NASA has a page dedicated to their Citizen Science Projects where you can volunteer to help make scientific discoveries, like mapping bird diversity, cloud gazing, tracing patches of kelp, or identifying celestial objects in search of Planet Nine. Currently, there are 30 projects open to anyone in the world, and most can be done with just a cellphone or laptop. — CD

For the last several years, the cartoonist Seth has been designing and illustrating an annual series of beautiful little books, called Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories. This year’s series includes A Visit by Shirley Jackson, The Corner Shop by Lady Asquith, and The Dead and the Countess by Gertrude Atherton. – MF

Wikipedia is so valuable to me that I have a mini version of it on my phone so I have access to it anywhere in the world anytime. I use Kiwix, a free app for iOS and Android, that parks a 13GB file with 6.6 million Wikipedia articles – without images. (The version with images is ). With Kiwix I can get Wikipedia on a boat, in the wilderness, or anywhere beyond cell service. You’ll want to download via wifi it cause it takes a long while. – KK

I recently ordered a cup of peppermint tea at a restaurant, and it made all the other mint teas I’ve had in the past taste like lawn clippings. I ordered a box on Amazon. It’s called Smith Teamaker’s Peppermint Leaves No. 45. – MF

This year on my holiday wishlist are 6 objects to improve my work-life balance, which includes a new machine-washable rug for my home office and desk chair, some tools to alleviate stress and glow-in-the-dark temporary tattoos — just for fun. Check it out here. — CD

Astria lets you make AI-generated images of yourself for a few bucks. I uploaded a few photos of my face. Several hours later, Astria had finished crunching the data, and I was able to generate art based on my likeness by entering prompts such as “man as young elven king long white hair beautiful face highly detailed face, portrait, made by Stanley Artgerm lau, wlop, rossdraws, james jean.” The results are both hilarious and incredible. This is the avatar I use on social media. Astria’s Twitter shows examples of how people are using it. – MF

These interactive pages on earbirding.com will teach you how to create mental images of bird sounds according to their pitch pattern, speed, repetition, pauses, and tone quality. I love learning to connect with nature in a different way. — CD

I’ve been a regular at Burning Man and this short video, called Above the Dust, is the best summation I’ve seen of the event’s energy. Burning Man is primarily a night city, and a leader in light innovation and urban experiences. – KK

Gem is a search engine for vintage and used clothing and jewelry. You can quickly search eBay, Etsy, Poshmark, TheRealReal, and more, and the results are displayed in a large gallery view with prices to save time. You can also set email alerts for hard-to-find items. — CD

For multi-day hiking, the best base garments are merino wool. They won’t ever stink, and even in warm weather, they breathe. They feel good against the skin, are machine washable, and surprisingly durable. I have been slowly migrating all my hiking base clothing, from toes to head, to Icebreaker brand merino garments, such as this Icebreaker short sleeve shirt. – KK

I learned from my daughters that decorative pimple patches are popular with teenagers. They are tiny colorful stickers that cover pimples and dry them up. “People just wear them out in public now and it’s fashionable,” one daughter told me, She has a box of star-shaped pimple patches. They are also available in flower and heart shapes. There’s even a Hello Kitty brand. – MF

Here’s a visualization to help unblock the creative process by Julian Shapiro. He calls it the “Creativity Faucet”:

Visualize your creativity as a backed-up pipe of water. The first mile is packed with wastewater. This wastewater must be emptied before the clear water arrives. … Let’s apply this to creativity: At the beginning of a writing session, write out every bad idea that unavoidably comes to mind. … Once the bad ideas are emptied, strong ideas begin to arrive.

Here’s his more thorough explanation of why this works. — CD

The Star Wars series Andor is the best Star Wars so far. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. There are no jokey comedic relief scenes, so it seems aimed squarely at adults rather than kids. You feel for the villains. It has unexpected turns. Also it has the most sophisticated science fiction world-building since DUNE. Twelve episodes on Disney+. — KK

Screenplays.io is the ultimate repository of movie and tv screenplays. It’s easy to search and filter by genre and there are thousands of scripts available to read for free. I like to read them for fun, but it’s also a useful learning resource. — CD

Since I deactivated background app refreshing on my iPhone (Settings > General > Background App Refresh), the battery charge has lasted much longer. My apps will no longer run int the background, but I haven’t noticed any difference in the way the phone works. — MF

Google has famously not added anything to its simple and austere search page in 20 years. But recently they added something special: a little camera icon. This is Google Lens. You can drag an image into the Google’s search bar and use AI to do many more things that Google Image does. If it is a common image it can tell you the source of the image. If it is an uncommon image it can show you similar images. If it is a product, it can identify it and suggest sources. If it is a plant or living creature it can identify it. It can translate foreign scripts, including mathematics. If I am searching for something that has an image associated with it, I can often find much better results, faster, searching via the image in Google Lens. — KK

Use the Soundprint app to measure the noise level in public places and share your findings with other people who appreciate quiet environments. A map shows the decibel measurements of coffee shops, clubs, parks, and restaurants around the world. — MF

The goal of ultralight backpacking is to reduce the weight of your basic persistent stuff to under 10 pounds (4.5 kg). For hiking, the lighter your load, the more enjoyment. A key component to bringing the weight down is a super lightweight backpack. One of the lightest functional packs is the Zpack Nero 38 Liter, the one I use, which weighs 10.5 ounces (under 300 g). It’s a dry bag so no rain shell is needed. Empty, it will fold into a gallon Ziplock bag. — KK

If you’re in need of inspiration for how to set up your desk check out hackerstations.com. It’s a collection of workspace setups by tech professionals. Each image links to an interview detailing the hardware and software used. I discovered a desk chair I’m putting on my Xmas list in Holly Cummins setup. The website was recently launched, but will be posting new setups every Friday. — CD

The free Google Translate app for phones is still the best bargain in the world. It keeps getting better and better. It will translate between 60 languages, in either text, voice, or most importantly, from images from your camera, so it can translate menus, signs, and instructions just by pointing your phone at them. Really good for foreign scripts. — KK