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The Big Game is almost here, but for This Is Us fans everywhere Super Bowl Sunday will always be known as the anniversary of The Big Cry.

Ever since the NBC drama revealed the tragic death of America’s TV dad, Jack Pearson, in the Season 2 episode, “Super Bowl Sunday,” which rudely aired immediately after the game in 2018, the day has had somewhat of a dark cloud over it. Sure, it’s still a day for food, fun, and football. But now, each year marks an anniversary of sad memories.

It’s the anniversary of the day we saw the Pearson family home engulfed in flames from a slow cooker fire, Jack die of cardiac arrest brought on by smoke inhalation, Rebecca grief-eat a Mars bar in the hospital before breaking down in tears, and a whole bunch of other NOPE moments.

This Super Bowl Sunday, since there’s no heartbreaking This Is Us episode to remind us, we came up with seven ways you can honor the memory of Jack Pearson.

1. Put the “us” in This Is Us

To start, the head of the Pearson family would have wanted us all to gather round and watch the game with loved ones. So reach out to friends, family members, and favorite co-workers and obsess over the Super Bowl together.

2. Dress like Jack

No matter which teams are playing, consider wearing a Steelers jersey on Sunday as a nod to Jack Pearson’s favorite team. If that’s too dramatic for you, just opt for a plaid shirt, because he loved rocking those, too.

3. Cautious cooking

We know that Jack Pearson met his early demise as a result of forgetting to unplug his old, faulty slow cooker when he cleaned up the Super Bowl snacks in the kitchen before going to bed. So it’s important be mindful when engaging in sensitive slow cooker-related convos on the big day. For those who are still grieving, we’ve compiled a few delicious recipes that don’t require slow cookers.

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4. A cathartic pre-game cry

Before the big game, you might even consider re-watching the episode in Jack’s honor. That’s very nice, but also very sad, so perhaps just listen to “To Build A Home” by The Cinematic Orchestra and pregame the Big Game with another Big Cry.

5. Cautious clean up

In wake of that devastating Super Bowl episode, Milo Ventimiglia (who plays Jack) and other This Is Us cast members rallied to support Crock Pots and slow cookers everywhere, reminding the world that not all of them have faulty switches and will spontaneously combust. And much like the cast members, if Jack Pearson were alive right now I’ll bet he’d say something encouragingly profound like, “Never let the fear of slow cooker fires keep you from enjoying the game.”

So carry on with your slow cooking, and enjoy your chili and delicious dips, but please, do not forget to unplug the slow cooker when the game’s over. Unplug it for your own safety, of course, but also do it for Jack.

6. Some light smoke detector upkeep

If you recall, the Pearson family unfortunately forgot to replace the batteries in their smoke detector, which is why it took so long for them to realize the house was on fire that night. So if you haven’t changed your smoke detector batteries in a while, Super Bowl Sunday is the perfect time to do so.

7. Enjoy life :’)

Ventimiglia shared a slew of other fire safety tips with us back in 2018, which you can also review before the football game. But after that, kick back, relax, and enjoy the game for Jack.

This post was originally published in February 2019, and was updated in February 2021.

In Mashable’s new three-part episode of our series on the digital age’s dark side, Kernel Panic, we explore a startlingly advanced computer network developed in Salvador Allende’s Chile of the 1970s. Called Project Cybersyn, the network was a centerpiece of Allende’s effort to modernize the Chilean economy. It was developed in parallel with the American networks that would become the internet, at a moment in time in which President Nixon was trying to undermine the Chilean economy and overthrow Allende, the first democratically elected Marxist leader in Latin America.

Cybersyn, designed by a farthinking British theorist named Stafford Beer and run by a cadre of young revolutionary programmers, was an astonishing success. Using little more than old telephone wires and mothballed pre-war machinery, the Chilean program managed to build out a real-time data stream very much like the social media newsfeed of today, watching and monitoring the country’s industry from a retro-futuristic control room in the capital.

