We may earn a commission from links on this page.No matter how big your house seemed when you moved in, it will eventually seem too small. Whether its a growing family or a shift to remote work, the chances that youll eventually wish you had just one more room are pretty high. And with the cost of an addition to your home starting at around $22,000, a lot of folks look for lower-cost ways to claw some more usable space out of their homes.The good news is that you might have the solution in your house already: your closets. Closets are already pretty useful for storing your stuff out of sight, of course, but if youre in the market for an extra room and you have a closet to spare, you have the opportunity to trade boring storage space for something a lot more useful. Depending on how large the closet in question is, you have options for repurposing it.BedroomIf youre seeking more square footage because you need an extra bedroom, a decent-sized closet might be the solution. Generally speaking, a bedroom should be a minimum of 70 square feet, and the good news is that a standard walk-in closet is typically pretty close to that at about 65 square feet. Turning a walk-in closet into a usable sleeping space is therefore just a matter of clearing it out and installing a bed.This wont be a legal bedroom you can include on a house listing, of coursefor that, you typically need an egress like a window or door leading out of the house. But it can be a comfortable spot for guests or a growing child who needs their own private space.Closets smaller than that can still be transformed into bedrooms, especially for kids. Folding beds or bunk beds attached directly to the walls can create a fun, flexible sleeping area that can be utilized when you suddenly have an army of guests staying over or when the kiddos want that sleepover vibe.OfficeIf you work remotely even part of the time, you know a specific office space is key to your sanity and your job performance. If you didnt anticipate needing an extra room for an office when you bought your home, you also know that trying to work at kitchen counters, dining room tables, and on living room couches with a laptop balanced on your knees is less than ideal.Even the tiniest extra closet can be transformed into a usable office (or cloffice, though we sincerely hope that term doesnt catch on). Reach-in closets are typically a minimum of two feet deep and range from three to eight feet wide. You can still fit a small desk (or use a folding desk) and plenty of shelving into the short end of that range, giving you an organized, bespoke space for your working hours. And closet offices come with one huge unanticipated benefit: You can close the door when the work day is finished and hide it all away.BarIf youve dreamed of having a grown-up bar in your house for entertaining purposes (or just because youre enthusiastic about cocktails), a spare closet in or near the living area offers you an ideal spot. A reach-in closet thats just two feet deep by three feet wide can house a perfectly respectable bar area in a few relatively easy steps:Remove the doors and door hardware.Remove shelving and hanging bars.Patch and paint interior drywall.Install a small bar fridge, a cabinet with countertop of similar size, and another cabinet or glassware storage on the walls.Add some simple lighting if necessary.Now all thats left is to stock the bar and organize a party.LibraryIf you love to read but hate how books take over the entire house, a spare closet is the perfect space for a small, cozy library and reading nook. If you have a larger walk-in closet you dont need, its relatively straightforward to install some shelves, a comfortable chair, and a reading lamp to create a small library space for yourself (mini-fridge stocked with snacks is optional). But even a small reach-in closet can be cleared out, outfitted with bookshelves, and stocked with a folding chair to create a cozy reading space.PantryA pantry is really just a food closet, so transforming an underused coat closet into a pantry is pretty straightforward. While your pantry can be located anywhere, a closet near your kitchen is obviously ideal. All thats needed is to remove existing hanging bars and shelves, install floor-to-ceiling shelving, and add in some hanging baskets and hooks for cooking utensils, aprons, or anything else that normally gets in the way.If your adorably small pantry is a bit too adorably small, you can add a back-of-door organizer to give yourself a little extra food storage, too.Laundry roomThis one is a bit more ambitious than some of the other projects on this list, but its impact is potentially larger. If youre not afraid of hiring a plumber and possibly an electrician (or if youre comfortable doing that kind of work yourself), a closet could become the laundry room youre currently missing.To see if its even possible, measure your closet and the appliances you need to fit in there. Washers and dryers average about 24-26 inches wide, around 42 inches high, and 30 inches deep, with a lot of variance between brands and models. Youll need to allow for about six inches of clearance between the wall and the machines, and if youre using front-loaders, youll need to account for the extra depth unless the closet opening is wide enough. Those dimensions mean that a small reach-in closet probably wont work for this projectyoull need at least a small walk-in closet to make it work.Keep in mind that if your closet is just large enough to fit your appliances, there wont be any room to store detergents and other supplies. If you have to store that stuff elsewhere (or have it in a messy pile nearby), thats not an ideal solution. You can add some behind-the-door storage, howeveror even a behind-the-door ironing rack that can double as a place to fold laundry as it comes out of the dryer.Recording boothWhether youre one of the millions (and millions) of people who host their own podcast or just need a quiet spot for video meetings and calls, a small closet is an ideal spot to build a simple, DIY recording booth/studio. Some acoustic foam panels on the walls and a sound dampening blanket over the door can turn that tiny space into a perfect vocal isolation booth, recording studio, or meeting spot. The small size is a feature here, as it will be relatively cheap to turn that closet into a quiet studio space.

