Terms of Use

1. Who we are

Science News Weekly is published by Aurora Group Platforms LLC, 30 N Gould Street, Sheridan, WY 82801, United States ("we", "us", "our"). These Terms of Use (the "Terms") govern your use of sciencenews-weekly.org and everything published on it (the "Site"), including the newsletter we send from it. Our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and Affiliate Disclosure form part of these Terms.

2. What the Site is

The Site is an editorial publication about the science behind consumer wellness gadgets, wearables and home measurement tools, for adults. It contains instrument entries that describe what a device's specification says and what published validation studies found, feature articles explaining how such devices work, and general information drawn from public sources. It is not a store: we sell nothing, ship nothing and process no payments. Product buttons take you to Amazon, where any purchase is made under Amazon's own terms.

3. Educational content, not medical advice

Everything on the Site is general information for educational purposes. It is not medical advice for you personally, and nothing on the Site is a substitute for a conversation with a clinician who knows your history. Reading the Site, subscribing to the newsletter or writing to us does not create a clinician-patient or any other professional relationship. The byline "Science News Weekly Editorial Team" describes a small group of ordinary adults following a documented process; it does not describe clinicians or engineers, and we make no claim to those qualifications.

The consumer gadgets described on the Site are, for the most part, sold as general wellness products. They are not diagnostic devices, their readings can be inaccurate, and nothing on the Site says or implies that any gadget can tell you whether you have a medical condition. Where the Site describes a device as cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, that describes a regulatory status we checked at the source on the date shown, not a guarantee of accuracy for you.

4. Readings are your decision, and your responsibility

Accuracy figures on the Site describe what a study found for the people and conditions it tested. We have no way of knowing your skin, your fit, your movement, your environment or your device's firmware, so how you use a reading is your decision alone. That means:

• Do not use a consumer gadget, or anything on the Site, to decide on, start, stop or change a medication or treatment.
• If you have symptoms, or a reading worries you, contact a clinician. In an emergency, call your local emergency number rather than re-checking a device.
• Follow the manufacturer's instructions for fit, placement, charging and cleaning, and stop using a device that irritates your skin or overheats.
• To the fullest extent the law allows, you accept the risk of relying on any reading or any description of accuracy on the Site.

We are not trying to frighten you off a fitness tracker. We are saying plainly that a web page cannot see you, and that a gadget's number is an estimate.

5. No promise of results

We do not promise that any device described on the Site will perform in any particular way for you. Where we describe evidence, we describe what a source found for the people it studied, with the limits left in. What a routine or a product does for you depends on you, and on many things we cannot see.

6. Accuracy, dates and change

We make a genuine effort to open every listing, read every specification, cite real sources and date every price before publishing, and each page shows when it was last reviewed. Even so, models, firmware, prices, availability, sellers, certifications and research all change without notice. We cannot promise that any fact on the Site remains current after the date shown on the page, and a price on the Site is never a quote. The Site and its content are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

7. Affiliate links and Amazon

Science News Weekly participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Product buttons on the Site are affiliate links to Amazon.com, and if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The details are in our Affiliate Disclosure. Any purchase is a contract between you and Amazon or the Amazon seller, governed by Amazon's Conditions of Use, its return policy and its privacy notice. We are not a party to that purchase and cannot act on it; see our Shipping and Returns pages.

8. Third-party sites and sources

The Site links to websites we do not control, including Amazon, manufacturers' pages, government and academic sources. We are not responsible for their content, accuracy, availability or practices, and a link is not an endorsement of everything on the linked site. When you leave the Site, that site's terms and privacy practices apply.

9. Ownership of content

The text, page design, cover graphics, and the selection and arrangement of material on the Site belong to Aurora Group Platforms LLC or are used with permission, and are protected by copyright and other laws. You may read, print and share links to pages for personal, non-commercial use. You may not copy, republish, scrape, systematically download or redistribute substantial parts of the Site, or use its content to train or feed an automated system, without our prior written permission. Product photographs are used to identify the products discussed; product names, brand names and trademarks belong to their owners, and nothing on the Site grants any right to use them. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

10. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the Site for anything unlawful; not to interfere with its operation or try to gain access to any part of it, its server or its files that is not deliberately made public; not to submit false information through the newsletter form or by email; and not to send automated or bulk requests beyond ordinary search-engine indexing. We may block traffic that we believe breaks these rules.

11. Newsletter

Subscribing to The Weekly Issue means you agree to receive it by email until you unsubscribe. You must be at least 18 to subscribe, and you must only submit an address that is yours. Every issue tells you how to unsubscribe, and you can also email us at any time. How we store and use your address is set out in the Privacy Policy.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Aurora Group Platforms LLC, and anyone who writes for or works on the Site, will not be liable to you for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profit or goodwill, arising out of or connected with the Site, its content, your reliance on it, any device or product described on it, or any purchase you make through a link on it, however caused and under any legal theory. To the same extent, our total liability for all claims connected with the Site will not exceed one hundred US dollars ($100). Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranties or liabilities to be limited; where that is the case, our liability is limited to the smallest extent the law permits, and nothing in these Terms takes away rights that you have as a consumer and that cannot be waived.

13. Your responsibility to us

If your breach of these Terms or of the law causes a claim against us, you agree to cover the reasonable costs and damages that result from your own actions, to the extent the law allows.

14. Changes to the Site and to these Terms

We may change, suspend or retire any part of the Site at any time, and we may update these Terms. A change takes effect when the revised Terms are posted with a new "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Using the Site after that date means you accept the revised Terms. We do not send separate notices of changes.

15. Governing law and where disputes are heard

These Terms, and any dispute connected with the Site, are governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. You agree that any legal action connected with the Site will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Sheridan County, Wyoming, and you consent to the jurisdiction of those courts. If you are a consumer and the law where you live gives you the right to bring a claim in your own courts, or applies protections that cannot be waived, that law is not displaced by this section.

16. General

If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest continues to apply. Our not enforcing a term on one occasion does not waive it. These Terms, together with the policies linked in section 1, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Site. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms; we may transfer ours to a successor that takes over the Site.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms go to the address below. There is no phone line for the Site.