Category Archives: Blog

If there wasn’t video, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was all some kind of joke.

Back in October, the Canadian vehicle manufacturer Daymak claimed it was making a three-wheeled electric car which would, in its downtime, mine bitcoin, ethereum, or dogecoin. Well, we finally got a look at the apparently real thing.

In a video (first spotted by Electrek) posted to YouTube and shared on LinkedIn by Mike Chow, Daymak’s Vice President of R&D, we can see the “Spiritus 3-Wheel All Electric Car first drive test.”

The red car emblazoned with a maple leaf logo is shown driving around some relatively empty streets and parking lots. So, in other words, the car is real and can actually drive. Beyond those basic and observable facts, however, it’s unclear if the Spiritus delivers on its promised specs.

“Daymak Avvenire’s Spiritus is a fully loaded two-seater electric car with optional autonomous driving features, Wi-Fi connectivity, AC, 12-speaker stereo system, solar panels for additional trickle-charging — additions to add ultimate comfort to your daily commute,” explains the Daymak website. “With a super-fast charging time of under two hours, the Spiritus also sports a GPS alarm system, back up camera and so much more — all while offering a range of up to 480km – or 300 miles!”

Potential customers can preorder the car starting at $21,495, and Daymak says “deliveries to start in 2023.”

No word yet on whether or not, by then, customers will also be able to mine Shiba Inu in their three-wheeled rides.

Thomas Zurbuchen can finally shave.

Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator of its Science Mission Directorate, said he wouldn’t shave until the James Webb Space Telescope — which will peer at the first galaxies and stars (along with fascinating worlds) — was fully deployed in space. To fit the giant telescope on a rocket (it’s half the size of a 737 airplane), engineers designed the JWST to compactly fold up.

On Saturday, Jan. 8, two weeks after JWST successfully blasted into space, NASA and its Webb partners successfully unfolded and deployed the final major piece of the telescope, the second wing of its gold-coated mirrors. Now the telescope’s honeycomb-like, over 21-foot-wide mirror, is in place.

“I can’t wait to shave,” Zurbuchen said on NASA TV Saturday morning. “I fully expect to shave today,” Zurbuchen added.

At 1:18 p.m. ET, NASA announced the deployed mirrors had latched into place, the final step in the deployment process. Zurbuchen then addressed the mission’s scientists and engineers from the control room: “How does it feel to make history, everybody?” he asked.

NASA photos showed engineers celebrating after the last mirrors successfully set into place. Prior to launching, NASA described the JWST’s ambitious planned maneuvers as the “most complex sequence of deployments ever attempted in a single space mission.”

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Once in space, the JWST first had to deploy its tennis court-sized sunshield, which keeps the telescope shaded from intense heat and light from the sun (as well as from Earth and the moon.) Engineers unfurled the five-layer sunshield over several days. All went swimmingly, though mission planners devised backup plans in case the unfurling hit a snag, or snags.

Now the giant mirror is deployed, too. It’s over 21-feet across — over two and a half times wider than the Hubble telescope’s mirrors — to capture more light, and hence see deeper into space. The JWST will peer back over 13.5 billion years into the past, when the first galaxies were forming.

Though Webb’s deployment is historic, it won’t start imaging the cosmos for many months, until around June. Engineers and scientists have to fire up the different instruments on the telescope and ensure everything is working correctly to gather unprecedented observations.

Next up, engineers will perfectly align the telescope’s 18 hexagonal mirrors, so they work together as a single, grand mirror.

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If all goes well, and things have so far, Webb will deliver unprecedented insights into the cosmos, and planets in other solar systems, in the coming decade.

Elmo isn’t the only one struggling to deal with a small rock in recent days.

On Friday, NASA’s Twitter account for the Mars-researching Perseverance rover blasted out some news and a set of photos to go with it: The rover is having trouble stowing away its latest collected sample of the Mars landscape because some rocks are getting in the way.