Coming up with a list of the best comedy podcasts is hardcomedy is subjective, and Im hardly a comedian myself. However, I am an expert podcast listenerI write a podcast newsletter and have been bringing you podcast recommendations on this website for years. And of the more than 75 days' worth of podcasts I listened to in 2024, these are the shows that made me laugh (repeatedly) during a busy, tumultuous year.(Once you're all stocked up on laughs, check out my lists of the best interview podcasts, the best true crime podcasts, and the year's best podcasts overall.)Handsome Credit: Podcast logo Handsome is a sweet gem of a show that showcases the friendship betweenTig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, and Mae Martin. Each episode feels like sitting in on a hilarious and heartfelt conversation filled with equal parts jokes and authenticity. The trios chemistry is electric, blending quirky observations, absurd humor, and surprising tangents that keep you laughing while also touching on relatable themes. Whether they're dissecting awkward social situations or diving into random, offbeat topics, Handsome stands out as a podcast that is as smart as it is funnya must-listen for fans of clever, laid-back comedy. Tiny Dinos Credit: Podcast logo In their improv comedy podcast Tiny Dinos, Connor Ratliff (Dead Eyes, Mean Girls, Search Party, and many others) and James III (Black Men Can't Jump [In Hollywood], Astronomy Club) have created a world that is so much fun I want to live inside of it. It seems Connor and James are scientists who have brought back dinosaurs a la Jurassic Parkbut not normal sized ones; that would be irresponsible. These dinos are tiny. This proves to be the perfect setup for really silly conversations as they attempt to keep their scientific endeavor a secret. Valley Heat Credit: Podcast logo Valley Heat is a fictional podcast about the real Rancho Equestrian District in Burbank, California, hosted by Doug Duguay, purportedly a freelance insurance adjuster. It all begins when Doug suspects his pool guy is dealing drugs from his garbage can, and his investigation kicks off introductions to Dougs neighbors, his family, and all of their assorted crazy antics. With its unique blend of dry wit, unpredictable storylines, and cast of eccentric characters, Valley Heat feels like a real world documentary spun wildly out of control. The fictional ads that Doug reads in each episode are also a highlight.One of Us Credit: Podcast logo Actors and comedians start podcasts all the time, but they dont always put a ton of thought into the concept or the production. Fin Argus and Chris Renfro took the opposite tack. Their show One Of Us contains interviews, improv segments, rich sound design, and tons of creativity. (It sounds like what the cover art looks like'90s Nickelodeon-esque, the kind of kind of silly, fantastical weirdness that makes silly, fantastical, weird people feel seen.) In each episode, a guest comedian joins them in their rocket ship to travel to a new, imagined universea haunted Erewhon, a clothing-optional hot spring, Miss Frizzles assholeto see if theyre willing to join Fin and Chris intergalactic Best Friend Force. Underneath the silliness is this really nice idea that we can build the kind of world we want to live in, and that even dreaming about it is something. My Momma Told Me Credit: Podcast logo My Momma Told Me is a standout podcast that combines humor and cultural commentary with a deep dive into conspiracy theories and folklore in the Black community. Hosts Langston Kerman (Insecure, English Teacher) and David Gborie invite guests to tell them about