Small sectional sofas (which are a thing, trust us) are just the right seating solution for those with cramped spaces who recognize that it’s not humanly possible to get cozy on a loveseat. “A sectional can give you that maxed-out seating and help the room feel like a cozy nook, not a cramped back office,” says designer Caroline Burke of Anna Burke Interiors.Though sectionals in all their long configurations can feel counterintuitive for small spaces, designer Ashley Darryl says the opposite is often true. “Sometimes using several small pieces can make a room feel cluttered,” says of the sofa-chair-table cluster that’s become de rigueur in living rooms. Whether your goal is to fit the whole family for movie night or just successfully stretch out completely solo, the right-size sectional can transform a cramped room in unexpected ways.“Typically, sectionals can double your seating,” notes AD100 interior designer Victoria Hagan, and author of Live Now. Burke agrees, adding that choosing a piece with a low back and arms can “help a small room not feel engulfed by a piece of furniture.”To help with your seating journey, we pulled together our favorite sectionals for small spaces—from bouclé beauties to rawhide leather configurations. Read up on some common seating FAQs below, answered by designers, as well.Our Top Picks for the Best Small Sectional SofasBest Leather Option: Castlery Jonathan Leather Side Chaise Sofa, $4,547Best Upholstered Sofa: Vesgantti Modular Sectional Sofa, $700 $550Best Sleeper Sofa: Pottery Barn Shasta Reversible Chaise Sleeper Sectional, $2,599For Sculptural Seating: AllModern Anson Modular Sectional, $3,098 $2,673For Iconic Design: Herman Miller Luva Modular Sectional, $8,430For a Modular Arrangement: Burrow Range 3-Piece Sectional Lounger, $1299 $979In This ArticleBest Leather OptionCastlery Jonathan Leather Side Chaise SectionalSpecsDimensions: 27.6"H x 84.3"W x 94.1"D (long side) and 39.4"D (short side)Seat Depth: 24.4"Materials: Top grain leather, veneer lumber, and plywoodCare: Wipe clean with dry clothAD commerce director Rachel Fletcher has adored this modular sectional since 2022, reviewing it as “modern, minimalist, and tasteful,” pet-friendly, and a powerful design moment for your living room. This modular sectional includes a versatile chaise lounge so you can expand your sectional or split it up when you move.Best Budget SofaWade Logan Fultonham 6-Piece Upholstered SectionalSpecsDimensions: 27.6"H x 84.3"W x 94.1"D (long side) and 39.4"D (short side)Seat Depth: 24.4"Materials: Top grain leather, veneer lumber, and plywoodCare: Wipe clean with dry clothOkay, yes, six pieces seem like a lot for a small sectional sofa. But keep in mind that you can mix-and-match elements, turning some into cozy reading chairs and connecting others into larger lounge spaces. We love the taller back cushions on this blocky option which ensure that you aren’t slouching your way through your next movie marathon.Best Upholstered SofaVesgantti Modular Sectional SofaSpecsDimensions: 60"D x 108"W x 35.5"HSeat Depth: 26"Materials: Wood, foam fill, chenille upholsteryCare: Wipe clean with dry clothReviews of this Amazon sectional tout the benefits of durable-feeling upholstery and easy assembly. Sure, 108 inches may seem large for small spaces, but that’s only if you format this sofa as a three-seater. A modular makeup ensures that you can move each piece around to best suit your living room. As an added bonus, this sofa comes ready with two sets of legs at varying heights, so you can decide how low to the ground you want to be.For Sculptural SeatingAllModern Anson Modular SectionalSpecsDimensions: 32.5''H x 100.75''W x 61.25''DSeat Depth: Not listedMaterials: Wood, foam, synthetic fiber fill, polyester upholsteryCare: Spot clean with dry, solvent-based cleanerWith a curved, high back that draws you in like a hug, and slim lumbar pillows for added back support, All Modern’s Anson sectional takes the best elements of sculptural furniture and makes them compatible with small space living. Available in three upholstery colors and the option of chaise sides, this sectional sofa is an ideal happy medium between sink-in cozy texture and statement-worthy design.Best Sleeper SofaPottery Barn Shasta Reversible Chaise Sleeper SectionalSpecsDimensions: 83.5"W x 59"D x 35"HSeat Depth: 29.5"Materials: Solid rubberwood frame, polyester-wrapped cushions, innerspring mattress,Care: Blot spills immediately with a clean, colorfast towel or sponge, vacuum cushions regularlyHosting guests in a small space requires some compromise, but any consummate host knows that good hospitality doesn’t come in the form of a saggy air mattress. Instead, this sleek sofa folds out into a queen-sized bed, accommodating your guests comfortably without taking up too much additional space. All-white can be dicey for any highly trafficked piece of furniture, but the sofa also comes in a range of hardier fabrics like basketweave, tweed, and velvet in all sorts of rich colors. Buyers even have the option to add storage in the chaise.Best Velvet OptionArticle Abisko Velvet SectionalSpecsDimensions: 28"H x 94.5"W x 63.5"DSeat Depth: 25"Materials: Frame: kiln-dried solid larch, plywood, brushed aluminum; Filling: high-density foam, polyester fiber; Fabric: 100% polyesterCare: Blot stains with a dry clothThe best-selling Sven sectional from Article is made even more beautiful by colorful, performance velvet upholstery. Suitable for those with little ones and pets running around, the fabric is non-absorptive, meaning spills and crumbs won’t stay embedded in its weave. Two orientations—chaise and L-shaped—allow you to Tetris its silhouette into your space as you see fit.For Cloudlike UpholsteryWest Elm Harmony Modular Chaise SectionalSpecsDimensions: 86"W x 62"D x 37"HSeat Depth: 23"Materials: Engineered hardwood frame, fiber-wrapped high-density polyurethane foam, high-gauge sinuous springs, upholstery (linen, basketweave, velvet, chenille, and twill options)Care: Blot spills immediately with a clean, colorfast towel; spot clean with a damp cloth or spongeWith a seat depth of 23 inches, this is the ideal small sectional for sinking in and getting cozy. A multitude of pillows allows for added comfort, while the chaise seat lets at least one person on the end stretch their legs out. Rather than simply make this sofa smaller or more narrow, the entire size has also been scaled down to look proportional without sacrificing style in smaller living rooms.For a Thoroughly Modern SilhouetteDesign Within Reach Pastille Sectional ChaiseSpecsDimensions: 57"D x 80"W x 32"HSeat Depth: 23"Materials: Steel-reinforced plywood frame, high-density, high-resiliency foam cushions, memory foam toppers, fabric or leather upholsteryCare: Spot cleanThe Pastille Sectional with an included chaise is an appropriate ode to the British candy, combining clean lines with cheerful colorways. Designed by Hlynur Atlason, this lounge sofa features a low seat (approximately 18 inches high), for not only cramped quarters, but low-ceilinged ones, too. And thanks to the lightness of the design, this sofa will also never look too heavy or oversized for your living room.For an Artpiece SofaHerman Miller Luva Modular SectionalSpecsDimensions: 61.5"D x 78.25"W x 40.75"HSeat Depth: 51.5"Materials: Steel frame, layered foam, fabric or leather upholsteryCare: Spot