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Laura is a proud former resident of the New Jersey shore, a competitive swimmer, and a fierce defender of the Oxford comma.","url":"https://www.popsci.com/authors/laura-baisas/","image":"https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/19/laura.jpg?quality=85","sameAs":["https://www.instagram.com/popsci/"]}],"headline":"Baseball’s legendary ‘magic mud’ finally analyzed by scientists","datePublished":"2024-11-04T15:00:00-05:00","dateModified":"2024-11-04T15:00:00-05:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://www.popsci.com/science/baseball-magic-mud/"},"wordCount":833,"publisher":{"@id":"https://www.popsci.com/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https://www.popsci.com/science/baseball-magic-mud/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?quality=85","keywords":["geology","news"],"articleSection":["Environment","Physics","Science","Sustainability"],"inLanguage":"en-US","ArticleBody":"While it can’t be credited with winning the Los Angeles Dodgers their eighth World Series championship, baseball’s “magic mud” is the stuff of lore. Each Major League Baseball (MLB) team’s equipment manager applies it to every game ball. It improves the grip on the ball, can dull the shine on a new ball, and keep it from getting damaged.\n\n\n\nNow, the unique properties of this naturally occurring substance have been scientifically quantified. A study published November 4 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) details what makes it so special.\n\n\n\n[Related: Baseball’s black magic: How psychology, math, and culture created a curse-ridden sport.]\n\n\n\n“It feels like sandpaper when you hold it, but then you can smear it like a cream,” study co-author and University of Pennsylvania soft matter scientist Shravan Pradeep tells Popular Science. \n\n\n\nLena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud has been harvested since the 1930’s by the Bintliff family in a secret location along the Delaware River estuary in southern New Jersey. \n\n\n\n“When you take a dollop out of it and you put it on your hand, it's just like a nice facial cream and feels smooth,” study co-author and Penn geophysicist Douglas J. Jerolmack tells Popular Science. “It doesn't feel gritty at all when it's a dollop of paste in your hand. It’s after you spread it that it dries and feels gritty.”\n\n\n\nIn 2019, sportswriter Matthew Gutierrez asked the group at Penn to analyze the mud’s composition and flow behavior. He wanted to see if the mud actually makes balls perform better, as players claim. The team provided a quick analysis, but it wasn’t close to scientific proof. Still, they were interested in whether this mud went beyond athlete superstition.  \n\n\n\n3D reconstructed image of bare and mudded baseball surfaces obtained using confocal microscopy. CREDIT: Shravan Pradeep/University of Pennsylvania\n\n\n\nBy 2021, Pradeep devised three sets of experiments to determine if the mud actually works that are detailed in the new study. One experiment measured its spreadability, the second measured its stickiness, and the third measured the mud’s effect on a baseball’s friction against the pitcher’s fingertips.\n\n\n\nSpreadability and stickiness could be measured by two existing pieces of equipment–rheometer and atomic force microscopy. The rheometer measures spreadability. \n\n\n\n“We smeared the material between two plates and rotated them so we could see how it flows and measure the viscosity,” explains Pradeep.\n\n\n\nAtomic force microscopy looks at the material’s stickiness on an atomic level and gives a sense of how well it works to improve grip. \n\n\n\nHowever, to measure the mud’s frictional effects, the team needed to build some new kind of experimental setup that needed to mimic the properties of human fingers. They created a rubber-like material with the same elasticity as human skin. They then covered the material in an oil similar to what is secreted by human skin. The team carefully and systematically rubbed the oiled material against strips of baseballs in the manner specified by MLB.\n\n\n\n“That’s the beauty of all these three instruments. They measure different things and various parts of the material,” study co-author and Penn fluid dynamicist Paulo Arratia tells Popular Science. \n\n\n\nAccording to the team, these instruments revealed the mud what pitchers have been saying. It has exactly the right amounts of stickiness, spreadability, and friction to allow them to get a good grip on the ball. What surprised the team was the mud’s consistency and the combination of these three properties coming together in the right amounts. \n\n\n\n[Related: Hotter weather could be changing baseball.]\n\n\n\n“It’s the fact that  it spreads as if there's no sand in it at all. But once it dries, the sparse amount of sand that is there provides this friction effect,” says Jerolmack. “It has just the right proportions of fine, sticky particles and sparse amounts of large, angular particles. We just didn't expect to see them together.”