NASA’s distant satellite, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, recently captured a sizable regional dust storm on the Red Planet, encompassing the area where the space agency’s Perseverance rover is investigating the Martian surface. This area, a former river delta called Jezero Crater, is shown by the white circle in the image below.
The hazy storm also obscured Syrtis Major, a dark volcanic area hundreds of miles long.
Dusty conditions put a hitch in NASA’s plans to once again fly its expectation-exceeding Ingenuity helicopter (part of the Perseverance mission). The air became too dense, and insufficient sunlight would have reached the little experimental chopper’s solar panels for a safe flight. (Flight 19 is now scheduled for no earlier than Jan. 23.)
“The presence of this storm came quite early – even before the dusty season traditionally starts!” NASA wrote. “In fact, we have never seen a storm of this strength so early in the Mars year before.”
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a regional dust storm on Mars on Jan. 9, 2022. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
Elsewhere on Mars, thousands of miles away, another dust storm forced NASA’s solar-powered InSight lander to power down into “safe mode” on Jan. 7. “In safe mode, a spacecraft suspends all but its essential functions,” explained NASA. When dust storms completely drain a Martian robot’s batteries, engineers might not be able to restart the machine. A mighty dust storm ended the legendary Opportunity rover’s mission in 2018.
Fortunately, InSight, which is recording earthquakes on Mars among other geologic investigations, exited safe mode as the skies began to clear.
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How a mighty volcanic eruption sent enormous pressure waves all around Earth
Martian dust storms can be huge, but they’re also normal. “Every year there are some moderately big dust storms that pop up on Mars and they cover continent-sized areas and last for weeks at a time,” explained Michael Smith, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
Sometimes, these regional dust storms graduate to planet-encompassing monsters. Those great storms occur around every five-and-a-half years. It’s an intense extraterrestrial event, and NASA’s Mars satellite will watch the stormy scene from space.
It’s attached to NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and can spot things as small as a kitchen table (including robotic rovers). It’s aptly called the High Resolution Imaging Experiment, or HIRISE. And it recently captured a brilliant view of a Martian crater.
The image, taken in late 2021 but released on Jan. 20, shows a crater (likely created by an ancient impact) filled with vivid dunes. Mars may often be some 140 million miles from Earth, or at times much farther, but Earth-like geologic processes continually transpire there.
A dune-filled crater on Mars. Credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona
The crater, while an impressive feature in the Martian desert, also serves an important purpose for planetary scientists. It accurately marks the location of zero longitude on Mars, the line separating Mars’ western and eastern hemispheres.
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On Earth, that point is marked by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in the UK. But on Mars, a place brimming with evidence of past asteroid impacts, a crater must do.
A formidable underwater volcano created the twin islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha‘apai. Then, on Jan. 15, that volcano destroyed them.
Located in the South Pacific, the eruption was one of the most powerful ever captured on satellite. The size and fury of the resulting plume made a jaw-dropping scene on Earth’s surface and amazed scientists. Unfortunately, the eruption has had disastrous and deadly local consequences: A tsunami nearly 50 feet high pummeled some of Tonga’s populated islands.
The historic eruption was also energetic enough to create powerful shock or pressure waves that rippled through the atmosphere and all over the globe. It’s not too different than a rock tossed in water.
“Think of the ripples that you see when you throw a rock into a calm pond,” explained Ryan Torn, chair and professor at the University at Albany Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences. “Immediately, you see circular ripples, which are waves emanating from where the rock enters the pond.”
When the Tonga volcano erupted, these waves (also technically called “acoustic gravity waves”) traveled through the air at around the speed of sound, 343 meters per second, or some 760 mph. The blast’s wave of energy knocked against air molecules, and they bump into each other. The animation below shows the global event well.
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Tweet may have been deleted
The atmosphere acted like a fluid because the atmosphere is actually a fluid. It’s not as dense as a liquid, but gas particles react to temperature, pressure, and things flowing through in similar ways, explained Phil Blom, an expert in acoustics and geophysics research at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
And out in the open atmosphere, there’s not much friction to stop these waves. “It will circle the globe multiple times,” said Blom. An atmospheric scientist at the University of Miami, Brian McNoldy, recorded six waves (as of Jan. 19) passing over the region. The waves traveling through the atmosphere are picked up by weather stations that record changes in the atmosphere’s pressure, but are imperceptible to us. Eventually, the waves dissipate in the air.
