The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recently purchased machinery to remove concentrations of hazardous substances known as PFAS. The high-tech system works by injecting outdoor air into contaminated water, turning PFAS into foam that can be separated from the water. It’s one of a growing number of devices that are helping make water safer. “Less than one percent of the Earth’s surface area is actually freshwater,” Prakash Govindan, co-founder of Gradiant, a company that makes water purification technology, told Lifewire in an email interview....

The F6 is an SLR camera, just like today’s DSLR, only without the D for “digital.” It packs in all the modern features you’re accustomed to, only it records its images on 35mm film instead of a digital sensor. It’s incredible that Nikon was still making them and selling them new. Ironically, its demise comes at a time when film photography is more popular than it has been in years....

There’s a lot to love about the Oculus Quest 2. The standalone, wireless headset is easily the best VR experience for the majority of buyers, packing in solid power, a great screen, and quality games at the fantastic price of $299. But there are a couple of downgrades from the original, pricier Oculus Quest model, and the flimsy strap is chief among them. While certainly usable, the Quest 2’s included fabric strap isn’t particularly effective at keeping the headset firmly and comfortably positioned on your face....

Wendy’s is moving into the metaverse by opening its first virtual reality store. The fast-food chain will be available on Meta’s Horizon Worlds VR platform. It’s part of a growing move by stores and restaurants to stake a claim in the metaverse, a collection of virtual shared spaces. “You may not be able to taste in the Metaverse, but you can certainly use your other senses and emotions, and this is something that brands have done for decades to connect with customers,” Jason Yim, the CEO of Trigger XR, a mixed reality agency, told Lifewire in an email interview....

Important Storage Drive Terms Before diving into the differences between the two types of drives, you should first understand a few of the terms and acronyms that are used. SSD: Solid-state drive. This is a type of storage medium that doesn’t have moving parts. This yields longer lifespans and better performance than traditional spinning hard disk drives.PCIe: Peripheral component interconnect express. PCIe may also be known as PCI Express. This is a slot on the motherboard used to connect everything from graphics cards to solid-state drives....

When Will the PlayStation Mobile Controller Be Released? Video Games Chronicle first reported the patent in late November 2021. You can check out the Sony patent here. The source doesn’t have any details about a release date because all the patent includes are drawings and lots of text about how it works. It says it has a “left side grip portion and a right side grip portion gripped by the left and right hands of the user, and a direction button and an operation button arranged on the front surface of the controller....

Start With Page-Per-Minute Ratings When looking for a new printer, review the device manufacturer’s online specification for its pages per minute (ppm) rating. Keep in mind that ppm ratings typically depict printing under perfect conditions, usually with documents consisting of unformatted black text sent to the printer. As you add formatting, color, graphics, and images, print speeds slow down. Typically, the color-ink ppm rating is half that of the black-ink ppm rating....

The best mini PCs take up less desk space, yet they still offer enough power and performance to serve your needs. Raspberry Pi computers aren’t typically known for their processing power, but they serve as an affordable way to create a personal computer, home automation system, streaming media player, or gaming system with just a little bit of research and understanding of how the Pi system functions. The most recent iteration of the Raspberry Pi, the Raspberry Pi 400, has better processing and the Pi computer built right into a keyboard....

What Is an RPM File? A file with the RPM file extension is a Red Hat package manager file that’s used to store installation packages on Linux operating systems. These files provide an easy way for software to be distributed, installed, upgraded, and removed since they’re “packaged” in one place. Completely unrelated to what Linux uses them for, RPM is also the file extension used for plug-ins by the RealPlayer software to add additional features to the program....

Not every web search engine works the same way, but most are crawler-based, meaning they actively seek the web for pages to add to their index. The search engine is what you use to quickly look up information from the index and display the results on the page. Search engines are the primary method for browsing the web, and there are many kinds that are built for finding specific information....

When Apple updates the OS and Disk Utility to include general support for a Fusion drive, you’ll be able to create your own Fusion drive easily. In the meantime, you can accomplish the same thing using Terminal. Fusion Drive: an Overview In October 2012, Apple introduced iMacs and Mac minis with a new storage option: the Fusion drive. A Fusion drive is actually two drives in one. The original included a 128 GB SSD (Solid State Drive) and a standard 1 TB or 3 TB platter-based hard drive....

What Is an STP File? A file with the .STP or .STEP file extension is most likely a STEP 3D CAD file saved in the Standard for the Exchange of Product Data (STEP) format. They contain information regarding 3D objects and are typically used to transfer 3D data between different CAD and CAM programs. Other STP files could be RoboHelp Stop List files, which are plain text files that contains a list of words the associated Smart Index wizard should ignore when making a search index for help docs....

Sure, you’ll spend a lot more if you want the latest Wi-Fi 6 features or need to cover an extremely large home, but for many people these features are overkill, and if all you need is a router that can keep up with 4K streaming in your apartment, condo, or small bungalow, there are lot of solid and reliable options available that provide more than enough performance for all but the busiest families....

Our list begins with apps that let you explore alternatives, moves to apps that help you organize your concepts, continues with apps to help you find perfect pieces, and concludes with apps that let you map out each exquisite detail. Great place to begin your decorating journey What We Don’t Like Quantity of options may overwhelm If you like to look at designs, you can spend hours browsing the photo-filled pages of the free Houzz app for kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, and more....

When it comes to a good-quality DVD Recorder/VHS VCR combination, you can expect more than just the basic facilities. Many of them allow you to upscale your media, meaning anything previously recorded in a lower resolution can be changed to more accurately fit modern TVs. Physical media continues to be on its way out, and these devices are becoming increasingly difficult to come by, but we’ve gathered some of the best models still available....

You’ll want to consider the size of your tracker as well as the overall battery life. Depending on what you’re trying to keep track of, you may want something that can potentially go several weeks without the need to recharge. Another consideration is your options when it comes to data plans. Some require existing data plans with another carrier, whereas others have more flexible options. If you want a clearer picture of how GPS functions and can help keep track of your stuff, our guide can help fill you in before looking at our best GPS trackers....

When hoverboards first hit the scenes, many of them were fraught with battery issues. That’s a nice way of saying that they caught fire. Fortunately, that was a long time ago, and since then safety standards have been put into place to make hoverboards as safe as possible. Specifically, UL2272 certification ensures the hoverboards are safe from the faults of earlier models. Every hoverboard in our list meets that certification....

The most important feature when talking about any encrypted email service is whether or not other people can access your messages, and the answer is a solid no when it comes to ProtonMail, as it features end-to-end encryption. Nobody can decrypt ProtonMail messages without your unique password—not even employees at ProtonMail, their ISP, your ISP, or the government. ProtonMail is so secure that it can’t recover your emails if you forget your password....

Thankfully these dedicated devices are relatively inexpensive, with models like the XEZ1H1 Onyx offering remarkably affordable access points for satellite radio. Installation in the vehicle is super easy with the included vehicle kit (adapter, antenna, etc.) that allows you transfer between cars all on a single subscription. The full-color display will showcase album art, channel logos and graphics to add some visual appeal. The Onyx Plus offers “SiriusXM Xtra,” which includes more music and entertainment channels, plus SiriusXM Latino....

Learning a new language with an app is particularly helpful because you’ll always have those directions at your fingertips. Even a few minutes waiting for an appointment, or 15 minutes in the back of an Uber, gives you time to complete a lesson. Whether you’re learning a language to be able to order a meal on your next vacation, communicate with a friend in her preferred language, or to simply add a skill set to your resume, these apps are a great way to reach your goal....