cleanSmall in stature but never short on personality, the Luva modular sectional has a squishy texture and a cartoonish shape. Available in a two and three seater configuration and countless upholstery options (like this Kindercore yellow), this versatile 78-inch sectional would feel right at home in a basement or a reading corner in need of some verve. It’s certainly a splurge, but for the iconic Herman Miller name, plus full assembly included in the price tag, it’s an investment that we imagine will hold up nicely over time.For a Modular ArrangementBurrow Range 3-Piece Sectional LoungerSpecsDimensions: 28"H x 62"W x 60.5"DSeat Depth: 21"Materials: Bent plywood frame, medium-density foam, shredded fill, fiber wadding, basketweave or velvet upholsteryCare: Water and bleach solutionInstead of opting for a giant L-shaped sectional that will take up the entire room, aim for something with a smaller footprint. Available in performance fabric and three leg finishes, this sectional couch is ideal for a tiny living space and a major upgrade from a smaller loveseat thanks to the chaise addition. While not an official fold-out sleeper sofa, the back cushions flop back to give you enough space should you be inclined to nap. Contributor David Kaufman, who tested it out for us, calls it “a great starter sofa for a first home or apartment that you won’t have to send to a landfill when you’re ready to move.”For Some TextureUrban Outfitters Macy Modular SofaSpecsDimensions: 30"H x 40"W x 40"DSeat Depth: Not listedMaterials: Polyester, plywood, pine woodCare: Spot cleanThis one is like a “choose your own adventure” in sofa form. Buy each piece separately to create the perfect sectional for your space. Corner chairs, seats with arms, seats without arms, an ottoman—you’ve got options. The ribbed corduroy is a throwback to college-dorm days (but in a good way).For Low-to-the-Ground LeatherArticle Cigar Rawhide Tan Reversible SectionalSpecsDimensions: 26"H x 92"W x 94"DSeat Depth: 27"Materials: Frame: kiln-dried solid pine, MDF, rubberwood; Filling: high-density foam, polyester fiber, duck feathers; Leather: 100% top grain, full-aniline Italian pull-up leatherCare: Wipe with a damp clothThe reversible chaise makes this sectional super versatile—meaning there’s a good chance it’ll fit right into your next space too. Low profile in silhouette and minimalist in style, the smooth leather texture carries this design’s personality while keeping things sturdy for movie nights. And while it may not be a sofa bed, don’t let anyone dissuade you from a full night’s snooze.Best sectionals for small spaces FAQs:What features should I look for in a sectional for small living rooms?Modular furniture—any sectional that comes in several parts so you can adjust your sofa to suit the configurations—is built with flexibility in mind, making it the ideal contender for a small living space. We have tested and loved Castlery modular sofas, but a search for modular sectional should give you plenty of other options. A room tight on space can benefit from couches with storage, like those from Albany Park. Now you’ll be able to minimize the clutter and extra blankets by stowing them underneath your seat.How do I arrange a sectional in a small space?Don’t fall for the tiniest sectional you can find, but rather invest in something well-made—it plays a big part in your living room, after all. While it may seem counterintuitive, Nashville interior designer Amanda Khouri says, “Filling a small room with small furniture can make it feel…well, smaller.”Designer Alicia Murphy used a sectional in the living room of a teensy trailer she converted into a plush family getaway in Montauk, New York, for this very reason: “If you use a corner sectional rather than a sofa and chair, you most likely will add seating for two or three more people,” Murphy explains, noting that the alternative prevents you from having about 36 inches of dead space in the corner.”

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i ate a rock from the moon Have we finally solved mystery of magnetic moon rocks? Simulations show how effects of asteroid impact could amplify the early Moon's weak magnetic field. Jennifer Ouellette – May 23, 2025 2:36 pm | 5 NASA Lunar sample 60015 on display at Space Center Houston Lunar Samples Vault, at NASA's Johnson Space Center Credit: OptoMechEngineer/CC BY-SA 4.0 NASA Lunar sample 60015 on display at Space Center Houston Lunar Samples Vault, at NASA's Johnson Space Center Credit: OptoMechEngineer/CC BY-SA 4.0 Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more NASA's Apollo missions brought back moon rock samples for scientists to study. We've learned a great deal over the ensuing decades, but one enduring mystery remains. Many of those lunar samples show signs of exposure to strong magnetic fields comparable to Earth's, yet the Moon doesn't have such a field today. So, how did the moon rocks get their magnetism? There have been many attempts to explain this anomaly. The latest comes from MIT scientists, who argue in a new paper published in the journal Science Advances that a large asteroid impact briefly boosted the Moon's early weak magnetic field—and that this spike is what is recorded in some lunar samples. Evidence gleaned from orbiting spacecraft observations, as well as results announced earlier this year from China's Chang'e 5 and Chang'e 6 missions, is largely consistent with the existence of at least a weak magnetic field on the early Moon. But where did this field come from? These usually form in planetary bodies as a result of a dynamo, in which molten metals in the core start to convect thanks to slowly dissipating heat. The problem is that the early Moon's small core had a mantle that wasn't much cooler than its core, so there would not have been significant convection to produce a sufficiently strong dynamo. There have been proposed hypotheses as to how the Moon could have developed a core dynamo. For instance, a 2022 analysis suggested that in the first billion years, when the Moon was covered in molten rock, giant rocks formed as the magma cooled and solidified. Denser minerals sank to the core while lighter ones formed a crust. Over time, the authors argued, a titanium layer crystallized just beneath the surface, and because it was denser than lighter minerals just beneath, that layer eventually broke into small blobs and sank through the mantle (gravitational overturn). The temperature difference between the cooler sinking rocks and the hotter core generated convection, creating intermittently strong magnetic fields—thus explaining why some rocks have that magnetic signature and others don't. Or perhaps there is no need for the presence of a dynamo-driven magnetic field at all. For instance, the authors of a 2021 study thought earlier analyses of lunar samples may have been altered during the process. They re-examined samples from the 1972 Apollo 16 mission using CO2 lasers to heat them, thus avoiding any alteration of the magnetic carriers. They concluded that any magnetic signatures in those samples could be explained by the impact of meteorites or comets hitting the Moon. Bracing for impact In 2020, two of the current paper's authors, MIT's Benjamin Weiss and Rona Oran, ran simulations to test whether a giant impact could generate a plasma that, in turn, would amplify the Moon's existing