what their mommas told them (like that "Toonami" was invented to waste Black kids time and suck out their athleticism, or that wearing red nail polish means youre a floozie), and maybe even stuff that their mommas' mommas told them, unpacking their origins and cultural significance along the way, and never shying away from addressing broader societal issues. Who? Weekly Credit: Podcast logo Who? Weekly is a show about celebrities who are famous, but you dont really know why. As defined by hosts Lindsey Weber and Bobby Finger, "Who" celebrities are the ones that make you go who? and "They" celebrities are the ones you absolutely know, like Nicole Kidman. Turns out what the Whos are up to is way more interesting and entertaining than the Theys. Lindsey and Bobby cover it alltheir sponsored content, their most unhinged moments, their PR nightmares, and best of all, the dumb coverage they get in the media. Straightiolab Credit: Podcast logo On Straightiolab, comedians George Civeris and Sam Taggart are unpacking straight culture one piece at a time. Their chats, which are about 75% wild tangents, are so off the wall that they go right past weird to totally genius. Whatever outrageous, tenuous ties they find between the topic of the day and the culture of queerness inevitably segue into quasi-philosophical conversations about gender. Its academic comedy. Each show starts with a silly game segment that makes no sense (and nobody is allowed to ask questions about it), and George, Sam, and the guests end each episode with TRL-esque shoutouts. All Fantasy Everything Credit: Podcast logo On All Fantasy Everything, Ian Karmel, Sean Jordan, and David Gborie draft their favorite things in the world, from movies and foods to utterly absurd concepts like "things that make you feel cool." The charm lies in the trio's natural chemistry, hilarious tangents, and their ability to make even the silliest topics feel compelling and relatablethe best mall stores, the most painful moments in Home Alone, the best grilling music, food that looks better than it tastes, weird billionaire hobbies, etc. It strikes a perfect balance between nostalgia, comedy, and creativity.WikiHole Credit: Podcast logo WikiHole is comedy randomness at its best. Host DArcy Carden pulls her extremely funny guests through a series of trivia questions drawn from Wikipedia topics, each question linked to the next in some weird wayits Wikipedia rabbit holes all the way down. Sure, youll learn random facts, and sure, someone will win. But the fun is hearing guests like Sasheer Zamata, Matt Rogers, Ilana Glazer, and Nick Kroll showing off what they know (or dont) and marveling as DArcy rather theatrically threads it all together. How exactly do coked-out sharks connect to The Fast and the Furious franchise? How does Bjrk connect to bike messengers? How do Renaissance Faires connect to Donkey Kong? Youll have to listen to find out.Were Here to Help Credit: Podcast logo There are a lot of advice shows out there, and Were Here to Help is one of them. What sets hosts Jake Johnson (New Girl, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and Gareth Reynolds (The Dollop) apart is their chemistry, comedy, and the fact that they absolutely admit they are not qualified to help anyone but are going to try anyway. On each episode they make several pitches to callers with their best attempts at advice to solve mundane problems. For example, one caller needs help getting her son out of a karate contract, and another wants to break up with their chiropractor. Buried inside the humor is often quite good advice, but you may be laughing too hard to notice.

