Andrew Tarantola, Author at Gizmodo

The World’s Largest Floating Fish Factory

Wild fish stocks around the world are crashing, in part due to over-fishing. Now, I’m not saying the Lafayette fish processing ship is the sole cause of the problem, but the 1,500 tons of fish it freezes and ships a day probably isn’t helping the situation. The Lafayette is the $100 million mother ship of…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Oct 3 '11

Paris Rolls Out a Fleet of Rentable Electric Runabouts

While Paris isn’t nearly as god-awful as Mexico City in terms of traffic, it’s by no means a commuter’s Shangri-La. So, Parisian officials are testing a new fleet of electric four-seaters to ease its congestion woes. https://gizmodo.com/the-most-horrific-traffic-in-the-entire-world-5838333 The concept of shared-vehicle rentals isn’t exactly new and is already establishing itself here in the US (heck,…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Oct 1 '11

Kids Will Trade a Pint of Blood for Just About Anything These Days

How do you convince a bunch of otherwise disinterested, likely hung over, easily distracted, and—is that Marijuana I smell?—college students to give up a pint of bodily fluid to the Red Cross? Short answer: free stuff. What? You were expecting a passionate plea to a higher cause? Some righteous ode to serving the greater good?…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Oct 1 '11

The Only Threads on Princeton’s “Magic Carpet” Are Electrified

Ok, to be fair. This device isn’t really a carpet so much as it’s a 4-inch square of plastic and it doesn’t so much fly as just sorta hover a few inches off the ground, but it does have one advantage over Aladdin’s flying carpet—Princeton’s sheet is real. Devised and developed by Princeton graduate student…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Oct 1 '11

This Poop-Powered Toiletcycle Is Touring Japan

You’re looking at the Toilet Bike Neo. It’s the creation of Japan’s commode-king TOTO and is just what it looks like—a toilet-motorcycle hybrid. That runs on human excrement. Wait, wha? The Toilet Bike Neo will be conducting its roughly 500 mile trip from Kyushu to Tokyo powered entirely by the on-board biogas digester. Biogas systems…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Oct 1 '11

Kodak’s New Outdoor Camera Can Hold Its Breath for Two Hours

Sure, Kodak is quickly becoming a penny stock. But that doesn’t mean it can’t still produce a solid and rugged outdoor camcorder like the Playfull Waterproof. https://gizmodo.com/kodak-is-on-the-verge-of-being-worth-zero-dollars-5845533 The Playfull Waterproof is a beefed-up addition to the Playfull line. It’s waterproof down to ten feet (three meters) for up to two hours, as well as shock-proof,…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Oct 1 '11

Apparently the Body of Evidence in Florida Stops at the Neck

The strapping young lad you see here is 41-year-old Sunday school teacher Danny Parker—er, ex-Sunday school teacher since he was caught in ’09 Photoshopping the heads of his students into porn scenes. But hey, according to a Florida appeals court, at least it’s not a felony! No, really. According to a ruling by a Second…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Oct 1 '11

Bats Make the Same Sound SAM’s Do When They Have Radar-Lock

You know what I’m talking about; that accelerating high-pitched beep bleeding into a squeal as the projectile locks-on and closes on your position. It’s the “Oh shit I’m dead” sound for fighter pilots and whatever “oh shit I’m dead” translates into for bugs as well, apparently. This squeal is known as a “terminal buzz” and,…

Biology Andrew Tarantola Oct 1 '11

Chicago’s Stickney Wastewater Treatment Plant Is the Crappiest Place on Earth

Chicago and its outlying suburbs create 1.5 billion gallons of wastewater every day. Since this isn’t the 1880s anymore and you can’t just let the effluence run back into Lake Michigan, you’ve got to clean it. Here. At the biggest wastewater treatment plant on Earth. The Stickney Water Reclamation Plant is located on 570 acres…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Sep 30 '11

Brinno GardenWatchCam Lightning Review: Watching Grass Grow Is Boring, Even in Fast Forward

Time-lapse videos are can be pretty sweet—if you have the patience to make them. And if you’re not tech savvy enough to build your own camera and timer setup, the Brinno GardenWatchCam (all one word, ughhh) delivers a completely self-contained rig to do just that. Like It’s very good at taking pictures of stationary objects…

Reviews Andrew Tarantola Sep 29 '11

9 Tools for Your Next Canyoning Adventure—Sans the Bonesaw

It’s like mountaineering but in reverse—canyoning mixes aspects of hiking, rappelling and spelunking as you make way through deep crags and crevasses. But down in a canyon, a boulder on your arm is just one of the many things that can go wrong. Be prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws at you with these nine…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Sep 29 '11

How to Auto-Milk a Herd of Cows in the Middle of a Burning Desert

The middle of the Saudi Desert isn’t really the first place you’d think of as the location for the world’s largest dairy farm but that’s exactly where Al Safi Farms produces 122,000 gallons of milk a day. During the panics in 1973 in response to the oil embargo crisis, the Saudi Royal Family realized that…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Sep 29 '11

Now You Can Obsess About the State of Your Garage Door from Anywhere on the Planet

You’re already 20 minutes late for work and you’re panicking, only remembering the coffee on your roof as you pull out of the driveway. Two blocks later, it hits you—Did I remember to close the garage? This new garage door opener lets you check without circling back. The AssureLink Garage Door Opener by Craftsman works…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Sep 28 '11

