Uh Oh: BMW's Electric Mini Cooper Goes Half the Range In the Cold

Unlike the electric Chevy Volt, BMW's Mini E doesn't have a heater to keep the battery at optimum temperature when it gets cold outside—sounds like a minor problem, but it halves the Mini E's range. Eep. More »

Star Wars Weather Finally Puts the Forecast Into Terms I Can Understand

Weather reports are complicated. Barometric pressure, precipitation probabilities, there's too much to keep track of. Star Wars Weather takes all that info puts it into terms I can understand: what Star Wars planet the current conditions most closely resemble. More »

Hacked Email Archive Fuels Climate Skeptics' Conspiracy Theories

The Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia keeps some of the most accurate climate records which are key to many climate change debates. Its email archives were hacked, and now it's the center of another conspiracy claim. More »

FOR SALE: Proof That Balloon Boy Was A Hoax

There is allegedly proof that the story of balloon boy Falcon Heene was a stunt to help pitch a television show. But the purported proof will cost you thousands of dollars to get. More »

Ominous Cloud Formation Has Russians Fearing An Alien Attack

If you saw this over your head, what would you think? Aliens have come to kick our asses? God has come to kick our asses? Apparently, the bizarre cloud formation seen in Moscow recently is just a natural phenomenon. More »

Bill Gates Patent Could Save Us From Another Hurricane Katrina

Not content with being the world's richest man, Bill Gates is planning on extending his power to control the weather. More specifically, he has filed a patent for a system that he hopes will prevent the next Katrina. More »

Oregon Scientific's Solar Weather Station Is The Second Greenest Way To Check The Forecast

As far as weather stations go, the +ECO Clima Control weather station is pretty enough to put out in the open—and its wealth of features are completely powered by the sun. More »

Holy Crap, Storm Chasers Captured Footage Inside a Tornado

Storm chasers drive towards tornados, hoping to photograph them from up close and study them as they're happening. But usually they just get close. Not last week, when these storm chasers went inside a twister. More »

Space-Based Solar Panels May Be Used for Energy-Saving Good or Catastrophic Evil

A Californian power company is looking at launching giant, reflective solar panels into space to beam clean energy back to us on Earth. But the tech was originally designed for Bond-villain-like weather control. More »

Pin Up Weather For iPhone Delivers Sexytime Forecasts Rated PG-13

Before I became a blogging shut-in, the first thing I would do upon waking up is check the weather on my phone. Pin Up Weather would have made that process considerably more enjoyable. More »

It Could be Possible to Stop Hurricanes with Supersonic Jets

Hurricanes, as we've seen, can wreak serious havoc when they strike populated areas. We've never had control over them before, but one researcher thinks they could be broken up with F-4 fighter jets. More »

Computer Weather Error Shows Why Houston Is in Extra Trouble

Hath Hell frozen over, or hath an internth presseth the wrong buttoneth? [Thanks Dustin!] More »

Kite Surfer Goes Out During Tropical Storm, Learns Valuable Lesson About the Power of Nature

Kite surfing is a fun sport that involves using a large kite and a surfboard to get a lot of speed up on the water. It's like wakeboarding without a boat. Naturally, you need a decent amount of wind for it to work properly. There's a limit to how much wind you should use, however, as a dimwitted kite surfer discovered when he tried to unleash his kite during a tropical storm in Fort Lauderdale and ended up getting flung across the beach and into the side of a building right in front of local news cameras. More »

Doppler Weather Radar Picks Up Car Blazing Down Highway at 130 MPH

Atmospheric conditions were just right early this morning in the Chicago area for the weather service to pick up motorists driving down Interstate 55 and 57 using Doppler radar. Apparently, one of these motorists was late for an important meeting because a car was clocked doing around 130 mph. It's hard to see, but the green and blue specs in the area circled above indicate the high speed vehicle. More »

Oregon Scientific Delivers Watch for Serious Weather Addicts

When it comes to forecasting the weather, I often think that sticking a moistened finger into the air is about as accurate as all of that fancy doppler radar. However, there is no shortage of weather addicts out there that religiously check the news and treat weathermen like they were friggin' prophets. It appears that Oregon Scientific has developed a weather forecasting watch made specifically for these types of people. More »

Brando USB Hygrometer and Thermometer: for Predicting Desk Weather?