The Apple Watch Series 10 is down to its Black Friday price. You can pick one up for $329 via Amazon, which is a discount of $70 and nearly 20 percent off. Even better? This deal is available for multiple band colors, including jet black, rose gold and more. This is the companys latest and greatest smartwatch and it easily topped our list of the best Apple wearables. Its thinner and lighter than the Series 9, which is something that we were impressed by in our official review. We also appreciated the larger wide-angle OLED display, which makes some things easier to read. This is particularly useful when trying to navigate via Maps. Theres a brand-new depth gauge, for snorkeling and swimming, and sensors that support sleep apnea detection. The speakers are even much-improved over previous generations, so the Apple Watch Series 10 is a decent option for checking out a podcast. Its just a watch, however, so we can't recommend using the speakers for extended listening. Other people will hear you and music will sound tinny and dull. The battery life still maxes out at 18 hours. This is somewhat annoying, but the Series 10 can get to 80 percent in just 90 minutes by using a fast-charge-certified charger. That means you just have to find an hour or so to plug it in toward the end of the day if you want to track sleep. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-watch-series-10-is-back-down-to-its-black-friday-price-173850202.html?src=rss

You might have thrown out the wrapping paper and are readying the drinks for the countdown to the new year, but some of us are already getting ready for CES 2025. Shortly after New Years Day, many from the Engadget team will be packing our bags to fly to Las Vegas, where well be covering techs biggest annual conference. As usual, our inboxes are already flooded with pitches from companies that are planning to be there, and our calendars are filling up with appointments for briefings and demos.Based on our experience, as well as observation of recent industry trends, its fairly easy to make educated predictions about what we might see in January. Over the years, the focus of the conference has spanned areas like TVs, cars, smart home products and personal health, with a smattering of laptops and accessories thrown in. At CES 2025, we expect to see AI get even more pervasive in all areas of the show floor. But we are also likely to get the usual slew of new processors and subsequent laptops, as well as all manner of wearables, trackers, bathroom appliances and massage chairs. Oh, the massage chairs.What we already know is comingThere's already a lot we know is coming, just by a cursory glance at the lineup published by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). In addition to numerous panels and talks, there will be keynotes by NVIDIA's founder and CEO Jensen Huang, Delta CEO Ed Bastian as well as C-suite executives from companies like Panasonic, SiriusXM, Waymo and Volvo group. We've also seen that Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X (Twitter), will be interviewed by journalist Catherine Herridge at a keynote on January 7, while Snap CEO Evan Spiegel will be speaking about the "future goals of the platform" on January 8.Some companies didn't even wait till January to make their news known. LG, for example, continues its annual tradition of sharing its upcoming CES launches weeks ahead of the show by unveiling the 2025 refresh for its QNED evo line of LCD TVs. The company has continued to release more information, including announcing its 45-inch UltraGear bendable OLED gaming monitor alongside a line of curved OLED screens.Hyundai Mobis, meanwhile, has said it will be giving us a look at its "Holographic Windshield Display," something it's claiming is a world's first. Hyundai Mobis even shared a picture of what its booth at CES 2025 will look like, in case pictures of convention center booths get you excited.Hyundai MobisIf youre already looking ahead to 2025 and are studiously researching what might be coming in January, heres a taste of what our team expects to see at the show.New video cards from AMD and NVIDIATheres no doubt 2025 is going to be a momentous year for PC gamers. NVIDIA is expected to debut its long-awaited RTX 5000 video cards at CES, while AMD CEO Lisa Su has confirmed well see next-generation RDNA 4 GPUs early next year. Of the two companies, AMD could use the upgrade more. Its last batch of Radeon 7000 cards were decent mid-range performers, but they lagged far behind NVIDIAs hardware when it came to ray tracing, and AMDs FSR 3 upscaling also couldnt compete with NVIDIAs AI-powered DLSS 3."In addition to a strong increase in gaming performance, RDNA 4 delivers significantly higher ray-tracing performance and adds new AI capabilities, AMD CEO Lisa Su said in an October earnings call.As for NVIDIAs new hardware, a rumor from the leaker OneRaichu (via DigitalTrends) suggested that the RTX 5090 could be up to 70 percent faster than the RTX 4090. (Thats a GPU that I previously described as having unholy power.) They also note that other high level cards could see 30 to 40 percent performance bumps. Those gains might be enough to tempt wealthy RTX 4090 owners to upgrade, but RTX 4070 and 4080 owners might want to skip this generation. For NVIDIA holdouts with RTX 3000 and earlier GPUs, though, next year may be the