false,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
A giant Chinese shipbuilder leaks out a plan for a massive naval build up of nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines, and underwater combat robots.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
A giant Chinese shipbuilder leaks out a plan for a massive naval build up of nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines, and underwater combat robots.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"\n
\n Eastern Arsenal<\/a> <\/div>\n","timestamp":"2018-03-15T18:49:21.904Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2017\/08\/type_003_carrier_model.jpg?itok=eNUVf91e&fc=52,47"],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[200079],"sm_field_primary_channel":["blog eastern arsenal"],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer"],"spell":["A Chinese shipbuilder accidentally revealed its major navy plans"," Nuclear submarines, giant aircraft carriers, robot warships. Dalian Shipyard Dalian Shipyard, part of CSIC, is where China's first domestic carrier, CV-17, was built. It will also likely be the builder for China's first, nuclear powered supercarrier. cjdby.net For a brief moment, the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), put online China's next big naval projects (but quickly pulled them down). The revelation, of which screenshots were taken before censors intervened, provided a picture of China's ambitions for a world class navy. Type 003 This new display at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, was newly installed for the PLA's 90th anniversary. While it has speculative features like four catapults, J-20 fighters and stealthy UCAVs, the nuclear powered Type 003 supercarrier probably won't enter service until after 2030. Oedo Soldier CSIC is a major shipbuilder for the People's Liberation Army Navy, responsible for high ticket items like aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. The biggest item in CSIC's not-so-secret portfolio is China's first nuclear-powered carrier. Popularly identified as the Type 003, it will be the largest non-American warship in the world when its launched in the late 2020s. CSIC's Dalian Shipyard, which refurbished the aircraft carrier Liaoning, and launched China's first domestically built carrier, CV-17, in 2017, will presumably build China's first "Type 003" CVN. The Type 003 will displace between 90,000-100,000 tons and have electromagnetically assisted launch system (EMALS) catapults for getting aircrafts off the deck. It'll likely carry a large air wing of J-15 fighters, J-31 stealth fighters, KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft, anti-submarine warfare helicopters, and stealth attack drones. When joined with Type 055 destroyers and next-generation attack submarines, it would provide the PLAN a highly capable task force for representing China on global missions. Type 095 SSN The Type 095 SSN, seen in this speculative fanmade CGI, will likely have VLS cells for launching a wide range of cruise missiles, pumpjet propulsion and improved quieting technology. The first Type 095 will likely begin production in late 2017 at the giant new BSHIC factory, with many more to follow in the 2020s. Medico-MAX CSIC's website also boasted that it would build a new nuclear-powered submarine, likely the Type 095 nuclear attack submarine (SSN). The Type 095 SSN would be built at CSIC's Bohai Shipyard, which is China's sole nuclear submarine shipyard. Compared to the Type 093 SSN, the Type 095 SSN will include new noise reduction measures, like an integrated electric propulsion system and possibly a shaftless rim drive, single hull, and electronic noise cancellation. CSIC is also working on a separate 'quiet' submarine project, presumably to be built at its Wuhan conventional submarine shipyard. This submarine is presumably quieter than the air-independent propulsion (AIP) Type 039B Yuan submarine; it'll likely have quieting measures like a single hull, a new AIP system, and lithium-ion batteries. A new generation of Chinese submarines could help the PLAN remedy its historic technologic disadvantage against the submarines forces of the American and Japanese navies. Large AUV This large AUV, similar to the USN's LDUUV, is used for long term autonomous missions; its size allows for it to carry modular payloads of sensors, mine warfare and ASW. It could be the precursor to larger Chinese armed UUVs carrying torpedoes and missiles. www.top81.cn The big CSIC announcement also covers 21st century naval wish lists, like autonomous robot submarines. This is the first official confirmation of China pursuing armed unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), in addition to unmanned surface vehicles already offered for exports. Autonomous UUVs, armed with torpedoes and missiles, could act as expendable scouts or wingmen for manned Chinese submarines and surface warships, such as undertaking dangerous missions like probing enemy minefields, launching sneak attacks, and drawing away enemy forces. Underwater Great Wall of China The Underwater Great Wall may be centered around stationary sensors on the ocean bed, but autonomous UUVs will be a critical enabler in not just tracking enemy submarines, but finding them. www.top81.cn To defend Chinese home waters and expand the anti-access\/area denial umbrella underwater, CSIC is designing an underwater attack and defense system. It could likely be an armed variant of the "Underwater Great Wall" of UUVs, other maritime robots and seafloor sensors. With built in modularity, it could be tailored to defend naval bases with surveillance UUVs and counter torpedo defenses on one end, and at the other end of the spectrum; a networked minefield of armed and smart UUVs supported by automated underwater listening posts. These capabilities would require not just the platforms, though; CSIC would need to master emerging technologies like underwater high capacity datalinks, combat AI, and multi-spectrum sensors. You may also be interested in: China is building the world's largest facility for robot ship research The Great Underwater Wall Of Robots: Chinese Exhibit Shows Off Sea Drones China's making major progress with its aircraft carrier tech Is this a model of China's next aircraft carrier? China\u2019s new aircraft carrier suggests a powerful navy in the works China's new submarine engine is poised to revolutionize underwater warfare China is building the world's largest nuclear submarine facility ","Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer","
A giant Chinese shipbuilder leaks out a plan for a massive naval build up of nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines, and underwater combat robots.<\/div>","
A giant Chinese shipbuilder leaks out a plan for a massive naval build up of nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines, and underwater combat robots.<\/div>","\n
\n Eastern Arsenal<\/a> <\/div>\n"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[false],"im_field_author":[200079],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":[""],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_subtitle":["Nuclear submarines, giant aircraft carriers, robot warships.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_vid_2":[200079],"sm_vid_Authors":["Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer"],"sm_multi_blog_blog_reference":["multi_blog:42"]}],"highestResult":8,"lowestResult":1}]