For two years, the programmers used Cybersyn to battle strikes and attempted coups until finally, in September of 1973, Allende was overthrown by a military junta led by Augusto Pinochet. The dream of a stable, modernized Chile died with Allende, and so did the potential for a second internet, built in parallel and evolved under a totally different system of information sharing.

Mashable speaks to Fernando Flores who served under Allende as finance minister before spending three years in prison under Pinochet, as well as Raul Espejo, operational director of Project Cybersyn, and the family of Stafford Beer to take you inside the dream and disappointment of Project Cybersyn.

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A lunar rover developed by GITAI shows off just how far rover technology has come. In a test, it was able to build a solar panel, climb over rocks, and take soil samples with its robotic arms.

It’s that most wonderful time of the year when millions of Americans watch their only football game of the season because it’s an excuse to eat too much and watch overproduced commercials. That’s right folks, Super Bowl LVI is almost upon us.

This year’s edition of the NFL championship game is an odd one. In one corner you’ve got the Los Angeles Rams, a team many expected to be here because of a string of recent successes (they were in the Super Bowl just three seasons ago) and a roster loaded with big-name veterans. Across from them are the…Cincinnati Bengals?! Yes, the team with the most underrated uniforms in sports and a history largely steeped in irrelevance has shocked the world, and gotten to the big game on the backs of a bunch of ultra-talented cool guys who are all like 25 years old, love smoking cigars, and don’t care in the slightest what anyone thinks about them.

The Bengals may not traditionally be a big TV draw, but trust me, you’re going to want to tune in and watch them take on the Rams to potentially win their first championship ever. The game starts at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC on Sunday, Feb. 13.

Here’s how you can check it out without paying for cable.

Peacock

Since the game is on NBC this year, the trick to watching it without cable is exactly the same as it is for the Winter Olympics: Pay $5 for Peacock Premium and stream it from your streaming device of choice.

Peacock Premium comes in either $5/mo or $10/mo plans, with the latter getting rid of ads in on-demand content. The Super Bowl is the live event to end all live events so that’s not relevant here. The $5 tier gets you access to a livestream of the game, so simply go with that one.

It’s tempting to end the article right here because of how comically easy it is to just pay for Peacock and call it a day. But if that’s not your style, there are a couple of other ways to catch the Super Bowl.

Cable-like streaming services

There are a bunch of different streaming services out there that replicate the cable experience by bundling dozens of channels together for a monthly fee that’s usually not that big of a discount compared to just getting cable. Sure, you won’t have to deal with contracts or installation or deactivation fees, but $70/mo is still $70/mo.

Anyway, here are a few of those that carry local NBC affiliates:

• Sling Blue ($35/mo)

• Fubo TV ($65/mo)

• Hulu with Live TV ($70/mo)

To be clear, while those are all a great deal more expensive than Peacock, they also come with lots of other channels. Hulu with Live TV also comes with, well, Hulu, so that’s a nice bonus. But still, Peacock is going to be the easiest option compared to these.

An antenna

If you really want to kick it old school, there are lots of HD TV antennas that you can plug into an HDMI port, attach to a wall or window, and hope that it picks up the over-the-air broadcast of your local NBC affiliate. These usually cost anywhere from $20 to $40 and have the benefit of not requiring any kind of regular subscription. Buy it once and that’s it. However, channel selection and signal strength can vary heavily depending on your location, so it can be a bit of a gamble. If your home internet isn’t up to the task of streaming the Super Bowl, this could be a way around that. Otherwise, it’s probably wise to just give Peacock a whirl.

Super Bowl LVI isn’t the matchup most (or any) football fans expected to see back in September, but that’s why they play the games instead of just predicting them and calling it a day. The Rams and Bengals feature plenty of explosive talent on both sides of the ball, so fingers crossed it isn’t a blowout or a low-scoring snoozefest. 

Once upon a time on the internet, if you had a brief encounter with someone you couldn’t stop thinking about, you might post something poetic about it on Craigslist’s Missed Connections. But that once-beloved section of the site has been a shadow of its former self for years. In 2022, where do you turn to find that special someone with whom you had a fleeting romantic moment? Answer: TikTok.