“It will circle the globe multiple times.”
Only a profoundly energetic blast creates such world-traveling waves. Though the scientific investigation has just started, volcanologists suspect that seawater interacting with the volcano’s magma (molten rock) beneath the surface ultimately provided this eruption with the pressure for such a massive explosion. Water converted into steam creates intense pressure. “That’s what gave this [eruption] outsized energy, we think,” explained Josef Dufek, a volcanologist at the University of Oregon.
Eventually, like opening a shaken-up soda can, there’s a great pressure release, which is the eruption. Blown-apart pieces of magma, known as volcanic ash, are thrust high into the air. This ash plume reached over 22 miles (35 kilometers), noted Dufek, and may have even topped some 30 miles (50 kilometers).
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Tweet may have been deleted
The resulting pressure waves even stoked meteotsunamis in Europe. Whereas tsunamis are long waves of displaced water (often by earthquakes), meteotsunamis are driven by momentous changes in air pressure, like from a storm, or a blast from a volcano. The changes in air pressure are transmitted to the water and can drive a surge of water. Sea levels went up by some eight inches (20 centimeters) in parts of Spain.
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Indeed, a geologic event in the remote South Pacific impacted the entire globe. Soon after the eruption, weather stations in Europe began detecting the pressure waves.
“These facts are reminders that we all share the same atmosphere, all around the 🌎🌍🌏globe,” the World Meteorological Organization tweeted.
It’s no secret that politics can make people miserable.
At its worst, national politics in the U.S. amounts to watching highly-paid elected officials fight over slivers of power while they get little done for the people they represent. Toss in the breathless media coverage over who’s “winning,” the insults traded between politicians and partisans on social media, and the alarming right-wing drift toward authoritarianism, and the whole project of American democracy feels rather hopeless sometimes.
A study published recently in PLoS One indeed found that politics was a chronic stressor for millions of Americans during the Trump administration. Thanks to politics, people said they slept less, experienced more stress, anxiety, and depression, and even had more frequent thoughts of suicide. The finding echoes other survey results from the same era in which participants reported that politics negatively affected their mental health. Additionally, some participants in the PLoS One study said politics led them to post things online they later regretted, created problems in their relationships, and led to compulsively thinking or talking about politics.
The study also suggests that not everyone who feels the toll suffers equally. Those who experienced the worst effects were consistently younger, identified with the Democratic party, actively engaged in politics, disdained political opponents, and had lower levels of political knowledge. Those variables independently predicted who reported poorer mental health, meaning some respondents may have expressed one or two traits while others expressed all of them. This pattern emerged in three separate surveys from just after Trump’s inauguration to weeks after his defeat in the 2020 election.
The startling finding raises a question that urgently needs answers: What happens when, in particular, young people and those actively engaged in politics feel that American democracy harms their well-being or mental health? And why do these traits, in addition to disdain, lower political knowledge, and identifying with the Democratic party, predict who reports worse mental health?
The author, Kevin B. Smith, a political scientist at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, can only speculate for now.
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Smith does acknowledge that people’s emotional and psychological distress makes sense in a political environment that’s divisive and polarized, with an element of “despair.” But he’s troubled by the conundrum that presents.
“For democracy to function, or at least function well, you want informed and engaged citizens,” says Smith. “But if doing that leads you to be stressed and fatigued and costs you friendships and leads you into compulsive behaviors you later regret, that doesn’t seem like a particularly healthy thing to do.”
When faced with something we know makes us sick, say like a novel virus, a typical approach is to minimize exposure to that risk. But if young people specifically feel they must withdraw from politics to preserve their well-being, we stand to lose the clarity and conviction many of them bring to solving our most pressing problems, like gun violence and climate change.
