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To scout and resupply the battlefields of the future, DARPA is asking companies to design compact, useful, vertical-takeoff-and-landing drones that can fly from ships or unprepared clearings. On Sept. 20, DARPA is hosting a “Proposers Day,” for traditional and non-traditional military aircraft makers to explore creating this new drone. ANCILLARY is an X-Plane program, making it more akin to past experiments in aviation that demonstrated concepts of flight design more than outright designed aircraft for production....

But while the prospect of inhabiting a squeaky clean home sure is promising, you have to do actual work to make your place spotless. Purging your home of junk is quite a large undertaking, and so it would be better to acquire some tools that can at least help you make the work a bit easier. You can start by picking up a powerful vacuum that can eliminate all the bacteria lying around your precious abode....

Advanced materials, including an aluminum frame, liberal use of carbon fiber, and magnesium seat frames lighten the car significantly and helped Chevrolet achieve not only an optimal 50/50 weight balance but a sub-four second 0-60 time from its 6.2L V8. A seven-speed manual transmission anticipates gear selections and matches engine speed for a better shifting experience. And even with an estimated 450 horsepower and 450lb.-ft of torque, this seventh-generation Corvette is expected to be the most fuel efficient, exceeding the EPA-rated 26mpg of its predecessor....

We’ve rounded up five fantastic illustration apps for you to try, as well as an array of devices to help with your artistic outpourings—for all budgets and levels of skill. From apps for quick sketches on your phone to sophisticated graphics tablets that turn each stroke into binary code, there’s no reason not to unleash your imagination and nurture a new artistic talent. All in all, you’ve got a lot of options....

Electrons Bounce The show starts in a thunder­head, where ice particles collide so fast, they knock off each ­other’s electrons. That leaves posi­tive charges hanging near the top of the cloud, while negative ones accumu­late in the middle. Discharge Emerges Energy zipping between opposing charges forms bolts. Given enough buildup, electricity escapes the cloud in a series of cascading branches roughly 160 feet long; a new spur forms every 50-millionths of a second....

Romesberg’s team recently announced that it had successfully created two artificial DNA bases, dubbed alpha and beta, that can be replicated using standard laboratory techniques. Manipulating DNA in this way is a landmark first step toward synthesizing exotic genetic material that reacts with a broader spectrum of elements than real DNA does. The first use for the bases could be in DNA bar codes. Because nature can’t alter codes made entirely of alpha and beta, these super-specific labels could be used to track products on their journey from the factory to the cash register....

People who identify as Latinx claim ancestry from all over: indigenous Americans, Spanish colonists, enslaved Africans, Middle Eastern people, miscellaneous Europeans, and even Asians. This can lead to unexpected DNA results. My grandfather is Mexican, but fair-haired and blue-eyed (we sometimes call people who look like him bolillo, which means “white bread”). When he got his report back from FamilyTreeDNA, he found out he had more North American ancestry than expected....

This single person hammock from Wise Owl is portable, practical, and perfect for your next adventure. It’s made out of 210T parachute nylon which makes it super strong and super soft. It’s really lightweight and comes in a 16 ounce carrying bag so you can take it with you without worrying about lugging around another piece of heavy gear. This hammock also comes with 2 D-shaped carabiners and 2 nine-foot straps so you will be ready to hang it up upon arrival....

It can also help with healthy aging, according to a study published Monday in the journal eBioMedicine. The research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that well-hydrated adults appear to develop fewer chronic health conditions (heart diseases, lung disease, etc.), have a decreased risk of dying early, and are generally more healthy. The study looked at health data gathered from 11,255 adults over 30 years and looked at links between serum sodium levels and other indicators of health....

The jetpacks that Martin Aircraft makes are personal flying machines, but use ducted fans instead of proper jets. They can reach a maximum altitude of 3,000 feet, which means they can reach the entire 2,722 feet of the Burj Khalifa. The jetpacks fly at a top speed of 45 mph, so they can reach the top of the world’s tallest building in roughly a minute. With a total flight time of 30 minutes, that gives pilots a little room to see the problem first-hand and maneuver around....