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“I recently captured my sixth rock core and have encountered a new challenge,” the tweet, which is written from the rover’s first-person perspective, reads. “Seems some pebble-sized debris is obstructing my robotic arm from handing off the tube for sealing/storage.”

The sample in question was collected on Dec. 29, extracted from the core of a rock — marking only the sixth time in the history of human space exploration that a rock was cored on a planet other than Earth. But when the rover went to pass the collection tube along through the automated process by which gathered samples are stored, the process was interrupted when “our sensors detected an anomaly,” according to NASA.

As Perseverance attempted to move the sample tube from the percussive drill used to core rocks into the “bit carousel” where samples are staged for storage, it encountered an unusual amount of resistance. The rover’s engineers asked Perseverance for more data and images in the hopes of understanding what the issue was, but it took extra time because of the distance involved in communicating with a semi-autonomous rover situated more than 200 million miles from Earth.

Clarity came on Jan. 6, when the struggling sample tube was extracted and images of the obstruction were beamed back to Earth.

“These most recent downlinked images confirm that inside the bit carousel there are a few pieces of pebble-sized debris,” NASA’s post reads. “The team is confident that these are fragments of the cored rock that fell out of the sample tube.” That’s why there was a struggle transferring the tube to the bit carousel: One or more annoying, little rocks got in the way.

It’s nothing the Perseverance team didn’t anticipate happening at some point during the rover’s mission. But this is the first time the collection process has had to pause for “debris removal,” and “we want to take whatever time is necessary to ensure these pebbles exit in a controlled and orderly fashion.”

It’s not clear if any of the offending pebbles are related to an Earthbound pet rock named Rocco. But you can bet Elmo has thoughts about all of this.

Tesla’s promise of “full self driving” is about to get even more expensive.

According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the cost of the “full self-driving” feature, which is still in Beta and does not make Tesla’s fully autonomous, will raise to $12,000 this month. It’s currently a $10,000 add on.

“Tesla FSD price rising to $12k on Jan 17,” he wrote on Friday. “Just in the US,” Musk added.

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This is not the first time Tesla has hiked the cost of the confusingly named technology. In October, the CEO announced the cost was to increase from $8,000 to $10,000. And we can expect it to go up again in the future, as well.

“FSD price will rise as we get closer to FSD production code release,” Musk noted Friday.

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We reached out to Tesla to confirm the dates and prices shared by Musk, although as Tesla notoriously has no public relations department or media liaison, we do not expect an immediate response.

In September, the National Transportation Safety Board asked Tesla to slow its rollout of the full self-driving software.

“Basic safety issues have to be addressed before they’re then expanding it to other city streets and other areas,” NTSB head Jennifer Homendy told the Wall Street Journal at the time.

Maybe that extra $2,000 per order will be just the added cash Tesla needs to work out those last kinks. And if not, the company can always raise the price of FSD — again.

The legendary Hubble Space Telescope has, somehow, outdone itself.

NASA published its first Hubble image of 2022, and it’s replete with cosmic treats. The background of this deep view of the cosmos is littered with far-off galaxies, a star shines vividly atop the frame, and two great galaxies look like they’re bound to collide.

Yet, the collision is an illusion.

The spiral galaxy NGC 105, on left, looks like it’s “plunging edge-on into a neighboring galaxy,” said NASA. But it’s a trick of perspective, the space agency explained. From our cosmic spot in a spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy, we’re viewing NGC 105 well in front of another galaxy. Both objects are profoundly distant. The galaxy NGC is some 215 million light-years away.

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Astronomers have spotted intriguing events inside the galaxies captured in this, and other, deep views of the universe. They’ve observed galaxies that contain both supernova explosions — exploded massive stars — and cepheid variable stars, which are extremely luminous, pulsating stars.

The Hubble Space Telescope, operated by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), has snapped unprecedented images of the cosmos for over three decades. It’s operated for over 1 billion seconds. It’s still capturing majestic images, even as NASA’s larger, next generation of space telescope — the powerful James Webb Space Telescope — now unfurls and unfolds in space.