At the same time, they’re bearing the brunt of the failure to meaningfully tackle these crises. They will inherit a country and planet that, in many ways, the adults in the proverbial room have neglected. The so-called fragility of Generation Z and Millennials is often a punchline, but their frequent insistence on both justice and comfort is unsurprising.
“I think young Americans are looking around them and they’re looking for reassurance, and they’re looking for signs that things will be OK.”
“I think young Americans are looking around them and they’re looking for reassurance, and they’re looking for signs that things will be OK,” says Alan Zhang, student chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project. “And then they turn on the TV and they see the chaos going on in D.C., they see the chaos going on at the Capitol, they see the constant political division, constant polarization going on. They see this, and it’s no wonder that it’s had a negative impact on their mental health.”
Zhang, who is 19, notes that his generation grew up in the shadow of Sept. 11, with constant worry about school shootings. He says young adults are tired of facing crises that leaders refuse to solve. That sentiment is showing up in polling. Despite their high voter participation in the last presidential election, young Americans seem to be losing confidence in the state of American democracy, according to the most recent Harvard Youth Poll of 18-to-29-year-olds. Only 7 percent of respondents viewed the U.S. as a healthy democracy and 13 percent agreed that it’s a “failed democracy.” We should be worried that such dismay may make authoritarianism more appealing to young people who feel that American democracy costs them much more than it’s worth. The Harvard Youth Poll also found that a quarter of politically engaged youth reported that politics had a negative affect on their mental health.
Despite these alarming signals, there are signs of hope. The spring 2021 Harvard Youth Poll found that young people were more likely to be politically engaged than a decade ago. Now the challenge is to deliver on the promise of their involvement so they don’t abandon American democracy. Smith’s findings suggested that knowledge of how the political system works protects against negative mental health effects. While the study didn’t answer why, it’s possible such knowledge leads to less disappointment or better prepares people for legislative setbacks. Yet Zhang believes something else matters a great deal, too.
“One of the most important parts of making politics into a more positive force in young people’s lives is to make them feel empowered in politics,” he says.
That means holding roles as voters and elected officials. It also means lawmakers listening to young people and integrating their feedback in decision-making so they can see that their actions have tangible political consequences.
“I think it really falls to our generation and those in power to make sure that young people have the opportunities for political engagement [and] political empowerment in order to make their own mark on politics,” says Zhang.
Apple SharePlay is a fun new feature that enables people on FaceTime to watch videos or listen to music together. With synced playback and shared controls, it really feels like you’re experiencing it at the same time.
SharePlay, which is currently only available for iPhone/iPad, was released with iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 so make sure your device is up to date. It’s not yet available for Mac devices, but Apple says it will arrive in an update to macOS Monterey later this fall.
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Enabling the feature on your Apple device is takes a few simple steps. Here’s how.
1. Start a FaceTime call on your iPhone/iPad
To start a FaceTime, open the FaceTime app on your iPhone or iPad and tap “New FaceTime.” If the person you’d like to FaceTime with is already saved as a contact, type their name and tap it when it appears. If you don’t have it saved, you can type the person’s phone number or email address directly into the search.
Once you’ve found the person you’d like to FaceTime with, tap the camera icon to begin a video chat, or the phone icon if you just want to use audio.
2. Open a streaming app
With the other person still on the call, go back to your home screen by swiping up from the bottom of the screen for an iPhone or iPad with FaceID, or by pressing the home button for the older versions of the iPhone or iPad. From the home screen, open up the app that you want to share. SharePlay works with Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple TV+, NBA, Paramount+, SHOWTIME, TikTok, Twitch, and many others.
Note: Some apps with a subscription plan require everyone to have an account in order to access the content. You’ll know this is the case if it doesn’t play for the other party or if they’re prompted to sign up.
3. Start sharing
If you get a banner at the top of your device saying “Choose Content to Use SharePlay,” choose your content and tap play. The other person will be invited to “Join SharePlay” to access the content.
If it’s a streaming app like TikTok that automatically plays, tap the screen-sharing icon at the top and choose “Play for Everyone.”
