Jamie Condliffe

This Eternal Flame Burns as a Result of Natural Fracking

This is a light that never goes out: an eternal flame, hidden behind a waterfall in Erie county, New York, which is a result of natural gas seeping out from underground rocks. While gas seeps are extremely common, if the flow concentrates into a “macroseep”—a strong concentrated stream of gas—it can ignite and perhaps never…

This Plywood Chair Is Super-Stylish–and Affordable

This stylish chair may look super-classy—but don’t be fooled: it’s actually made from humble plywood. It comes flat-pack style, its panels made from CNC-cut birch plywood all held together by hex screws. Named Jari—which literally means a place for a person or a thing—the design is apparently inspired by the growing number of single dwellings…

We’re All Photographers Now

That smartphone in your pocket has changed you. You’re not just able to stay in contact with your friends and family now—you’re also a photographer. But what good has really come of it? A lot of pictures of food. And feet. And cats. But not many ghosts. So at least that settles one silly question.…

Google Glass Updates: A New App Store, Media Player and Lock Screen

With Google’s most recent update for its Glass Explorer Edition come some signs of what’s to come: a new app store, a dedicated media player and a security-conscious lock screen. The official software tweaks include a web browser—navigated with head gestures—along with tweaks to things like search and contacts. But some sifting through code reveals…

You Can Explore Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley on Street View Now

Die-hard Harry Potter fans, you’re in luck: you can now explore Diagon Alley on Street View. Obviously, this is a Street Viewed version of the Warner Bros Harry Potter studio tour, which is found in Hertfordshire, UK—not London like in the books. But that’s OK: you can still explore all those weird old shops, like…

Microsoft has opened up public beta registration for the 2013 Xbox Live update—so if you want to get involved, go sign up.

How Often Do You Clean Your Laptop?

I feel embarrassed right now. For the first time in ages, I actually paid attention to the keys on which I’m typing. And they’re filthy. I am a bad person. In fact, I don’t think I’ve cleaned this Macbook Air since I bought it about 18 months ago. That’s an awful lot of dirt and…

The Frozen Lava Flows of Mars

This might seem like some kind of psychedelic artwork—but you’re actually looking a hundreds of individual lava flows, frozen in time on the side of Olympus Mons on Mars. This leading color image of the solar system’s largest volcano, taken earlier this year by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express, shows the transition region between…

How the Mother of All Demos Should Have Played Out

While Douglas Engelbart’s 1968 Mother of All Demos was nothing short of iconic in the way it predicted our relationship with technology int he future, he missed a couple of tricks. So long, Douglas; the internet will miss you. [XKCD]

The Government Is (Kinda) Classifying Less Information Than Ever

Despite the fact that the government seems more enthusiastic than ever about gathering data, its taste for making it classified seems to be waning. Thisyear’s Information Security Oversight Office report reveals that, in 2012, the total number of “original classification” decisions fell over 40 percent. Original classification refers to new determinations by White House and…

There’s finally a Mega app for Anroid available which is… well, quite a lot like Dropbox’s, really. There are, apparently, iOS and Windows versions on the way, too.

How to Put on a Space Suit

If you think wriggling into your cycling lycra or trussing yourself up in a tux is tricky, think again. Donning an astronaut’s space suit is no mean feat—as this video shows. Norman Chan and Will Smith from Tested visited NASA to learn exactly how astronauts dress. There are highs—we get to see, for instance, the…

Check Out These Amazing, Chilling Stereoscopic Images of World War I

A Toronto photography studio has stumbled across a stereoscopic camera, and its photographic slides, that captured scenes of World War I in 3D. The resulting images are chilling—but incredibly striking, too. The images, acquired using a handheld stereoscopic camera called the Verascope, were captured by French soldiers. They show scenes from the trenches, streets, and…

This Is Our Solar System’s Very Own July 4th Fireworks Display

While there will be plenty of fireworks later today, it’s nice to know that our very own solar system will be joining in the fun, too—with comet ISON hurting toward the sun at a staggering 48,000 mph. Unlike the fireworks you’ll launch, this comet isn’t burning—in fact it’s pretty cold. As the comet moves closer…

A 4-Year-Old Android Bug Could Bring Malware to 99% of Devices

A team of security researchers claim to have identified a four-year-old Android bug that can allow malicious trojans to appear as verified apps, infecting devices with malware while users remain unaware of its presence. Usually, apps are verified using cryptographic signatures: modified updates are thus rejected if the key doesn’t match the one provided by…

Bad news for slow coaches: the white Nexus 4 has now sold out on the Play Store. Given it was a limited edition, that’s your chance gone.

Bone Marrow Transplants Remove All Sign of HIV in Two Men

It’s turning into quite a year for HIV treatment. First a baby girl was functionally cured of the HIV virus, then 14 adults were successfully treated with early-stage ARV drugs. Now, two men with longstanding HIV infections have been freed from HIV drugs thanks to bone marrow transplants. We’re really getting there. The two men—one…

The Invisible Electronic Fields That Surround Your MacBook

You might view your laptop as a nice, neatly contained unit—but there’s more bursting out of it than meets the eye. In fact, all of its electrical components create complex magnetic and electric fields that spread far and wide, and this video shows you their reach. A project by Luke Sturgeon and Shamik Ray from…

Is It OK to Talk on Your Phone When You’re at the Checkout?

The UK media is weirdly ablaze this morning over a story about a store attendant who flipped out when a customer refused to stop talking on her phone while at the checkout. But is that rude, or is it now socially acceptable? According to the customer, a 26-year-old Jo Clarke, the store assistant barked “I…

Photographs From Hurricane Sandy, Visualized

This might look like your car’s speedometer, but it is in fact a clever visualization of photographs taken during Hurricane Sandy last year. Part of a Digital Humanities project called Phototrails, the radial plot shows23,581 photos uploaded to Instagram in Brooklyn area during Hurricane Sandy between November 29th and 30th of last year. The team…