\n\n\n\nMLB has considered replacing the magic mud with synthetic lubricants. However, none of them have replicated the natural mud’s properties. \n\n\n\n“We have a lot of respect for the family who maintains this working knowledge and produce a consistent product that feels the same, that the pitchers can tell they have good sense in their hand,” says Arratia.\n\n\n\nThe researchers hope their work can lead to more study of mud properties understanding erosion. It also furthers this study of “geomimicry,” or looking to natural substances to make more sustainable materials.\n\n\n\n“Nature creates these materials and we were able to look at their mechanical properties,” says Pradeep. “So there are other materials out there which we don't know what they do, but have exotic mechanical or transport properties that we might want to look at. They could be an inspiration for a different group of lubricants or gripping materials to engineer them.”"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.popsci.com/science/baseball-magic-mud/","url":"https://www.popsci.com/science/baseball-magic-mud/","name":"Baseball's legendary 'magic mud' finally analyzed by scientists | Popular Science","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://www.popsci.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://www.popsci.com/science/baseball-magic-mud/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https://www.popsci.com/science/baseball-magic-mud/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?quality=85","datePublished":"2024-11-04T15:00:00-05:00","dateModified":"2024-11-04T15:00:00-05:00","description":"'It feels like sandpaper when you hold it, but then you can smear it like a cream.'","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://www.popsci.com/science/baseball-magic-mud/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://www.popsci.com/science/baseball-magic-mud/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https://www.popsci.com/science/baseball-magic-mud/#primaryimage","url":"https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?quality=85","contentUrl":"https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?quality=85","width":2000,"height":1125,"caption":"The magic mud is applied to every ball used in Major League Baseball."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://www.popsci.com/science/baseball-magic-mud/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":"https://www.popsci.com/category/science/","description":"Science spans our understanding of how Earth and the cosmos work. 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</span> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </div>  </header> <main class="container pt-10"> <header class="recurrent-article-full-width-hero mb-10" aria-label="Article Hero"> <nav class="article-breadcrumbs-wrapper mb-2"> <nav class="breadcrumb-container hover"><a class="breadcrumb-link no-underline hover:no-underline font-tertiary font-semibold text-accent-900 text-xs uppercase tracking-wide" href="https://www.popsci.com/category/science/">Science</a> <div class="breadcrumb-arrow relative inline-block ml-1 mr-2 h-0 w-0 border-y-[4px] border-y-transparent border-l-[8px] border-l-primary-900 -top-[1px]"></div></nav><nav class="breadcrumb-container hover"><a class="breadcrumb-link no-underline hover:no-underline font-tertiary font-semibold text-accent-900 text-xs uppercase tracking-wide" href="https://www.popsci.com/category/physics/">Physics</a> </nav> </nav> <h1 class="article-title font-primary text-secondary-900 text-4xl lg:text-15xl font-bold leading-2xl lg:leading-15xl mb-2">Baseball’s legendary ‘magic mud’ finally analyzed by scientists</h1> <div class="article-dek font-secondary text-base lg:text-2xl mb-2"> 'It feels like sandpaper when you hold it, but then you can smear it like a cream.'</div> <div class="flex flex-col gap-2"> <div class="article-byline overflow-hidden lg:flex lg:flex-wrap lg:gap-2 w-full mb-2 "> <div class="item-wrapper--author item-wrapper flex items-center mr-3"> <div class="byline-author-wrapper flex relative"> <p class="byline-item byline-item-author font-tertiary font-normal text-sm text-primary capitalize"> <span class="recurrent-byline"><span class="byline-segment"><span class="byline-text">By </span><a class="hover-link no-underline hover:underline" href="https://www.popsci.com/authors/laura-baisas/">Laura Baisas</a></span></span> </p> </div> </div> <div class="item-wrapper--date item-wrapper flex items-center mr-3"> <div class="byline-date-wrapper flex relative"> <p class="byline-item byline-item-timestamp font-tertiary font-normal text-sm text-primary mb-0">Posted on Nov 4, 2024</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="article-layout-wrapper w-full flex flex-col lg:flex-row gap-5 max-w-full"> <article id="post-664785" class="flex-auto post-664785 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-environment category-physics category-science category-sustainability tag-geology tag-news author_tag-laura-baisas content_type-1-group content_type-2-page-type content_type-3-timeframe content_type-news content_type-non-evergreen content_type-non-membership internal_tag-news"> <div class="article-content-featured-image lg:ml-[-4] pt-5"> <figure> <img