Just the facts, ma’am: Consensus is an AI search engine for finding gems in research papers. A free account includes unlimited searches. Neat!
Find your family tree without compromising your data
Seven million 23andMe customers thought they were just getting insights into their family history — instead, they got their data hacked.
It went beyond names and addresses. Hackers got their hands on DNA genotypes, predispositions to certain conditions and carrier status. And they were able to hunt down genetic relatives for millions of 23andMe customers. So scary.
Here’s the good news. You can research your family history without handing over your DNA. I found ancestry resources, and none are paid family tree research sites collecting a ton of personal data.
Start with a free site
Get started with these research tools, and remember — you’re in control of what info you hand over.
- AccessGenealogy: An online directory of digital genealogy resources. They specialize in Native American genealogy research and have helpful links for pre-Civil War African-American genealogy research. Some of the sites they link to are paid — but they indicate it with a dollar sign. Otherwise, it’s all free and doesn’t require registration (links to other sites might!)
- The Statue of Liberty — Ellis Island Foundation: Know your family came through Ellis Island? Use the site’s passenger search function to find the tens of millions of Americans who had at least one ancestor pass through the port.
- FamilySearch: From the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, this platform includes a collaborative family tree tool and is free for anyone (regardless of religious affiliation). Note: You choose what data you share — just keep in mind it could be shared with third parties or the Mormon churches near you.
Then, head to these libraries
They’re for more than your next book club read. Local and statewide libraries and historical and genealogical societies host a wealth of knowledge resources.
- HeritageQuest: This tool is offered for free by thousands of public and state libraries. It’s an online database, but you must visit a physical library and use your library card to access it!
- Digital Public Library of America: This one is technically a library, but it’s free to access online, no library card necessary! You can search for family names or ask cool questions like “What did downtown Memphis look like in the 1910s when my family lived there?”
Go deeper with public records and community archives
- The National Archives: These archives include Census, military service, immigration and naturalization records. You might hit gold at county courthouses, which have even more records, such as deeds, wills and land. Some statewide archives have county-level records, too.
- Find A Grave: A subset of Ancestry, browse this free community record of cemeteries and pay your virtual respects. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also hosts a Gravesite Locator for veterans.
So … what about DNA testing?
Automakers want to get rid of AM radio
When I was growing up, my dad worked for United Airlines, and I traveled a lot. I would always sneak a portable AM radio in my backpack, and as the plane crisscrossed the country, I would tune into various stations along the way. Never would I have imagined what that little hobby would become for me.
🗿 I love this story, but I don’t know Y: A team who discovered a lost civilization’s alphabet on a fifth-century B.C. slate slab posted a pic on X. The rock caught the eye of a part-time researcher, who recognized a symbol as the Paleohispanic letter “i.” He’s been invited to join the official research team. Maybe X isn’t all that bad? Wait, yeah, it is.
$5 million
Fine for fake plastic surgery reviews. Seattle-based Dr. Javad Sajan will pay restitution to 21,000 victims after he forced them to sign nondisclosure agreements and threatened them when they left bad reviews. If you’re getting a life-changing procedure, do your research — and not just on the doc’s website.
Big Tech is tracking your emails
I have three different work email addresses — and a Gmail address I set up when it launched in 2004. I could never score the handle again today, but after 20 years, that inbox is a mess.
It’s become my disposable email address for coupon codes, free signups and newsletters — pretty much, the nonessential things in my digital life.
When a bot is not a bot: People are calling folks a “bot” when they don’t agree with them or they question their intelligence. It’s getting political, too. Research shows it’s largely left-leaners hurling it at right-leaners who speak up on social media.
70% increase in cancer
In young people, and Red Bull might be to blame. Researchers believe taurine (one of the main ingredients in energy drinks) is used as a primary energy source for cancer cells. More research is coming, but this is scary. Talk to your people.
AI chatbot Perplexity has a new feature: You might like Perplexity if you haven’t tried it already. Its new trick is that you can type in a prompt and it’ll research, write and lay out an entire report. All the teachers just groaned.
🌞 Sun-spiracy: Some popular influencers don’t believe the sun causes skin cancer (WSJ, paywalled); instead, they blame sunscreen. Research proves sunscreen protects you from cancer — it doesn’t cause it. I posted a pic of me by the pool the other day. I can’t believe some people didn’t get my sunscreen pun in the caption. Please tell me you do!
2-hour flight
Travel time from NYC to London by 2030. Research from the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority says traveling at supersonic speeds is coming … fast. The expected time flying from London to Sydney? Just two hours. In no time at all, you could be joining an Australian game party in the LAN down under.
I vote for puns and pundits: Bipartisan lawmakers in Washington, D.C., finally drafted an AI plan — a 31-page “roadmap” that includes $32 billion of research and development. Then, the plan is to hand off the legislative work to Senate committees. I’m seriously thinking I should volunteer to help them out.
💻 That’s cray-cray: The U.S. government is auctioning off a decommissioned Cheyenne supercomputer. This 145,152-core rig was once used for scientific research and ranked as the 20th most powerful in the world in 2016. The current bid at the time I wrote this was $100,000, and the auction closes on May 5, if you’re in the market. But beware: There are issues with its cooling system.
🥽 VR therapy: New research indicates VR can mimic the mood-boosting effects of outdoor activities, exercise and socializing for people with major depressive disorders. This could be a huge win, especially for those who struggle to leave the house.
🕷️ Creepin’ it real: A University of Nebraska-Lincoln student used AI and cheap mics to make a scientific breakthrough. He found wolf spiders prefer to signal to each other on top of crunchy, dead leaves instead of bark. Sounds small, but this kind of research used to take thousands of hours and lots of expensive equipment! Super cool.
Worse than a cheat meal: Poor sleep derails your diet on a cellular level. New research shows bad sleep slows your metabolism and messes with how your body processes sugars and fats. You know the drill, folks: Get at least 7 hours of shuteye, and cut out the late-night scrolling.
Research from the University of Ottawa shows Gen Xers and baby boomers can’t quite nail the usage of some emojis. The “wide eyes” 😳 emoji? Might as well be hieroglyphics. And “happiness” 😃😀 emojis? I have to say, it’s hard to know which smiley to use and when. Pro tip: Most people see this one as totally fake: 🙂
Subpar screens: Samsung’s latest panels are a mix of QD-OLED and WOLED, but good luck figuring out which you’re buying. Samsung wouldn’t shut up about how QD-OLED’s colors pop more, and now silence. Why? LG (the folks who supply WOLED) told them to stop marketing WOLED as inferior. Do your research before shelling out for lesser specs.
90% accuracy
AI’s guess at whether you’re a man or woman based on brain scans. Research has always been iffy on whether men and women have truly different brains. This is an interesting wrinkle.