Why it matters: 5G, the successor to 4G that allows machines to make long-distance data calls to other devices at speeds faster than today's home internet connections, is being put to the test in Maui, Hawaii, during Qualcomm's third annual Snapdragon Technology Summit. AT&T and Verizon will have 5G networks onsite and summit attendees will have the chance to try out a 5G-enabled phone for the first time. If it's successful, it could have major implications for telecommunications and the future of smart cities and networks.

No word on if they'll ever create a network powerful enough to shield me from incessant robocalls, but one can hope.

Why it matters: First romaine, now beef. JBS Tolleson has expanded its recall of raw beef products, which now totals over 12 million pounds. The products are connected to a multistate salmonella outbreak that has made almost 250 people sick.

Great. Just when I was about to whip out this recipe for my friends.

Why it matters: The news of Q&A site Quora's data breach affecting up to 100 million users comes not long after Marriott's data breach, adding more fuel to my mother's argument that I should never give my information to anyone, ever. For now, you're probably better getting the answers to all of your burning questions the traditional way -- search engines.

Why it matters: Successfully finding some of the rarest blood in the world would have the potential to help 2-year-old Zainab Mughal survive neuroblastoma, an aggressive type of cancer. That is, if a matching blood or marrow donor can be found.

Because Zainab is missing an antigen, probabilities dictate that her donors have to be of 100% Pakistani, Indian or Iranian descent, have to have type O or type A blood AND must also be missing the "Indian B" antigen. Time is not benevolent when it comes to finding something so scarce as a rare blood type, but I hope potential donors will be generous.

CIMON, the robot aboard the International Space Station, appears to have to a mind of its own, completely ignoring a request to turn off music and then retorting "Be nice!" when astronaut Alexander Gerst tried to get his colleagues to help. Luckily, for all of us back on Earth, Siri and Alexa are much nicer. That is, unless you're like me and you trick them into saying crazy things.

When presented with the task of guiding a peanut through a series of obstacles in a puzzle, gorillas at an English zoo did what some humans might've done in that situation -- cheat. Using their lips, the gorillas simply removed the peanut from the contraption in front of them instead of going through the intended motions. Dr. Fay Clark from Bristol Zoo Gardens says the gorillas' cheating behavior represents "fascinating problem-solving abilities that have probably not been witnessed before."

So I guess it's not cheating, per se. It's efficiency and "problem serving."

Usually, when you pull a material to stretch it out, it gets thinner. Scientists at the University of Leeds have made what's known as an auxetic material that does the exact opposite. The key to the phenomenon is linking liquid crystal elastomers with polymer chains, which apparently makes the resulting material really rubbery.

Now if this principle only applied to personal finance.

Burger King has put a new and creative twist on its endless competition with McDonald's. From now until Dec. 12, if customers are within 600 feet of a McDonald's, they can order a Whopper for one cent through Burger King's newly improved app. Then, once the order is placed, the customer gets detoured to the nearest Burger King for pickup.

I don't know about this one. I thought the point of fast food was to be...fast? Going to McDonald's to place a Burger King order seems a bit counterintuitive, no? I mean, unless you're that strapped for cash.

Where is your allegiance in the phone wars?

Apple	58.3%
Samsung	18.7%
Android	16.1%
Google	3.8%
Other	2%
Windows	1.1%

Apparently Severance, Colo., had a nearly 100-year-old policy in place barring snowball fights in the town. Nine-year-old Dane Best wanted to put that to rest through a petition and Town Hall speech, but he'd have to answer the hard questions from the community, including (no joke) "Can we amend this ordinance to say that if you're over 60, no one can throw a snowball at you?" No word on if the final rule change took that into effect, but Best did promise to not have any stones in his snowballs, because that would just be mean.