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When you set up a service on your home server, you can access it right away by just typing the server's IP address, followed by the port that service is mapped to. So long as you're connected to the same network as the server, you can access that service.

The Mercedes-Benz GLE has long been one of the default choices for buyers shopping in the premium midsize SUV segment, offering strong comfort, prestige, and a polished driving experience. But in 2026, paying extra for a German badge no longer guarantees the best overall package. One Korean luxury SUV is making that reality impossible to ignore.

The curl command-line tool is one of the most useful and versatile programs you can learn. Its versatility and comprehensive HTTP implementation mean that, if there’s a URL for it, curl can do it.

Plex can be a really powerful tool if you use it properly. But it can take a bit of elbow grease to set up initially, and some of the default settings might actually harm your experience. Here's what you need to turn off and why.

3D printing strong objects can prove challenging. Tougher filament types cost more, require hardened nozzles, and benefit from things you might not have, like a chamber heater. So what if you could get improved strength and heat resistance from basic filaments like PLA and PETG?

I’m the type of person who finds any kind of reading a good time. It could be by listening to celebrity-narrated audiobooks or by checking out the latest special editions to buy thanks to BookTok, but often I use my e-reader.

I’ve tried countless utilities to manage my tasks, organize my notes, and keep track of contacts. But there’s something about my workflow—or brain—that just keeps me from sticking with them, and I’m destined to forever be on the lookout for the next tool to try.

On desktop operating systems, you can usually look up exactly which apps and services are currently running on your device. Utilities like htop or Task Manager let you monitor what processes are actually running on the machine, either in the foreground or the background. However, Android (by default) doesn't have anything like this. This is how you can set one up.

If you're a homeowner, DIY enthusiast, or busy on the job, you probably own all sorts of power tools. But do you own more than one drill? Slowing down to swap drill bits is like only owning one pair of shoes. If you're ready to finish jobs faster and work smarter, here's why you should have two, three, or even four drills.

I love to read. Nothing beats a good science fiction paperback or graphic novel. E-books (and comics) were a wonderful, mind-blowing thing when they came out. I loved spending less money, having easier access, and not having to worry about space as much.

Are you a fan of documentaries? Are you also a Paramount+ subscriber? Then you're in the right place if you're looking for a few suggestions for a good doc or docuseries to watch.

Setting up your smart home automations to run on a schedule often seems like the best option, but that's not always the case. When I moved some of these automations to sensor-based triggers, it made my home feel much more natural.

The 2026 Toyota Crown Signia is not a typical SUV or crossover. By combining a unique shooting brake silhouette with the refined ride of a premium sedan, the Crown Signia is an impossible-to-ignore alternative to the average boxy crossover.

The ESP32 is an inexpensive and versatile microcontroller that is normally associated with cheap smart home devices and small DIY gadgets. But this sliver of silicon can do much more than you probably thought, as evidenced by projects that push the board to its limit.

Adobe Acrobat is the standard tool everyone reaches for when they're authoring or editing PDFs. However, I've started using a privacy-first alternative that allows me to do everything I need with PDFs—all without a subscription fee or a login.

Pet hair pickup isn't the only bullet point to consider

While every pet parent needs a vacuum to quell the pet hair situation, some vacuums can take on even more pet-related responsibilities. There are robot vacuums that can avoid pet waste and toys, robot vacuums with livestream pet cameras, and a robot vacuum that comes with its own portable carpet cleaner (now we just need Roborock to expand the Saros Z70's robotic arm capabilities to pet toy cleanup). Manual cordless vacuums come with their own advantageous flexibility, like the option to go handheld and extend cleaning to furry furniture and staircases. I use both types of vacuums daily and wrote a whole buying guide for anyone stumped between a robot vacuum and a stick vacuum.

Other vacuums I've tested recently

I tested several other top robot vacuums in the past two years that didn't make the most recent cut for this list. Some, like the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, Roborock Qrevo Master, Narwal Freo X Ultra, and various versions of the Roomba j7, were my top recommendations at one point, but have since been overshadowed by newer, more powerful models that are a better bang for your buck. Most recently, in the last few months of 2025, I was impressed by the Roomba Plus 505 Combo, Plus 405 Combo, and Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra. They ultimately just weren't the most thorough vacuum cleaners in their price range.