This banner tells you that SharePlay is available. Credit: Apple
Tap the screen share icon on the far right to select sharing options. Credit: Apple
4. Enjoy!
Whether it’s a movie, TV show, album, or fitness class, SharePlay will start playing for everyone on the call at the same time. All users can access the controls, so you can pause if you need to answer the door, or rewind if you missed something important. Plus, SharePlay also has Picture-in-Picture so you can use other apps while you’re watching or listening.
You can also send what you’re watching by tapping the AirPlay icon in the streaming app or in the control center. The video plays in sync on the TV so you can watch on the big screen while staying connected to FaceTime on your iPhone/iPad.
SharePlay takes FaceTiming to a fun new level. Credit: Apple
From the bitchy shop girls in Pretty Woman to the bitchy shop girls in Legally Blonde, the retail workers tasked with helping you shop for clothes get a bad rap. But even Elle Woods — who knows the value of talking someone out of a truly heinous angora sweater — might not be stoked about Amazon’s latest retail concept that minimizes the role of human shopping associates in a big way.
On Friday, Amazon announced that it is opening a new brick-and-mortar clothing store in the L.A. area called Amazon Style. The concept is basically that it combines physical shopping with an app-based experience.
The first Amazon Style will be a 30,000 square foot space at the Americana at Brand shopping center — An outdoor mall that embodies capitalist hell so much that it has inspired a meme account with the same name. Amazon is actually already an Americana tenant with its Amazon 4-Star store, so Jeff Bezos is apparently doubling down on his mall real estate footprint with Amazon Style.
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When you enter the store, you’ll open the Amazon Shopping app. The store floor will only have samples of the clothes that are available, so if you see something you like, you scan the item’s QR code. This will let you select the size or other details on your phone, and send the item to a dressing room where all the clothes you’ve picked out will be waiting for you.
This theoretically solves a couple problems. The first is having to rummage through a clothing rack to find (or not find) your size. It also eliminates the slightly annoying experience of walking around a store and loading up your arms with clothes to try on.
When you get to the dressing rooms, you’ll enter the queue on your phone, and a room will be prepared for you. Inside, a screen will welcome you by name. This is sort of the digital equivalent of when hippy-chic Anthropologie employees would write your name in chalk on your dressing room door, so that associates could attend to you by name — which certainly makes me feel oh-so-special.
Amazon robots are here to help. Credit: Amazon, Inc.
You’ll also be able to continue to shop for clothes on that screen, and request other sizes. This could take some of the awkwardness out of shopping, when you have to wait for someone to come around to get you a bigger or smaller size.
One corporate director described the fitting room experience to Reuters as a “magic closet.” But it isn’t magic, really — your clothes appear thanks to the back-of-house Amazon workers who will likely see what you’ve ordered, get those items from the store’s warehouse space, and deliver them to dressing rooms. A truly “magical” process! If you don’t think about the human laborer behind it all.
This is, of course, what Amazon does best: Using invisible human labor to power shopping experiences designed to make spending your money as easy as possible. Those human interactions with shop workers that can either be helpful or uncomfortably pushy? Unnecessary. The expertise of a human recommendation? Imprecise, expendable. Amazon Style essentially Amazon-ifies in-person shopping by making it recommendation-based and only using human labor for the jobs it hasn’t figured out how to get a robot to do, yet.
Amazon of course says retail workers will be a big part of the Amazon Style shopping experience, and notes that “hundreds” of employees will work at the store. So while humans may not be the go-to source for clothing recommendations, Amazon assures us that they’ll still be super important.
“Amazon Style’s personalized shopping experience would not be possible without our employees who are dedicated to helping customers find looks they love and feel great in,” an Amazon representative said over email. “The store will employ hundreds of employees to provide customer service, deliver items to fitting room closets, merchandise the store to inspire discovery, help customers at checkout, manage back-of-house operations, and much more.”
Robot, get me that lewk, stat! Credit: Amazon, Inc.
It might be unfair to view this app-centric experience as a loss of the human retail touch that can help you find items you like, and more than that, perhaps even constitute an actual human connection that leaves both parties feeling fulfilled. That’s because instead of the more hands-on experience you get at a high-end department store like Nordstrom, going to Amazon Style might be more akin to going to an Old Navy or another big box store. Associates at places like those are usually stretched too thin, in too chaotic of an environment, with paychecks that compensate them too little, to provide that hands-on experience. It’s no wonder those sorts of jobs are so hard to fill these days — and why Amazon might be giving those tasks to robots, not humans. Perhaps Amazon Style can give people who usually wouldn’t get that personalized shopping experience some of that same feeling of being treated and seen.
