Like many people who grew up in the internet age, Nick Weaver was frequently on call to serve as tech support for his family, friends, and anyone who had his cell phone number. “For as long as I can remember,” he tells mental_floss, “I’ve been the guy who’s had to fix the internet.” The home networks he was constantly fixing were severely lacking—a single router couldn’t cover an entire home, leading to dead spots and long buffering times, not to mention that the routers always needed to be reset.

But there wasn’t a single product out there that could adequately fix those problems, so when he left his home in Chicago to attend Stanford University in California, leaving his parents without their tech support, Weaver set them up with a simple system they could use when the internet just wasn’t working: “I took all of their networking equipment and plugged it into a bright red surge protector,” he says. “When there was a problem, they’d go into the closet, hit the big red button, wait a minute or two, and turn it back on.” But the solution wasn’t exactly elegant, and that bugged him. “Today, internet connectivity is just as important as our running water and our power,” Weaver says. “There really needed to be a better option out there.”

And so, in 2014—eight years after he set up that rudimentary system for his parents—Weaver left the world of venture capital and co-founded eero with Nate Hardison and Amos Schallich. (The company is named after Eero Saarinen, the architect who designed Weaver’s elementary school.) Their goal was to create a Wi-Fi system that delivered a reliable signal across the home, was a cinch to set up (even for those who aren’t tech savvy), would auto-update and reset, and was nice to look at. “I wanted a product that was super simple that people could set up on their own and then not have to worry about it,” Weaver, now CEO of eero, says.

They were lofty goals, but Weaver and his team shipped their first systems in February 2016 to rave reviews—and his parents, who were part of eero’s beta program from the beginning, love it too. “It took [my parents] longer to download the eero app than it did to set up a bulletproof network for their house,” Weaver says.

HOW IT WORKS

Traditional Wi-Fi systems rely on a single router—and Wi-Fi, which consists of radio waves, gets weaker the farther you get from that router. Add walls and stairs into the mix, and the signal can be significantly degraded. Which means that, even if you’re paying for high speed internet, you’re not getting those speeds with a single router throughout your home.

That’s where eero comes in. By placing the units around your home and syncing them, you create a mesh network, “basically a really fast data highway between [the units],” Weaver says. Each unit—a 4.75-inch-square white box that contains a dual-core 1 GHz CPU, two 802.11ac Wi-Fi radios, and five antennas—is an access point to the network. “If you have more access points around your home, devices like phones and computers are going to be closer to an eero, which means you’re going to have a stronger signal strength and a higher fidelity signal—and therefore [your connection is] going to be faster and more reliable,” he says.

Eero’s software allows the units to pick the fastest route on that data highway so you always have a fast and reliable connection (the company beta-tested its system in hundreds of homes for six months before the launch to make sure it would perform the way it was supposed to).

This is a huge improvement over the solutions that were available in the past, which involved multiple routers and tons of Ethernet wiring. Another oft-used option, range extenders, have a number of disadvantages, according to eero’s website, including the inability to connect multiple extenders in a row and the fact that they “often create an entirely separate network (SSID), so you find yourself having to continually switch from one network to the other as you move through your house.”

TESTING OUT EERO

Eero sent mental_floss a system so we could test it out for ourselves. Setup was relatively easy: We plugged the main eero unit into our modem using an Ethernet cable, downloaded the app, used Bluetooth to connect to the router, and let the app guide us through placement of the other two units. (We did have to call tech support to figure out why one unit wouldn’t sync with the others, but all it took was updating to the newest firmware and we were good to go.) Using an Apple Airport with our Time Warner router, we got 11 mbps; with eero, our speed jumped to 116 mbps, and we no longer got error screens when two people were trying to watch cat videos at once in the back bedrooms. (Gizmodo’s review notes that while eero “is not the fastest router you can buy … it might be the most convenient.”)

The key to this experience, Weaver says, is in the fact that the company designed both its hardware and its software. “It’s a finely tuned system,” he says. “When you look at [our competitors], they have so many different products that the software is never tuned for the hardware. They go to low-cost manufacturers and say, ‘What can you build us?’ We tune every little piece of hardware from the actual guts of the device to the software that runs it to the cloud and mobile app that help control it to keep things running smoothly.” Eero updates its software about once a week and adds new features all the time—earlier this month, the company introduced TrueMesh; eero customers, the company wrote in a blog post, “will see up to 2x the speed within their network, far greater intelligence in how their network adapts to their home, and flexibility to add even more eeros to their system” overnight.