New robot vacuums announced at CES 2026

Several top robot vacuum brands unveiled new flagship models at CES in early January. These include the Roborock Saros 20 Sonic and Qrevo Curv 2 Flow, the Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete, and the Narwal Flow 2. I will be testing these at home as soon as possible and will update this guide accordingly once all are officially available for purchase.

How to choose a robot vacuum for pet hair

Let's dive a little deeper into the features that could make or break your experience with trusting a robot vacuum to clean up after pets.

Suction power and brush rolls

I recommend vacuums with at least 8,000 Pa suction power for effective pet hair pickup, though homes with heavy carpeting and more than two pets should consider suction power of at least 12,000 Pa. But the brush roll system is nearly just as important when choosing a vacuum for pet fur. In my testing, vacuums with dual brush rolls are far more effective. For reference, the most powerful robot vacuums in 2025 ranged between 20,000 and 30,000 Pa of suction power, and new robot vacuums coming out in 2026 bump that up to 35,000 Pa.

Automatic emptying

Pet parents should definitely opt for a self-emptying robot vacuum — so much fur being sucked up will lead to a full dustbin faster, and you won't feel like emptying it yourself every day. Even with daily usage, an auto-empty robot vacuum can last between one and three months before you need to empty the dustbin.

Mopping

If hardwood or tile is prevalent in your home, the best robot vacuum and mop combo for pet hair will be able to sanitize the floor while mopping and then wash its own mops to rinse off any lingering hair. Mopping is also much more likely to effectively wipe up other minuscule pet-related debris, like pet dander and kitty litter dust, that are too small to be inhaled by a vacuum's suction power.

Smart mapping

Some rooms or spots on the floor within those rooms get furrier than others. A smart mapping robot vacuum learns the layout of your home and can head to specific zones on command, which you can queue up right from the app. In my opinion, smart mapping is the most worthwhile robot vacuum feature, and should be a baseline even when searching for a cheap model — cleaning performance is a moot point if the vacuum can't get where it needs to go in the first place.

Small obstacle avoidance

Some advanced robot vacuums use cameras and 3D sensors to pinpoint any small roadblocks in the cleaning path in front of them. When successful, these vacuums save themselves from eating most pet toys, cords, laundry, or socks or shoes, avoid ramming into pet bowls, and even dodge pet waste.

What's in a name? It turns out Cosori was right to call its new $249 air fryer the "Iconic." With a polished stainless steel design, versatile cooking functions, and generally useful smart features, it's basically the Cadillac of basket air fryers. But that's not the only reason I think it's worth the splurge after several months of testing.

Unlike many other air fryers, the Iconic doesn't contain any plastic components that can leach microplastics at high temperatures, and its basket isn't coated in harmful forever chemicals, or PFAS, including PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene, aka Teflon). As someone who's overly picky about kitchenware for the sake of myself and my pets — Teflon is super dangerous for my parrot — I have no qualms about firing up the Iconic on a regular basis.

Cosori Iconic Stainless Steel 6.5-quart Smart Air Fryer $249 at Amazon
  Shop Now at Amazon Shop Now at Cosori Shop Now at Best Buy Design and construction

Myriad air fryers have a stainless steel finish over black plastic construction, including other Cosori models, but the Iconic has a more premium build that's almost fully stainless steel inside and out. One exception is its basket handle, which is made from plastic only so you don't scorch your hand when you grab it. Most of its exterior gets hot to the touch when it runs on a higher setting for more than a few minutes.

There's no plastic in here. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Iconic's other non-stainless parts are its basket interior and metal crisper plate, both of which have a ceramic nonstick coating. According to a chemical disclosure statement by VeSync, Cosori's parent company, it doesn't contain any Teflon. (I'll mention here that Cosori's top-selling air fryer on Amazon, the $119.99 TurboBlaze, does use Teflon.) Anecdotally, I didn't notice any weird synthetic smells when the Iconic was running.

The Iconic has a tempered glass control panel. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Cleaner cooking aside, the Iconic's mainly stainless build makes a big aesthetic impact. It looks luxe and matches the other brushed stainless steel appliances in my kitchen. What's more, I was surprised to find that it doesn't cling to fingerprints very easily — unlike my stainless Samsung fridge, which is a smudge magnet. Any crumbs or food crud that gets on its surface is easy to erase with a dishcloth or a damp paper towel.