But the move to replace or at least supplement retail associates with algorithmic recommendation, and reduce the amount of human interaction in brick-and mortar shopping, is a bit sad. Maybe the glamor of the shop girl job has long since waned. But I’m not sure an app telling me I’d look great in this top would give me the confidence boost that’s all part of the fun of in-person shopping. But I guess that’s expendable, too.
I’ve never thought mollusks were particularly erotic. Tiny, moist, mucusy…these qualities don’t exactly evoke sexiness. SnailVibe, though, begs you to reconsider.
A spin on the classic rabbit vibrator, SnailVibe offers both clitoral and vaginal stimulation with its slug-like body. The unique toy is available on the SnailVibe website or the sex toy shop Lovers.
While I commend SnailVibe for being an innovative toy among a crowded market, it unfortunately didn’t “wow” me. Combined with its lack of sex appeal (in my opinion), SnailVibe isn’t worth the price for me — but read on to see if it could be a fit for you.
What is the SnailVibe?
SnailVibe’s “shell” — or curved bulb — is for clitoral stimulation, while the smooth end (or lower arm) is for vaginal stimulation. When used internally, the shell can uncoil so the lower arm can penetrate the user further (note that this can only be used vaginally, not anally). The sphere on the far end, meanwhile, has buttons to control the toy.
If it’s a bit confusing to wrap your head around, here’s a gif that demonstrates how SnailVibe works:
Via Giphy
The shell and lower arm each have their own motors. There are two sets of buttons — a plus sign (+) to turn the toy on or off, and an “S”-like squiggly line to change the settings — so you can control the motors independently.
Both motors have five speeds and five vibration settings. These settings are: a steady hum; a consistent pulse; a rev up and slow down; a short then long pulse loop, and a faster-paced rev up and slow down.
SnailVibe’s package comes with a user guide that contains this helpful chart of all the settings:
SnailVibe settings in the user guide. Credit: mashable
With the speed and vibration options across the two motors, SnailVibe has 600 possible combinations, according to its site.
To turn SnailVibe on or off, press either button for three seconds. Increase the intensity by pressing the + button, and switch up the kind of vibration by pressing the S button.
SnailVibe is waterproof and made of body-safe silicone. It can be submerged in water for a short period of time when cleaning the sex toy, according to the user guide. As with all silicone toys, only use either a water-based or oil-based lube, as silicone lube will degrade the material.
The vibrator is 9.4 inches long in total (a bit shorter than an average forearm), and has an insertable length of 1.4 to 5.5 inches, the latter of which is about the average penis size. The insertable end has a width of 1.4 inches.
Charge SnailVibe via a USB; an LED light will blink until it’s fully charged, and then it’ll emit a solid glow. SnailVibe takes two hours to charge for one hour of use.
The vibrator comes in its own storage case, which is a huge plus considering its size (you can’t just stuff it in your drawer…well, you could, but it’d be cumbersome). While only available in purple on Lovers, SnailVibe comes in both pink and purple from its direct site.
The SnailVibe experience
SnailVibe snagged the award for Most Innovative Sex Toy of the Year in 2020 from the adult publication XBIZ Europa Awards, and I can see why — it’s truly unique. In my time reviewing sex toys, I haven’t seen anything quite like this. Even other rabbits can look the same after a while, but none resemble escargot.
The vibe’s aesthetic weirdness may be a pro or con, depending on your own taste. For me, it just didn’t scream “sexy.” That doesn’t mean you can’t have a delightful, sensual time with it — hell, I know at least one of you has a snail fetish, probably — but it didn’t put me in the mood. I longed for the sleek, elegant look of some of my other toys.
SnailVibe intimidated me at first; I wasn’t sure what to expect.
In all honesty, SnailVibe intimidated me at first; I wasn’t sure what to expect. Original as it is, I didn’t have the best experience.