There’s a vivid, reddish star in the night sky. Called Betelgeuse, it’s found in the famous constellation Orion and over millions of years has swelled in size, earning it the title of a “red supergiant.” Betelgeuse, over 500 light-years from Earth, will eventually collapse on itself — or perhaps the distant star already has — resulting in a dramatic explosion called a supernova.

Until recently, astronomers had never directly witnessed a massive, aging star explode. But in 2020, astronomers atop Maui used a powerful telescope to detect an unusually active red supergiant, much more distant than Betelgeuse (at some 120 million light-years away). They watched it closely for 130 days, giving themselves an invaluable view of the grand finale. The resulting stellar explosion is called “supernova 2020tlf.”

“We actually saw the star violently erupt,” Wynn Jacobson-Galán, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley who led the research, told Mashable. “It’s been something we wanted to find.”

The research was published Jan. 6 in The Astrophysical Journal.

“We actually saw the star violently erupt.”

The explosion of this star happened well beyond our Milky Way in the galaxy NGC 5731, so there’s no “close-up” footage. (Any stars well beyond our galaxy usually appear as a dot through our telescopes.) But the astronomers, sensing the explosion was imminent, employed specialized imaging equipment at the W.M. Keck Observatory, atop the lofty Mauna Kea in Hawai’i, to observe the climatic “powerful flash” and intense release of energy.

The blast was conspicuous, even in a distant galaxy filled with luminous stars. “It takes just one supernova to outshine all the other stars in the galaxy,” explained Jacobson-Galán.

To better visualize the dramatic cosmic event, astronomers made the animation below. Here’s what you’re seeing:

1. Pre-eruption: The star emits bursts of heat and radiation (that’s when the astronomers detected the active star).

2. Violent flash: The collapse of the star itself (at 11 seconds in the video). This is the supernova.

3. Aftermath: The exploded star and resulting cloud of dust, gas, and elements expand into space

Supernovas, caused by the collapse of massive and expanding stars, are violent ends to these great gaseous orbs, but they’re also invaluable cosmic creators. Crucial elements, like iron, are manufactured inside the most massive stars, and the ensuing supernova eruptions scatter the critical elements throughout space. Some elements are only created in extreme conditions during the blast itself, like silver, gold, uranium, and lead.

“Without supernovae, life would not be possible,” explains NASA. “Our blood has iron in the hemoglobin which is vital to our ability to breath. We need oxygen in our atmosphere to breathe. Nitrogen enriches our planet’s soil. Earth itself would be a very different place without the elements created in stars and supernova explosions.”

Before this unprecedented supernova observation, astronomers mused that perhaps red supergiant stars were quiet before they collapsed in dramatic fashion. But this star (and perhaps others too) emitted vibrant heat and energy before the blast.

Jacobson-Galán and other astronomers will continue to sleuth out opportunities to view how stars behave before they go supernova and scatter essential elements into the universe. It’s certainly a thrilling scientific endeavor.

“It’s like watching a ticking time bomb,” Raffaella Margutti, an astrophysicist at Northwestern University, said in a statement.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show is always a showcase for the most ambitious consumer tech coming in the near future, but one company stood out in terms of the breadth of weirdness on display.

South Korean electronics giant LG brought the heat at CES 2022, with a bunch of ideas that may or may not ever reach people’s homes, but definitely found a place in our hearts. Here are the coolest and strangest things the companies under LG’s corporate umbrella showed off at CES.

DualUp Monitor

We’re stacking monitors vertically now.
Credit: LG

Dual-monitor setups have long been coveted in both offices and work-from-home setups. It just streamlines a lot of the work day to be able to have vital information open on one screen while you work on another. Or YouTube videos. That’s fine too.

LG introduced a fascinating new take on this with the DualUp monitor. It’s essentially two regular 21.5-inch monitors stacked on top of each other, producing a single display with a hilarious 16:18 aspect ratio. LG’s justification for this is that it serves the same purpose as two horizontally-aligned monitors while removing the neck strain that accumulates by swiveling your head from left to right constantly. 

