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CNET
2 days ago
- Lifestyle
- CNET
I Like to Watch TV on Camping Trips, and an iPad Doesn't Cut It, So I Pack This Portable Projector
CNET's key takeaways Anker's Nebula Mars 3 Air is a compact portable projector with a reasonable $599 price (and it's frequently available for less). Despite its size, it delivers a bright picture and loud audio for a portable projector. It can even double as a Bluetooth speaker. Its size is great for backyard movie nights or car camping, but might be a little large for backpackers. I recently took an epic road trip through a land of giants, and there's only one compact projector I would take with me to complete my camping experience. Anker's Nebula Mars 3 Air made my nights at Kings Canyon National Park, home of the world's largest grove of sequoia trees, even more picturesque, without taking up too much space. I review projectors for CNET, and I've also built a DIY campervan, so I know that a lot of the best portable projectors sacrifice too much for their size. Not this one. With the side of my van (which is conveniently white) doubling as a screen, I rewatched some episodes of Andor I'd downloaded from Disney+ after the sun went down at the campsite, capping off a beautiful day in nature with the right mix of bright picture, loud audio and portability. If you want to watch a movie with the family while camping, and crowding around an iPad doesn't cut it -- this is the way to go. My experience with the Mars 3 Air As far as performance goes, the Mars 3 Air does quite well for its size and price. In my lab, I measured a contrast ratio of 405:1, which isn't amazing, but it's better than most portable projectors. That means the image doesn't look washed out or flat. (You can see all my testing data in my guide to the best portable projectors.) Sound-wise, the 3 Air's two 8-watt speakers play loudly, offering performance similar to many Bluetooth speakers, which is fitting since it can also double as a Bluetooth speaker. The battery life is good as well. You should be able to get around 2.5 hours of playtime for video and 8 hours if you're using it as a Bluetooth speaker. Disappointingly, it can't recharge via USB, so you'll need to connect to AC power to charge it. The side of my campervan makes for a decent impromptu projector screen. Geoffrey Morrison/CNET What makes the Mars 3 Air the best portable projector option for camping trips is how it does everything well without doing anything particularly poorly. It's also very easy to use. It runs on a full version of Google TV, so it has access to all the typical streaming services. Many portable projectors only have some streaming apps, and if they do support some streaming apps, they might not support the full versions of the apps, which can make portable projectors harder to use. Keep in mind that the easiest way to watch shows and movies on the Mars 3 Air is to make your phone a hotspot. If you don't have service where you are, like in many national parks, you need to download shows and movies ahead of time. This can only be done via a mobile device connected with HDMI, and sometimes not even then, depending on your phone. Something else you'll want to keep in mind: This projector doesn't show full frame with a USB-to-HDMI. The specs Native resolution: 1080p Lumens spec: 400 Lamp life: LED HDMI inputs: 1 USB port: 1 Audio output: Headphone output Internet: 2.4/5GHz Battery life: 2.5 hours While you wouldn't want to backpack with it, the Mars 3 Air is compact and shorter than my Jetboil MiniMo camp stove. Geoffrey Morrison/CNET CNET's buying advice The Mars 3 Air is the best all-around portable projector because it does most things well, some things really well and almost nothing wrong. It looks good, sounds good and doesn't take up a lot of space. There are two other options I want to talk about that might be better in certain situations. The first is Anker's own Capsule Air. It's the size of a soda can, making it even more portable than the Mars 3 Air. It also has Google TV built in, is battery powered, can double as a Bluetooth speaker and (unlike the Mars 3 Air) it can charge via USB-C. That means you can have longer viewing sessions between charges as long as you have a battery bank. It's dimmer and can't play as loud as the Mars 3 Air, however. The other option is the AAXA M8. It's also much smaller than the Mars 3 Air, and significantly brighter and cheaper. Overall, it looks quite good, though its colors are pretty strange. It also has extremely loud fans, and the streaming options are far more limited. If you want to create larger-than-TV-sized images on the go and don't mind screaming little fans while you're watching, the M8 might work better for you than the Mars 3 Air. The Anker Mars 3 Air is the best overall, though, and it's the one I'll be taking with me on my next trip.