The Iconic's basket and crisper plate also wipe down nicely between food batches, and you can toss them in the dishwasher for a more thorough scrubbing at the end of a meal.

The Iconic STUNS in stainless steel. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

I'm usually very anti-countertop clutter, but the Iconic is so sleek that I can tolerate it sitting out. I also don't really have a choice because it's too big to fit in any of my cabinets. It weighs just over 14 pounds, stands about a foot tall, and has a footprint of about 15 by 12 inches, so it's a little bulky.

Cooking modes My Iconic creations. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

On the tippy-top of the Iconic, you'll find a glass touch control panel with six different cooking functions: Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Dry, Proof, and Reheat. Each function has its own temperature and time presets ranging from 90 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and one minute to 24 hours. They also have set fan speeds; Dry and Proof are basically inaudible, while Air Fry and Roast whir the loudest. I'd say they're still less than half as loud as my hair dryer, the Shark FlexStyle.

If you need a reminder to flip your food, you can press a separate Shake button that makes the Iconic beep a few times halfway through an Air Fry cycle. (It only works with that mode.)

I tried all of the Iconic's cooking functions, and they work wonderfully. Air Fry produced a slightly charred, still-pink cheeseburger and crispy fries without any oil. Roast caramelized a medley of broccoli and red onions without burning them. I used Bake to make some crusty-but-fluffy brownies, and Dry to dehydrate Honeycrisp apples and bell peppers (some snacks for the aforementioned parrot). Reheat warmed up leftovers without making them soggy; it's put my microwave out of business.

Sometimes you don't want to fire up the grill for a single burger. I literally get it. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

I even made whole wheat sourdough in the Iconic. The dough formed an unsightly crust on top after proofing for two hours, but it disappeared in the shaping/baking process and left me with a cute little loaf of very moist, very edible sandwich bread.

While ninety degrees is technically too hot for proofing sourdough, or really any kind of dough, this little loaf turned out fine. (Ugly and a bit over-proofed, but fine.) Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Iconic has a 6.5-quart basket, making it a good size for a small household. It comfortably fit a whole bag of fries, four single-serve brownies (in ramekins), and every sliced round of a fat apple (laid flat in one layer).

The Iconic is parrot-approved. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable Smart features

The Iconic supports smart controls via VeSync's mobile app if you connect it to WiFi, and they feel about 70 percent useful.

With the Cooking Functions feature, you can select settings from your phone and send them to the Iconic; they'll appear on its control panel in seconds. You can't actually start it remotely, but that's a safety feature. The app will show a timer once the cooking cycle begins and send you a notification when your food is ready.

The app will show you how much cook time is left. Credit: Screenshots via VeSync

If you're not sure how to cook a particular food, a Cooking Chart feature can suggest settings based on the serving size and "status" (i.e., whether a vegetable is chopped or meat is bone-in).

Get a little extra help from the app's Cooking Chart. Credit: Screenshots via VeSync

Hypothetically, you can also pull up settings by scanning bar codes on foods' packaging through the VeSync app, but it didn't work with most of the things I've tried. That includes Purdue popcorn chicken and every Trader Joe's snack I had in my freezer (hashbrown patties, falafel, breaded fish filets, and mozzarella sticks). I finally had luck with some frozen garlic breadsticks, which turned out well when I air fried them on the recommended settings — golden brown on the outside, soft on the inside.

Success. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The app contains a History list of your past cooking cycles in case you want to reuse settings. There's also an Achievements counter where you can see a weekly recap of your meals and any badges you've earned for cooking certain foods regularly. (I don't know anyone who would actually use this. Some things just don't need to be gamified!)

If you need some cooking inspo, there's a library of healthy air fryer recipes in the app under a Diet tab. It lets you add your own recipes and create shopping lists of ingredients.

Some alternatives

Other non-toxic, plastic-free air fryer options include the Ninja Crispi ($179.99), the Our Place Wonder Oven ($185 to $245, depending on the size), and the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer ($349.99). The Iconic is in the middle of the pack price-wise, but it has the best warranty: five years to everyone else's one.