NASCAR’s Jet Dryers Were Once Real Jets

NASCAR—a celebration of horsepower reveling in the roar of the engine and the aroma of gasoline, grease, and burning rubber. You shouldn’t ask why NASCAR uses modified jet engines to dry its racetracks, you should ask why doesn’t everybody? Jet Dryers have been around since the early 1970s but at that time they were used…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Sep 28 '11

This Connecticut State Record-Breaking Pumpkin Grew in Just 2.5 Months

This record-setting, 1,487-pound pumpkin is the product of one Ken Desrosiers of Broad Brook, Connecticut and, as you can see, grew to that size in just two and a half months. Planted at the end of June and entered into the Durham Fair on Wednesday, this gargantuan gourd smashed the previous Connecticut State record by…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Sep 27 '11

7 Tools for Protecting Your Lawn from Old Man Winter

Fall’s officially here because the leaves that were on the trees in my yard last week are now all over my lawn. Bugger that. These seven tools will get my yard cleaned, primped, and ready for hibernation. Garden Weasel Nut Gatherer Don’t laugh, a Buckeye gets caught in a lawnmower blade and there’s a good…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Sep 27 '11

The New VXR WaveRunner Is More Powerful Than Some Cars

Sure, we’re talking about a Smart Car Fortwo here but even those will reach freeway speeds if you give them long enough. But for roughly the same price, wouldn’t you rather have the most badass jet-ski of all time? The 2011 VXR Waverunner is powered by a 1.8L (1,812cc) 4-cylinder marine engine—the largest ever in…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Sep 27 '11

The Cloud Server So Large They Should Call It “Hurricane”

As computational-heavy research gains momentum, the amount of data researchers generate is exploding—a single sequencing of DNA requires as much as 28 terabytes. So where do American researchers store their most ginormous data sets? In the largest academic cloud server in the US, at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. The SDSC Cloud has an initial…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Sep 27 '11

Chasing Norway’s New Stealth Cruise Missile

This is the Naval Strike Missile, Kongsberg’s latest and greatest cruise missile, as it skims over the Pacific Ocean before tearing into its target on the far side of an island. The testing for this next-generation anti-ship missile took place off Point Mugu, California in June of this year. According to Konsgberg, the NSM had…

Gadgets Andrew Tarantola Sep 26 '11

The World’s Strongest Electric Train, With 10,500HP of RAWR

5.8 seconds. That’s how fast an Re 620 electric locomotive can top 60 mph (100 km/h) from a standing start. Which is handy when one needs to pull 800 tons of freight through some of Europe’s highest peaks. Re 620 series of locomotives were built between 1975 and 1980 but are still a workhorse along…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Sep 26 '11

Andrew Tarantola

The World’s Largest Floating Fish Factory

Paris Rolls Out a Fleet of Rentable Electric Runabouts

Kids Will Trade a Pint of Blood for Just About Anything These Days

The Only Threads on Princeton’s “Magic Carpet” Are Electrified

This Poop-Powered Toiletcycle Is Touring Japan

Kodak’s New Outdoor Camera Can Hold Its Breath for Two Hours

Apparently the Body of Evidence in Florida Stops at the Neck

Bats Make the Same Sound SAM’s Do When They Have Radar-Lock

Chicago’s Stickney Wastewater Treatment Plant Is the Crappiest Place on Earth

Brinno GardenWatchCam Lightning Review: Watching Grass Grow Is Boring, Even in Fast Forward

9 Tools for Your Next Canyoning Adventure—Sans the Bonesaw

How to Auto-Milk a Herd of Cows in the Middle of a Burning Desert

Now You Can Obsess About the State of Your Garage Door from Anywhere on the Planet

NASCAR’s Jet Dryers Were Once Real Jets

This Connecticut State Record-Breaking Pumpkin Grew in Just 2.5 Months

7 Tools for Protecting Your Lawn from Old Man Winter

The New VXR WaveRunner Is More Powerful Than Some Cars

The Cloud Server So Large They Should Call It “Hurricane”

Chasing Norway’s New Stealth Cruise Missile

The World’s Strongest Electric Train, With 10,500HP of RAWR

NASA’s Lithium-Fed Nuclear Thruster Flares to Life in First of Its Kind Test

The Rest of Big Tech Piles in to Take the Pentagon Deal That Anthropic Wouldn’t

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 Now Without the Premium Price Tag as Older Models Clear Out on Amazon

Could Life Adapt to a Hypergravity Planet? A Freaky Fly Experiment Offers a Clue

The Films and Shows You Should Be Streaming in May 2026

May to Bring Early Summer to the West While the East Freezes

Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Hits Near Used Prices After Major Price Cut Since Last Black Friday

The Best Tech Gifts for Mother’s Day 2026

The Latest Apple Smart Glasses Rumor Sounds Like a Long Shot

23 Years After the SP, This Handheld May Finally Improve the Game Boy

Asus’ Dual-Display Gaming Laptop Will Ruin Your Single-Screen Lifestyle

Steam Controller Review: Trackpads Change Everything for PC Gaming

Soundcore Space 2 Review: A Shockingly Stellar Value for Budget ANC Wireless Headphones

Anker’s UV Printer Can Handle Almost Anything… If You Know What You’re Doing

HP’s EliteBoard Keyboard-Computer Proves We Can Stick a PC in Anything

Sleep-Tracking Earbuds Didn’t Fix Me, but They Did Open My Eyes

I’ve Tested a Lot of Bad Smart Glasses and These Are the Worst Yet

Roborock’s Qrevo Curv 2 Flow Is the Ultimate Robot Mop—If You Don’t Have Corners or Walls

Alienware’s $350 QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Nixes Everything for a Pretty Screen

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: A Perfect Case for Open-Back Gaming Headsets