Eric Limer

This Dynamic Robot Duo Is Making Solar Power Cheap As Hell

Solar power is fantastic, sure. But while the tech behind solar panels is zooming forward, there are other problems holding it back. Problems like installation and cleaning. Fortunately robots are here to help. https://gizmodo.com/half-price-solar-panels-thanks-to-an-ion-cannon-5892801 A pair of robo-workers named Rover and Spot, both from Alion Energy, are working their metal asses off to make installing…

The Most Fun You’ll Ever Have With Facebook Privacy Settings

You know the drill. Facebook’s changing its privacy settings; it’s time to make sure all your shit is locked down tight. We’ve all been through it like a million times. But the folks over at Us Vs Th3m turned it into a game. It’s glorious. https://gizmodo.com/facebook-is-finally-letting-you-search-for-old-posts-1429093100 The premise behind the Realistic Facebook Security Simulator is…

The World’s Fastest Wi-Fi Makes Google Fiber Look Like Dial-Up

Everybody hates wires, but if you want crazy speed, they’re the way to go. But maybe not anymore. A team of German scientists have developed record-setting Wi-Fi that cooks right along at 100 Gigabits per second. You know, like Google Fiber but times 100. The tech was developed by a joint team from the Fraunhofer…

Is This LG’s New Curved Banana Phone?

There are only two ways to curve a phone. Well, too main ways. Samsung’s repping the horizontal axis approach with its Galaxy Round. But someone’s gotta go banana-style, right? According to leaked renders dug up by Engadget, LG is on it. Welcome to the weird future. There’s little known about this phone, thought to be…

Sonic 3’s Ice Cap Zone Theme Played on Floppy Drives is Totally Rad

When I was little, I was a huge Sega fanboy. Sure Mario is great and all, but Sonic was where it was at. Looking back, I’m not sure the gameplay holds up that well but you can’t deny there were some great tunes. And this is one of them, and even better on floppies. Put…

What’s the Best Way to Find New Music on the Internet?

So obviously the internet is a super useful tool for finding new music. It’s a super useful tool for finding new anything. But there are so many music discovery things out there between Pandora, iTunes Radio, and like 30 different features in Spotify alone. So what’s your personal favorite way to find new tunes on…

The Weirdest Sites on the Web, Fox News’ Crazy Tablets, and More

It’s been a busy week, and even though you might not have an army of gargantuan tablets surrounding you with ridiculously upscaled information, you can still catch up on the news. Dive into our best stories of the week! Sneak Peek of SimCity: Cities of Tomorrow Last night, Gizmodo got a sneak peek at the…

This Extra Button for Your Android Will Let You Program Secret Codes

We were super excited when we heard about Pressy—the extra button for your Android phone—a few months ago. Now its Kickstarter is hella funded, and it’s getting one more cool new feature: it can give your phone secret cheat codes. Thanks to some collaboration with the AutomateIt app, Pressy won’t just let you pick from…

What Happens When You Drop a Red Hot Nickel Ball in a Bowl of Pop Rocks

The allure of Pop Rocks is undeniable. Sure, the whole “fireworks in your mouth” thing is a gimmick, but it’s an awesome one. You know what else is an awesome gimmick? Everybody’s favorite Red Hot Nickel Ball. The results aren’t especially explosive, but those rocks still pop. Except instead of saliva, they’re popping in a…

How Life Would Look If the Moon Was as Close to Earth as the ISS

Even though it might not look like much when it’s so far away, the Moon is pretty huge. In fact, if it was a little closer—as close as the ISS for example—it would monopolize the entire sky. Yetipc1, apparently a serious astronomy nerd, took the liberty of figuring out what it would look like if…

Starting October 25th, new AT&T customers have an option between shared data plans and…shared data plans. Existing users will be able to keep whatever plan they currently have; AT&T won’t shunt you off. But anybody who’s switching over now is going to have pick a share plan. No ifs ands or buts. [Engadget]

Here’s the First Footage of Valve’s Wacky Steam Controller In Use

When we first saw Valve’s thumbstick-free controller specially made for use with Steam, we had some questions about how it would really work in action. Now, we at least know what it looks like. There are still a lot of questions to be answered about how it feels, and a select few have had the…

Is This Mysterious Space-Splosion Creating Gravity in Real Life?

OK, by this point we all know Gravity was beautiful and terrifying and, mercifully, complete fiction. But scary clouds of space debris are real. There’s one floating up there right now—a possible missile explosion—and it’s a debris cloud of mystery. The mystery started about six hours ago, when Luca Parmitano, an astronaut currently on the…

Learn the Chemical Secrets of Fire in Glorious Slow Motion

There’s nothing quite like the destructive beauty of fire. And that crimson chemical reaction is even better in slow motion. If you’re just been playing with fire instead of learning about it, the folks at Distort have a quick 101 class on what makes up that wonderful, dangerous quirk of nature. You’d be hard-pressed to…

Google TV is dead, and its zombie successor will be called “Android TV,” at least according to a report by GigaOM. The branding change isn’t official yet, but it sounds plausible enough. The real question is what does this mean for devices? We’ll have to wait and see. [GigaOM]

Stan Lee Explains the Ludicrous “Science” Behind Superheroes

Superheroes don’t make a lot of scientific sense. They’re better than science; that’s half the fun. But you’ve gotta try and keep a little believability in there, and Stan Lee explains exactly how to do it. This two minute clip is just a teaser for a full PBS special, SUPERHEROES: A Never-Ending Battle coming out…

I Can’t Stop Watching This Plasma TV Get Beautifully Electrocuted

Want to watch an expensive, dangerous, and mesmerizing fireworks display in your living room? It’s easy. Just buy a plasma TV and then hook it up to 2000 volts. OK so you’re not going to do that because you are not insane. Fortunately, Aussie50 is, and he filmed his ludicrous experiment. So just sit down,…

You Can Run Full Android Apps on the Galaxy Gear If You’re a Masochist

The Samsung Galaxy Gear is basically a tiny phone on your wrist. It already has its own apps like Snapchat and Pocket (whyyy?) but if you’re really insane,you can make it run real Android apps too. Ron Amadeo showed off the trick over at Ars Technica and while it’s certainly impressive, it comes with a…

Windows Phone 8.1 Might Be Getting Ready to Take on Tablets

We’ve seen our fair share of Windows Phone leaks, in large part thanks to a random Craigslist phone. But there are some under the hood updates coming to WP8.1, and according to Paul Thurrott, they include 10 inch screens. WP8 GDR3 (Windows Phone 8 General Distribution Release 3), a still unreleased update, is expected to…

11 of the Weirdest Sites on the Internet

The internet is a wondrous place, but for every fantastic website out there, it seems like there are two weird ones. We asked you, dear readers, what some of the strangest sites you’ve ever seen were, and here’s what you dug up, you freaks. 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111.com Spotted by Jule Cannot be described… no seriously. Ling’s Cars…