While TikTok trends tend to have an extremely short shelf life, missed connection videos have remained popular on the service since 2020. The #missedconnections hashtag now boasts more than 20.7 million views, while the associated hashtags #findher and #findhim have a stunning 200 million and 381 million views respectively. But many more missed connection-style videos are posted without hashtags, relying on fate — in the form of TikTok’s algorithm — to find the person who made their heart skip a beat. 

Marielle Kinney, now a 22-year-old bartender based in New York City, posted one of those videos when she was a senior at the University of California in September 2020. This was, of course, before vaccines became available; it felt impossible and unwise to meet new people, let alone fall in love. Nevertheless, in her video, Kinney sits on her roof and describes a charming meet-cute: “Last night I was skating on campus at UC Berkeley and this really cute pink-haired girl yelled ‘do you listen to girl in red?'” (That phrase has become a trendy way to ask a woman if she’s queer.) 

“I got really uncomfortable and didn’t say anything back even though I was single and hadn’t met anyone new in forever,” Kinney explains now. “I wouldn’t have tried to do it on Instagram or Facebook or any other social media app. I knew that it was strictly the TikTok algorithm that would be able to find her. Unlike other social media apps where you have to have mutual connections, on TikTok it’s mutual interests, so I felt like it was the highest likelihood of actually finding someone.”

Plus, Kinney adds, “I had seen it work” — courtesy of a TikTok that appeared on Kinney’s “For You Page” (FYP), where another user enthused about having actually found their missed connection on the service.

That’s the advantage #missedconnections have over the old Craigslist version. Back then, you’d have to hope your potential lover happened to be browsing the website. But TikTok can push your video to the FYP of a service that has surpassed a billion monthly active users. In a world of divisive algorithms, here’s one that can actually bring people together in the service of romance.

Kinney’s video was flooded with comments such as “I live in Berkeley so you’re close!,” “just sent this to my Cal group chat,” and “commenting for the algorithm.” Kinney’s video received more than 8,000 likes. More importantly, it was shared by 550 other users — a tactic that helps push #missedconnections to more FYPs. And amazingly, this one worked. 

In this case, unfortunately, the girl Kinney was looking for was too young. “We exchanged three Snapchats, she said she was 18, and I was a senior in college and felt like I was in a different place in life than any 18 year-old,” Kinney says. But “it was still cool to be able to find that person.”

When a TikTok user known as Lamica Renee, a 28 year-old model in Pennsylvania, tried out the missed connection trend, the aim was to find a man she met on the beach in Miami who’d given his number; she then lost it. “Posting the video was fun,” she says. “Everyone was really positive in the comments, saying things like ‘yeah, we will find him!'”

As with Kinney, she found her target. As with Kinney, it was a bust. “Hope he ain’t married,” Lamica wrote in the TikTok captions. Alas, he was.

Chloe Andrews-Green, a 22 year-old in Adelaide, Australia, found herself the object of a viral missed connection video. Adam Buirski posted a video dedicated “to the girl i fell in love with on a family trip in 2011 when i was 10,” together with photos of him and the girl from the trip.

Spoiler alert: Andrews-Green is that girl, but she’s also a lesbian in committed relationship.

Andrew-Green’s mom’s friend came across the TikTok in a local Facebook group and sent it to her mother who sent it to her. At the time Andrew-Green first saw the video, it only had 24,000 views. It has since been seen more than 2.4 million times.

Andrew-Green duetted the video with her photos from the holiday they met on. “I posted the TikTok and purposefully left out that I am in a relationship with a girl, but I put it in the comments and the comments section blew up,” she says. “There’s one person that replies to every comment saying, ‘you know she’s a lesbian’ to really reiterate that I’m a lesbian.”

But does that matter when missed connection videos can also reignite the spark of friendship? “It’s been really nice, he’s called me a couple of times to see how I’m doing,” says Andrew-Green.

‘People love to support other people’s romantic endeavors’

As with Craigslist’s Missed Connections, then, the TikTok version seems unlikely to lead to romance even if you find the object of your affections. But it’s the journey rather than the destination that matters — especially when millions of other users are on the journey with you.