class="archive-post-thumb article-featured-image w-full h-full mb-3 object-center" src="https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?quality=85&w=2000" srcset="https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png 2000w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=768&h=432 768w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=1536&h=864 1536w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=800&h=450 800w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=356&h=200 356w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=1173&h=660 1173w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=711&h=400 711w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=1486&h=836 1486w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=1227&h=690 1227w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=384&h=216 384w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=718&h=404 718w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=1589&h=894 1589w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=1337&h=752 1337w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=1234&h=694 1234w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=280&h=158 280w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=1440&h=810 1440w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=289&h=163 289w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=370&h=208 370w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=308&h=173 308w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-magic-mud.png?w=50&h=28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" fetchpriority="high" alt="two baseballs held in two hands. one is bright white and the other is coated with a brown mud" /> <div class="article-featured-image-caption-container"> <figcaption class="article-featured-image-caption font-primary font-normal text-sm text-secondary-800">The magic mud is applied to every ball used in Major League Baseball. <span style="font-weight: 400">Mark Griffey</span></figcaption> </div> </figure> </div> <section class="entry-content py-8 max-w-[730px] lg:mx-auto" data-module="TableOfContents"> <section class="recurrent-share lg:px-0 mb-5" data-post-id="664785" data-content-type="News,Non-Evergreen,Non-Membership"> <div class="block-content-wrapper flex flex-row align-center gap-4 lg:gap-8 w-full text-center mx-auto md:mx-0 items-center justify-center"> <h2 class="recurrent-share-block-title font-primary font-bold text-2xl text-secondary-900">Share</h2> <ul class="flex flex-row list-none gap-4 lg:gap-8"> <li class="list-none"> <a class="flex items-center justify-center w-5 h-5 svg-social-icon" 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eighth World Series championship, <a href="https://www.popsci.com/physics-of-pitching/" target="_blank">baseball’s</a> “magic mud” is the <a href="https://www.popsci.com/baseball-world-series-superstitions-science/" target="_blank">stuff of lore</a>. Each Major League Baseball (MLB) team’s equipment manager applies it to every game ball. It improves the grip on the ball, can dull the shine on a new ball, and keep it from getting damaged.</p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">Now, the unique properties of this <a href="https://www.popsci.com/technology/aluminum-red-mud-green-steel/" target="_blank">naturally occurring substance</a> have been scientifically quantified. A <a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413514121" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">study published November 4 in the journal <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em> </a>(PNAS) details what makes it so special.</p> <p class="article-paragraph skip"><strong>[Related: </strong><a href="https://www.popsci.com/baseball-world-series-superstitions-science/" target="_blank"><strong>Baseball’s black magic: How psychology, math, and culture created a curse-ridden sport</strong></a><strong>.]</strong></p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">“It feels like sandpaper when you hold it, but then you can smear it like a cream,” study co-author and University of Pennsylvania soft matter scientist <a href="https://earth.sas.upenn.edu/people/shravan-pradeep" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Shravan Pradeep</a> tells <em>Popular Science</em>. </p> <p class="article-paragraph skip"><a href="https://baseballrubbingmud.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud</a> has been <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/08/07/baseball-mud-rawlings" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">harvested since the 1930’s by the Bintliff family</a> in a secret location along the Delaware River estuary in southern New Jersey. </p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">“When you take a dollop out of it and you put it on your hand, it’s just like a nice facial cream and feels smooth,” study co-author and Penn geophysicist <a href="https://earth.sas.upenn.edu/people/douglas-j-jerolmack" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Douglas J. Jerolmack</a> tells <em>Popular Science</em>. “It doesn’t feel gritty at all when it’s a dollop of paste in your hand. It’s after you spread it that it dries and feels gritty.”