perfect time to upgrade. Devindra Hardawar, senior reporterAI PCs round 2Last year, I predicted that AI PCs would dominate CES, and that mostly turned out to be true. As 2024 rolled on, we saw even more powerful NPUs in chips from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm. Microsoft also doubled down on AI PCs with its Copilot+ initiative, which gave a big marketing push for artificial intelligence features and premium specifications (like having at least 16GB of RAM).Expect more of the same going into CES 2025, alongside even more AI being stuffed into every category of product imaginable. This year, in particular, PC makers are likely to gear up to take advantage of Windows 10 support ending next year. Instead of just upgrading your old computer to Windows 11, the likes of Dell and HP would rather you buy a whole new AI PC with the new OS pre-installed.While 2024 was a year of endless AI PC hype, 2025 might end up being a year of reckoning. Microsofts long-delayed Recall feature is slowly trickling out to more users, but its already showing some glaring security holes, like failing to scrub social security and credit card numbers from screenshots. Weve also been mostly underwhelmed with Apple Intelligences image generation capabilities. PC makers have been eager to talk up the potential of AI-powered features until now, but in 2025 theyll have to actually prove they can live up to their fantastical claims. D.H.Earbuds that follow Apples lead on hearing healthIm fully aware not every audio company has the ability to build out a clinical-grade hearing test and hearing aid features in their apps. However, Apples recent update for the AirPods Pro 2 should inspire the competition to offer some form of hearing health tools on their flagship products. Jabra was probably the best equipped to do this since parent company GN has extensive hearing aid experience. Sadly, the company announced earlier this year that it wouldnt make earbuds anymore.Samsung and Google could probably integrate something like what Apple made for the AirPods, given both companies existing health platforms. If they did, those announcements are unlikely to be made at CES, as both companies prefer to host their own standalone hardware events throughout the year.That leaves Sennheiser as the biggest audio company that consistently launches earbuds and headphones at CES. Last year, it showcased multiple new models, including one with heart-rate tracking for workouts. Plus, it already offers hearing assistance with dedicated devices like the true wireless Conversation Clear Plus. Those earbuds are more hearing focused than for general content consumption, so it would be great to see Sennheiser bring some features from that product to its flagship Momentum line of earbuds. Perhaps a Momentum True Wireless 4 Pro or Plus is in the cards, but the current model is just nine months old.Of course, theres plenty of room for other companies to innovate here, and there will be no shortage of new earbuds in Vegas next month. We also tend to see a ton of assistive devices and technology launch at CES, from major accessibility companies like OrCam and all manner of smaller brands. I just hope some of the new tech includes more general hearing tools on the models most people will want to use. Billy Steele, senior editorVehicle electrification goes sky highAs the growth of electric cars nears 10 percent of new models sold in the US, its easy to forget that wheeled vehicles arent the only kind of transportation seeing the shift to battery-powered propulsion. Flying taxis have been a mainstay of CES for the past few years, with concept vehicles from brands as large as Hyundai dotting the show floor in Vegas.Granted, these contraptions look more like giant drones with cockpits than anything the Jetsons ever dreamed up. But with companies like Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation pledging to actually launch eVTOL services (electric vertical take-off and landing) in 2025, the era of air taxis may have landed for real this time. Sam Rutherford, senior reporterTurning more phones into satellite phonesSince Apple introduced Emergency SOS via Satellite on the iPhone 14 in 2022, we've seen a serious uptick in development in satellite communications. Not only did Apple expand its feature to allow for non-emergency communications, component makers like Qualcomm, too, tried to bring similar capabilities to Android devices. Snapdragon Satellite was announced at CES 2023, as a project between Qualcomm and Iridium, but the initiative did not gain popularity with smartphone companies, and was ultimately ended in November that same year.Since then, Google launched satellite calling in Pixel 9 phones, while SpaceX's Starlink satellite texting service has gone live in New Zealand via telco One NZ. In the US, T-Mobile opened up beta signups for its Starlink-powered satellite cell service this year. The skies are getting more crowded, too, with AT&T and partner AST SpaceMobile launching five satellites in September, as well as Amazon's Project Kuiper looking to boost its satellite internet network with space lasers.This year, Garmin launched the inReach Messenger Plus, which it describes as an "SOS Satellite Communicator with Photo and Voice messaging." Though satellite hotspots like that have been around for years from companies like