weak solar-generated magnetic field sufficiently to account for the levels of magnetism measured in the moon rocks. Those results seemed to rule out the possibility. This time around, they have come up with a new hypothesis that essentially combines elements of the dynamo and the plasma-generating impact hypotheses—taking into account an impact's resulting shockwave for good measure. Amplification of the lunar dynamo field by an Imbrium-­sized impact at the magnetic equator. Credit: Isaac S. Narrett et al., 2025 They tested their hypothesis by running impact simulations, focusing on the level of impact that created the Moon's Imbrium basin, as well as plasma cloud simulations. Their starting assumption was that the early Moon had a dynamo that generated a weak magnetic field 50 times weaker than Earth's. The results confirmed that a large asteroid impact, for example, could have kicked up a plasma cloud, part of which spread outward into space. The remaining plasma streamed around to the other side of the Moon, amplifying the existing weak magnetic field for around 40 minutes. A key factor is the shock wave created by the initial impact, similar to seismic waves, which would have rattled surrounding rocks enough to reorient their subatomic spins in line with the newly amplified magnetic field. Weiss has likened the effect to tossing a deck of 52 playing cards into the air within a magnetic field. If each card had its own compass needle, its magnetism would be in a new orientation once each card hit the ground. It's a complicated scenario that admittedly calls for a degree of serendipity. But we might not have to wait too long for confirmation one way or the other. The answer could lie in analyzing fresh lunar samples and looking for telltale signatures not just of high magnetism but also shock. (Early lunar samples were often discarded if they showed signs of shock.) Scientists are looking to NASA's planned Artemis crewed missions for this, since sample returns are among the objectives. Much will depend on NASA's future funding, which is currently facing substantial cuts, although thus far, Artemis II and III remain on track. Science Advances, 2025. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adr7401  (About DOIs). Jennifer Ouellette Senior Writer Jennifer Ouellette Senior Writer Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 5 Comments

While you can invest in high-quality sheets, the best cooling mattresses are a great foundation for a good night’s sleep. These beds are often equipped with proper air flow and temperature-regulating technologies that might just end the tossing-and-turning in the middle of the night, especially if you’re sleeping hot.To help along the way, AD editors and contributors set out to test the best in their homes. Cooling features our team kept an eye out for include everything from gel-infused foam to pocketed coils that help with motion isolation. We also looked at different mattress types (latex, hybrid, memory foam) and considered a variety of firmness levels. Below are some of our favorites, many of which come with a lengthy trial period, solid warranties, and even white glove delivery. Take a peek at the best cooling mattress options to suit your needs.Our Top Picks for the Best Cooling Mattresses:Best Overall Cooling Mattress: Cocoon by Sealy The Chill Mattress, $1,389 $899A Smart Option: Sleep Number i8 Mattress, $3,999 $2,799Best Hybrid Mattress: Saatva Latex Hybrid Mattress, $2,499 $2,199The Budget Pick: Allswell Supreme Mattress, $487Best Memory Foam Mattress: GhostBed Luxe Foam Mattress, $1,499Browse by CategoryFor consistency, all of the prices in this list reflect queen sizes.The Cooling Mattress, OverallCocoon by Sealy Chill MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesAffordableIncludes free Sealy Sleep Bundle (up to $199 value)Memory foam layers adjust to sleep positionDownsidesLeans more firm than medium, according to our testerSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Cooling cover, memory foam, cushioning foamFirmness: Medium-FirmWarranty: 100-night sleep trial, 10-year warranty“While my previous mattress was on the firmer side, it was not a memory foam or very cool mattress,” says contributor Cade Hiser in his review. “With the Cocoon Chill memory foam mattress, I do not wake up in the middle of the night like I used to, tossing and turning. I also stay sleeping at a comfortable temperature throughout the night.” The mattress clearly prioritizes body temperature control—hence the name. Hiser did note that since this memory foam mattress is a bit firmer, it may take a moment to adjust if you’re used to purely soft beds. The mattress comes in a box and is ready to be rolled out.A Smart OptionSleep Number i8 Smart BedUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesPressure-relieving supportCeramic gel to release excess heatAdjustable firmness levels for different sleepersDownsidesDifficult to move and requires unplugging the pump that needs to be reset via the appSpecsMattress type: Smart bedMaterials: CertiPUR-US certified foam, ceramic gel layerFirmness: AdjustableWarranty: 100-night trial; 15-year limited warrantySleep Number mattresses are lauded for their adjustable nature, and the i8 is a smart bed that also happens to help keep you from overheating thanks to its ceramic gel layer. The Responsive Air feature amps up the sleep quality by responding to movement throughout the night. “This mattress is exactly the firmness that I want on one side and exactly how my husband prefers on the other,” says Lisa Aiken, the senior vice president of commerce at Condé Nast. “It is easily changed and adjusted on the App, which links your phone to the bed via Bluetooth so you can adjust at any time to suit your mood.”Aiken was also impressed by the “exceptional customer service and delivery experience,” which not only included a smooth process that included the mattress setup, but also assistance with explaining how to use the Sleep Number App and all its capabilities so she could get the most out of her sleep experience.Best Hybrid MattressSaatva Latex Hybrid MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesTemperature regulatingMinimal motion transferIdeal for those with back painBotanic antimicrobial treatmentOld mattress and box spring removal is included in deliveryDownsidesDoesn’t ship in a boxSpecsMattress type: Latex hybridMaterials: Natural latex foam layer with vented airflow channels, individually wrapped coilsFirmness: Medium-firm, buoyant feelWarranty: 365-night home trial; lifetime warrantyGlobal editorial director and US editor in chief Amy Astley loves quite a few things about her Saatva mattress—the five ergonomic zones for support and the bed’s pressure-relieving qualities—and does not overlook the cooling component. The mattress is hand-tufted, hypoallergenic, and made of organic natural latex with organic cotton and New Zealand wool covers to promote cooler sleep. “[My husband and I] both sleep warm and appreciate the vented airflow channels, which allow for circulation and breathability,” she says. “ When my husband shifts, I cannot feel the bed moving–heaven. Ultimately, we are both so happy to tuck into this bed and don’t really want to get out of it in the morning.”Astley refers to the Saatva as “mattress gold” because of its comfort, body heat regulation, and the