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Defy The Cable Company With A DIY HDTV Antenna

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Frustrated by years of expensive cable bills, Norm Sutaria ditched his set-top box and used online instructions to build a homemade HDTV antenna. Then the education specialist shared his newfound expertise with a class at Brooklyn Brainery, a crowd-sourced education space in New York City. Popular Science sat in to learn how to nab affordable, high-resolution television. Design Students in Sutaria’s class built either a 32-inch “bow tie antenna,” reminiscent of the classic rabbit ears, or an eight-inch “fractal antenna,” pictured here, which is more compact and slightly harder to make. Assembly Both designs were simple: a few pieces of copper wire arranged on a block of wood using nails and washers. The wires pick up HDTV signals and send them to the television via a matching transformer. Background Sutaria explained that the electromagnetic waves that make up HDTV signals vary from 174 to 806 megahertz, falling within the spectrum of radio waves. In this span,...
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11 easy ways you can help save the planet this Earth Day

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Back in 2016, Gina McCarthy—the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency at the time—sat down with PopSci to talk about why Earth Day still matters. When the holiday first took place on April 22, 1970, pollution was a visible threat (in fact, you can see what per-EPA America looked like right here, and it wasn’t pretty). McCarthy argued that even though our air and water may be much cleaner than it was more than 40 years ago, Earth Day is more important than ever: we can’t see the greenhouse gases that threaten the future of our world as we know it, which makes the danger easier to ignore than smokestacks spewing black into the sky. Two years later, the EPA is under different leadership—and scientists are suing the agency for its attempts to roll back vital environmental protections. With carbon emissions climbing, temperatures rising, and weather getting weirder all over, it can feel like the existential threat of our changing climate is impossible to stop. If t...
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China's J-31 stealth fighter gets an improved prototype—and a potential future on a carrier

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The improved J-31 stealth fighter prototype has been ramping up its test flights in April 2017, adding fuel to speculation that it will become the stealth fighter for Chinese aircraft carriers. Back in October 2012, China became the second country in the world (after the United States) to have multiple fifth-generation stealth programs, as the first FC-31/J-31 stealth fighter (FC-31 is the export designation) made its maiden flight. Built by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC), the twin-engine J-31 is roughly the same size as the American F-35, with a range of 775 miles, a maximum takeoff weight of 28 tons, and a Mach 1.8 top speed. If it enters Chinese service, it would replace single-engine J-10s as a medium fighter, and possibly become a stealth fighter on China's aircraft carriers. Initially, there have been substantial doubts about the viability of the J-31 program. The first prototype did not fly with advanced avionics like an infrared search and track (IRS...
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How to choose the right laptop for you

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You'd be forgiven for feeling a little bewildered by the huge choice of laptops on the market. After all, dozens of manufacturers are pushing out dozens of new models every year. The best way of finding the perfect laptop for your needs is to know what your options are. We're here to explain these choices in all the categories that matter. 1. Choose portability versus power Every laptop is a compromise between portability and power, and they all vary on where they draw that line. A faster and more capable machine needs bigger components and more room to keep them cool—which means it will end up larger, heavier, and more battery-draining than a less powerful computer. As portable computing power has improved over the last few years, this compromise has become less of an issue. Decent processors and graphics chips now slip into very svelte laptop frames. However, it's still true that if you want a laptop capable of the most demanding tasks—gaming and video edit...
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How to recycle your phone no matter where you live

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No matter how fond we grow of our pocket computers, there comes a time in every smartphone owner's life when it's time to bite the bullet and opt for an upgrade. And that poses the question of what to do with your outdated handset. Quick tip: don't dump it straight into the trash. Electronic waste, or e-waste, can leak harmful chemicals into the environment, so you don't want it sitting in a landfill. The best way to dispose of your device is through an official recycling program, one which will make sure all the components are dealt with properly. Unlike regular trash and recycling, you can't put your e-waste out for curbside pickup, so proper disposal will vary depending on where you live. Read on to learn about accessible options across the US. Just remember to get rid of any private data on that device before you hand it over. The big names in phones all have recycling programs of their own that you can take advantage of, no matter which state you...
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