“Everyone is a hopeless romantic, so when they see one of these cute videos they think ‘oh I’ve had this sort of missed connection, let me help make sure this doesn’t happen to someone else,'” Kinney says. “People love to support other people’s romantic endeavors.”  

When you engage with these videos you’re engaging with a narrative and believing in the possibility that a meet-cute could happen to you too. Kinney’s girl was too young for her. The man Lamica was searching for turned out to be married. Buirski discovered his missed connection wasn’t interested in him — or men at all for that matter— but that doesn’t detract from the appeal of the videos.

What TikTok has captured in these viral videos is something that is in short supply these days: A moment of collective hope.

There is a point that comes in the career of almost every artist: you’ve made all these works and feel like you are not doing enough to show them off. A strong website is an essential part of marketing yourself as a creator and, with templates that allow you to drag together different website elements visually instead of through coding, Squarespace is often the platform that creative types opt for.

SEE ALSO: Best Squarespace templates for mobile websites

We’ve taken a look at the templates that fit the needs of a range of different artists — from the painter to the musician, from the artist looking to simply show off work to the studio that needs to sell prints or schedule art classes.

Is Squarespace good for artists?

Yes! The combination of beautiful templates and no-web-experience-needed entry point has for years made Squarespace a popular choice for artists who desperately need a website but do not know much about coding or design. A majority of the templates on the site are built primarily with images in mind and make it incredibly easy to show off your painting or drawings. But if you happen to be a sculptor, a musician, or another kind of artist not mentioned on this list, fear not as there is almost certainly already a template for you as well.

Which website features are most important for artists?

While that will depend on what type of work you do and how you want it to look, a few core functions are necessary for anyone looking to draw attention to a creative portfolio. Knowing how many images you’ll want to display, as well as how you want them displayed, will allow you to make a few basic decisions about overall layout. After that, the possibilities are endless so take time to think about what it is you’ll need. While some artists just want to display a portfolio, others will want their site to have a blog, a podcast, or an online store where they can sell their work.

Here are our top picks to get you started.

This is my dog, Stevie.

A very good girl. (Pictured: The author’s dog, Stevie, a lab, boxer, pit bull mix.)
Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable

She’s a lab, boxer, pit bull mix who likes cuddles, sleeping in, saying “hello” to strangers, and, probably more than anything else, chew toys.

To some, picking out a toy for a dog is a pretty low-effort task. It’s understandable. Who would want to scrutinize something that seems so mindless? Most people would pick something off the rack at Petco that squeaks and move on with their life.

SEE ALSO: 7 of the best GPS dog collars and trackers to keep tabs on your pet

But, dear reader, I am one of those people. And by “those,” I mean “person who treats their pet as if it were their human child.”

Because I am this way, I get really particular about the stuff I buy my dog. I just want the best for her, you know? And that’s honestly good news for you, because this protective pet parent sourced and tested 10 diverse chew toys — from frisbees, to bones, and everything in between — and I’ve gathered my (and Stevie’s) definitive thoughts on each of them.

How did we test them?

Stevie and I started our review process knowing we’d give each toy a few weeks of testing. She played with each of the 10 toys for a short session each day over the course of the month, and I took careful note of how she interacted with them — and more importantly, if and when they started to deteriorate. With each one, I made sure to play both fetch and tug-of-war to test their durability and ease of use, but mostly I just let her gnaw away, seeing which ones could withstand her powerful jaws.

A lot of chew toys claim to be “indestructible,” which is really misleading.

Keep in mind, though, that dog breed, preference, and the type of chewer your pet will definitely have an impact on your final result. My dog happens to be an aggressive chewer, and she tends to rip her toys to shreds relatively quickly, but if one option didn’t work for her, that doesn’t mean it’ll be a bad fit for your dog.

Another note: A lot of chew toys claim to be “indestructible,” which is really misleading. No chew toy is truly indestructible, so you should always take special care to remove the toy from the lineup if pieces start to break off. Ingesting chew toy pieces is a hazard for all dogs, and you should generally supervise them during playtime to circumvent a possible choking risk or future digestive issues.