Fast internet speed and easy setup aren’t where eero’s benefits end: The system has a number of awesome features. Using the app, customers can add guests to their network via text message. There are also robust controls that eero created using the feedback from parents. “They didn’t want to have to make settings for each device individually, so we came up with profiles,” Weaver says. “They also wanted to be able to access things both at home and on the go, and because we have our cloud, you can actually control your whole network everywhere. The biggest one was that kids were staying up really late playing games and there was no way to limit the internet without unplugging the router, and parents had work to do after they go to bed. So that’s where the time limit came from.” Eero has also partnered with Amazon to create an Alexa skill—if you have an Echo, you can ask it to find your phone based on which eero it’s nearest to or shut off the eero’s light when you’re ready to go to bed.

Currently, eero packages consist of between one and three units (though you can buy more depending on the size of your home). The systems aren’t cheap—three eeros will cost $499—but if you can’t afford that upfront, the company offers financing starting at $14 a month. “It doesn’t matter what income bracket you’re in—internet connectivity runs all the core experiences in our homes,” Weaver says. “You need it to relax, watch TV, listen to music, for homework, to do work, or to learn about new things. Great connectivity for homes is important for everyone.” And one could argue that in this age of cord cutting, when more people are streaming movies and television over the internet, the cost of eero might be worth never having to sit through buffering again.

You can pick up a unit at eero’s website or on Amazon.

Like many metropolitan areas, Detroit continues to struggle with a significant homeless population. By one estimate, roughly 86,000 people in the city [PDF] have no roof over their heads. Many of the proposed solutions often involve mental health care, shelter, and job placement. But sometimes addressing the issue comes down to something as simple as making sure people stay warm.

As reported by designboom, the nonprofit Empowerment Plan’s EMPWR jacket uses upcycled automotive insulation to provide a waterproof exterior and heat-trapping interior. When it’s not being worn as a coat, it can be modified to function as a sleeping bag.

The jacket was the invention of Veronika Scott, who also spearheaded the idea to hire single parents from Detroit-area shelters to work in the factory constructing the coats. (Each costs roughly $100 in labor and materials.) The Empowerment Plan makes use of GED education and other resources to help employees transition into more stable living situations.

The coats are distributed nationally, with more than 15,000 currently in use. A similar idea, the Sheltersuit, is being distributed in the Netherlands.

[h/t designboom]

The zero-G lifestyle does funny things to our bodily fluids. That’s the conclusion of one recent study, which may have found a reason for a common space travelers’ malady. The researchers presented their results [PDF] at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

If we’re going to start sending humans to Mars and other distant destinations, we’re going to need to know if we can survive the trip. So astronauts are an incredible scientific resource, not only for what they do while in space, but also for what they experience. Living in orbit can shrink astronauts’ hearts and stretch their spines. It can also damage their ability to see: Numerous travelers who left Earth with 20/20 vision have returned to find they need glasses just to read or drive.

“People initially didn’t know what to make of it, and by 2010 there was growing concern as it became apparent that some of the astronauts had severe structural changes that were not fully reversible upon return to earth,” lead author Noam Alperin of the University of Miami said in a statement.

Scientists call the phenomenon visual impairment intracranial pressure, or VIIP. The name is slightly misleading in its certainty. Researchers think the eye problems are the result of increased pressure inside astronauts’ heads, but they haven’t really been sure.

Alperin and his colleagues wondered if the problem might not be liquid—cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), to be precise. CSF is a crucial component of healthy brain and body function. It surrounds our brains and spinal cords and acts kind of like amniotic fluid in the womb, ensuring a flow of nutrients and removing waste. CSF is also somewhat adaptable and responds to changes in the position and angle of your body and head. It’s a good system, and it works.

At least where there’s gravity. The research team scanned the brains and eyeballs of seven different astronauts both before and after long stints aboard the International Space Station (ISS). They compared those scans with results from another nine astronauts who had only been on the ISS briefly.

There could be no doubt about it—longer stays in space were messing with the astronauts’ eyes. Their eyes were more flattened; their optic nerves showed more swelling; and, most interestingly, they had higher volumes of CSF in their eye sockets and in the CSF-producing part of the brain. The higher the CSF volume, the more trouble an astronaut had seeing.

“The research provides, for the first time, quantitative evidence obtained from short- and long-duration astronauts pointing to the primary and direct role of the CSF in the globe deformations seen in astronauts with visual impairment syndrome,” Alperin said.

Identifying the source of the problem is the first step to correcting it. Alperin and NASA are now working to simulate the conditions that cause VIIP so they can figure out how to protect astronauts’ eyes in the future.

Spoiler alert! Sometimes TV shows shock their audiences with mind-blowing twists and surprises, but TV writers are often clever enough to foreshadow these events with very subtle references. Here are 10 of them.

**Many spoilers ahead.**

1. THE WALKING DEAD

During season five of The Walking Dead, Glenn (Steven Yeun) picks up a baseball bat a few times in the Alexandria Safe-Zone. He was also almost killed by one at Terminus at the beginning of the season. Two seasons later, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) brutally kills Glenn with his barbed-wire baseball bat (a.k.a. Lucille) during the season seven premiere.