ability to make her lower back pain disappear. She notes that it is firm, but not rock hard, and is suitable for back sleepers (as vetted by her husband) and side-sleepers such as herself.The Budget PickAllswell Supreme Cooling Hybrid MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesCustomizable to fit a variety of mattress foundationsEasy setupBreathable top layerDownsidesThe delivery process was not smooth for our testerShorter mattress return window than competitorsSpecsMattress type: HybridMaterials: Six layers including copper-infused memory foam, high-density support foam, and pocketed spring coils for cooling comfortFirmness: MediumWarranty: 90-day returns; 10-year warrantyAt 14 inches thick, the Allswell Supreme Mattress certainly makes a statement, but it’s the copper foam layer that contours and has cooling properties that make it stand out. “I feel supported yet super comfortable, and, as promised, it keeps me very cool,” says contributor Rebecca Grambone in her review. “Their cooling technology actively draws and releases excess heat away from your body.” The 1.5-inch quilted top further ensures that you will sleep cool.Note that Allswell skews on the firmer side and if you’re not used to this, an adjustment period might be in store. Grambone did like that the company prizes customization for different beds, such as those with a box spring, a flat platform bed frame, an adjustable bed frame, or a slatted frame.Best Memory Foam MattressGhostBed Luxe Foam MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesCombination between graphite- and gel-infused memory foamPressure reliefSoft quilted coverDownsidesIncompatible with box springWeight limit 750 poundsSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Cooling gel memory foamFirmness: Medium-firmWarranty: 101-night sleep trial; 25-year warrantyThe tagline for GhostBed luxe is “The coolest bed in the world.” And while we haven’t tested every mattress there is, we are noting that it has patented Ghost Ice technology (a combination of graphite- and gel-infused memory foam) that absorbs and redistributes body heat and promises that the quilted cover has five times the cooling power.Tester Diane Dragen, the global content strategy and operations director at AD, who also reviewed the GhostBed luxe in our best mattresses for side sleepers guide, discovered the gel memory foam delivered on its promises to gently soothe her into sleep. “It’s very soothing and meditative, and it does feel like a luxury experience,” Dragen explains. Sleeping on this bed is a “very pleasant feeling,” especially because her vulnerable hip, shoulder, and back areas are lightly cradled as if she is slumbering on a beach.More AD-Approved Cooling MattressesCariloha Resort Bamboo MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesSide wedge supportsWhite glove serviceSustainableDownsides72-hour decompression periodSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Gel-infused memory foamFirmness: MediumWarranty: 100-night sleep trial; 10-year warrantyCariloha bamboo mattress has Resort in its name because you’re supposed to feel like you’re on vacation when you sleep. “The mattress is constructed from bamboo memory foam with five distinct layers that adapt and mold to your body shape, resulting in a sleep experience that is both very supportive and pleasantly soft,” Aiken says. Additionally, the mattress has a moisture-wicking feature in its Flex-Flow Base Foam that promises to improve airflow and keep you 3 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. The removable and washable cover is also made with bamboo, which is something we know and love when it comes to cooling bed sheets.Aiken also highlights that the side wedge supports “contribute to a feeling of a wider sleep surface (Cariloha claims a 25% increase) but also provide excellent additional structure and reinforcement along the edges and even in the center of the mattress.”Brentwood Home Oceano Luxury Hybrid MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesComes with free pillows and sleep masksIncludes GOTS-certified organic wool and cottonBioFoam cooling gelDownsidesPriceySpecsMattress type: HybridMaterials: Cooling gel with BioFoam and coilsFirmness: Medium-softWarranty: 365-night sleep trial, 25-year warrantyBrentwood Home Oceano hybrid mattress is what you might dream about if you sleep hot. It is constructed of nine layers, including cooling gel made with BioFoam. The GOTS-certified organic wool and cotton further add to the breathability. “This mattress feels so luxurious after a long day running around NYC,” says contributor Nick Mafi in his review of the best mattress brands. “This mattress has that perfectly deluxe feel and best-in-class support. I love sleeping on this mattress, but it’s also perfect for reading and editing manuscripts (my main activity!), working on a laptop, and lounging around watching TV with friends.”Then there is the support. With nearly 2,700 coils (1,722 micro-coils and 975 pocketed coils around the perimeter), you will never feel as if you’re sinking into some sort of abyss. Compared to other mattresses on the list, this one does not have a firm feel. In fact, Mafi was initially wary of the 4.5 out of 10 firmness scale. “I’ve never considered myself someone who loves a soft bed, but boy was I wrong!” he explains. “I love this mattress. It’s squishy, but still supportive. Perhaps it's the Air Luxe foam, which helps with pressure relief, at play.Amerisleep AS3 MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesEco-friendlySmooth delivery processEasy setupNo off-gassingDownsidesNo contact deliverySpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Plant-based memory foam with four layersFirmness: Medium-SoftWarranty: 100-night sleep trial, 20-year warrantyThe AS3 is Amerisleep’s best-selling mattress. You can sleep cooler in part because it is made with a plant-based memory foam with an open cell design called Bio-Pur, and it also incorporates HIVE technology to amp up the airflow. To top it off, it comes with a scientifically engineered Refresh cover that uses minerals to manage body heat and is said to keep you 7 degrees cooler than a polyester cover. When it comes to plushness, the mattress is “definitely on the softer side,” says tester Rachel Logie, senior analytics manager. “The memory foam bounces back faster than most memory foam mattresses I’ve tried, so you don’t get that ‘stuck’ feeling.”Puffy Cloud MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesArrives in a box, easy transportComes with free pillows and sleep masksOur tester says it has “cloud-like” comfortDownsides:The bed is not sustainably made like some others in our listSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: 6-layer memory foamFirmness: Medium-firmWarranty: 101-night sleep trial; Lifetime warrantyThe Puffy Cloud is meant to feel like bliss, and it lives up to its name not only in the comfort category but also because the six-layer memory foam mattress incorporates cooling technology that allows the air to circulate, so you never feel like your torso is a prisoner of night sweats. “The light, supportive cradling of the foam layers is comforting and cool,” says Dragan. “It really is cloud-like! Unlike other mattresses I’ve tested, your body doesn’t sink into the layers of foam as much as it rests lightly on the surface.”