</p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">In 2019, <a href="https://www.matthewgutierrezwrites.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">sportswriter Matthew Gutierrez</a> asked the group at Penn to analyze the mud’s composition and flow behavior. He wanted to see if the mud actually makes balls perform better, as players claim. The team provided a quick analysis, but it wasn’t close to scientific proof. Still, they were interested in whether this mud went beyond athlete superstition.  </p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="1583" height="838" loading="lazy" src="https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?strip=all&quality=85" alt="a 3D reconstructed image of bare and mudded baseball surfaces " class="wp-image-664786" style="width:856px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg 1583w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=768&h=407 768w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=1536&h=813 1536w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=850&h=450 850w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=378&h=200 378w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=1247&h=660 1247w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=756&h=400 756w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=1579&h=836 1579w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=1303&h=690 1303w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=408&h=216 408w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=763&h=404 763w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=1421&h=752 1421w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=1311&h=694 1311w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=280&h=148 280w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=1440&h=762 1440w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=289&h=153 289w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=370&h=196 370w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=308&h=163 308w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/baseball-3D.jpg?w=50&h=26 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1583px) 100vw, 1583px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>3D reconstructed image of bare and mudded baseball surfaces obtained using confocal microscopy. CREDIT: Shravan Pradeep/University of Pennsylvania</em> </figcaption></figure> <p class="article-paragraph skip">By 2021, Pradeep devised three sets of experiments to determine if the mud actually works that are <a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413514121" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">detailed in the new study</a>. One experiment measured its spreadability, the second measured its stickiness, and the third measured the mud’s effect on a baseball’s friction against the pitcher’s fingertips.</p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">Spreadability and stickiness could be measured by two existing pieces of equipment–rheometer and atomic force microscopy. The rheometer measures spreadability. </p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">“We smeared the material between two plates and rotated them so we could see how it flows and measure the viscosity,” explains Pradeep.</p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">Atomic force microscopy looks at the material’s stickiness on an atomic level and gives a sense of how well it works to improve grip. </p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">However, to measure the mud’s frictional effects, the team needed to build some new kind of experimental setup that needed to mimic the properties of human fingers. They <a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413514121" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">created a rubber-like material with the same elasticity as human skin</a>. They then covered the material in an oil similar to what is secreted by human skin. The team carefully and systematically rubbed the oiled material against strips of baseballs in the manner specified by MLB.</p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">“That’s the beauty of all these three instruments. They measure different things and various parts of the material,” study co-author and Penn fluid dynamicist <a href="https://directory.seas.upenn.edu/paulo-e-arratia/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Paulo Arratia</a> tells <em>Popular Science</em>. </p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">According to the team, these instruments revealed the mud what pitchers have been saying. It has exactly the right amounts of stickiness, spreadability, and friction to allow them to get a good grip on the ball. What surprised the team was the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413514121" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">mud’s consistency and the combination of these three properties</a> coming together in the right amounts. </p> <p class="article-paragraph skip"><strong>[Related: </strong><a href="https://www.popsci.com/environment/baseball-climate-change-weather/" target="_blank"><strong>Hotter weather could be changing baseball</strong></a><strong>.]