The process is known as bacterial conjugation and as the name implies, involves the merging of two bacterial cells allowing for transfer of genetic material. In most cases, the genes are found on plasmids, which are not part of the genome but rather separate entities capable of producing a variety of proteins. Plasmid exchange can happen between bacteria of the same species and in some cases, two different species. Conjugation occurs in all environments and as a result, is extremely difficult to control....

Still, troops on operations, particularly special forces soldiers, will lose weight if they expend more energy than they get from the calories they ingest. So their militaries provide snacks in addition to their meal rations. But French soldiers apparently don’t much like these, so instead they buy candy bars. Now imagine the state of one of these bars after it has spent a few hours stuffed into a sweaty pocket or jammed into a backpack in intense hot or cold conditions: squashed, sticky, crushed into crumbs, melted, or—on the contrary—frozen solid....

These spheres streak through the plasma between the sun’s surface and corona (atmosphere), according to a recent report in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The heliophysicists who made the observation christened them “cannonballs” because they trace out arcs as they fly (and, presumably, because it sounds super cool). The unconfirmed phenomenon could help explain the ungodly temperatures found in the sun’s upper atmosphere, among other mysteries of plasma physics. The action goes down in the sun’s chromosphere, which starts where the photosphere (the part that will blind you) ends, and extends to the corona (the wispy atmosphere visible during an eclipse)....

Dubbed the “autonomy core system,” or ACS, the new robot control system is crucial to the Air Force’s ominously named Skyborg program—an AI that can pilot an airplane to fight and fly alongside human pilots, and learn in the process. This initial test was flown over the same Tyndall Air Force Base that previously experimented with the four-legged Ghost robots for base security. Before Skyborg flies alongside human-inhabited planes, the Air Force wants it to master the basics, which was the point of the April test....

Looking for the complete list of 100 winners? Check it out here. Grand Award Winner: The MacBook’s back, baby Back in 2019, Apple announced its intentions to break up with Intel, the company that had been supplying the CPUs for Macs since 2006. Then, at the end of 2020, Cupertino announced the M1. It’s a system-on-a-chip, which means one silicon slab contains the CPU, graphics processor, system memory, machine learning hardware, and just about everything else a computer needs to operate....

Here are a few of the best fitness trackers currently on the market. Best overall: Apple Watch Series 6 The latest iteration of the Apple Watch has some fantastic features for fitness fiends. You’ll be provided with your blood oxygen levels and heart rhythm, thanks to a built-in ECG. You’ll be encouraged to get out of your chair and move around, and you’ll have whatever activity you choose to do tracked down to the smallest detail....

Best overall: beyerdynamic DT 1990Best for DJs: Sony MDR-7506Best wireless: AKG K371-BTBest audiophile: Sennheiser HD 800 SBest in-ear monitors: Etymotic ER4XRBest budget: Audio-Technica ATH-M20x The best mixing headphones: Reviews & Recommendations Ideal mixing headphones will unveil new sonic detail and reconnect you with music as it was intended to sound—whether that’s your own mixes or your favorite playlists. Here are some of the best mixing headphones for a variety of scenarios....

Best overall: Upright GO 2 Posture CorrectorBest rounded-shoulders: Evoke Pro Back Posture CorrectorBest for back posture: BetterBack Posture CorrectorBest for neck posture: FlexGuard Posture CorrectorBest budget: Comfy Brace Posture Corrector Best posture correctors: Reviews & recommendations The best posture corrector will provide support for your back and neck and offer comfort and pain relief. Once you have a better understanding of where you need the most support, the type of brace you’d like to wear and where you’ll be wearing it most, you’ll be one step closer to better posture....

Best for lowering inflammation: Mount Lai Gua ShaBest for starting a routine: The Youth System by Youth to the PeopleBest for lips: Burt’s Bees Lip Passion SetBest for a day out: Supergoop! Mineral SheerscreenBest for a night in: Let’s Do This Sheet Sheetmask SetBest for bringing the spa to you: NuFACE Trinity Complete Facial Toning KitBest for treating sun damage: Drunk Elephant A-Passioni Retinol CreamBest for the clean freak: FOREO LUNA 3 Facial Cleansing BrushBest for the early bird: Drunk Elephant Wake Up Haul Day KitBest for hydration: The Water Cream by TatchaBest for the guy on the go: Jack Black Jetsetter SetBest for his full body refreshment: MALIN + GOETZ Essential Starter Kit Best for the beard-grower: Harry’s Winston Shaving Holiday Set...