For what it's worth, I also own and love the Crispi. It's easy to store and has glass baskets that double as storage containers for leftovers, though it has few settings and can't fit full bags of fries. Ninja's newer Crispi Pro has more settings, a bigger temperature range, and a larger basket than the original Crispi, but it costs $299.99. Neither model supports smart controls.

Cosori versus Crispi. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Our Place and Breville models are both oven-style air fryers that let you cook multiple trays of food at once, which is super convenient. But the Wonder Oven doesn't have a companion app, and the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer is expensive. Plus, its pizza pan has a Teflon coating.

If you're someone who likes traditional basket-style air fryers, wants smart features and recipe guidance, and you regularly feed at least two people, you'll probably prefer the Iconic over the competition.

Cosori Iconic Stainless Steel 6.5-quart Smart Air Fryer $249 at Amazon
  Shop Now at Amazon Shop Now at Cosori Shop Now at Best Buy

Bungie is a world-class studio making some of the best first-person shooters in the world. In my initial hand-on piece on Marathon, I said the gunplay was impressive and the art direction enticing, but after fully playing through this title, I'm even more impressed — and that's no surprise.

From Halo all the way to Destiny, Bungie has a record of hits. For Marathon, the company brought back one of its older franchises to add to its shooter repertoire. It’s Bungie at its best and shows why the developer is still a top player in the video game space. From its incredible gunplay, level design, art direction, and soundscapes, there’s nothing quite like Marathon. 

Marathon takes place on the planet Tau Ceti IV, where human colonists have uploaded their consciousnesses to inhabit disposable cybernetic ones, turning them into “Runners.” As Runners, they constantly infiltrate Tau Ceti IV to scrounge up any resources, artifacts, and data to bring back to their factions. While Marathon doesn’t present its story front and center, the various factions are surprisingly interesting. It reminds me of Concord, where I actually found reading about its lore in the in-game encyclopedia much more fun than playing the actual game.

Credit: Bungie

In Marathon, there are six different factions to fulfill contracts with, and they all embody different aspects of Marathon’s universe. For example, the starting faction is Cyberacme, whose expertise is AI, while NuCaloric focuses on agricultural matters and basic needs. And the contracts that these factions dole out often have you playing Marathon in different ways. MIDA, the anarchist group, has you running around and triggering alarms. Sekiguchi, on the other hand, is the company behind the cybernetic shells and views Runners as experimental test subjects. Some of their contract requirements include taking a certain amount of fall damage. Marathon’s worldbuilding is told through clever gameplay and these factions.

Thankfully, Marathon has solid gameplay loops to back it up. It’s an extraction shooter, similar to ARC Raiders, where players jump into a map, collect items, and exfil out. If you’re an avid Destiny player, meaning that you’re used to going in guns blazing, Marathon will feel entirely foreign to you.

You’re limited in supplies, and any items that you bring with you or collect on the field will disappear if you die. You need to plan out your routes methodically and explore carefully in order to avoid fights at all costs. This creates a tense atmosphere of unpredictability that’s equally unnerving, yet exciting. Scattered across the field are both NPCs and other human players, and trust me, they’re hard. The robotic NPCs are durable, and other human players show absolutely no mercy. 

This makes Marathon feel so distinctly different from Halo, Destiny, and even ARC Raiders. If you try to take the NPCs in a gunfight, you’ll most likely get wiped, which is a stark difference from Bungie’s other shooters. In ARC Raiders, you’ll come across many friendly human players, but in Marathon, they won’t hesitate to just murk you. This contrast ultimately comes down to their themes. In ARC Raiders, humanity bands together to take on deadly machinations, while in Marathon, you’re at each other’s throats for scraps on Tau Ceti IV. It’s every Runner for themselves.

The way gunfights break out feels organic and leads to a lot of emergent moments, making Ceta Tau feel like such an oppressive but masochistically fun place to be. As expected of Bungie, the guns feel slick and impactful, making the moment-by-moment shootouts incredibly exhilarating.

Credit: Bungie

If you successfully exfil, then items that you bring back are automatically sold, and you can use the money to purchase guns and other equipment to give yourself an initial advantage when you deploy again. But don’t forget, you could very well die, even with your shiny new toys, and lose everything you brought with you.