We like strange USB gadgets: Brando's new gizmo plugs into a USB port and gives you accurate temperature and humidity measurements, on a second-by-second basis, if you like. It even logs the data for you, in a spreadsheet-friendly fashion. So that you can, you know, predict if it's going to rain on your laptop. Maybe you put a long lead on it, and dangle it out the window? I don't know. For those of you really into that kind of microclimate data collection, it works between -40ºC and 120ºC, measures humidity 0-100% and works with XP/Vista. Available now for $24. [Geek Alerts]

LCD Window Thermometer is a Wall-Mounted Spoiler Alert

With the LCD window thermometer from La Crosse, long gone are your days as the victim of weather-fashion faux pas. The unit mounts to a window and displays the current temperature, as well as the high and low. This gadget seems useful for the weather obsessed, or people who have no idea how to dress themselves. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer the tried-and-true combination of looking out my window and remembering what month it is. If you still regret the time you wore a ski mask in July, it can be yours for 15 bucks. [ThinkGeek via DVICE]

Weather Direct 4-Day Audio Weather Forecaster is Internet-Powered

What is it? In addition to being a plain ol' indoor/outdoor thermometer kit, the Weather Direct 4-Day Audio Weather Forecaster has an internet connection (through a proprietary wireless link interface) to download weather predictions for the next three days. Add text-to-voice email capability (it actually reads the subjects and sender fields as new mail shows up) and RSS feeds, and it turns the little guy into a fairly useful gadget. More »

Afternoon News: Poop-Sniffing, Pancake-Eating, Vegas-Going Spammers

• A Purdue professor is paying students $30 to sniff animal poop and using the research to improve estimations of odor emissions on farms. It's days like this that I am happy I went to Indiana University. [11alive] More »

Stormglass Predicts Weather the Old-Fashioned Way, With Crystals

At first I thought this Stormglass weather predicting instrument was a joke, reminding me of that old weather device that featured a picture of a donkey whose tail was made of yarn. Its deadpan instructions told us "if tail is wagging, the weather is windy; if tail is frozen, weather is cold; if tail is smoking, weather is hot." Well, this device is not that. It's a bottle full of magic liquid that's said to be able to actually forecast the weather. More »

Stripping Weathergirl Station is the Most Pervy Way to Get the Forecast

There's no better way to give people the message that "I'm socially awkward and like to have an umbrella handy if there's a chance of rain" like having one of these Stripping Weathergirl Weather Stations on your desk. See, if it's hot out she takes her clothes off. Holy mackerel, She takes her clothes off, guys!! And for only $70? I can think of no easier way to get titillated for $70. Boy, this is the smartest purchase I've made all day. [Product Page via Coolest Gadgets]

Waterdrop Weather Station Has New Shape, Mostly Old Features

Weather stations come in all shapes and sizes, and here's another one to add to that collection, the Waterdrop Weather Station from Sharper Image. While it's supposed to be shaped like a water drop, we think it looks more like a red egg, or worse, a drop of blood. Besides its unusual look, it has the usual features of weather stations of this ilk, including an iconized forecast (this one's color-coded, though), indoor temperature and outdoor temperature and humidity, an alarm clock that's regulated by the atomic clock, and then a graph that shows you 24 hours' worth of barometric pressure readings. We especially like the hands-free infrared sensor that lets you magically wave your hand to turn off its alarm. You'll pay extra for that and its eggcellent shape—it's $119.95. [Sharper Image, via Weather Snob]

Tornadoes, typically found ripping homes to shreds, could be man-made to 20-Km high, and harnessed by turbines for 200-Megawatts. It sounds like a promising b-movie, at least. [The Star]

Oregon Scientific's Crystal Weather Station Gives You 3D Forecasts

The guys at Oregon Scientific are known for their funky clocks, and now they're kicking things up a notch with their new Crystal Weather Station, the first clock that can display the forecast in 3D. More »

Pranksters Can Now Send Erroneous Messages to Your GPS Navigation

The next time you see "bull fight in progress", "bomb alert", "air crash", or "terrorist incident" on your traffic-update enabled GPS navigation, don't be too quick to assume that's what actually happened. Some "hackers" have discovered a way to inject RDS messages (which use the FM frequency to send traffic and weather information) into your GPS, triggering off a different alert message depending on the message. More »