</strong></p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">“It’s the fact that  it spreads as if there’s no sand in it at all. But once it dries, the sparse amount of sand that is there provides this friction effect,” says Jerolmack. “It has just the right proportions of fine, sticky particles and sparse amounts of large, angular particles. We just didn’t expect to see them together.”</p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">MLB has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/sports/baseball/baseball-mud-supplier.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">considered replacing the magic mud with synthetic lubricants</a>. However, none of them have replicated the natural mud’s properties. </p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">“We have a lot of respect for the family who maintains this working knowledge and produce a consistent product that feels the same, that the pitchers can tell they have good sense in their hand,” says Arratia.</p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">The researchers hope their work can lead to more study of mud properties understanding erosion. It also furthers this study of “geomimicry,” or looking to natural substances to make more <a href="https://www.popsci.com/category/sustainability/" target="_blank">sustainable materials</a>.</p> <p class="article-paragraph skip">“Nature creates these materials and we were able to look at their mechanical properties,” says Pradeep. “So there are other materials out there which we don’t know what they do, but have exotic mechanical or transport properties that we might want to look at. 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src="https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/19/laura.jpg?quality=85&w=102&h=102&crop=1" srcset="https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/19/laura.jpg?w=336&h=336 336w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/19/laura.jpg?w=102&h=102 102w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/19/laura.jpg?w=192&h=192 192w" sizes="(max-width: 102px) 100vw, 102px" alt="Laura Baisas Avatar" loading="lazy" /> </a> <div class="author-name-title"> <h2 class="font-primary text-lg font-semibold text-secondary-900 leading-6"> <a href="https://www.popsci.com/authors/laura-baisas/"> Laura Baisas </a> </h2> <h3 class="primary-author-title font-secondary text-sm text-accent-900 font-semibold leading-6"> Staff writer </h3> </div> </div> <div class="primary-author-bio line-clamp-6 text-sm text-secondary-900 mb-2"><p>Laura is a science news writer, covering a wide variety of subjects, but she is particularly fascinated by all things aquatic, paleontology, nanotechnology, and exploring how science influences daily life.</p> </div> <ul class="author-socials hidden md:flex items-center gap-4 mb-4"> <li class="flex items-center gap-1"> <a class="w-[22px] h-[22px]" href="https://www.instagram.com/popsci/" aria-label="" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> </a> </li> </ul> </section> </section> <section class="recurrent-latest-posts-widget recurrent-blocks md:px-0 mb-8"> <h3 class="flag-heading text-lg">Latest</h3> <div class="lg:flex lg:gap-5 flex-col"> <div class="mb-2"> <div class="card-post sidebar-latest-post"> <a class="card-post-image-link block mb-4" aria-hidden tabindex="-1" href="https://www.popsci.com/gear/dji-mini-4k-drone-early-black-friday-deal/"> <div class="relative"> <img class="archive-post-thumb w-full aspect-thumbnail object-cover rounded-grid-post object-center" src="https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DJI-mini-4k-drone-black-friday-deal.jpg?quality=85&w=800" 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https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DJI-mini-4k-drone-black-friday-deal.jpg?w=308&h=173 308w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DJI-mini-4k-drone-black-friday-deal.jpg?w=50&h=28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="auto" alt="DJI mini 4K black friday deal header" /> </div> </a> <div class="post-content relative text-left"> <div class="post-tax-badges flex gap-2 items-center border-white pb-3" > <span class="cat-name-badge font-tertiary font-semibold text-sm text-accent-900 leading-extra-tight">Gear</span> </div> <a class="card-post-title-link" href="https://www.popsci.com/gear/dji-mini-4k-drone-early-black-friday-deal/"> <h3 class="card-post-title font-primary font-bold text-base lg:text-xl text-secondary-900 leading-tight"> <span class="mobile lg:hidden hover-link"> This $239 DJI Mini 4K drone kit deal Black Friday deal will sell out before Thanksgiving </span> <span class="desktop hidden lg:inline-block hover-link">This $239 DJI Mini 4K drone kit deal Black Friday deal will sell out before Thanksgiving</span> </h3> </a> <p class="card-post-byline font-secondary font-semibold text-secondary-900 text-sm leading-tighter mt-2"> <span class="recurrent-byline"><span class="byline-segment"><span class="byline-text">By </span><a class="hover-link no-underline hover:underline" href="https://www.popsci.com/authors/stan-horaczek/">Stan