This gives Marathon the “just one more fun” kind of loop. Even if you die, you never feel like you’re too far behind, and everyone feels like they’re on a level playing field. This is thanks to sponsored kits, which the factions provide to give you the most basic tools, like guns and healing supplies, to start a run. The downside is that you can’t use any other equipment. But even with the most rudimentary equipment, you can emerge successfully by playing well. Whenever that happens, there’s an immense sense of accomplishment when you exfil.

Looking at the Map Credit: Bunie Credit: Bungie

Marathon’s map design is impeccable as well. So far, there are four maps: Perimeter, Dire Marsh, Outpost, and Cryo Archive. Each of them is escalating in complexity, too. Perimeter is a fantastic starting point and is more beginner-friendly, as it has large, wide-open spaces. Dire Marsh increases the intensity a bit with fog and dense grasses, requiring you to be more careful. When a fight breaks out, it can be hard to figure out where bullets are raining down on you compared to playing in Perimeter. What I love about these two maps is that it’s easy to hop into them if you’re just looking to play a quick match.

Outpost is when things start to ramp up, as it's a smaller map with tighter corners. You’ll run into other human players much more often. Since players tend to have more valuable loot than the robot NPCs, the risk and reward ratio is higher. Plus, you’ll need to acquire special keyguards in order to get to the map’s center, the Pinwheel, where the most valuable loot is located. Unlike Perimeter and Dire Marsh, coming in with a communicative team will have you see higher levels of success than playing with randoms. If you’re really serious about Marathon, Outpost is a great way to test your skills — and your patience.

Credit: Bungie

But Marathon’s true test is its last available map, Cryo Archive. It's an unforgivingly cold and difficult labyrinth. To even access it, you need to equip gear with a total value of 5,000 credits, so you can’t just roll in there with a sponsored kit. And another kicker is that it’s only available to play on weekends. Basically, the idea of this is to play Marathon throughout the week to accumulate strong gear, and then head into the Cryo Archive when the weekend starts. And trust me, you’ll need to be as prepared as you can. Getting ready for this map shows how dedicated you are to Marathon, although the downside is that many casual players won’t ever get to feel how exhilarating and tense it is as the barrier to entry can be an issue.

In any case, Cryo Archive features an ingenious amount of level design. There are multiple clearance levels (up to level 5), and you’ll need to hack monitors and grab security tags off of players you kill. It’s such a complicated process that dwarfs anything you experience on Perimeter and Dire Marsh. You can’t even extract out the normal way as you would do in the other maps, either. You have to reach at least clearance level 3, and you’re also under a time limit. There’s a certain kind of satisfaction that goes into planning a Cryo Archive run. The winnings are astronomical, but the losses are just as extreme. Cryo Archive’s puzzle-like layout rivals that of Resident Evil Requiem’s care center puzzle-box. Even under a ton of pressure, I can’t help but marvel at the level design.

Going Back to the Future Credit: Bungie

What really ties Marathon together is the retro-futurism aesthetic that the game is going for. The font and menus look exactly like what Apple interfaces looked like in the ‘80s, deliberately referencing Marathon’s origins on Macintosh computers. The sound design is equally impressive. Audio cues are incredibly important in Marathon, as the ring of gunfire can give away your position. Even engaging in shootouts with the NPC robots is a risk. In the Cryo Archive, especially, you also need to be aware of the sound of your footsteps. Hearing the sound of glass breaking or the blaring alarms of a lockdown can really throw a wrench in your plans. Each run in Marathon is ever-changing, and it’s stunning how Bungie managed to pull this off with only four maps.

That being said, its biggest issues are its user interfaces and controls. They’re clunky as the similar actions don’t use the same input. For example, I’ll open up a box with the square button on my controller, yet I have to place the items from that box into my inventory with the X button. It messes with your brain and doesn’t feel intuitive. Even after dozens of hours playing, I still have to think about what to press sometimes. The font is hard to read too, even if you’re playing on a big screen. There are no options to increase the size or anything. Hopefully, that can be fixed in a later update.

According to Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Games, “A game for everyone is a game for no one.” Marathon is the exact opposite of that. It won’t have the widespread appeal that Halo or Destiny does. But it showcases Bungie at its absolute best, putting all of its knowledge and skills to create something extraordinary.

