OnelifeTechnology

Disaster has struck—an unwanted piece of malware took root on your computer. So what's your next step? While the potential damage viruses can cause shouldn't be underestimated, you might be able to get your computer back on its feet without too much difficulty, thanks to an array of helpful tools at your disposal. We're using the term malware to refer to all kinds of computer nasties, from viruses to ransomware to adware. While each of these threats have their own definitions, the terms are often used interchangeably, and can mean different things to different people. So for simplicity's sake, when we say malware, we mean everything you don't want on your computer, from a virus that tries to delete your files to an adware program that's tracking your web browsing. With so many types of malware and so many different system setups out there, we can't cover every specific scenario. But we can give you some general pointers to get you on your way ...

Researchers at Osaka University are claiming to have fired the most powerful laser in the world. The 2-petawatt (two quadrillion watt) pulse lasted just one picosecond (a trillionth of a second). For a rough comparison, in 2013, a 50 kilowatt (50,000 watt) laser shot down a drone two kilometers away. Osaka's mega-powerful laser is called LFEX, or Laser for Fast Ignition Experiments, and measures more than 300 feet long. While two petawatts is a formidable amount of power, the idea of a petawatt laser isn’t new. The United States has a few of their own, notably a one-petawatt laser at the University of Texas at Austin. Michael Donovan, associate director for the Texas Petawatt, says that it’s important to remember when talking about lasers of this size that, while the power output is immense, the energy used is actually very little. “The energy of the Texas Petawatt, 150 to 200 Joules, is about that in a cup of coffee or a very hard tennis serve,” Donovan ...

If you're a person who's obsessed with getting a good deal, you probably already know what's happening tomorrow. If not, allow me to give you the good news: it's Amazon Prime Day Eve. That means tomorrow, July 11, thousands of products will go on sale on Amazon. Sound overwhelming? Don't worry, I'm about to break it down. What is Prime Day? Prime Day is essentially Amazon's second Black Friday on which the retailer offers thousands of deals on products ranging from Dustbusters to TVs to crop tops to spatulas. It all starts today, July 10 at 6 p.m. PST (that's 9 p.m. for East Coasters), and goes for 30 hours. A fresh wave of deals hits every five minutes, which means there are tons of bargains in the proverbial hopper. Yes, you must be a member of Amazon Prime ($10.99 monthly or $100 for the year) to take advantage of the deals. Sign up here, if you are not a member. We'll be highlighting the very best deals throughout the day in our Facebo...

“Turn here. Take the dirt road on the right. You’ve got to see this.” I park my rental car, and Rick Gaitskell directs me to a makeshift wooden observation deck overlooking the Trojan mine in Lead, South Dakota, just a mile down the road from his home. In the thickening twilight, we watch a phalanx of Caterpillar earth­movers scooping up and carting away chunks of a mountain, creating a large terraced pit. Nearby, a flat-crested ridge rises where the trucks have recently piled up rock from an earlier dig. Their piercing headlights mirror the glow of Venus, hovering just above the horizon. “It’s incredible,” Gaitskell says. “There’s no stopping it. They are literally moving mountains in search of gold.” I try to read his expression in the dim light. At first, I assume he is expressing camaraderie with the diggers at the Trojan site. Technically speaking, he is a physics professor at Brown University, but it isn’t much of a stretch to say that he is also a fellow prospector. Gaitsk...