Oregon Scientific Weather Hub Predicts the Weathery Future

This little device from the weather junkies at Oregon Scientific is like bringing a desktop widget to real life. It has two circular displays that will display the current temperature and the upcoming temperature. It does the magic future-predicting with an internal barometer. I wish it included Wi-Fi or something to more accurately predict the weather over the net, but for $20 I'm not expecting much. –Travis Hudson More »

Lightsaber Umbrella Uses the Force to Stop the Rain

Now available for your handy dandy arsenal of lightsaber gear is this umbrella. No longer will your lightsaber MP3 player, Skype phone, universal remote or MacBook be lonely. I feel like such a nerd describing this, but the umbrella's handle is a black lightsaber and no part of the umbrella lights up, which is very unfortunate for the diehard fans out there. It is available for $100 and would be perfect to shield yourself and your imaginary date on a rainy evening. –Travis Hudson More »

Stormtracker Weather Alert Device

For those who watch the Weather Channel nonstop or the others not even reading this post since they're out back digging their storm cellar/fallout shelter, the Stormtracker Weather Alert Device may be the hot item this season. More »

La Crosse WS-1025 LCD Window Thermometer For Weather Watchers

Now that Spring is about to finally spring, you're going to want to watch those temperatures rising so you'll know when it's safe to dance naked on the patio again. Here's a thermometer that'll tip you off, and it's easy to stick onto the outside of a window, too—the La Crosse WS-1025. It doesn't look half bad, either, with its transparent LCD display that seems to just float out there. More »

Raymarine SR50 Sirius Weather, Audio Receiver

Despite that blasted merger between Sirius and XM, humble companies like Raymarine are still pushing out their satellite radio products. The SR50, for example, is a Sirius Satellite Weather/Audio receiver perfect for your boat, storm chasing vehicle, or hell, for your home. On the lake the weather functions can be extremely helpful with wind, wave, surface temperature and other information. The SR50 will be available in April—no word on pricing, but these types of units generally cost a lot (upwards of $1,000). –Travis Hudson More »

DIY Antique Weather Clock

This is an antique weather clock that connects to Yahoo's weather service to display the current weather conditions for a specific zip code.

I took out the clock work, and replaced it with a servo and used a phidgets USB - servo controller so I could control the servo from my computer.

Nice work, not only does it look good, it is functional. Too bad it doesn't have a way to display the current temperature. Thanks, Jesse – Travis Hudson More »

Video: Nintendo Wii Forecast Channel

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Bushnell ONIX400CR Outdoor GPS Does XM and Weather

Details have finally been unveiled for the Bushnell ONIX400CR. This device does it all and more. It has GPS that includes downloadable aerial and satellite photos. It also packs an XM receiver along with XMWX weather feeds that includes everything from storm tracking to warnings and even Doppler radar images. It's not limited to your vehicle, either. The ONIX400CR also has a waterproof, rugged case. The cherry on top of the sundae: it has a MSRP of $500. That is a pretty good price for just a GPS unit, not to mentioned the XM and weather also included. It will be available in February. – Travis Hudson More »

USB Air Purifier, Clock

This clock is actually labeled as a USB Digital Thermo Clock Air Purifier. Odd name, yes, but it accurately describes everything that this little USB device does. It can purify the air around you (probably not much, though), and tell you the time, temperature and date all while glowing. It is available through Brando for $36. – Travis Hudson More »

Honda GPS Adds Weather Conditions, Social Networking

Honda takes GPS navigation to the next level, planning to add weather data and social networking to its upcoming factory-installed car navi systems. It connects to the Japanese InterNavi Premium Club, showing you what the weather is like wherever you are, and what it will be like on your proposed route. There's also a social networking service (SNS), where you can bookmark establishments such as restaurants and hotels, letting other subscribers know about your experiences there. More »

Melitta ME1MSB Smart Brew Coffeemaker Shows You Weather Reports

Okay, all you wonks who complained that we had a coffeemaker on the Giz the other day, keep scrolling. Now that the whiny geek is gone, let me tell you about the Melitta ME1MSB Smart Brew Coffeemaker, a 10-cup pot that uses Microsoft SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) to give you almost-live weather data from MSN Direct right there above its button pad. More »