One way to step up is by getting into science illustration. Drawing in nature is fun and soul-stirring—take it from the rich white boys of the Hudson River School—but it also requires some knowledge of (and love for) biology. The subtleties in a mushroom’s gills or dragonfly’s wing membrane can make all the difference when you have to give your subject a name, and mastery of shapes can make or break a final masterpiece....

The COVID-19 pandemic is a fast-moving target. Each week, doctors identify novel aspects of the viral infection, researchers discover new potential treatments, and officials implement new tactics to tackle the microscopic beast. Here’s the most important information you need to know this week. The CDC added six new official symptoms of COVID-19. Chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and new loss of taste or smell have all been reported in enough patients with COVID-19 to warrant inclusion on the CDC’s list of symptoms....

While this decision is being portrayed as the EU regulating smartphones, the new ruling covers a much wider range of “small and medium-sized portable electronic devices.” Any cell phone, tablet, e-reader, earbuds, digital camera, headphones, headset, handheld video game console, or portable speaker that has a rechargeable battery that’s charged over a wire (rather than, say, a dedicated charging dock or wirelessly) will have to have a USB-C port, regardless of the manufacturer....

Loco Loco will track your friends on a map by picking up GPS signals from other Android phones, so you can search for nearby parties. Locale Set your phone to change settings based on your location. You can make your ringer automatically switch to “vibrate” when you’re at work and then back to “normal” when you’re at home. Google has singled out this application for funding. Geolife This app will send you reminders based on location instead of time....

Relatively soon after humans decided that we liked living in groups, instead of in panda-style isolation, we came up with ways to value what we had—and make people pay for it. We bartered cattle and grain until the Lydians—the Bronze Age inhabitants of what is modern-day Turkey—realized those were hard to stuff into a wallet, and introduced government-minted coins. It turned out coins were still a pain to carry around, so eventually they evolved into the paper money we all use today....

Looking for the complete list of 100 winners? Check it out here. Innovation of the Year The James Webb Space Telescope by NASA: A game-changing new instrument to see the cosmos Once a generation, an astronomical tool arrives that surpasses everything that came before it. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is just such a creation. After more than two decades and $9.7 billion in the making, JWST launched on December 25, 2021....

Since 1889, countries who are members of the General Conference on Weights and Measures have agreed to use a standard block of metal—kept near Paris—to define the kilogram. But although the modern block is stored in a highly controlled environment, its weight can change by tiny amounts as wear and tear causes it to lose mass and dirt causes it to increase. To address this problem, scientists around the world have spent nearly two decades discussing how the kilogram could instead be defined in relation to constant measurements of nature....

While Earth has not been this warm in human history, we can learn about coping with climate change by looking to the Classic Maya civilization that thrived between A.D. 250-950 in Eastern Mesoamerica, the region that is now Guatemala, Belize, Eastern Mexico, and parts of El Salvador and Honduras. Many people believe that the ancient Maya civilization ended when it mysteriously “collapsed.” And it is true that the Maya faced many climate change challenges, including extreme droughts that ultimately contributed to the breakdown of their large Classic Period city-states....

Lightroom is designed for photographers. The desktop version provides an end-to-end workflow that starts by helping you organize and tag your photos upon import. It has an extensive range of editing tools and preset options, and then you can export photos with settings that match your specific purpose. Just this week, Adobe announced that users can finally export images to TIFF files directly from Lightroom, which is another step toward making it an all-in-one solution....

The Omicron variant was first reported in southern Africa last week, though it was likely already present in multiple other countries and it’s unclear where it originated. The new variant, which the WHO has declared a “variant of concern” has a high number of mutations that might make it more transmissible, similar to the Delta variant, which accounts for nearly all of the COVID-19 cases in the US currently. Definite knowledge of the transmission of Omicron will take some time to understand, including whether current vaccines are less effective against it....

It might seem like the lava in some of these pictures has fully solidified, but in some places underneath that black solid-looking surface is still a good amount of molten lava, as you can see in the thermal image below of the leading edge of the lava flow. The purple and red colors are cooler temperatures, while the yellow and white indicate very high temperatures, where the flow is more active....