Computex 2025 is drawing to a close today, putting a period on a fairly sleepy convention—at least, compared to previous years. But while the big hardware announcements may have left PC building enthusiasts craving more, fun components still could be found around the show. Like PC cases. I haven’t been on the show floor, but I’m still pumped for the news that I’ve been devouring while at home. I wasn’t exactly planning a makeover for my rig just yet, but I’m now awfully tempted by what’s coming down the pipeline. Especially by one case in particular. (It’s not the one all my colleagues want.) Interested in all the best hardware out of Computex? Check out our staff’s picks! InWin ChronoMancy InWin For its 40th anniversary, InWin pulled out all the stops. At Computex, the company unveiled the ChronoMancy, a jaw-dropping piece of spectacle that stands over 3 feet tall (!). This E-ATX case looks like a bit of wizardry with cyberpunk overtones—transparent blue plastic set against a sleek, dark gray aluminum body. When lit in a full build, the shimmering effect of RGB lighting makes the whole array look like a device meant to bring the dead to life. Personally, I dig how the rounded panels curve around to reveal the components inside, which stack like the spine of a mechanical beast. Also, the fact you can open this chassis with the wave of a wand. (You can also press a button, but that’s way more boring.) Sinking money into this likely super-expensive case seems like a good idea. Right? Right. Hyte X50 Air Hyte Call me a curmudgeon, but it feels like every case is a sharp-edged box these days. Don’t get me wrong—when the O11D first appeared on the scene, its clean lines provided a needed break from “gaming” cases that had aggressive ridges, fins, and slanted front panels. I never wanted the whole industry to lean so hard into that single look, though.  Thankfully, Hyte is swimming upstream with delightfully (and literally) bubbly, colorful cases. Its X50 Air has me seriously considering putting cash down to rehome my current desktop build. I adore red PC cases, and they don’t often appear in the wild. But the X50 also sports pink, lime green, and periwinkle options in addition to standard white and black, too. Heck, as hard as I fell for the red color, even the white case could be fun for a project—maybe a “skittles” build? Use the white as a base for color accents from across the rainbow (custom cables, perhaps). Just peeks of color through the mesh panels could be cute, given the rounded, curved shape of the case edges. (Rather than incongruous on a sharp box.) An X50 variant with a glass panel exists as well, but nah. I love the meshy, huggable vibe of the X50 Air. Not for you? Just think of how you could tempt the kids in your life away from their consoles. SilverStone FLP-02 Willis Lai / Foundry I have to be honest—I love to hate this case. Just as with the neon vomit everyone associates with the 1980s, I also want to leave beige cases firmly in the 1990s. Not my coworkers, though. SilverStone made a beige throwback case as a joke awhile back, and the tech media took off with spreading word of it. And now we’re here with the SilverStone FLP-02. In the year of our lord 2025, did I expect a chassis with 5.25-inch bays, a front panel with grills dead center and along its edges, and even a turbo button? And also a lock? Nope. Are we getting one? Yep. Pretty sure my boss is going to be first in line for this ATX case, which he calls a piece of junk debris memorabilia out of a time machine. But one that is fully modern inside, despite its looks. I will grudgingly admit though—you could definitely use this as a sleeper build. Shove a RTX 5090 in it and never worry about it being stolen. You know, like those fake cans of soup you were supposed to hide your money and spare keys in, as seen in ’90s commercials. Yes, I remember. Phanteks Evolv2 Matrix GearSeekers / Phanteks Who really wants gigantic LCD screens inside their PC? Me, actually, but Phanteks showed off a case at Computex that has me potentially reconsidering. Perhaps I should be aiming for something a little more practical (aka visible)–but no less cool. The Evolv X2 Matrix has a fun extra at the bottom of its chassis—a display that shows text in a pixel font. Text that can scroll, to boot, wrapping from front panel to side without a hitch. The look perfectly blends retro vibes with enough modern style to turn my head. Somehow, seeing the sample temperature bars for your CPU and GPU rendered in blocky lines is just so charming. For a closer look, hit up this video from our friends over at GearSeekers. In Nick’s own words? “Huh, that’s pretty cool, I haven’t really seen that before.” Me either, dude—it’s slick. Even more fun? It apparently comes part of a line of Matrix cases.  Also I realized plenty of room still exists for an AIO with a screen, so I’m now asking my future self: ¿Por qué no los dos? Cooler Master MasterFrame 360 Panoramic OC3D TV / Cooler Master Some people have expert-level cable management skills. (I do not.) But we can still aspire to such lofty heights—particularly when you have a good purchase to motivate you to improve. For me, that challenge buy would be the Cooler Master MasterFrame 360 Panoramic, which wraps glass around three sides of the case for a full view of the build. You can’t hide your frustrated attempts to quit cable management early with this chassis. Softening the harsh demand to git gud are the lovely curves on the front panel of the 360 Panoramic—I find the gentler aesthetic less intimidating. Sure, I don’t do custom water cooling (another solid skill to make the most of this look), but you know what? Do I really need to, when there are AIOs with gigantic screens I could feature inside? You may think seeing one fish tank style case means you’ve seen them all, but not anymore. You’ll understand when you take a closer look at the case, courtesy of OC3D TV.

Henry Goodsell captained a schooner similar to the one seen above. Credit: Deposit Photos Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. In 1995, a mystery skull washed onto a beach in Longport, New Jersey. Four years later, additional bone fragments were discovered less than two miles away on a shore in the neighboring southern New Jersey town of Margate. It would take another 14 years for even more skeletal remains to arrive on a beach another five miles away in Ocean City. But over those three decades, forensic experts and law enforcement couldn’t put a name to the individual known only as “Scattered Man John Doe.” After 30 years, the mystery has finally been solved thanks to a combination of genetic testing, historical research, and archival analysis. “Scattered Man John Doe” wasn’t a victim of foul play—he wasn’t even a comparatively recent death. Instead, the bones belong to Henry Goodsell, a 29-year-old merchant ship captain who perished along with his crew during a storm in the winter of 1844. The identification comes two years after state law enforcement reached out to the Ramapo College of New Jersey’s Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center. After sending bone samples to Intermountain Forensics, a nonprofit dedicated to identifying missing person remains, Ramapo undergraduates began crossreferencing archival files in the hopes of finding a lead. Genetic analysis results traced ancestry as far back as the 1600s, to Connecticut’s Litchfield and Fairfield counties. From there, they also started investigating newspaper reports of any shipwrecks off the coast of New Jersey. Eventually, the students flagged two articles dated from December 20 and 24, 1844. “The schooner Oriental… was lost on the evening of the 4th on Brigantine shoals and all hands with her,” read the Friday edition of the York Democratic Press. An initial report of the ‘Oriental’ shipwreck from December 20, 1844. Credit: Ramapo College According to the paper’s account, the ship left Bridgeport, Connecticut for Philadelphia with around 60 tons of marble intended for Girard College. While cautioning that it was “possible that the crew had taken off, and that the vessel had been abandoned. Four days later, however, newspapers across the northeast confirmed the worst case outcome. “The Bridgeport Standard (Conn.) has further accounts from this ill-fated vessel, which render it certain that all on board must have perished,” reported the Boston Daily Bee on December 24. The consensus at the time was that the Oriental likely sprung a leak before sinking less than a mile from the shoreline, but an intense storm prevented any rescue attempts. All five crew members including Capt. Goodsell ultimately drowned, but only one sailor “was thrown on the shore” five miles away. Authorities later identified him as John Keith before seeing that he was “decently buried,” according to the Daily Bee. Capt. Goodsell left behind a wife and three children. After digging deeper into his family tree, the students suggested he warranted a closer look from the New Jersey State Police (NJSP). On March 7, 2025, authorities collected a DNA reference sample from one of Goodsell’s great-great grandchildren. One month later, the NJSP confirmed “Scattered Man John Doe” to be the late Capt. Goodsell. “The ability to bring answers to families—even generations later—shows how far science and dedication can take us,” NJSP superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan said in a university announcement on May 21. While Goodsell marks the school’s Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center’s  92nd consultancy project, Ramapo College reports it is one of the oldest cold case files ever solved using this advanced type of investigative genealogy.