Whether or not that’s true is irrelevant right now. It’s just a cool and weird thing to look at. Samsung didn’t share price or availability information about the DualUp at CES, sadly.

Virtual Ride

Take that, Peloton.
Credit: LG Display

If you own a Peloton or similar exercise bike, have you ever wondered what would happen if it were way bigger and harder to fit in your home? That’s essentially what the Virtual Ride from LG Display (technically a separate company, but under the same parent corporation as LG Electronics) is all about.

Essentially a combination of a regular exercise bike and a floor-to-ceiling vertical screen, Virtual Ride is another concept that hasn’t been confirmed for any kind of home release yet. The idea is to fully immerse the rider in their workout, turning a home bike ride into a stroll through a scenic Italian villa, among other possibilities.

Media Chair

Looks pretty nice, honestly.
Credit: LG Display

Virtual Ride isn’t LG Display’s only goofy concept that puts a big screen directly in your field of view. Meet the Media Chair.

This one’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s a chair with a 55-inch OLED TV and speakers built in, essentially creating a single-person home movie theater. Is it at all useful for people who don’t live alone? Probably not. Would it be a pretty baller way to watch a movie if money weren’t an object? Absolutely.

LG Display didn’t have firm release plans on hand at CES, but it did confirm to The Verge that there are plans to sell it…someday.

Omnipod

The mobile home of the future.
Credit: LG

LG’s whole deal is making home electronics and appliances. But at CES 2022, one of LG’s concepts is more or less just an electronic home.

Omnipod is another (likely far-off) concept that’s a self-driving vehicle you can live in. Modular and upgradeable appliances are joined by big screens and AI virtual assistants who can help you with things like ordering food. It could theoretically be an office, living room, and home theater all in one. It might also never be available for purchase.

Just enjoy it now.

StanbyME TV

One TV for all rooms.
Credit: StanbyME TV

Tale as old as time: You’re watching TV, but you have to go into another room for a few minutes.

Our last LG oddball is the StanbyME TV, a wireless, battery-powered TV-on-wheels you can bring with you around the house so you don’t have to miss a second of whatever you’re watching. It’s a 27-inch screen with an adjustable height and viewing angle, with a phone cradle for turning it into a video call machine. You can stream content directly from a phone to StanbyME, so there aren’t really limits on what you can watch.

Unfortunately, we don’t have western release dates or price details just yet, but LG’s website lists StanbyME as “coming soon.”

Paramount+ came to the streaming game later than its competitors, but it’s quickly become a heavy hitter. With properties like MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central, CBS, and the entire Star Trek franchise, Paramount+’s library of shows is a bottomless chasm with something for everyone — exactly what we TV-obsessed couch-freaks have been waiting for.

For all those hoping to drown in television, to never have to come up for air in between binges, we’ve put together a list of the best shows Paramount+ has to offer, in no particular order. Don’t worry, this is only scratching the surface!

1. Freaks and Geeks 

One of the biggest television tragedies of the last 25 years is the unceremonious canceling of this near-perfect show created by Paul Feig (the head of the Marvel-verse) and executive produced by Judd Apatow. A coming-of-age teen comedy, Freaks and Geeks follows Lindsay Weir (a young and angsty Linda Cardellini in her first major role) as she and her classmates navigate the ups and downs of being a high schooler in the ‘80s, from their first sips of alcohol to their last mathlete competitions. 

The cast is unbelievable — seriously, this show launched the careers of James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, John Francis Daley, Martin Starr, Busy Phillips, and Samm Levine — and the stories are profoundly relatable. Funny, grounded, and sweet, Freaks and Geeks is easily one of the best series of the last 50 years and widely accepted as one of the most accurate screen depictions of the American high school experience. While it suffered on NBC due to scheduling blunders and lack of network support, the world of streaming has helped this lovable gem reach the cult status it deserves. 