2. BREAKING BAD

In Breaking Bad‘s second season finale, a Boeing 737 crashes over Albuquerque, New Mexico. While the event was hinted at throughout the season during the black-and-white teasers at the beginning of each episode, the titles of certain episodes predicted the crash altogether. The titles “Seven Thirty-Seven,” “Down,” “Over,” and “ABQ” spell out the phrase “737 Down Over ABQ,” which is the airport code for the Albuquerque International Sunport.

3. GAME OF THRONES

In “The Mountain and the Viper,” a season four episode of Game of Thrones, Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish (Aidan Gillen) tells his stepson, Robin Arryn (Lino Facioli), “People die at their dinner tables. They die in their beds. They die squatting over their chamber pots. Everybody dies sooner or later. And don’t worry about your death. Worry about your life. Take charge of your life for as long as it lasts.”

Throughout that same season, viewers see King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) die at a dinner table during his wedding and watch Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) strangle his former lover, Shae (Sibel Kekilli), in bed, before killing his father, Tywin (Charles Dance), while he’s sitting on a toilet.

4. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

Throughout seasons one and two of Arrested Development, there are a number of references that foretell Buster Bluth (Tony Hale) losing his hand. In “Out on a Limb,” Buster is sitting on a bus stop bench with an ad for Army Officers, but the way he’s sitting hides most of the ad, so it reads “Arm Off” instead. Earlier in season two, Buster says “Wow, I never thought I’d miss a hand so much,” when he sees his long lost hand-shaped chair in his housekeeper’s home.

5. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

In season four of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Willow (Alyson Hannigan) comes out as gay and begins a relationship with Tara (Amber Benson). However, in the episode “Doppelgangland” in season three, a vampire version of Willow appears after a spell is accidentally cast. After Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Angel (David Boreanaz) capture the vampire Willow, the real Willow takes a look at her vampire-self and comments, “That’s me as a vampire? I’m so evil and skanky. And I think I’m kinda gay!”

6. FUTURAMA

In the very first episode of Futurama, “Space Pilot 3000,” Fry (Billy West) is accidentally frozen and wakes up 1000 years later. Just before he falls into the cryotube, in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, you can see a small shadowy figure under a desk in the Applied Cryogenics office. In the season four episode “The Why of Fry,” it was revealed that Nibbler (Frank Welker) was hiding in the shadows. He planned to freeze Fry in the past, so that he could save the universe in the future. According to co-creator Matt Groening, “What we tried to do is we tried to lay in a lot of little secrets in this episode that would pay off later.”

7. AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN

American Horror Story: Coven follows a coven of witches in Salem, Massachusetts. When Fiona (Jessica Lange), the leader of the witches, is stricken with cancer, she believes a new witch who can wield the Seven Powers will come and take her place. Fiona then begins to kill every witch she believes will take her place until the new Supreme reveals herself.

During the opening credits of every episode in season three, Sarah Paulson’s title card appears with the Mexican female deity Santa Muerte (Holy Death), the Lady of the Seven Wonders. And as it turned out, Paulson’s character, Cordelia, became the new Supreme witch at the end of the season.

8. MAD MEN

At the end of Mad Men‘s fifth season, ad agency partner Lane Pryce (Jared Harris) committed suicide by hanging himself in his office. While it was a shock to the audience, the show’s writers hinted at his death throughout the entire season.

In the season five premiere, Lane jokes “I’ll be here for the rest of my life!” while he’s on the telephone in his office. Later, in episode five, Don Draper doodles a noose during a meeting, while Lane wears a scarf around his neck in a bar to support his soccer club. Early in episode 12, Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) mentions that the agency’s life insurance policy still pays out, even in the event of a suicide.

9. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

In How I Met Your Mother‘s season six episode, “Bad News,” Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) are waiting for test results that will tell them whether or not they can have children. While we’re led to believe the title of the episode reflects their test results, it actually refers to the news that Marshall’s father, Marvin Eriksen Sr. (Bill Fagerbakke), had passed away after suffering a heart attack.

Keen-eyed viewers knew this news already because the writers of How I Met Your Mother foreshadowed the death two seasons earlier in the episode “The Fight.” At the beginning of the episode, Marshall said that lightsaber technology is real and will be on the market in about three to five years from now. By the end of the episode, a flash forward reveals what Thanksgiving looks like at the Eriksen family’s home in Minnesota; Marshall’s father is not shown or referenced during the holiday meal.

10. TRUE DETECTIVE

During season one, Detectives Rust Cohle and Marty Hart are trying to solve a murder investigation, as they try to identify the mysterious “Yellow King.” The color yellow is used when the detectives are on the right track, but the detectives already met the killer in episode three, “The Locked Room.”

When the pair went to the Light of the Way Academy, posted on the school’s sign was a very clever hidden message that read “Notice King,” which pointed to the school’s groundskeeper as the killer.