One of Rick and Morty‘s enduring charms is its opening credits. There’s nothing more pleasing than seeing the random clips at the start of every season and theorizing which scenes are non-sequitur/false start gags or actual moments from the episodes to come. With each respective season, there’s been an increasing emphasis on random gags. But you know what? We love it that way. With the start of season 8 arriving, here are our favorite non-canonical clips from each Rick and Morty season intro opening.  Season 1 – M-Preg Jerry Season one, the start of “100 years, Rick and Morty!” Alas, most of the clips from the intro are pulled from the show. However, M-Preg Jerry is the one of two non-sequiturs that’s quite funny. What makes the bit work so well is the direction. The 180-degree panned camera movement from Morty and Summer wielding guns and gazing in horror as Rick delivers the baby from Jerry’s birthing canal to Beth clutching Jerry’s hand as he is heavy-breathing in labor is such a priceless sight to behold. Meanwhile, the Smith-Sanchez household is filled with green goo across the wall, like a scene straight out of Alien. It’s funny to think of a chestburster being treated like a real pregnancy. Considering this is the first season, too, it’s the perfect tone setter of how weird and bizarre the series was to become. Season 2 – Indifference Towards a Disintegrated Rick Frankly, I wouldn’t say any of the non-canonical moments in season 2’s intro are particularly noteworthy. Hell, the funniest aspect of the intro is the pillow fight between Rick, Summer, and Mr. Beauregard pulled from the episode “Total Rickall.” The most amusing example, however, is the assembly of Rick variants engaged in a doohickey. When one is disintegrated by a machine, the remaining Ricks all react unbothered and continue to work. It is entirely in character for Rick, and given that it is the final clip, it is quite amusing. Season 3 – Rick Buying Plastic-Sealed Morty It was difficult to choose the position for the funniest season three false start. The butt-face Morty variant getting caught watching porn that features two faces on an ass is hilarious. However, I adore when a common situation is translated to a distinct setting. Rick at a store choosing between two separate plastic-sealed life-sized Morty’s as if he’s an action figure or fruit to purchase always garners a laugh. The look on the non-chosen Morty’s face when his packaging falls truly seals the deal. In 2019, House House’s Untitled Goose Game, in which you play a mischievous goose who terrorizes people in random and funny situations, blew up the independent gaming scene. So much so that it honked its way into Rick and Morty season 4’s opener. The scene has Rick and the Smiths take cover while under assault by a goose. Pardon. I mean a two-headed goose. It’s Rick and Morty: There had to be a sci-fi twist in there. Some might say it’s not a nod because both the season and game came out in the same year in such a short time span of each other (the game released in September and the season in November). Nevertheless, animation is a time-consuming process. It is possible to speculate how a three-second clip could be produced in such a short amount of time. Besides that, the Sanchez and Smith clan’s fear of a simple, two-headed goose is undeniably humorous, especially given the variety of foes they have faced up to that point. Season 5 – Morty Sinking a Punt Undeniably the funniest non-canonical clip out of the entire list if not the whole series thus far. Morty succesfully putting and waving as a crowd of onlookers clap is peak subversion. Morty’s final clip in the season five intro is nothing short of sublime. Given the sci-fi antics that are frequently depicted in the show’s intros and throughout, seeing something so basic and wholesome with a character often tortured and/or in peril always got me cackling. It’s the normality embedded in the randomness that makes the Morty golf bit work so triumphantly as it does. Nothing has ever topped it since. Season 6 – Rick and Summer Evading a Gigantic Flying Squirrel That’s the thing I love about Rick and Morty intros. I get older, the opening scene with the duo running from green monsters stays the same. It’s a tale as old as time. Yet, the shift of quality immediately after, with Rick and Summer evading a giant flying squirrel while in flight suits in a desert terrain, has a comedic aspect to it. On a cosmic level. In addition to the dynamic camera movement, the characters are textured with varied colors and hues, and the background art is picturesque and detailed. To see the roughly drawn, loosely animated sequence from 2013 immediately followed up with a fluidly animated and gorgeously lit scene from 2022 takes me out. It’s the perfect “how it started versus how it’s going” evolution. Granted, I get more of a chuckle out of Butter Morty entering a frying pan and freaking out as he slowly sizzles. It’s like if Pixar had a Toy Story series and used clips from 4 while remaining the same quality from the first. Season 7 – Jerry-Claude Van Damme We’ve done the wholesome scenes, the odd sci-fi ones, but one that references the star-turning Jean-Claude Van Damne action flick with the series’ most anxious character? Now that’s funny. In this extended shot, Jerry is depicted as perched on two chairs, exuding a sense of relaxation and tranquility, while looking JACKED! Plus, the synth-heavy theme too factors into the offbeat joke. Out of all movies, this sci-fi show pays homage to a 1988 action movie. There’s no reason for it, either. It’s just Bloodsport with Jerry. That my friends is classic Rick and Morty goodness. I Love it. Rick and Morty season 8 premieres Sunday, May 25 at 11 p.m. ET on Adult Swim.

