George Dvorsky

Is Dyson About To Unveil A Robot Vacuum Cleaner With Computer Vision?

British appliance company Dyson has released an intriguing teaser video to promote its latest product. We’re not entirely sure what it is, but this RoboCop-inspired ad has us thinking it’s a robotic vacuum cleaner equipped with computer vision. A Roomba-like vacuum cleaner is probably a good guess. Earlier this year, Dyson poured £5 million (USD$8.2…

The U.S. Southwest Could Soon Experience Decades-Long “Megadroughts”

During the 1930s, America’s High Plains were ravaged by an 8-year long drought, resulting in the dreaded Dust Bowl. Scientists now warn that, owing to global warming, this could happen again — and that by next century many parts of the world could experience “megadroughts” lasting for several decades. The new study, which was conducted…

Whale-watching is not as harmless as it appears. Conservationists say whales are stressed out by the frequent boat trips, which affects their behavior and puts their long-term survival at risk. As many as 13 million people flock to the oceans each year in hopes of seeing whales and dolphins up close. Photo: Sam Chadwick

In the Future, Your Clothes Will Be Cleaned By Schools Of Robotic Fish

Inspired by ‘doctor fish’ who feed off human skin, a South Korean industrial designer has conceived of a radical new way of cleaning clothes. Instead of using a traditional washing machine, fleets of robotic fish will clean your clothes in a water tank — and without detergent. The system is called Pacera, and it was…

This Street Performer Has Mastered One of the Greatest Illusions

These Prague street performers have pulled off one of the finest executions of the levitating man illusion you will ever see. For those of you who hate fun and wonder, we’ve got the secret — and the physics — behind this ancient trick. For centuries, Indian yogis have claimed to have mastered the powers of…

NASA Crams Six Months Of Earth’s Surface Activity Into A 6-Second Clip

NASA scientists have released a stunning time-lapse video showing our planet’s eastern hemisphere from January 18th to July 25th, 2014. Viewed from this perspective, the Earth is seen as a shimmering, swirling orb of hyperactivity. Looking at the time-lapse, titled “Blue Marble, Eastern Hemisphere,” you can see subtle changes in the snow and vegetation cover…

Indian Woman Kills Leopard In Epic Fight To The Death

It was a battle that raged for nearly a half-hour. A 56-year-old Indian woman — armed with only farm tools — is now recovering in hospital after killing a leopard that attacked her. Kamla Devi was fetching water in northern Uttarakhand state when the leopard pounced on her from nearby bushes. She fought back with…

Doctors Say Schools Should Start Later In The Day

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued its strongest statement yet in favor of delaying the start times of schools attended by adolescents to 8:30 AM or later. Currently, only 15% of schools meet this requirement. The abstract of the AAP statement reads like this: The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes insufficient sleep in adolescents…

Researchers Isolate A Gut Microbe That Combats Food Allergies

Food allergies have risen dramatically in recent years, leading scientists to speculate about possible environmental factors. A recent study suggests that antibiotics may be destroying a key gut microbe — one that could be reintroduced into the body, to restore proper immune function. Food allergies are definitely on the rise. According to the U.S. Centers…

Thousands Of Wasps Take Over The Spare Bedroom In UK Home

An exterminator working in St. Cross, UK, recently had the unenviable tasks of removing a horrific wasp nest that had emerged on the bed of a spare bedroom. According to pest controller John Birkett, there were as many as 5,000 wasps in the hive. His client, who lives alone in the five-bedroom house, had not…

The 10 Most Gruesome Torture Techniques From Medieval Europe

During the Middle Ages, torture was considered a legitimate way to extract confessions, punish offenders, and perform executions. Some methods were considerably crueler than others — these 10 being among the most barbaric and brutal. Europe’s Medieval period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. During this time, torture was often used to extract…

The Tortured History Of Earth’s First 500 Million Years

New research suggests the Earth was pummelled by four gigantic asteroids measuring at least 600 miles across in its early days — impacts that would have rebooted the surface, boiled off the oceans, and extinguished any fledgling life. Here’s what we now know about the Late Bombardment Era and its affect on our planet’s geology.…

A Panoply Of Machine-Animal Hybrids

These whimsical paintings are the work of San Francisco artist Robert Bowen. It’s part of a collection called “Blasphemous Nature” in which animals are mixed with technology in perplexing and provocative ways. All images via Robert Bowen. They are published here with permission. Bowen says this body of work stems from his fascination with animal/machinery…

The Most Accurate Model Yet Of Jupiter’s Bizarre Magnetic Field

It may look like a giant ball oozing with earthworms, but it’s actually a simulation of Jupiter’s massive and complex magnetosphere — a magnetic field that extends more than four million miles from its surface. These models, which appear in the latest edition of Geophysical Research Letters, are surprisingly similar to Earth’s, though on a…

This Cloud Looks So Much Like A Penis It’s Not Even Funny

Actually, it’s quite hilarious. The turgid image was captured in Foolow, Derbshire by a British photographer who goes by the name Villager Jim. “I couldn’t belive it when I saw it over my house,” he told the Western Daily Press. “Its not usually the sort of thing I would take a picture of but I’m…

Long-Term Couples Develop Interconnected Memory Systems

New research from Macquarie University in Australia reveals that intimate couples become part of an interpersonal cognitive system where each is dependent on the other to fill in certain memory gaps. On the face of it, it seems obvious that we should work with other people when trying to recall shared information. But research shows…

Danish Archaeologists Find Four Human Pelvic Bones Attached To A Stick

Researchers working near the Alken Enge wetlands in East Jutland have unearthed a rather gruesome artifact dating back to the First Century A.D. — a wooden stick bearing the pelvic bones of four fallen warriors. The Iron Age battles waged near Alken Enge took place in Northern Europe as a result of the Roman Empire’s…

This Ice Cream Changes Color When You Lick It

Spanish physicist Manuel Linares has developed a brand of ice cream that changes color when it experiences a change in temperature and comes into contact with saliva — but he’s keeping quiet over how he came up with this delicious creation. He calls it Xamaleón, a play on the Spanish word for chameleon. The tutti-frutti…

The Radical Plan To Phase Out Earth’s Predatory Species

Should animals be permitted to hunt and kill other animals? Some futurists believe that humans should intervene, and solve the “problem” of predator vs. prey once and for all. We talked to the man who wants to use radical ecoengineering to put an end to the carnage. A world without predators certainly sounds extreme, and…

The Awesome Sight Of 14,465 Pounds Of Freight Being Lifted Into Space

Earlier today in French Guiana, the ESA successfully launched an Ariane 5 rocket into space as part of its fifth and final Automated Transfer Vehicle mission. The vehicle is headed for the International Space Station where it will deposit its precious cargo. The launcher, called Georges Lemaître, is the fifth ATV built and launched by…