Jamie Condliffe

Why Astronomers Keep Finding More and More Habitable Planets

It’s all just one big practical joke. But—shhh!—don’t tell them. They’re having fun. [XKCD]

The US Army Is Blocking Staff Access to the Guardian Website

After getting upset about the fact that Guardian has been breaking news and leaking classified documents about the many and varied spying programs of the NSA, the US Army has decided to block access to the news site among its employees. An Army spokesperson told the Monterey Herald “some access to press coverage and online…

FCC to Finally Auction Controversial Chunk of Spectrum for Mobile Data

The Federal Communications Commission has finally voted to open up 10MHz of spectrum for “commercial mobile services”—that has until now been protected because of interference concerns. The spectrum block, sitting between 1915-1920MHz and 1995-2000MHz, is called the H block and could be ready for use as soon as early 2014. Previously the FCC has kept…

The New York Times has a wonderful feature about Wikipedia-founder Jimmy Wales which you should go read. Spoiler: he’s not a billionaire.

Apple isn’t allowed to add the Galaxy S4 to its ongoing Samsung patent lawsuit… because, apparently, there’s just not enough time. There’s a lesson to learnt there, we suspect.

Scientists Sequence the Oldest Ever Genome–of a 700,000-Year-Old Horse

Scientists have managed to sequence the genome of a 700,000-year-old horse—in the process generating the oldest complete DNA sequence yet. A team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, worked with a horse bone found in the permafrost of north-west Canada all the way back in 2003 to achieve the result. Previously, the oldest…

Digg has updated its iOS app to incorporate its experimental new Reader—and it’ll directly import your feeds from Google Reader, too. Go get it.

Can You Use a Refrigerator as a Faraday Cage?

Earlier this week a New York Times article claimed that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden asked a group of lawyers visiting him to put their cell phones in the refrigerator—the idea being that it would act as a Faraday cage. But does it actually work? This video, by MAKE‘s Michael Colombo, suggests it might not be…

WSJ: Apple’s Radio Terms Are (Slightly) More Generous Than Pandora’s

Apple’s new Radio service is now official and Pandora is coming under fire for being tight-fisted. Interesting, then, to hear of figures dug out by the Wall Street Journal which suggest that Apple is being every-so-slightly more generous with its deal. https://gizmodo.com/itunes-radio-apples-pandora-service-is-finally-here-512264218 According to the Journal, Apple will pay 0.13 cents and 15 percent of…

This Beautiful Map Is Made Up of Microscopic Cells

This map may look like a fairly reasonable representation of the world—but that’s all the more impressive when you realise it’s actually made up of microscopic cells from parts of the body that cause problems for people who live in each country. Accordingly, North America is built from fat cells because of obesity, while Europe…

Drug Enforcement Agency Seizes First Bitcoins From Silk Road Dealer

The Drug Enforcement Agency has seized 11.02 Bitcoins—about $800—from a drug dealer in South Carolina who had been using Silk Road. It’s the first (known) time the government has taken control of the virtual currency like it were property or real-world cash. Discovered in a government press release spotted by Bitcoin bloggers, the news relates…

Aaron Swartz has been posthumously inducted into the Internet Society’s Hall Of Fame this year. You can read a full list of new members here.

Why Drone Engineering Sucks (And How It Gets Better)

Despite our international obsession with drones—both their awesome powers and terrifying repercussions—the truth is that they’re an incredibly immature technology. And, like most immature technologies, that means they’re not quite all they’re cracked up to be. In fact, drones are severely limited by a whole heap of engineering issues that are stymying their widespread adoption.…

This Nesting Storage Beats Any Set of Russian Dolls

Moving house has never been easier than with this amazing set of nesting storage units. Designed by Sasa Mitrovic of TwentyTree, an amazing six pieces fit together seamlessly—and look great, too. Called Matrioshka, the wooden storage units all fit inside the large orange armoire. Pull out the cabinets as and when you need them, or…

The Cutlery You Use Changes the Way Your Food Tastes

Be careful next time you reach for a spoon: your choice of cutlery could significantly affect the way your food tastes. That’s according to new research published in the open access journal Flavour, which suggests that the size, shape and color of cutlery changes the way we perceive. Performing a number of experiments, the researchers…

How Much Mobile Data Do You Actually Use?

Some of us—including me—are lucky enough to still have unlimited data plans. That’s great, especially given that I burned through 2.6GB in the last month alone. But just how much mobile data do you use? My effort is a result of a heady mixture of tethered internet and Spotify listening while travelling, which clearly crunches…

This Simple Math Puzzle Will Melt Your Brain

Adding and subtracting ones sounds simple, right? Not according to the old Italian mathematician Grandi—who showed that a simple addition of 1s and -1s can give three different answers. Wait, what? If that sounds like it makes no sense that’s because… well, it doesn’t really. But better let Dr James Grime explain it to you…

An Amazing Photo of China’s Space Station Crossing the Sun

While it’s the International Space Station that tends to take all the glory, there is in fact another: China’s Tiangong-1, which went into low-Earth orbit in 2011. In this amazing pictures, you can see it silhouetted against the Sun. Captured by astrophotographer Thierry Legault on June 16 in southern France, the image shows the H-shaped…

According to a report by Juniper Networks, mobile malware has grown by 614 percent over the last year. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, 92 percent of it is on Android…

Barnes & Noble Is Going to Stop Making Nook Tablets

Barnes & Noble has announced that it’s going to leave manufacturing of its Color tablet line up to third party manufacturers. In a press release, B&N explained that it will create a “partnership model for manufacturing in the competitive color tablet market.” The move is clearly driven by poor financial performance, and the company explains…