DreamCloud, our pick for stomach sleepers and hybrid mattresses, is offering 60% off for its Memorial Day sale. They make a medium-firm mattress with everything we’ve come to expect: quilted cover, cooling fiber technology, and one inch of memory foam for pressure relief. Plus, you’ll get a 365-night warranty. Our global visuals director Michael Shome tested the premier hybrid and found it “moderately firm, but the plush Euro Top adds an extra layer of coziness and comfort.” The DreamCloud Premier King has a super cozy cashmere top and seven decadent layers of adaptive support.DreamCloud Premier Hybrid MattressDreamCloud Classic Memory Foam MattressPurpleDates: OngoingPurple is pro-comfort and anti-memory foam—they’ve patented their GelFlex Grid, which doesn’t trap heat as some memory foams might, while providing adaptive, all-over pressure relief and comfort. All that at up to $700 off, plus up to $300 off an adjustable base with any mattress purchase. Pillows, sheets, and mattress protectors are also on sale, if you want to go the whole nine yards.Purple RestorePremier Hybrid MattressThe Purple MattressPuffyDates: OngoingCode MEMORIALDAY gets you up to $1,350 in savings from this luxury mattress retailer. We rated the Puffy Lux Hybrid Mattress one of the best for side sleepers. Calling it “incredibly soft—like whipped peaks of meringue,” global features editor Sam Cochran loves resting on this bed. “I know it’s a hybrid model, with a coil base topped by traditional memory foam,” he says. “But the overwhelming sensation is one of gently sinking into the surface. I was too comfortable to really consider where one layer ended and the next began.”Puffy Lux MattressPuffy Royal MattressSaatvaDates: OngoingSaatva is offering up to $600 off their mattresses pre-tariff enactment, so if your heart was set on one of their beds, now’s the time to buy. While the Saatva Classis is a long-beloved luxury innerspring mattress, AD’s global editorial director Amy Astley sleeps safe and sound on the Saatva Latex Hybrid mattress, and lauds its pressure relief: “My lower back pain disappeared soon after we started sleeping on it—that alone is mattress gold!”Saatva Latex Hybrid MattressSaatva Classic MattressLaylaDates: OngoingLayla is offering free pillows with every mattress purchase, up to $600 off bases and bed frames, $100 off mattress toppers, 50% off pillows, $70 off sheets, and most importantly $200 off their mattresses. Contributor Cheryl Dearborne has the Layla Hybrid Mattress in her space and says it’s the best mattress she’s ever slept on. “I have a long history of terrible sleep and back problems from uncomfortable mattresses or comfortable mattresses that weren’t supportive enough,” she notes. “This mattress fills both shoes of comfort and alignment perfectly.”Layla Hybrid MattressLayla Memory Foam MattressSleep NumberDates: OngoingSleep Number is offering up to 50% off their Smart Bed collection, meaning you can save big on a mattress with their unique SleepIQ tech, which uses sensors to track heart rate, breathing rate, motion, and sleep patterns. You can adjust the firmness, temperature, and support of the mattress on each side to suit your preferences and changing sleep needs throughout the evening. It also employs pressure relief, temperature control, and its sensors accumulate data on your sleep quality—it can even adjust its base for snoring, in order to relieve you, or your partner, from the sound of honk-shoos.Sleep Number iLE MattressSleep Number p5 MattressBear MattressDates: Ongoing

The Indie Survival Guide is your ongoing archive of real talk and hard-won insights from the devs and industry experts making games happen—often against the odds. Whatever tools you’re using, this growing library of Q&As, livestreams, and VODs is here to help. There’s no magic formula, but we believe shared experience—across design, business, and survival—can give you the best shot.We recently sat down with Emily Pitcher—a Forbes 30 Under 30 and Game Awards Future Class honoree, better known online as sonderingemily to her 350,000 followers across YouTube, Instagram, and beyond. Emily is the creator of lily’s world XD, a psychological horror game built on cringy teen nostalgia, fourth-wall breaks, and real photos from her own adolescence. Her work spans game dev and content creation, and she’s the first to admit: it hasn’t all been easy. But the journey has a lot to learn from.Here’s what she had to say.1. Failing as part of the processBefore the success of lily’s world XD, there was Gold Lining—a project that taught Emily the brutal, necessary lessons of creative failure. She poured her heart into the game, even secured early funding from Xbox, but ultimately it didn’t find traction. There was no publisher. No finish line. Just hard decisions and emotional fallout. But it was also the beginning of clarity.“Gold Lining was a project I started basically right out of college,” she says. “Instead of researching what might be popular with Steam players, I just thought, what would be a concept that seems cool to make?... We actually got some funding from that game from Xbox… but unfortunately, we were never able to secure a publisher with that game, and the game was ultimately cancelled.”Emily doesn’t romanticize this period. The dream faltered. Her confidence did too. And the weight of rejection nearly broke her.“The game could not be finished without money,” she said. “The scope was just way too big… and we kind of came at a crossroads of what should we do… I stopped having fun making the game… I was really sad every day with the rejections… I stopped believing in the game itself.”Still, she made the hardest—and wisest—move: she quit. And by walking away, she opened the door to her next act.“It was honestly really hard, very emotional—there was crying involved, of course—but now looking back, I am so happy I had the courage to step away,” she says. “I do not regret that failure at all because only because I went through that and learned the hard way, that lily’s world XD has been able to get grounding.”2. Turning Mistakes Into MomentumEmily didn’t just recover—she reflected. Every painful lesson from Gold Lining became a data point. And rather than rebuild in the same direction, she rebuilt smarter.“[Chris Zukowski] actually had this video that changed my life,” she says. “He did this interview with a popular game dev channel and he had this whole section about genre. And he said platformers—the worst genre—that hurt a little bit.”The first shift? She stopped building games no one could explain. She learned that clarity matters. Especially when talking to publishers or creating content, having a razor-sharp pitch can be the difference between intrigue and indifference.“You can summarize the hook of your game in one sentence,” she says. “That one sentence can guide you when you're talking to publishers, guide you when you're making content about your game.”She also interrogated her design logic more rigorously. Was every mechanic supporting the theme, or just convention?“I was just following the conventions of the genre and not asking myself, are we just doing this because it’s a platformer?” she said. “Or are we doing this because it helps the central theme of the game?”Most importantly, she dismantled the echo chamber. No more developing in isolation. Instead, she decided to involve the audience early—and often.“Another big thing I would do is to try to validate your game earlier,” she says. “With Gold Lining, it was just an echo chamber of me and my friends… with lily’s world XD, I made the videos from the very beginning.”3. Playing to your strengthsOne of Emily’s biggest unlocks wasn’t about tech or trends. It was about accepting who she is—and who she isn’t. She’s not a trained programmer. She’s not a pro artist. But she is a storyteller. A designer. A builder of weird, personal worlds. And when she embraced that, things clicked.“You gotta be a little objective about what you're good and bad at,” she said. “I suck at programming. I am a good writer. And I would say I'm passable with art… if someone told me, ‘I suck at programming, I'm mediocre at art, and I can only write,’ I’d be like, ‘You should not make an indie game’… but even though all of those things are true, when I get the feedback form for my game, for playtesters, people actually say that art direction is one of their favorite things.”Instead of pretending to be someone she wasn’t, Emily designed around her limits. And in doing so, she carved out a creative space that felt truly hers.