Iridium and GlobalSat, they've historically cost $800 to $1,000, and haven't had the ability to send much more than a few lines of text. Garmin's product may be an indicator of things to come not only are we likely to see major phone makers embed satellite communication capability into future handsets, but in the interim we're probably going to get a bunch of hotspots so we'll never lose connectivity, not matter how far off the grid we get. And I wouldn't be surprised if CES 2025 is rife with devices that let us tap into satellites to get help and talk to others. Cherlynn Low, deputy editorExpanded dialog improvement features on soundbarsWhen it comes to the main aspects of soundbars, there really isnt a ton of innovation from year to year. Heck, Samsungs biggest update last year was the addition of HDMI 2.1 support to its flagship model, which shouldve been there already. Companies have also been focused on the transition to cable-free everything, whether thats wireless Dolby Atmos or wireless transmission boxes. Audio enhancement features are a place where companies can really rise above the fray, and tools like Sonos TV Audio Swap and Boses Personal Surround Sound are great examples of this. A key area nearly every company can improve is dialog boost, a feature that raises the volume or separates spoken word from background noise and music for better clarity.Sonos made a huge leap in this regard on the Arc Ultra, offering two additional settings for its so-called Speech Enhancement. Previously, this was just an all-or-nothing toggle, which is how most companies handle their versions of this tool. Not only is the Sonos update customizable to a degree, its also just better, thanks in part to the redesigned architecture of its new premium soundbar. This is an obvious area where other companies can improve.LG and Samsung typically announce new soundbars at CES, and there are plenty of smaller companies that will debut some too. Id love to see all of them take dialog enhancements a step further and at the very least give multiple options for how its applied. LG has been using AI Sound Pro from its TVs since 2021 and Samsung offers something called Adaptive Sound on its home theater speakers. I would expect them both to generally improve the quality of their features, but Im hoping theyll expand the capabilities too. B.S.Update, December 17 2024, 12:40PM ET: This story has been updated to include the companies and CEOs that will be making keynotes at the show.Update, December 20 2024, 11:55AM ET: This story has been updated to include LG and Hyundai Mobis' announcements ahead of CES 2025.Update, December 25 2024, 10:00AM ET: This story has been updated to include a prediction about satellite communication devices being everywhere at CES 2025.Update, December 30 2024, 11:30AM ET: This story has been updated to include a section titled "What we already know is coming," that contains newer information about appearances by X CEO Linda Yaccarino and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, as well as updates on LG's UltraGear line. The intro was also updated to be more accurate about the time of year since we first published this piece.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ces-2025-lgs-bendable-5k-oled-hyundais-holographic-windshield-display-and-other-tech-were-expecting-to-see-in-las-vegas-200052676.html?src=rss

LG just unveiled its latest microwave ahead of CES 2025. The LG Signature model features a 27-inch FHD display. We can finally watch stuff during the 90 seconds it takes popcorn to pop. Let us never be without screens!This is a touchscreen display thats being described as an immersive entertainment experience right in the kitchen. The microwave also connects to Wi-Fi, for streaming content, and has built-in speakers. We dont know what OS it runs on or if it can access every streaming platform out there. Traditional LG smart TVs run webOS, so maybe the same is true here.The company has also remained mum as to whether this screen is ad-supported or not. Putting a bunch of ads right in the kitchen sure sounds like something a boardroom of execs would salivate over. LG already shows full-screen ads on many of its televisions when they are idle.The touchscreen does integrate with LGs ThinQ Smart Home Dashboard, which allows control over compatible Matter and Thread devices. It can also pair with the companys induction range oven to display cooking progress metrics, thus eliminating the need to bend down and check the oven manually. What a scourge, all of that bending down.LG hasnt revealed pricing or availability for this snazzy new appliance. Its likely well learn more when CES 2025 starts in earnest on January 7. Well be there and will report back as to what it feels like to watch Arcane while standing in front a microwave.LGThe company is in love with screens right now. It also announced a new refrigerator with an OLED display and a washer/dryer with an LCD. Im all for increased entertainment options but, uh, what happens when those displays break? It seems like buttons and knobs would be easier to repair or replace than a giant touchscreen.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/lg-slapped-a-27-inch-touchscreen-on-its-latest-microwave-162736550.html?src=rss

A new set of US government requirements aims to tighten cybersecurity after multiple recent attacks.