External stimulation is my jam, and whether I had the lower arm inserted or not the shell would wobble around. It was like the snail’s head was bobbing about. I couldn’t get it to stay in place unless I pressed it against myself, which was a bit annoying. At that point, I’d rather use one of my favorite clit vibrators.
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The more the toy was inserted, however, the more the top head was flush against my body. Still, I didn’t find that experience too comfortable. That may not be the case for you, however, especially if you anticipate using SnailVibe for deep penetration.
Should I buy SnailVibe?
Overall, while creative in design, the SnailVibe wasn’t my favorite toy. The vibe is bulky and the session left me uncomfortable. This shouldn’t be the case, especially for $160.
If dual-stimulation vibrators are your favorite, you’re looking for something new in that department, and you have the money to spare — go for the SnailVibe. It’ll certainly stand out in your rabbit collection. If one or more of those three things isn’t true, however, this could be one to skip.
Remember that my experience may not be yours. All bodies are different, and SnailVibe could be your future fave. Regardless of my experience, I applaud SnailVibe for creating an innovative toy with the trimmings — like multiple motors and the case. Perhaps if there’s ever another iteration, I’ll like it better.
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Hey, all you cool cats and kittens. Did you know there’s a new Tiger King in town? No, it’s not the original Netflix documentary. Or the Nic Cage series. Or the sequel to the original documentary. It’s Peacock’s Joe vs. Carole, and it’s almost here.
Joe vs. Carole revisits the infamous rivalry between two big cat owners, this time with some added star power. In one corner we have Saturday Night Live‘s Kate McKinnon, who steps into Carole Baskin’s leopard print shoes. In the other corner, we have John Cameron Mitchell of Hedwig and the Angry Inch fame, who dons Joe Exotic’s horrifying mullet and distinctive accent. Plus, Kyle Maclachlan appears as Carole’s husband, Howard Baskin. Unfortunately, there’s a tragic lack of footage of McKinnon wearing a flower crown or riding a bicycle in slow-motion. Hopefully, the show amends that error.
UPDATE: Jan. 21, 2022, 10:50 a.m. EST According to a report from CNBC, Peloton plans to temporarily halt production of their connected bikes and treadmills due to waning demand. The company will pause manufacturing for two months to recoup costs following diminishing interest in their products, which they attribute to increased price sensitivity on the part of consumers, as well as a steep hike in competitor activity since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unless you’ve been completely off the grid for the past year, you probably know that the pricey cult-favorite Peloton bikes are more in-demand than ever. As gyms and boutique fitness studios shuttered in 2020 and folks turned to working out from home, home cardio equipment, especially cycling bikes, became indispensable. They were a way to work off stress, stay active while staying indoors, and offered an online community through app- and zoom-based classes.
But as more people canceled their gym memberships and ordered Peloton bikes instead, the delivery times soared — some people have waited over 14 weeks for their bikes to be delivered. As of this writing, Peloton’s delivery time for the base model bike is estimated at one to three weeks, while the Bike+ sits at a shocking eight to 10-week delivery time. If you bought a Bike+ now, you could be waiting over two months before taking your first ride.
I bought a Peloton bike early in quarantine before the wait times were out of hand, and though it was a big investment, having a bike in my apartment while gyms are closed has been lifesaving. But, considering the price and the sometimes months-long wait time to get a bike (not to mention the reports of bad customer service), it’s clear that Peloton isn’t in every shopper’s best interest.
I’m here to say that there are some amazing studio-quality bikes on Amazon that will give you the same thrill and sweat as a Peloton bike — and some of them are even compatible with the Peloton app, too. As a dedicated Peloton rider, I set out to see exactly how the competition compares, and which cycling bikes on Amazon are actually worth your money.
What indoor bikes will be on sale this Black Friday?
If you have your heart set on a Peloton this Black Friday, you’re *somewhat* in luck. The cult-favorite cycling brand released a new permanent discounted price on the original bike — down to $1,495 from $1,895. They’e also offering two months free of the Peloton app — so even folks who opt for an alternative bike can experience the heart-pumping, sweat-inducing classes of Peloton’s favorite instructors.