How to Watch: Freaks and Geeks is streaming on Paramount+.

2. 1883 

Though technically a prequel, you don’t need to watch Paramount’s massive hit Yellowstone to appreciate this sweeping new Paramount+ original. 1883 is a massive undertaking, making headlines for its unprecedented budget ($10 million an episode!) and scale of production. Luckily, Paramount’s big investment has paid off. 1883 is a scenic, moody drama about the Dutton family’s journey west from Fort Worth to Oregon. Elisa Dutton (Isabel May) is our protagonist, narrating over the ruminative shots of the sun setting over endless plains, vibrating with hope for a trek the show warns us will only bring doom. Rattlesnakes, bandits, covered wagon accidents — 1883 depicts the brutal, stark reality of the real Oregon Trail.

Sam Elliot is perfectly cast as the hardened covered wagon boss — his mustache has never been more fitting — and LaMonica Garrett is magnetic in an exciting role that promises to undo decades of Black cowboy erasure. As Elisa’s parents, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s comfort on horseback and in Stetsons help them fit right in alongside the veteran cast. While the jury is still out on whether the show will handle the often-violent conflicts between settlers and Native Americans in a nuanced and responsible way, for now, this is a modern, ruminative Western whose gorgeous landscape is just as important as its affecting human drama.

How to Watch: 1883 is streaming on Paramount+.

3. Key & Peele

This is sketch comedy done right. Though Jordan Peele might be better known today for piercing thrillers like Get Out, and Keegan-Michael Key has been cast in what seems like every comedy movie since 2018, the two launched their careers together with this beloved Comedy Central sketch show from 2012. Almost every bit in Key & Peele is a hit, from a substitute teacher who truly cannot pronounce his white students’ names to two friends bragging about standing up to their wives. Key & Peele adeptly tackle complex topics like race relations and low-stakes inconveniences like social faux pas with the same balance of intelligence and silliness. Their comedy is smart, fast, and fun — and will live on forever thanks to the “Sweating Jordan Peele” meme.

How to Watch: Key & Peele is streaming on Paramount+.

4. Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

She’s the Avatar, you’ve gotta deal with it!
Credit: Nickelodeon

Two great shows set in the same fascinating universe! Avatar: The Last Airbender introduces us to a world in which people can harness the powers of the four elements — air, water, earth, and fire — through a power called “bending.” There, we meet the young and earnest Aang, the last airbender, who hopes to put a stop to the Fire Nation’s aggressive invasions outside of their borders. Though tackling big topics like indoctrination and totalitarianism, this Nickelodeon show remains cheerful thanks to the optimism of Aang and his friends.

The story continues decades later in The Legend of Korra with a slightly more mature tone. The world has changed. The people need a leader and are hoping to find it in Korra, a young woman with the potential to bend all four elements. Korra, on the other hand, is just trying to get her temper under control! The continuation retains the spark of the original series (get ready to see a few familiar faces!), but its compelling plot twists, 1940s-style narration, and talented vocal cast assure its status as a winning series in its own right. — K.G.*

How to Watch: Avatar: The Last Airbender is streaming on Paramount+.

How to Watch: The Legend of Korra is streaming on Paramount+.

5. Cheers

Many decades before Ted Danson stole the show as a devilishly handsome silver fox on The Good Place, he spiced up primetime as Sam Malone, a former pro baseball player who drank his career away, only to find himself the proprietor of a charming neighborhood watering hole where everybody, well, you know. Sam spends his days and nights slinging drinks alongside his former coach, Coach; fiery cocktail waitress Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman); and erudite fish-out-of-water Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), a new cocktail waitress with whom he spends several seasons flirting in between flings. The witty banter, guest stars, and celeb appearances, as well as an overall cozy vibe between Sam and his regulars (Cliff, Norm, and, yes, Frasier and Lilith) make Cheers a timeless classic. And don’t forget about baby-faced Woody Harrelson, who joined as a main character in the fourth season. — Jenni Miller *

How to Watch: Cheers is streaming on Paramount+.