The idea of cutting down a tree, bringing it indoors and festooning it with decorations may seem pretty random when you stop to think about it. There’s a lot of meaning behind the practice, though, and we have some 16th-century Germans to thank for bringing the Christmas tree to America. They took an ancient heathen tradition and made it their own, decorating cut trees to symbolize religious teachings. Widely regarded as a symbol of life, evergreens can mean many things to many people—they can also mean life to someone stranded in the winter wilderness....

The difference between those jets represents the technological gulf between aircraft the Navy first deployed in the early 1970s and fighters that began flying on and off carriers in the early 2000s. An important, plot-thickening distinction: the Super Hornets don’t require a dedicated radar operator and navigator. Goose is now optional; his precise job doesn’t exist anymore. We spoke with former naval aviators and actual Topgun—that is, the US Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program—pilots to learn about the differences between them, and what it’s like to turn and burn in these metal birds....

“Until we know more, if you are concerned about specific health risks, CDC recommends you do not use e-cigarettes or vaping products,” said CDC principal deputy director Anne Schuchat in a statement to reporters yesterday. At press time, eight outbreak-related deaths have occurred in the continental United States. The latest was a Missouri man in his mid 40s, according to an official statement released Friday. “No infectious diseases have been identified with the illness, meaning it doesn’t spread from person to person,” the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said in the statement....

But scientists can’t hear those sounds until they’re sonified. Sonification means representing information as sound, information that may or may not relate to sound in any way. There’s a long history of turning the most difficult-to-understand physical concepts into information palatable to wider audiences. But for some, sonifications are meaningless noise. So we asked musician Simonne Jones to turn those sounds into something we could all appreciate: music. The song, titled “Alchemy,” fuses together some of the important sonifications created this year....

And it’s being marketed specifically to girls. Since 2013, Nerf’s Rebelle bow has had ladies in its sights (we suppose perhaps due to the popularity of movies like “Brave” and the “Hunger Games” series with bow-wielding heroines). Michael Ritchie, the VP of Global Brand Strategy & Marketing for Nerf, says that the design of each bow and blaster in the Nerf Rebelle line “is informed based on feedback from our most important demographic: real girls....

Social media users posted ideas about how to protect people’s reproductive privacy when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, including entering “junk” data into apps designed for tracking menstrual cycles. People use period tracking apps to predict their next period, talk to their doctor about their cycle and identify when they are fertile. Users log everything from cravings to period flow, and apps provide predictions based on these inputs....

Three months later, I rarely use it. There’s nothing wrong with it—it does everything I hoped it would. I just don’t often feel the need to wear it in place of my normal watch. I had more fun doing the research and building anticipation than I actually did owning the product. That’s not to say buying things is inherently terrible. We wholeheartedly recommend buying things that genuinely make your life easier, and while most of us aren’t truly addicted, we could all stand to think a little more before we click that “Add to Cart” button....

We buy tech that cuts corners Say you need a robot vacuum. Like with any device, you’ll find the option that’s stupid expensive, the option that’s cheap enough to make you skeptical, and a lot of alternatives in between. Budget options often offer better value for those who don’t need a vacuum that memorizes your floor plan or mops your kitchen, but cheaper devices can also be a total waste $110 if they fail to get the basics right....

Especially if you have a little more time on your hands for some reason. How to maintain the things you use It should come as no surprise that the DIY section of a science and technology magazine advocates being able to take care of the things you use every day. Being able to keep stuff running (and revive anything that breaks) generally keeps you connected to the world around you and can save you money and time....

Boeing and its subsidiary, Aurora Flight Sciences, created the nearly 9-feet-wide, 30-feet-long prototype, but it’s not alone in this space: other outfits are working on hybrid or pure electric aerial craft designed to carry just a few people a short distance. Boeing is joined by companies like Bell, which showed off a hybrid vehicle with six propeller-like fans called the Nexus at the Consumer Electronics Show; it hasn’t flown yet, and is considered a hybrid because in addition to batteries, the concept also includes a gas-powered turbine that powers a generator....