Horaczek</a></span></span> </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb-2"> <div class="card-post sidebar-latest-post"> <a class="card-post-image-link block mb-4" aria-hidden tabindex="-1" href="https://www.popsci.com/gear/asus-rog-strix-gaming-laptop-black-friday-deal/"> <div class="relative"> <img class="archive-post-thumb w-full aspect-thumbnail object-cover rounded-grid-post object-center" src="https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg?quality=85&w=692" srcset="https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg 2000w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg?w=768&h=499 768w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg?w=1536&h=998 1536w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg?w=692&h=450 692w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg?w=308&h=200 308w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg?w=1015&h=660 1015w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg?w=615&h=400 615w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg?w=1286&h=836 1286w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg?w=1062&h=690 1062w, 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https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASUS-ROG-Strix-G16-Black-Friday-Deal.jpg?w=50&h=33 50w" sizes="(max-width: 692px) 100vw, 692px" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="auto" alt="ASUS ROG Strix G16 in a tiled configuration." /> </div> </a> <div class="post-content relative text-left"> <div class="post-tax-badges flex gap-2 items-center border-white pb-3" > <span class="cat-name-badge font-tertiary font-semibold text-sm text-accent-900 leading-extra-tight">Gear</span> </div> <a class="card-post-title-link" href="https://www.popsci.com/gear/asus-rog-strix-gaming-laptop-black-friday-deal/"> <h3 class="card-post-title font-primary font-bold text-base lg:text-xl text-secondary-900 leading-tight"> <span class="mobile lg:hidden hover-link"> One of our favorite (and most powerful) gaming laptops is cheaper than ever for Black Friday </span> <span class="desktop hidden lg:inline-block hover-link">One of our favorite (and most powerful) gaming laptops is cheaper than ever for Black Friday</span> </h3> </a> <p class="card-post-byline font-secondary font-semibold text-secondary-900 text-sm leading-tighter mt-2"> <span class="recurrent-byline"><span class="byline-segment"><span class="byline-text">By </span><a class="hover-link no-underline hover:underline" href="https://www.popsci.com/authors/brandt-ranj/">Brandt Ranj</a></span></span> </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> </aside> </div> </div> <aside id="article-footer" class="article-footer full-bleed lg:basis-[100%]"> <section class="recurrent-smart-linkpacks full-bleed bg-gray-lighter py-8"> <div class="container"> <div class="incCategory grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-4 gap-x-5 gap-y-5"> <div class="col-span-full pt-8"> <h3 class="flag-heading"> More in Physics </h3> </div> <div class="mb-3"> <div class="card-post linkpack-post"> <a class="card-post-image-link block mb-4" aria-hidden tabindex="-1" 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https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/skeleton_1d5ee3.png?w=1234&h=694 1234w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/skeleton_1d5ee3.png?w=280&h=158 280w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/skeleton_1d5ee3.png?w=1440&h=810 1440w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/skeleton_1d5ee3.png?w=289&h=163 289w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/skeleton_1d5ee3.png?w=370&h=208 370w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/skeleton_1d5ee3.png?w=308&h=173 308w, https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/skeleton_1d5ee3.png?w=50&h=28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="auto" alt="Inhumation grave 26, shown in the original field photograph (left), with bones in anatomical articulation lying on their right side with flexed legs." /> </div> </a> <div class="post-content relative text-left"> <a class="card-post-title-link" href="https://www.popsci.com/science/ancient-skeleton-weirdest-thing/"> <h3 class="card-post-title font-primary font-bold text-base lg:text-xl text-secondary-900 leading-tight"> <span class="mobile lg:hidden hover-link"> This ancient skeleton turned out to have eight different people in it </span> <span class="desktop hidden lg:inline-block hover-link">This ancient skeleton turned out to have eight different people in it</span> </h3> </a> <p class="card-post-byline font-secondary font-semibold text-secondary-900 text-sm leading-tighter mt-2"> <span class="recurrent-byline"><span class="byline-segment"><span class="byline-text">By </span><a class="hover-link no-underline hover:underline" href="https://www.popsci.com/authors/popular-science-team/">Popular Science Team</a></span></span> </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb-3"> <div class="card-post linkpack-post"> <a class="card-post-image-link block mb-4" aria-hidden tabindex="-1" 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