6. Star Trek: The Next Generation

One of Paramount+’s biggest draws is its monopoly on Star Trek, and they know it. With a host of new Star Trek shows, Paramount is not sleeping at the wheel. Of its new releases, Star Trek: Discovery is action-packed like the Chris Pine Trek films; Star Trek: Prodigy is a beautifully animated kids show; and Star Trek: Picard is a masterful return to form. There have been so many Star Trek shows and movies since the ‘60s, it’s impossible to pick just one to recommend, but this list is unfortunately finite so we’ll suggest a show that’s both archetypal of the Trek genre and solidly bingeable for modern audiences: Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

With Sir Patrick Steward at the helm of the USS Enterprise as the unflappable Captain Jean-Luc Picard, this Star Trek series finds more gravitas and emotional heft than the original series. As this crew of scientists and engineers explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where no one has gone before, they also delve deeply into the human condition. Episodes that seem to be about new aliens or technology slowly reveal themselves to be ruminations of profound philosophical questions (the episode-long courtroom debate about the legal personhood of artificial intelligence being a prime example). This investigation into what it means to be human is standard to every Star Trek iteration, but is at its most deft with Next Generation. Be sure to give it about a season and half — or until Commander Riker grows a beard — to hit its stride. 

How to Watch: Star Trek: The Next Generation is streaming on Paramount+.

7. RuPaul’s Drag Race

Racers, start your engines, and may the best drag queen win!
Credit: VH1

It’s hard to remember a world before RuPaul brought drag into America’s living room with this effervescent show that melds creative competitions with performances and behind-the-scenes revelations, in addition to a fabulous stable of judges and guest stars. It made RuPaul a media mogul and turned its winning drag queens into household names, along with inspiring international spin-offs and Drag Race All-Stars. While there has been some controversy around Drag Race and its creator over the years, not to mention some of its contestants, it’s impossible to deny its imprint on the cultural landscape. — J.M.*

How to Watch: RuPaul’s Drag Race is streaming on Paramount+.

8. Doug

Following the life of 11-year-old Doug Funnie (voice acting legend Billy West) after he moves to a new town, Doug is a beloved cartoon for a reason. It’s goofy but grounded, with accessible story lines and lovable characters. While Doug’s adventures range from the simple (helping his neighbor) to fantastic (investigating a town monster myth), he’s usually also trying to impress his friend and crush, Patty Mayonnaise — a voice most will recognize as Yoga Jones (Constance Shulman) from Orange is the New Black. Loaded with silly, fantastical interludes featuring Doug’s alter-ego Quail Man or his Snoopy-like dog Porkchop, Doug absolutely stands the test of time. Perhaps that’s because it’s been in the hands of both of the animation behemoths of the 1990s: Doug premiered on Nickelodeon, but was acquired by Disney in its fifth season. — K.G.*

How to Watch: Doug is streaming on Paramount+.

9. Frasier

This is a show about an insufferable, middle-aged radio psychiatrist pathologically unable to take his own advice. He is pompous, illogical, and far too critical of the parade of women who bafflingly agree to date him. Frasier does not sound like a universally beloved comedy with heart, wit, and a lot of fun — but reader, it is! It’s an amazing sitcom. There’s magic in this cadre of characters, from Frasier’s down-to-earth father’s insightful mocking of his impossibly snobby sons, to his brother Niles’ (the iconic David Hyde Pierce) paralyzing crush on the eccentric Daphne (Jane Leeves at her absolute best). 

This is not a show to watch if you’re looking for character development and personal growth. This is the show to watch if you want to see Frasier and Niles insist on throwing yet another elaborate dinner party, though all evidence points to their complete inability to do so without catastrophe. And best of all? Frasier has 11 seasons, so you don’t have to stop watching for months if you don’t want to!

How to Watch: Frasier is streaming on Paramount+.