Rawhide: It’s a “no.”

One type of toy — or treat, I suppose — that I specifically left off of this list was anything made from rawhide, which is a widely used substance that comes from the inner layer of cow or horse hides.

Rawhide is super common in your classic dog bones (some are even flavored to make them more enticing to chew on), and it’s really easy to find in almost any pet supply store. The thing is, it’s actually really dangerous to let your dog play with rawhide.

SEE ALSO: The best handheld vacuums for pet hair: Keep your home and car cleaner with these picks

The biggest problem with these types of treats is that they can easily break off in large chunks and be ingested by your dog, proposing a high risk for those pieces to become stuck in their esophagus or digestive tract.

Depending on the size, a veterinarian may be able to remove rawhide pieces from your dog’s throat, but anything past that could require invasive surgery. If not resolved, it can kill your dog. So, you probably should stay away from it.

What chew toy should I get for my dog?

It’s important for dogs to have a trusty chew toy that they can always turn to, and it’s your duty as their owner to provide them with a good one. Chewing is a very natural behavior in all dogs, no matter their size or breed. Not only does chewing help reduce their stress and anxiety levels, but it can also be a helpful distraction from bad behaviors like barking and digging.

So, embrace your dog’s natural need to chew, and make sure to offer them the best toy for their personal play and chewing styles. Here’s what Stevie and I thought about the 10 chew toys we tested. Hopefully, it’ll give you some insight into how your dog might respond to them.

UPDATE: Feb. 10, 2022, 3:50 p.m. EST This list has been updated to reflect pricing and availability as of Feb. 10.

• BEST SAMSUNG DEAL: Samsung Galaxy Book Pro, a nice alternative to the similarly priced MacBook Pro — $809.99 $999.99 (save $190)

• BEST GAMING DEAL: Razer Blade 15, a powerful gaming laptop that’ll keep you playing on the go — $1,700 $2,599.99 (save $899.99)

• BEST 2-IN-1 DEAL: Asus Chromebook Flip C434, an affordable 2-in-1 for those who want the basics of a laptop and a tablet at once — $447 $569.99 (save $122.99)

What’s better than a great laptop? A great laptop that’s cheap. Nowadays, even budget machines can pack the punch to carry you through whatever’s on your to-do list, whether it’s work, watching Netflix, or endlessly browsing social media. If you’re looking to pick up a new laptop but don’t necessarily want to drop your life savings in one go, we’ll be compiling a list of the best deals on cheap laptops right here, each and every week.

Best Samsung deal

Why we like it

We love Apple, but MacBooks aren’t the only laptops out there. The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro is a nice alternative to the similarly priced MacBook Pro, with a stunning display, a speedy 11th-gen Intel Core processor, a 20-hour battery life, WiFi 6E support, and a sleek, ultra-thin design.

Best gaming deal

Why we like it

The Razer Blade 15 Advanced model is packed with solid internals that’ll work well for PC gaming newbies and seasoned players alike. Under the hood, you’ll get a 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10875H processor with up to 5.0 GHz max turbo and 8 cores, as well as an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card that has the power to run some pretty visually intense games. The 300Hz screen provides buttery-smooth frame rate performance and offers full HD visuals within a bezel-less display. It’s all housed within a thin, compact body that you can take anywhere.

Best 2-in-1 deal

Why we like it

Having your laptop and your tablet in one place is a convenience that you need in your life. The Asus Chromebook Flip C434 is a fantastic budget 2-in-1 device, with speedy performance, a full HD touchscreen, and components that should be able to handle all of your daily tasks.