The verdict: A satisfying slow burn

Marathon has exemplary gunplay, level and audio design, as well as top-tier aesthetics that keep your eyes glued to the screen. Even the lore got me interested in its factions and overall universe. It may not be for everyone. It’s a hardcore game, and if you can meet it on its own terms, you’ll have one hell of a time.

Marathon is now available on Steam, PS5, and Xbox.

NASA's Curiosity mission has found so many simple carbon-based molecules on Mars over the years that the discoveries may now seem altogether routine. 

Scientists know those ingredients matter because life on Earth depends on carbon, but the discoveries have often felt limited, like finding a few breadcrumbs without the loaf.

Now a new lab result from the rover suggests those earlier "crumbs" may have been fragments of something bigger: much more complex carbon material. That means a record of the planet's ancient, long-gone chemistry is locked inside Martian rocks, and scientists have a way to tap into it.

Curiosity ran a unique experiment on a rock sample it collected six years ago, using a special chemical and heat. The technique revealed 21 different organic molecules, the largest set found on the Red Planet so far, said Charles Malespin, the space agency's lead scientist for the rover’s chemistry lab.

The findings, published this week in Nature Communications, raise the stakes in the search for life on Mars. The study suggests the planet didn't just have scattered ingredients for biology on its surface. Mars actually managed to retain that material inside rocks for billions of years. That preservation doesn't prove the Red Planet was habitable, but it does point to past conditions gentle enough to protect complex carbon compounds — perhaps the same mild environment needed to support life itself.

"Before you can have life, you need an environment where that life can get what it needs to survive," Amy Williams, the paper's lead author from the University of Florida, told Mashable. "Our discovery not only expands the catalog of known molecules, but tells us that some of the building blocks for life as we know it on Earth were also present on Mars in the ancient past."

SEE ALSO: NASA's incredible new telescope will offer an 'atlas of the universe'

Among the cache were seven never-before-seen molecules on Mars, including a nitrogen heterocycle, a ring-shaped structure more complex than a simple carbon chain. Nitrogen stands out because it plays a central role in DNA and RNA on Earth, the molecules that carry genetic information for every organism.

These nitrogen heterocycles haven’t just been absent from previous Mars measurements — they've also never been found in Martian meteorites that fell to Earth, Williams said. She has called the discovery "profound."

NASA's Curiosity rover explores a clay-enriched area in Gale Crater on Mars. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

Other detections included naphthalene and benzothiophene. Those compounds typically form when larger carbon structures break down, supporting the idea that the original material inside the rock was complex.

Living things could have produced these organic molecules, but scientists can't say that yet. Chemical reactions between water and rock can also create them. Still, researchers are encouraged because the detections show Mars' radiation, climate, and other harsh conditions didn't completely erase this raw material. That resilience bodes well for future experiments and missions: If life ever emerged on Mars, scientists may be able to detect molecules made by long-extinct alien microorganisms.

The sampled rock formed about 3.5 billion years ago in Gale Crater, a basin that once held water. If Mars ever developed life, or even came close, this kind of preserved material is where scientists would expect to find chemical traces of that attempt. The specimen came from a location nicknamed Mary Anning, after the English paleontologist.

The actual drill hole where Curiosity took the rock sample for the chemistry test is labeled Mary Anning 3 in this annotated image. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

The rock’s clay-rich setting may explain how the chemicals survived. On Earth, clay can trap and protect organic material from breaking down. The same process appears to have worked on Mars.

For NASA to run the experiment, Curiosity used a solvent called tetramethylammonium hydroxide, or TMAH, in methanol. The rover mixed the liquid with powdered rock, allowing its instruments to more easily spot certain carbon-based compounds. The powerful testing technique gives scientists a closer look at subtle hints of life that standard tests might miss.

Curiosity’s onboard lab has carried only two small containers of this chemical for its entire mission. The team recently used the second and final cup, as Mashable previously reported. Between the first test in 2020 and the second one this year, scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center redesigned the experiment into a three-stage process to better mirror lab techniques used on Earth.

"We're really excited about seeing the results," Vasavada told Mashable in February. "These are quite complex analyses to interpret and understand, so it will take a few months for the team to be confident in knowing what they've found."