10. The Good Fight

Always a pleasure to see Christine Baranski.
Credit: CBS

Though it’s a sequel to the CBS legal drama The Good Wife, there’s no need to do a marathon before starting The Good Fight. This spin-off stands firmly on its own two feet. In fact, The Good Fight has been so successful that many consider it superior to its predecessor. Christine Baranski is Diane Lockhart, Chicago’s top litigator. Immediately after announcing her  well-deserved retirement, a financial scandal involving her investment banker depletes her savings and endangers the career of her goddaughter (Rose Leslie). Uh oh — looks like Diane has no choice but to get back in the game! 

The Good Fight is a smart, engaging procedural drama that deftly puts nuanced topics like racial and social politics front and center. Supported by a cast that features heavy hitters like Audra MacDonald, Delroy Lindo, Paul Guilfoyle, and Bernadette Peters, Fight brings a fresh take and a clear point-of-view to the classic courtroom series format.

How to Watch: The Good Fight is streaming on Paramount+.

11. Everybody Hates Chris 

Inspired by Chris Rock’s childhood, Everybody Hates Chris is a lovable sitcom for the whole family. After his family moves to Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn, the young Chris has to learn to survive in his new school all the while taking care of his younger siblings and helping out his parents where he can. This is a lighthearted portrait of a type of family that does not often get the spotlight, one where the parents each have multiple jobs and the kids have to go to schools in distant neighborhoods to get an actual education. Because of this, Everybody Hates Chris is doing more work than your regular, run-of-the-mill sitcom. On top of everyday family squabbles, it highlights serious social issues, and it does so with a smile and a laugh. It’s smart, thought-provoking, and playful — everything you want from a comedy.

How to Watch: Everybody Hates Chris is streaming on Paramount+.

Asterisks (*) indicate the entry comes from another Mashable streaming list.

Fittingly, the first week of 2022 on TikTok was all about the 2010s. 

Between debates over the Twee aesthetic revival and revisiting old Snapchat memories, Pinterest boards, and songs from the mid-aughts, here’s what you need to know about the latest trends taking over your FYP. 

TikTok is Twee now

Speculation that the Twee aesthetic will come back in 2022 is sparking debate on TikTok. Popular trend analyst and forecaster Mandy Lee, known by her TikTok username @oldloserinbrooklyn, included Twee in her 2022 trend forecast video and in her 2022 fashion prediction video, provoking conversation about whether or not there will be a Twee renaissance this year.

The Twee aesthetic has roots in twee-pop, a subgenre of indie-pop that was popular in the 80s and 90s, and gained popularity in the mid aughts and persisted until the mid 2010s. The aesthetic is quaint, and it prides itself on being ironic and uncool, taking inspiration from mod 60s style and indie films. The aesthetic is playful and features shift dresses, fun collars, skirts, tights, and oxfords. Zooey Deschanel is the poster girl for the Twee aesthetic, so it is no surprise that her twee-pop song “Why Don’t You Let Me Stay Here?” is the sound TikTokkers are using to show off their Twee looks and discuss the plausibility of a Twee comeback. So far, over 5,000 videos have been made to the song, and the tag “twee” has over 40 million views.

TikTok users are collaborating to modernize the aesthetic by sharing which aspects of Twee should be brought back. For example, @amndanoe posted a video captioned “twee this twee that, I vote let’s just start dressing like it’s the late 60s/early 70s and not the cringy tumblr-ized version from the 2010s.” Other videos are more specific in depicting what they want 2022 Twee to look like. Users are also suggesting other trends that should come back instead of Twee, like the art hoe movement of the late 2010s.

Many creators have pointed out that the original trend was dominated by thin, white women. But if the Y2K revival is any indication, fashion trends can come back without the outdated, toxic culture surrounding them. Creators are already making Twee more inclusive. TikTokker @laurenlicup posted a video captioned, “trying out the twee aesthetic on a plus sized body.” 

