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More than two decades since the Concorde supersonic airliner last took to the skies, NASA has been flying an experimental aircraft designed to replace loud sonic booms with a quieter thump equivalent to a car door slamming shut 20 feet away. A successful NASA flight test program could influence the design of future supersonic airliners capable of flying overland routes without rattling buildings—and people’s nerves.

The Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst—an acronym for Quiet SuperSonic Technology—first took flight late last year and recently began supersonic test flights. But unlike with many experimental “X-plane” aircraft that may never leave restricted airspace near Edwards Air Force Base in California, NASA plans to eventually take the X-59 on a tour around the United States so residents of various cities and towns can provide feedback on the quieter sonic “thumps” it produces.

“Usually an X plane is kind of bare-bones—‘cobble it together from a bunch of parts from other airplanes and just demonstrate one thing,’” said Jim “Clue” Less , a NASA test pilot and aerospace engineer, in an interview with Ars. “We need to demonstrate that one thing, but then we need a plane that's robust enough that we can fly it all over the place and gather that data.”

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These days, practically every operating system and app gives users the choice to apply a dark mode theme, rendering light-colored text on a dark background. It’s easier on the eyes than the standard black-on-white look, especially if you’re using your device in the dark. We’ve known enthusiasts are big on dark mode for a long time now, but a recent Android Authority survey shows the option is actually overwhelmingly popular, at least among our readers.

In a survey we’ve been running since March , we asked readers how they use dark mode on their devices, if at all. There were choices for people who use dark mode at all times, users who switch back and forth between themes manually, those who have dark mode on a schedule, and people who don’t ever use dark mode. More than 3,000 people responded — and more than 70% of them are all dark mode, all the time.