Kyle VanHemert, Author at Gizmodo

Watch a Raven Do Battle With an RC Airplane

Dogfight! Bird fight? Whatever it is, this clip imparts three important lessons: 1. Respect birds’ space. 2. Always put a camera on your RC plane. 3. Our pale blue dot planet might just be some cosmic raven’s terrifying eyeball. [Neatorama]

Biology Kyle VanHemert

100,000 LEGO Bricks Build One Hell of a Robotic Chess Set

Monster Chess is a big fat “checkmate” to all other do-it-yourself chess sets. The incredible set took a team of 4 over a year to construct, using $30,000 worth of LEGO bricks. And it’s even more impressive in action: I was going to liken this to a real life version of Wizard’s Chess from Harry…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

A Soccer Ball To Light Up Developing Nations

Just in time for the World Cup, the sOccket 2.0 offers an ingenious solution for illuminating developing nations. Kicking the induction coil-equipped ball around for ten minutes provides 3 hours of LED light. We’ve already seen how the World Cup soccer ball has developed over the years, but sOccket puts that same ball to use…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Cousteau’s Amazing Fleet of Vehicles

Jacques Cousteau showed audiences undersea life like they had never seen it before. But just as remarkable as the seascapes he photographed are the vehicles he used to access them: repurposed battleships, saucer-like subs, and of course, the aqualung. [YouTube]

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Charles Eames and His Solar-Powered Toy Cosmos

The Eames Lounge Chair is widely recognized as one of the most beautiful pieces of furniture ever designed. But as shown by this lovely photo of his “do nothing machine,” Charles Eames was as much a tinkerer as a designer. Charles and his wife Ray Eames’ furniture and architecture helped define mid-century American design. But…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Watch the U.S. vs. England World Cup Match Live On Your Computer

The U.S. vs. England World Cup match is about to start. Watch it online so you’ll know what everyone on Twitter is talking about for the next few hours. [Lifehacker]

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

The Droid X Is Going To Be One Gigantic Phone

The HTC Evo, with its 4.3″ display, is a humongous phone. But next to the forthcoming Motorola Droid X, which reportedly also sports a 4.3″ screen, the Evo looks positively reasonable. Yeah, the Droid X is gonna be large. Gadget University got their hands on a Droid X and shot the clearest photos of the…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Reeder For iPad: RSS With Attention to Detail

The hotly anticipated iPad version of Reeder, the popular iPhone RSS app, landed in the App Store last night, and with a clean look and some thoughtful navigational tools, it’s immediately at the head of the iPad RSS pack. A few big name RSS readers, like NewsRack and NetNewsWire, have been available for the iPad…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Taking The Cove, the Incredible Account of Dolphin Slaughter, to Japanese Theaters

The Cove, last year’s Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, is an incredible account of the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. Now the crew needs help bringing the damning film to the Japanese public. I just watched The Cove recently, and in its hour and a half run time, it manages to cover an…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

A Real Adobe Photo Shop

No fakery here, folks. Just an honest to goodness adobe Photo Shop. You walk in lookin’ kinda “eh” and walk out with your wrinkles buffed, smile brightened, and your blemishes content-aware filled away. [Global Nerdy via BoingBoing]

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

The Best iPad Kickstand Is a Robotic iPad Kickstand

Without a doubt, my favorite feature the iPad doesn’t have is a kickstand. Some kickstand solutions have been proposed, but none of them will stand your iPad up autonomously like this bizarro robotic one. Bonus: robotic iPhone sidekick kickstand! [NoWhereElse]

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Our Brains on the Internet: A Defense

The debate on how the internet is affecting our brains rages on, with the latest take coming from Nick Bilton on the NYT’s Bits Blog. His contention? The web is stretching our brains in new and valuable ways. [NYTimes]

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Stop What You’re Doing and Watch the World Cup (On the Internet)

Yes! It’s that time of the every-four-years again when you get to lay down your tools and feel like a citizen of the world by enjoying some SOCCER. LifeHacker has a thorough guide to watching the matches online. [Lifehacker]

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Close-Up Photos of the iPhone 4 Bumper Case

It was hard to get a read on Apple’s candy-colored iPhone 4 cases during the keynote the other day, but the industrious folks at AppAdvice served up these pretty new shots of the official iPhone case. It looks…like a bumper. It’s still not clear exactly how protective the $29 case will be, but it looks…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

The Undersea Robot Pilots Working in the BP Oil Disaster

The Gulf oil disaster is both a testament of humans’ inability to control nature and BP’s recklessness and incompetence. Now, it’s time for technology to fix this mess. One of the essential tools to stop the disaster: Underwater robots. BP says they have contracted four different companies that specialize in underwater robots. Their machines have…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Deadly Leopard Seal: Undersea Friend or Foe?

The ocean is filled with terrifying, deadly predators. Leopard seals—especially this unusually massive one—are chief among them. But as National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen learned last year, not all seals are necessarily out to maul you. In his case, all the seal wanted was to help Nicklen snack on some penguins. Or maybe the seal…

Biology Kyle VanHemert

16-Year-Old World-Circling Solo Sailor Lost at Sea

Even for sailors with decades of experience, the ocean can be daunting. Abby Sunderland, a 16-year-old Californian attempting to circle the globe by herself, took the challenge head-on, but as of this morning she’s missing in the Indian Ocean. UPDATE. