DATING APPS GO VIRAL

Thanks to the growing popularity of apps like Tinder, one in five relationships now begins online. But users might find more than romance when they swipe right. In 2014, sexually transmitted disease rates in Rhode Island reached a 10-year high. Cases of gonorrhea alone rose 30 percent (in the state’s relatively small population), mirroring a…

A DRONE THAT FLIES AND FILMS FOR YOU

Shooting aerial footage from a drone is tricky. Pilots have to worry about throttle, pitch, yaw, and roll of the drone. When filming, they also need to consider camera focus and gimbal axis. The 3DR Solo Drone automates those chores, leaving you free to take killer shots of any scene. With more than a dozen…

There’s a big catch to the HIV prevention pill some are calling ‘100% effective’

A little blue pill called Truvada could effectively prevent people from ever getting HIV — but only if they use it perfectly. A study published this week in Clinical Infectious Diseases followed 657 patients who took Truvada, a prophylactic that protects against HIV, for almost three years. The participants were HIV-negative, but at high risk of contracting the virus.…

Here’s why all fast-food signs are red

When you see that bright-red McDonald’s roof, do you get hungry? The going popular theory is that brands like McDonald’s and Burger King use the color red in their logos and around their stores because it revs up people’s appetites, making them hungry, which therefore makes them more likely to enter the store and then…

HOW TO TURN A RAINY DAY INTO ART

Seattle artist Peregrine Church uses rain as his medium. By stenciling images and words on the sidewalk in water-repellent spray, he creates Rainworks—art pieces that appear only when it’s wet outside. Instead of shelling out $45 for the paint Church uses, you can follow the lead of DIYer Dan Rojas to make your own. Rojas…