Netflix's forever charges, Airbnb's hidden cameras, NASA's best photos: Lifestyle news roundup
Plus, the deepest ‘blue hole’ on Earth is so deep that scientists still haven’t found the bottom
Millions of Americans pay for Netflix, doling out anywhere from $6.99 to $22.99 a month. It’s a common belief that you can get out of recurring charges like this by canceling your credit card. Netflix won’t be able to find you, and your account will just go away, right? You wouldn’t be crazy for believing it, but it’s a myth that canceling a credit card will stop your recurring charges.
Airbnb announced in March that all indoor security cameras would be banned at its properties worldwide starting April 30. And if you read through online complaints about cameras that were discovered during Airbnb stays over the years, it’s easy to understand why it’s been such a controversial issue.
Researchers have found a blue hole they say is the deepest in the world — and they’ve yet to find where it bottoms out. The formation is the Taam Ja’ Blue Hole in Mexico’s Chetumal Bay, and it has so far been measured to 1,378 feet deep, or 420 meters below sea level.
If you’re anything like most of the Jalopnik staff, you’ve probable dreamed of becoming a storm chaser at some point in your life. The idea of running down twisters at the wheel of a Subaru Crosstrek is a pretty fun vision, but what if I told you that you could forge a successful storm chasing career as a humble train driver?
Once the largest division of General Motors, the Oldsmobile dream was killed off at 107 years old, on April 29, 2004, a full 20 years ago today. While the brand was largely seen as a stodgy, outdated, and unprofitable liability by the time GM ended it, the automaker was responsible for some pretty impressive engineering in its century of crafting cars. The General diluted the brand until it stood for nothing, but it has a history of doing cool s—, and for that it should be remembered fondly.
Flying is one of those strange times where you just have to go with the flow and do as everyone else does. So you put your liquids in a small separate bag, make an impromptu whiskey purchase at 5 a.m. and always board your plane on the left hand side. Hang on, you’re right, you do always board your flight on the left-hand side. Have you ever stopped to wonder why that might be?
The recent total solar eclipse on April 8 provided a rare glimpse of the Sun’s roiling corona, including some eye-grabbing prominences. Those views were neat, but a new video captured by Europe’s Sun-buzzing probe is providing some of the best close-up views of our host star that we’ve ever seen.
Bird flu isn’t just lurking inside cows, new research shows. Florida scientists have reported the first known case of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in a common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Though the case dates back to 2022, it’s the latest indication that these flu strains can potentially infect a wide variety of mammals.
It was a historic weekend for racing, and I’m not just talking about Jaguar’s win in Monaco at the Formula E on Saturday. Instead, the Autonomous Racing League broke barriers when it kicked off its first real-life competition at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. However, the barriers being broken were the ones bordering the circuit, as the event was plagued with random crashes and spins from the self-driving race cars.