“I worked around my weaknesses,” she says. “I suck at programming, so I decided to make a game that I thought would be easier to program… I used to work at Meta, so I’m familiar with tools like Figma… I use pictures of myself because I’m not that good at art… and it is a narrative detective game, so storytelling and writing is at the forefront.”Her lesson: don’t wait to be good at everything. Use what you’ve got.“Limitation is what makes you seem competent if you have a lower skill set,” she says. “If you're doing pixel art and you use a limited color palette, immediately your art is gonna seem more cohesive just because of that—even though you still suck.”4. Publicly validating conceptsIn contrast to the quiet, closed-door development of Gold Lining, Emily took a radically open approach with lily’s world XD. She didn’t just develop in public—she launched her audience journey before her Unity project even existed.“With Gold Lining, it was a secret right up until the end… I worked for about two years in private on the game,” she said. “And with lily’s world XD, I thought: in the first week of development, let’s make a video. And that video got 2 million views… I realized that I could use social media as a way to evaluate whether my ideas had strengths.”The result? Instant feedback. Viral traction. And a powerful way to gauge demand before sinking years into development.“I had started making videos here and there… eventually I grew a small audience,” she says. “I posted one of my TikTok videos to Instagram just to share with my family and friends. That video got over 2 million views, and now I do it as a career.”This approach wasn’t accidental—it was strategic. She tested multiple angles and found the hook that stuck.“When I had an idea, I came up with a few sentences of hooks,” she explained. “...and what led to the huge boom and rise of my game… was this thing I did to save time, that ended up being a cool developer story.”Emily’s story proves you don’t need a huge following to start. You just need to start.“I know that not everyone has a massive social media following,” she said. “But I don’t think you need a massive social media following to validate this idea through social media… Unpacking went viral at its first tweet… they weren’t famous people before that.”5. Using Social MediaSocial media was never Emily’s endgame—it was a bridge. A means of discovery, validation, and momentum. But not a silver bullet. She’s blunt about its limits.“Short-form video is not the best way to convert to wishlists,” she says. “That conversion has to happen when they see the name, they save the video, then they go on their computer and search it up… that is just too many steps.”What works? A multi-platform approach, repeated visibility, and content with a clear hook.“Post your video on all social media platforms,” she said. “This video that is literally 6 million views got 700 views on my TikTok. If I just posted on TikTok, I would think this is a bad video—but no, this video gave me like 10,000 wishlists.”Most impressive of all, she built momentum before she even touched code.“I started making videos when all I had were two screenshots,” she said. “When I made my video, I didn’t even open Unity. I didn’t know how to code yet. I just assumed I was going to learn on the way.”But Emily is crystal clear: none of this matters if the game itself doesn’t land.“Social media will not take you to the finish line,” she says. “Ultimately, you need to make a good game… you should leverage social media to give you opportunities in your game, rather than relying on it as the sole marketing method.”There’s no single path through indie game development, but Emily Pitcher’s story makes one thing clear: failure is not the opposite of progress; it is progress. From burnout to bounceback, her ability to interrogate her process, stay honest about her strengths, and meet the audience where they are has turned lily’s world XD into one of the most anticipated indie horror games on Steam.As Emily put it best:“We are stronger together and we should not look at each other as competition.”

The Republican Party is trying to get a major tax and spending bill done before Memorial Day. It’s chock full of President Donald Trump’s legislative priorities, and has many provisions the GOP has long been agitating for. But it’s nevertheless been a massive struggle to get the bill to the House floor for a vote. One big reason is a tax provision known as SALT — the state and local tax deduction.I asked Today, Explained’s Devan Schwartz — who just produced the below podcast about this bill — to explain what SALT is, why it’s important, and why it’s roiled the GOP. Here’s what he had to say:What is SALT?SALT is an acronym that stands for “state and local taxes” — it allows Americans to deduct some of what they pay, right now up to $10,000, in state and local taxes (like property taxes and sales taxes) from their federal taxes.Once, there wasn’t a cap to how much you could deduct, but that changed with Trump’s tax cuts in 2017; those brought in the $10,000 cap.Removing the SALT cap is seen as benefiting mostly wealthy earners in high-tax states like California or New York: people who might make $500,000 a year or $10 million a year and pay tens or hundreds of thousands in state and local taxes, the sort of people who don’t take the standard deduction.It’s not April; why has a tax deduction caused such a stir this week?The SALT cap hasn’t been too popular with constituents in these high-tax states; they have been putting pressure on their lawmakers to make changes. Trump initially expressed support for those changes, and many House GOP lawmakers from blue states ran on making changes when Republicans got back in power. Now, House Republican lawmakers are in the middle of putting together a big spending and tax bill, and there was a push to get SALT changes in there. Those that ran on upping the SALT cap said, We’re trying to get reelected in the next year, we need a win to go back to our voters with.The GOP leadership in the House set up a somewhat arbitrary deadline to get the bill passed from the House to the Senate by Memorial Day — that’s next week. That puts lawmakers in a time crunch, but there’s also a numerical problem: the House GOP has very narrow margins. Depending on attendance, they can afford to lose roughly three votes on any one bill. That gives the blue-state GOP lawmakers who want to see changes to SALT a lot of power. If you’re one of a small group, and you said, Hey, we’re holdouts, we’re not voting for this until you give us our SALT reform, you’re sinking Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” And that’s what happened this week.RelatedThe ugly truth about Trump’s big, beautiful billThat small group of lawmakers got their way, right?Yes. The final details could still change, but a deal was made to raise the cap.Which set off other small groups of lawmakers who want their priorities fulfilled in the bill, and yesterday’s scramble by the White House to try to get everyone in line.Right. Trump’s stance throughout this has been, stop whining. Don’t grandstand. It’s more important to get a deal done. So if you don’t get a SALT increase, tough luck. If they get their SALT increase, but you don’t get your thing, tough luck.The Senate hasn’t even weighed in on the bill yet, so we’re a long way from getting changes to SALT enshrined in law. But at this point, what should we take away from the SALT saga?SALT is inherently interesting because it’s a microcosm of the fragile political process in Congress at this time in which we often see parties with tiny minorities. Congressional leadership is more centralized than ever, but at the same time, small groups of people can really gum up the works. It also shows how complex the Republican coalition is — the fight over SALT is really a battle between lawmakers from high-income states and those from lower-income states. We’ve seen pro-SALT lawmakers make the claim that their states’ tax base makes up a disproportionate amount of revenues, and that their constituents deserve a break because of that. And smaller states or states with lower incomes might say, in response, we have our own needs, and we provide a lot, from farming to the numbers that power our GOP coalition. I wouldn’t say that the fight over SALT is a fight for the soul of the Republican Party, but it’s definitely a factional fight for power.And overall, it really shows how hard it is to actually legislate right now, in a divided Republican caucus, in a divided America.This piece originally ran in the Today, Explained newsletter. For more stories like this, sign up here.See More: