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(credit: Swagway)

The news has been overrun the past few weeks with stories of hoverboards causing frightening fires and explosions. After one of the most popular hoverboards caught fire and damaged someone's home, Amazon pulled the Swagway board from its website (it has since been brought back). Since then a few more stories of flaming and exploding boards have popped up, causing more stores to stop selling them and leading the postal service along with some US airlines to ground them. But don't worry, you can still buy hoverboards—provided they are in stock—but you should know how they work so you can avoid any fiery mishaps.

Why are hoverboards exploding?

The main reason hoverboards have self-destructed is because of their batteries. All of the major hoverboard brands use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for power, and those can be dangerous for two reasons: cheapness and mistreatment. Li-ion batteries are used in everyday devices such as smartphones and tablets, but typically the companies making those devices can afford to use higher-quality, more expensive batteries. You won't be able to tell how good the li-ion batteries are in your hoverboard, but it's safe to say that cheaper, "knockoff" hoverboards use mass-produced cells of lower quality to cut costs.

Also, according to Wired, hoverboard batteries are typically placed inside the footrest of the device, so they're getting stepped on, kicked, and roughed-up every time you go for a ride. Not to mention that hoverboards are going to be abused more than, say, your laptop, so there's a greater chance its battery could get damaged by rough play, and any damage makes them more susceptible to malfunction or explosion.

Martin Shkreli, chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals LLC, exits federal court in New York, US, on Thursday, December 17, 2015. Shkreli was arrested on alleged securities fraud related to Retrophin Inc., a biotech firm he founded in 2011. (credit: Louis Lanzano/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Martin Shkreli, founder of Turing Pharmaceuticals, has resigned as chief executive of the embattled company, effective immediately. The chairman of Turing’s board of directors, Ron Tilles, has been appointed interim CEO, the company announced.

The news comes a day after Shkreli, 32, was arrested by the FBI on securities fraud charges. A seven-count indictment, unsealed Thursday, laid out how Shkreli allegedly set up a Ponzi-like scheme, swindled his former pharmaceutical company, Retrophin, out of more than $11 million, and repeatedly defrauded and lied to investors of two hedge funds he managed.

Shkreli was arraigned in a Brooklyn court yesterday. He pleaded not guilty and was released on a $5 million bond.

(credit: Northamerica1000/Wikimedia)

Mayonnaise, the creamy, fatty condiment often slathered on sandwiches and fries, may now have a looser definition—at least in the eyes of the Food and Drug Administration.

Generally, mayonnaise is an emulsion of oil and vinegar or lemon juice, and classic recipes use egg yolk as the emulsifier. But on Thursday the agency backed-off on the requirement for mayonnaise products to contain eggs, allowing a formerly contested vegan condiment to keep ‘mayo’ in its name.

In August, the FDA sent a warning letter to Hampton Creek Foods, a San Francisco-based start-up, over its vegan products “Just Mayo” and the spicy version “Just Mayo Sriracha.” The egg-less condiment, now sold at Whole Foods, Target, Walmart and others, has a cracked egg on the label.

(credit: Brad Clinesmith)

Congress on Friday adopted a $1.15 trillion spending package that included a controversial cybersecurity measure that only passed because it was slipped into the US government's budget legislation.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican of Wisconsin, inserted the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) into the Omnibus Appropriations Bill—which includes some $620 billion in tax breaks for business and low-income wage earners. Ryan's move was a bid to prevent lawmakers from putting a procedural hold on the CISA bill and block it from a vote. Because CISA was tucked into the government's overall spending package on Wednesday, it had to pass or the government likely would have had to cease operating next week.

Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat of Oregon, said the CISA measure, which backers say is designed to help prevent cyber threats, got even worse after it was slipped into the 2,000-page budget deal (PDF, page 1728). He voted against the spending plan.

An artist's illustration of the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. (credit: Thirty Meter Telescope)

For astronomers seeking to build the world's largest telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, it will be anything but a Mele Kalikimaka. Hawaiian media reported that heavy machinery parked near a construction site atop the mountain since March was removed on Wednesday.

The removal marked another victory for native Hawaiians who are protesting construction of the 55-meter-tall facility on top of Mauna Kea, saying it desecrates sacred ground. “There was a lot of joy and gratitude,” said Hawane Rios of the mood among those protesting construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.

Earlier this month the organizers of the telescope project, led by the California Institute of Technology, suffered a major setback when the Hawaii Supreme Court invalidated the land use permit that had been issued by the state's Board of Land and Natural Resources. At the time, the telescope's chairman said, "We are assessing our next steps on the way forward. We appreciate and thank the people of Hawaii and our supporters from these last eight-plus years."

(credit: Kat1990's channel)

The stereotype of yellow, slimy, crooked British smiles may not have teeth any more.

In a study comparing American and English dental health surveys, researchers found that American grins tended to have slightly fewer teeth, and those in lower socioeconomic positions had significantly worse oral health than their British counterparts. And researchers found no differences in participants' perceptions of overall oral health between the two nations. The data, published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ—an annual, light-hearted edition of the British medical journal—suggests that the English may have something to smile about as they sip their teeth-staining tea.

But, there are some cavities in the study. When asked about dental pain, function, and whether their teeth were embarrassing, the English self-reported more problems. They study also lacked data on aesthetics and comparisons of wisdom teeth extraction practices, which may skew the counts of missing teeth.