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In terms of other indoor cycling bikes, we’re seeing some solid discounts already. The best sales on Peloton alternatives will likely be from NordicTrack, Echelon, Bowflex, and myxfitness — and some of these are already live. For the full rundown on this year’s best indoor cycling bike deals, head over to our best fitness deals roundup — we’re combing through the best sales and updating the list regularly for your Black Friday fitness shopping needs.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Peloton?
There are way more stationary bikes on the market than just Peloton, meaning there’s pretty much one for every budget. First, you have to decide what type of cycling experience you want. Are you looking for a studio-style bike with an attached screen? Do you want to be able to stream interactive workouts directly to your bike? Or are you looking for something cheaper that can use your own device for workout streaming? The driving question here is deciding what app or site you want to get your workouts from, or if you just want a bike to pedal indoors while watching TV.
Who is Peloton’s biggest competitor?
Peloton’s biggest competitors are myxfitness, the Equinox/SoulCycle at-home bike, NordicTrack and Echelon. Of the bikes available to purchase on Amazon, NordicTrack and Echelon’s upgrade bikes (the NordicTrack S22i Commercial Studio Cycle and the Echelon Smart Connect EX-5-S) will get you closest to the Peloton experience. These two bikes have large touchscreens and streamed fitness classes, but some specifics like memberships, upfront cost, and tech specs set them apart from each other.
Is the Echelon bike as good as Peloton?
The Echelon bike is a solid choice as a Peloton alternative. It’s about $300 cheaper than the Peloton Bike, about $900 cheaper than the Peloton Bike+, and it features the same type of rotating screen that rolled out with the launch of the Bike+. It also has a comparable monthly membership fee to Peloton: you’ll have to pay $39.99 per month to access Echelon’s library of live and on-demand workouts. The membership will get you a pretty good selection of workout options though, with classes ranging from HIIT bike rides to floor and mat focused strength, yoga, and boxing classes.
What should I look for in a spin bike?
Some of the most important things to look for in a stationary bike are the type of resistance, flywheel weight, adjustability, and pedal type. Decide between magnetic resistance or friction resistance according to your budget and desired upkeep on your bike.
You’ll also want make sure the bike you purchase is suited to your height and weight for the most comfortable ride. Remember that the heavier the user, the heavier flywheel weight you’ll want for maximum stability.
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And just a note about how some reviewers of these bikes complain about the seat not being comfortable: That’s a pretty common complaint about Peloton bike seats as well. They are, after all, bike seats.
What type of resistance is best?
The two main resistance types for indoor cycling bikes are friction and magnetic resistance. Bikes with friction resistance use felt pads that compress the flywheel of your bike when the resistance is adjusted. Magnetic drive cycles, on the other hand, use strong magnets on the flywheel to create the sensation of heavier or lighter resistance.
You might be asking: are magnetic resistance bikes better? This question depends on your budget, desired maintenance on your bike, and noise. Friction bikes tend to be significantly cheaper, but since the felt pads need to be replaced when they wear out, they’ll bring a recurring cost. A cycle with a magnetic drive will likely be much quieter, and basically won’t need any maintenance over its life span, but the upfront cost might be a lot more.
What is the best alternative to Peloton?
To get a Peloton-like experience with even more added high-tech features, we recommend the NordicTrack S22i Commercial Studio Cycle. This bike is truly the most versatile: it comes with a free one-year iFit subscription, lets you stream movies and TV to the screen, and has added incline and decline on top of resistance for an extra workout challenge. You’ll also notice a 360-degree rotating screen that opens up a whole world of floor and mat workouts for those days when you need a break from riding. This feature was only just released at Peloton with the launch of the Bike+, so NordicTrack is 100% on top of the trends.
If you’re not already sold on a NordicTrack bike, check out our full list of the best Peloton alternatives that Amazon has to offer:
In an effort to explore the relationship between humans and robots, researchers at Columbia University have developed a robot that can mirror human facial expressions.
EVA has a 3D-printed skull and over 20 “muscles” it can use to display looks of anger, fear, joy and sadness.