More great laptop deals

• Apple MacBook Pro — $2,499.99 $2,799.99 (save $300)

• Apple MacBook Air — $949 $999 (save $50)

• MSI GE75 Raider Gaming Laptop — $1,199 $1,399 (save $200)

• Dell Vostro 7510 — $1,279 $1,827.14 (save $548.14)

• Microsoft Surface Laptop Go — $549.99 $699.99 (save $150)

• Microsoft Surface Go 2 — $399.99 $549.99 (save $150)

• Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio — $1,599.99 $1,799.99 (save $200)

• Lenovo Flex 5 — $659.99 $849.99 (save $190)

• Lenovo Yoga 9i — $1,349.99 $1,749.99 (save $400)

• Lenovo IdeaPad 3 — $179 $219.99 (save $40)

• Lenovo IdeaPad S340 — $699 $799.99 (save $100.99)

• Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 — $399 $499 (save $100)

• Lenovo Legion 5 Gaming Laptop — $1,149 $1,299 (save $150)

• Asus C423NA Chromebook — $139.50 $299.99 (save $160.49)

• Acer Swift 3 — $659 $849.99 (save $190.99)

• HP 14 Laptop — $269.99 $289.99 (save $20)

• HP Pavilion 15 Laptop — $844.99 $944.99 (save $100)

• HP 17.3-inch FHD IPS Premium Laptop — $819.99 $899.99 (save $80)

• HP Pavilion 15-inch gaming laptop — $847 $899.99 (save $52.99)

• Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 4 — $194.96 $249.99 (save $55.03)

• Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 — $549 $699 (save $150)

How to shop for a new laptop:

Choosing a laptop is entirely dependent on what you’ll be using it for. Beginner laptop owners need something user-friendly and straightforward, frequent travelers need something light with a long battery life, designers and gamers need top-notch 4K graphics and quick central processors, and everyone needs something that will last. 

The first thing you should do is ask yourself a simple question: PC or Mac? This is an important question, as it’s going to make a world of difference in what you can and can’t do with your computer. Are you a gamer? A video editor? A business professional? An Apple device owner? The answer to any of these will probably point you towards your final answer. If you’re constantly buying the new iPhone every year, editing YouTube videos, recording a podcast, or other creative endeavors of the sort, your best bet may be a Mac laptop. Apple obsessives will be happy with their Mac’s compatibility with their other Apple products, and everyone can benefit from Macs’ propensity to have better virus protection than that of a PC. 

That brings us to the perks of picking up a PC. You can still complete a number of creative projects on a personal computer, but where PCs really shine are their options for customization. PCs are much easier to upgrade part-by-part, as they aren’t constrained to Apple-manufactured products (like Macs). And because there is a seemingly endless supply of PC manufacturers, there are a lot more options from what brand you chose, to the software you buy, to the type of graphics card you pick out for your gaming rig. Yes, gamers should always go the PC route — they are far more powerful than what a Mac laptop can handle, and also give you the option to connect VR headsets, if you’re into that sort of thing.  

What size laptop should you get?

This really comes down to two things: Personal preference and lifestyle. Personal preference is self-explanatory, really — do you like having a huge display, or do you prefer something more compact? Lifestyle is where practicality comes into play. If you’re traveling often and usually have your computer on your back in some way, you’re going to want to go with something more light and compact (thin, 11-inch models will most likely be the best). But if you’re a huge movie buff who doesn’t normally take their laptop on the road with them, spring for a 15-inch (and higher) screen with a bulky construction so you can have epic Netflix sessions. If you’re getting a gaming laptop, you should probably “go big or go home,” as well.  

How much should you spend on a new laptop?

This is much more subjective, and at the end of the day, it’s really going to come down to your budget. But, if money isn’t the number one concern for you, you should really think hard about what you’re going to use your laptop for. Need a device with lots of power under the hood and bountiful storage space? Aim for something in the $800 and beyond range. Only using your laptop to edit the occasional Google Doc? Then you can probably get away with spending way below the $500 mark. In other words, don’t blow your savings if you don’t need to. And if you’re looking to go all out, meaning buying a laptop with every bell and whistle imaginable, you can get a monster of a machine for somewhere closer to $2,000.

Are cheap laptops worth it?

You know the old saying: You get what you pay for. But thanks to the technology boom of the last few decades, a cheap laptop can actually take you pretty far and won’t break down immediately. It’s all about knowing which one to select. Depending on what you use your laptop for the most, staying stingy might be your best option. Check out our roundups for the ones that we think are worth it — here are our favorite cheap laptop models under $500, and the best under $300.  