TikTok creator @laurenlicup styling a Twee outfit.

Credit: TikTok / laurenlicup

Credit: TikTok / laurenlicup

The conversations surrounding the theoretical Twee revival reflect how TikTok allows fashion trends to be something we can all discuss and contribute to, rather than having them dictated to us by the fashion industry. 

Sharing very specific old photos

Twee isn’t the only thing being dragged out of its grave. Two trends have users digging up very old, cringeworthy photos. 

The first encourages users to post their Snapchat memories from the mid 2010s. Users are sharing their memories to @everythingmusic_ ‘s mash-up of songs from 2015, including bangers like “Hotline Bling” and “Antidote.” Over 38,000 videos have used the sound so far. 

The videos each say the year the Snapchat memories are from and sometimes include a descriptor of what the person’s vibe was that year. For example, @jillsejd’s video reads, “my 2016 snapchat memories but i was trying so hard to be like a beauty youtube girly.”

This style of photography takes me back!

Credit: TikTok / jillsejd

Credit: TikTok / jillsejd

The charm of this trend is that these Snapchats are total slice-of-life moments, and they’re visceral reminders of what was cool at the time. The trend capitalizes on the fact that the only thing the internet seems to agree on is that 2015-2018 was a particularly uncool period of time, and yet, we are deeply fond of it. 

Yet, the trend also makes a good argument for why Snapchat memories shouldn’t exist. We shouldn’t be reminded of some weird phase we went through seven years ago every single day. 

The other trend in the same vein emboldens users to share their old Tumblrs or Pinterest boards from the early 2010s. Like the Snapchat trend, these videos are set to a mash-up of bops from 2012. So far, over 50,000 videos have been uploaded using @dylanmarkmurphy‘s 2012 top hits audio, which features “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction and “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson. 

Between these two trends, chances are you’ll stumble across something that takes you back to the not-so-distant past. 

So hot you’re hurting my feelings 

The latest TikTok dance is not like the other TikTok dances. 

The dance is to Caroline Polachek’s 2019 song “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” and is based off her own choreography in the music video. Over 16,000 videos have been made to the song in the past several weeks, and Polachek even got in on the trend.

Unlike other TikTok dances, “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” is accessible to the everyman and doesn’t require much skill. Like all the best TikTok trends, the dance thrived in queer TikTok spaces for the past four weeks before finally making its way to the mainstream this week. The song and its accompanying dance are a satisfying and wonderful serotonin boost.

SAVE UP TO 40%: As of Jan. 7, planners from Global Printed Products are up to 40% off at Amazon. Grab a new planner or agenda and get organized for the new year.

New year, new you? It can be hard to fit all your 2022 resolutions into your schedule. While plenty of folks are fine using virtual calendars, others might have more success with a physical planner.

Whether you want to dream big in 2022 or just keep track of your life as it is, these options can help you organize your life by the month, day, and even hour. Save up to 40% on these picks (and plenty of others) at Amazon as of Jan. 7.

2022 Pocket Planner/Pocket Calendar — $8.97

Why we like it

This compact pocket planner is four by seven inches in size and comes in black, blue, brown, and teal. It has weekly and monthly pages. The weekly pages are printed two pages per week. All of the days, including Saturday and Sunday, have the same amount of space. Monthly pages are printed two pages per month and there are mini calendars for each month in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

7 x 9 Monthly and Weekly 2022 Planner — $10.77

Why we like it

This planner is a lot like a bullet journal — perfect for a minimalist. It’s printed on thick paper designed to prevent bleed through, and has frosted vinyl covers for durability. It also has a column format, so each day offers hourly scheduling from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., along with flex space for each day. You’ll also get sticky notes and ruler.

2022 Planner 8 x 10 inches — $11.37

Why we like it

This pick is very similar to the pocket planner: It has the same weekly and monthly pages. However, it’s larger than the pocket planner at eight by 10 inches. It also has a flexible water resistant cover with an elastic closure and a stitched-in page marker.

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