In a post-Omegle world, there are many one-on-one cam sites to consider. Thundr, OmeTV, Uhmegle — but none of these scratch the itch that a lot of users went to Omegle for: online sex. While most of these sites do have a large community of people utilizing them to bust a nut on the internet, they aren't marketed for that. DirtyRoulette is.

After its launch in 2010, DirtyRoulette quickly became a popular Omegle alternative for those looking to waste less time. Omegle became saturated with people who just wanted to chat, which was the site's intended use. Some just wanted to jerk off, which is why DirtyRoulette became a great space to do exactly that. And since its launch, DirtyRoulette has cemented itself as one of the most visited adult webcam sites on the internet.

SEE ALSO: I tried Sniffies and it made getting laid as a gay man almost too easy

But what is DirtyRoulette, and does it actually deliver on what it promises? It's time to find out.

How does DirtyRoulette work?

DirtyRoulette connects people from all over the world with one common desire: to get naked with strangers on webcam. The site doesn't pretend otherwise, either. Everything is branded for sex, which is honestly quite refreshing in comparison to other sites like Flingster, whose "About Us" section states the opposite when everyone on the site uses it for sex.

Funny enough, DirtyRoulette is actually powered by Flingster, so the format will feel familiar if you've ever used that site. Choose your gender, add tags if you want, and hit start. DirtyRoulette will pair you with a random stranger from around the world. And nine times out of ten, it will be a penis.

Because it is powered by Flingster, DirtyRoulette runs ads every few people. These ads aren't annoying and are easy to skip. You can sign up via Gmail or email, which, like Flingster, does nothing. If you want more, DirtyRoulette offers a paid VIP tier (found when you click the "Upgrade" button in the chat), the same account and pricing as Flingster:

• One week: $7.99/trial (rebills monthly at $29.99)

• One month: $19.99/month

• Six months: $14.99/month (rebills every six months at $89.94)

That said, accounts on DirtyRoulette are essentially pointless. The only change is that you will be able to filter by gender and country, which honestly doesn't change the game at all.

What gives DirtyRoulette the edge over Flingster is that this site is not intended for anything aside from sex. There's nothing confusing about it. Like, it's called DirtyRoulette. You'd have to live under a rock to not understand the context there.

Is DirtyRoulette free?

Yes, DirtyRoulette is free aside from the aforementioned service through Flingster VIP. DirtyRoulette works just as well without paying, and there's no real need to do so.

Is DirtyRoulette available on mobile?

Unlike Flingster, there is currently no way to download DirtyRoulette as an app on your phone. DirtyRoulette is fully accessible through your smartphone's browser, with everything available that you'd find on your desktop.

Is DirtyRoulette legal?

In the United States, yes, DirtyRoulette is legal for adults over the age of 18. That said, if you are trying to access DirtyRoulette in a different country, check your local laws first, as DirtyRoulette is not legal everywhere.

Keep in mind that although DirtyRoulette is an adult cam site intended for adults over the age of 18, there's a significant problem worth noting. DirtyRoulette prides itself on anonymity, meaning that there is no ID verification needed prior to accessing the site. Anyone can get on DirtyRoulette, and that's worth taking seriously. DirtyRoulette's FAQ states that if you suspect someone is underage, you can report it by clicking on the flag icon in a chat.

Is DirtyRoulette safe?

Generally, no, not really. But, when comparing DirtyRoulette versus Flingster, we'd say it has a slight edge over Flingster in that department. Why? As mentioned, DirtyRoulette is not trying to trick you into saying it's something else. It is an adult cam site. Essentially, it's porn. It doesn't pretend to be anything different, as Flingster does.

We have to reiterate that there is no ID verification, which keeps the site anonymous but does leave the door open for bad actors. You can be speaking to anybody.

Final thoughts on DirtyRoulette

Like any cam site, sexually-inclined or not, DirtyRoulette is to be accessed by those who are using their judgment. It's a simple site with a simple purpose, and for what it is, it does its job well. But the anonymity that makes it appealing is the same thing that makes it worth approaching with some common sense. If something feels off, it's off. Skip to the next person and continue having the fun you came there for. Just don't forget that there's a real person on the other side of that camera, for better or worse.