Collins Dictionary, publishing dictionaries now for two centuries, announced its 2019 “word of the year” on Thursday.
It’s a term whose usage increased by a whopping 100-fold between 2018 and 2019, according to Collins’ lexicographers, and since 2013 has been employed four times as much.
In mid-September 2019, Google Trends shows searches for the term skyrocketed to their highest levels ever. The word, or term, is “climate strike.”
And it’s quite relevant. Earth’s climate has experienced 18 of the 19 warmest years on record since 2000, and in 2019 scientists recorded the hottest month in 140 years of reliable record-keeping. Read more…
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has finally named a culprit behind the mysterious lung illness tied to vape use that’s been making headlines since the summer.
A new report identifies vitamin E acetate as a cause of the illness that has come to be identified as EVALI. The CDC reached that determination after 29 EVALI patients from 10 different states were tested, and the offending substance showed up in every result.
“Vitamin E acetate is used as an additive in the production of e-cigarette, or vaping, products,” the report notes. “This is the first time that we have detected a potential chemical of concern in biologic samples from patients with these lung injuries.” Read more…
More about Vaping, Vape, Thc, Vape Disease, and Science
‘Flygskam’ is a compound of the Swedish words ‘flyg’, which means flight, and ‘skam’ – shame. There, the movement is already changing people’s flying habits. More and more travelers are replacing planes with trains.
Now, ‘flygskam’ is making ripples around the world. So here are some ways you can reduce your carbon footprint if you truly have to fly. Read more…
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TL;DR: Experience the sheer joy of sleeping in ultra cozy bamboo sheets — this 4-piece queen sheet set is just $32.99, a 69% savings.
Sadly, you can’t wave a magic wand to improve your sleeping habits. But something as straightforward as changing your bedding could be a step in the right direction. It makes sense: if you’re uncomfortable, you’re probably not getting the best sleep. And what better time to make the move than Black Friday month? (Yes, it has an entire month now.)
Sleeping soundly all starts with laying on cozy, breathable materials, and these Bamboo Comfort 4-Piece Luxury Sheet Sets deliver exactly that. Read more…
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Teenage girl trends can be an ever-changing hellscape. From VSCO, to Nike Air Force 1s (but only the white ones), to saying things like “sksksk” and “And I oop” as a reaction to literally everything, it’s a confusing world.
Funneling those trends into a gift that she’ll like and use for longer than a month seems nearly impossible, but plopping $50 in an envelope is basically code for “I don’t get you at all.”
SEE ALSO:Gifts for her 2019: Best gifts for the lady in your life
But you know who does get teenage girls? Other teenage girls. We asked our families, our staff, and the internet what the teenage girls in their life have on their 2019 holiday lists. The top five most-mentioned items were: AirPods, the iPhone 11, Sephora gift cards, Nike Air Force 1s, and scrunchies. Read more…
More about Apple, Fashion, Teenagers, Mashable Shopping, and Vsco Girls
Less than a week after the short-term rental site banned party houses in response to a shooting at one, another party house listing reportedly became the scene of an armed robbery.
Atlanta police are investigating after a group of masked men with guns entered a house rented on Airbnb for what may have been a belated Halloween party. The robbers, who showed up at 2:30 a.m. and came in through an unlocked door, struck two of the victims before shouting at the rest to get on the floor.
“The suspects went throughout the home taking cell phones, wallets, and Nike shoes before fleeing the scene,” according to a police statement provided to Mashable. One victim was taken to the hospital; their injuries are unknown. Read more…
Instagram will soon be expanding one of its biggest and most controversial experiments: hiding the number of likes on a post.
The service will expand the long-running test, which hides like counts from public-facing parts of the app, to the U.S. starting next week, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri announced Friday.
The test is still an experiment, so not all U.S.-based Instagram users will see their like counts disappearing overnight when it goes into effect next week. But to hear Instagram tell it, the move marks of one of the company’s most aggressive steps yet to make its platform a friendlier place for younger users. Read more…
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There is at least one type of content that Facebook will unequivocally police.
The social media giant has reportedly been blocking, and in some cases removing, posts to its platform that purport to name the national security whistleblower who kicked off the current impeachment-related investigation into President TrumpAccording to Reuters, the company announced the move Friday following the posting of an article that claims to identify the whistleblower.
We reached out to Facebook to confirm this report, but received no immediate response. Still, the action wouldn’t be surprising — the company said in a statement to PCMag that naming the alleged whistleblower is in violation of its policies. Read more…
More about Facebook, Donald Trump, Tech, and Big Tech Companies
We need to talk about AirPods Pro tips. The actual ear tips.
Those soft silicone pieces are one of the biggest design changes Apple introduced with the first “pro” version of its AirPods. It’s the reason the newest AirPods are both more comfortable and able to block out ambient noise.
Apple encourages you to experiment with different sized tips in order to get the right fit (and there’s an elaborate “ear tip ft test” meant to help you accomplish just that). But what’s less clear upon busting open your new box of AirPods is that the tips work a bit differently than the earbuds you’re used to. Read more…
More about Tech, Gadgets, Airpods, Airpods Pro, and Tech
Waymo’s Austin, Texas, office is closing, but since there wasn’t any self-driving testing happening there anyway, it’s more of a relocation hassle for its employees and contractors than a full-blown shutdown. Austin is where Waymo lists the first fully self-driving ride on public roads in its first Firefly vehicle in 2015.
Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car unit that spun out of Google, tests its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans and more recently, electric Jaguar I-Pace compact SUVs, in the Bay Area, as well as other parts of California, Phoenix, Detroit, and elsewhere in the country. Phoenix is the only location where Waymo One, the publicly (but limitedly) available robo-taxi service, picks up riders. Read more…
More about Self Driving Cars, Waymo, Tech, and Transportation