Fast Company
5 days ago
- Politics
- Fast Company
Managers rethink ecological scenarios as threats rise amid climate change
In Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California, trees that have persisted through rain and shine for thousands of years are now facing multiple threats triggered by a changing climate. Scientists and park managers once thought giant sequoia forests were nearly impervious to stressors like wildfire, drought and pests. Yet, even very large trees are proving vulnerable, particularly when those stressors are amplified by rising temperatures and increasing weather extremes. The rapid pace of climate change—combined with threats like the spread of invasive species and diseases—can affect ecosystems in ways that defy expectations based on past experiences. As a result, Western forests are transitioning to grasslands or shrublands after unprecedented wildfires. Woody plants are expanding into coastal wetlands. Coral reefs are being lost entirely. To protect these places, which are valued for their natural beauty and the benefits they provide for recreation, clean water and wildlife, forest and land managers increasingly must anticipate risks they have never seen before. And they must prepare for what those risks will mean for stewardship as ecosystems rapidly transform. As ecologists and a climate scientist, we're helping them figure out how to do that. Managing changing ecosystems Traditional management approaches focus on maintaining or restoring how ecosystems looked and functioned historically. However, that doesn't always work when ecosystems are subjected to new and rapidly shifting conditions. Ecosystems have many moving parts—plants, animals, fungi, and microbes; and the soil, air and water in which they live—that interact with one another in complex ways. When the climate changes, it's like shifting the ground on which everything rests. The results can undermine the integrity of the system, leading to ecological changes that are hard to predict. To plan for an uncertain future, natural resource managers need to consider many different ways changes in climate and ecosystems could affect their landscapes. Essentially, what scenarios are possible? Preparing for multiple possibilities At Sequoia and Kings Canyon, park managers were aware that climate change posed some big risks to the iconic trees under their care. More than a decade ago, they undertook a major effort to explore different scenarios that could play out in the future. It's a good thing they did, because some of the more extreme possibilities they imagined happened sooner than expected. In 2014, drought in California caused the giant sequoias' foliage to die back, something never documented before. In 2017, sequoia trees began dying from insect damage. And, in 2020 and 2021, fires burned through sequoia groves, killing thousands of ancient trees. While these extreme events came as a surprise to many people, thinking through the possibilities ahead of time meant the park managers had already begun to take steps that proved beneficial. One example was prioritizing prescribed burns to remove undergrowth that could fuel hotter, more destructive fires. The key to effective planning is a thoughtful consideration of a suite of strategies that are likely to succeed in the face of many different changes in climates and ecosystems. That involves thinking through wide-ranging potential outcomes to see how different strategies might fare under each scenario—including preparing for catastrophic possibilities, even those considered unlikely. For example, prescribed burning may reduce risks from both catastrophic wildfire and drought by reducing the density of plant growth, whereas suppressing all fires could increase those risks in the long run. Strategies undertaken today have consequences for decades to come. Managers need to have confidence that they are making good investments when they put limited resources toward actions like forest thinning, invasive species control, buying seeds or replanting trees. Scenarios can help inform those investment choices. Constructing credible scenarios of ecological change to inform this type of planning requires considering the most important unknowns. Scenarios look not only at how the climate could change, but also how complex ecosystems could react and what surprises might lay beyond the horizon. Key ingredients for crafting ecological scenarios To provide some guidance to people tasked with managing these landscapes, we brought together a group of experts in ecology, climate science, and natural resource management from across universities and government agencies. We identified three key ingredients for constructing credible ecological scenarios: 1. Embracing ecological uncertainty: Instead of banking on one 'most likely' outcome for ecosystems in a changing climate, managers can better prepare by mapping out multiple possibilities. In Nebraska's Sandhills, we are exploring how this mostly intact native prairie could transform, with outcomes as divergent as woodlands and open dunes. 2. Thinking in trajectories: It's helpful to consider not just the outcomes, but also the potential pathways for getting there. Will ecological changes unfold gradually or all at once? By envisioning different pathways through which ecosystems might respond to climate change and other stressors, natural resource managers can identify critical moments where specific actions, such as removing tree seedlings encroaching into grasslands, can steer ecosystems toward a more desirable future. 3. Preparing for surprises: Planning for rare disasters or sudden species collapses helps managers respond nimbly when the unexpected strikes, such as a severe drought leading to widespread erosion. Being prepared for abrupt changes and having contingency plans can mean the difference between quickly helping an ecosystem recover and losing it entirely. Over the past decade, access to climate model projections through easy-to-use websites has revolutionized resource managers' ability to explore different scenarios of how the local climate might change. What managers are missing today is similar access to ecological model projections and tools that can help them anticipate possible changes in ecosystems. To bridge this gap, we believe the scientific community should prioritize developing ecological projections and decision-support tools that can empower managers to plan for ecological uncertainty with greater confidence and foresight.