What does it mean when a laptop is certified refurbished?

Don’t let the words “refurbished” or “renewed” scare you away — these types of devices are usually perfectly viable options and can end up saving you a lot of money without sacrificing much of anything.

A refurbished device, in its simplest terms, is a product that has been bought, but then returned for some reason. Notice that we didn’t necessarily say that it was returned due to some sort of fault on the device’s part. While that can certainly be true in some cases, it isn’t always. Oftentimes, a certified refurbished laptop never even left its original packaging.

While yes, saving money is a huge benefit of buying a “refurb,” it’s far from the only reason to consider getting one. What’s great about refurbished devices is that they undergo rigorous performance tests to ensure that they are still in good condition (sometimes more strictly than the stuff coming right off the production line). There’s also a chance that any refurbished laptop you buy may have been so lightly used, that it could almost be considered brand-new (just way cheaper).

We’re big fans of buying refurbished gear for kids, especially when it comes to electronics. If you’re shopping for a laptop for a kid who is under the age of 15, then refurbished is really the way to go. For kids of high school age and beyond who are a bit more careful with their digital gear, then a new laptop isn’t as risky. Of course, it depends on the kid.

Explore related content:

• Our picks for the best 2-in-1 laptops of 2020

• The best blue light glasses for combatting digital eye strain

• 13 cheap laptops you can get for under $500

Dozens of SpaceX satellites are burning up.

A powerful pulse of energy from the sun (called a coronal mass ejection, or CME) triggered a storm in Earth’s atmosphere in early February, causing it to warm up and grow more dense. This proved fatal for a batch of SpaceX’s recently launched Starlink internet satellites, which the company put into a protective safe mode to “take cover from the storm.” Ultimately, up to 40 satellites succumbed to increased drag from the denser atmosphere, SpaceX said.

As a result, they’re now falling through, and burning up in, the sky. Video footage from Puerto Rico on Feb. 7, captured by the astronomy group Sociedad de Astronomía del Caribe, shows a Starlink satellite vividly disintegrating.

When the video begins, the first piece of burning debris comes into focus at the bottom of the frame. Then, at around 50 seconds, the fireworks begin, as either pieces of the same satellite or potentially a different one fragments apart.

Marco Langbroek, a satellite tracker who works for the astronomy department at Leiden University in the Netherlands, blogged that “there is very little doubt that this was a Starlink satellite reentering.”

The disintegrating satellites, fortunately, will not add to humanity’s serious, and growing, space junk problem. And it’s unlikely the fragments pose any danger to Earthlings. “Starlink satellites are not very big and do not have big rocket engines, so there is very little chance that anything remains and reaches Earth surface from these reentries: It will all burn up in the atmosphere,” Langbroek wrote.

Save $30.99: Find that sweet spot on your thermostat every time — upgrade to the Google Nest smart thermostat for just $99. Amazon gives you a 24% discount on this programmable WiFi thermostat as of Feb. 10.

It won’t be much longer before springtime arrives. And when the temperature outside gets a little unpredictable, you’ll be thankful to have a smart and affordable thermostat that keeps your home at just the right climate.

The Google Nest thermostat is on sale for only $99 at Amazon — just above its Black Friday price. This smart thermostat is a good investment for anyone looking to shave a bit off their monthly electric bill, and is relatively simple to install if you have some basic DIY skills. Google claims it’s compatible with about 85% of home systems, but you should try out the Nest Thermostat Compatibility Checker to make sure it works with your system before you buy. Once installed, it’s easy to use: Adjust its settings on the touch bar or through the Google Home App.

You can start with a personalized schedule, so the Nest knows to turn itself down when you leave your home. It also uses sensors to detect when you leave and can set itself at an “Eco Temperature” to optimize savings. But it does more than just adjust the temperature. Its Savings Finder program, for instance, looks for other ways to save energy and will suggest subtle tweaks to your schedule.

Explore related content:

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