It comes a day after the former president passed away at 100

Atos says its been warned of a potential ransomware attack, but there has been no concrete evidence so far.

The U.S. faces a potential surge in COVID-19 casesa wave, the 10th since the pandemic began, that experts say could take many by surprise due to its silent nature.Unlike previous years, where winter waves began in November, this years surge has started later. Wastewater surveillance data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals a sharp increase in viral activity. As of December 21, SARS-CoV-2 levels are classified as high or very high in 28 states.Michael Hoerger, a public health expert at Tulane University, describes this phenomenon as silent transmission, noting that many are unaware of the rising risk due to low activity levels earlier this fall. Theres a good chance that a lot of people are going to get sick in the next couple of weeks and be unaware of it. Most people are not tracking CDC data, and so their only way of knowing whether were in a wave is if theyve gotten sick, he told TODAY.com.Wastewater data and regional trendsThe CDC has shifted its focus from tracking individual cases to monitoring wastewater, test positivity rates, and emergency department visits. Recent data shows:COVID-19 levels in wastewater have risen nationally, increasing from low in November to high by late December.States with very high activity include Arizona, Kentucky, and Massachusetts, among others.Test positivity rates stand at 7.5%, up nearly 2% from the previous week.Symptoms and current variantsThe dominant variants circulating, including XEC and KP.3.1.1, are highly transmissible but generally cause mild symptoms. Common symptoms include:Sore throatCongestionFatigueCoughFever or chillsDespite their mild nature, infections can still lead to severe outcomes, particularly for high-risk individuals, and contribute to the ongoing challenge of long COVID-19.Vaccination and preventionThe CDC recommends the updated COVID-19 vaccine, which targets the KP.2 variant. This vaccine is expected to provide strong protection, though uptake remains low, with only 21% of U.S. adults vaccinated.To mitigate the spread, health officials advise:Staying up to date on vaccinations.Testing for COVID-19 if symptomatic or exposed.Masking in crowded indoor settings.Staying home when unwell.

The German government accused U.S. billionaire Elon Musk on Monday of trying to influence its election due in February with articles supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, even though it suggested they amounted to nonsense.Musk, who is set to serve Donald Trumps new administration as an outside adviser, endorsed the AfD as Germanys last hope in a guest opinion piece for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that prompted the commentary editor to resign in protest.It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election with X posts and the opinion piece, a German government spokesperson said.Musk is free to express his opinion, the spokesperson said, adding: After all, freedom of opinion also covers the greatest nonsense.Musk, the worlds richest person, has defended his right to weigh in on German politics because of his significant investments, and has praised the AfDs approach to regulation, taxes and market deregulation.His intervention has come as Germans prepare to vote in a parliamentary election on Feb. 23 after the collapse of the coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Musk also called for Scholzs resignation after a car rammed into a crowd at a Christmas market on Dec. 20, killing five people.The AfD is currently in second place in opinion polls behind the main opposition conservatives, and might be able to thwart a centre-right or centre-left majority in the election. Germanys mainstream parties have pledged not to work with the AfD at the national level.The government spokesperson said Musks endorsement of the AfD was a recommendation to vote for a party that is being monitored (by domestic intelligence) on suspicion of being right-wing extremist and which has already been recognised as partly right-wing extremist.German politicians have excoriated Musk for his endorsement of the AfD, with the co-leader of Scholzs Social Democrats (SPD) comparing him to Russian President Vladimir Putin.Both want to influence our elections and specifically support the AfDs enemies of democracy. They want Germany to be weakened and plunged into chaos, Lars Klingbeil told the Funke news group on Monday.Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democrats and current favourite to succeed Scholz as chancellor, told Funke that Musks comments were intrusive and pretentious.Friederike Heine, Reuters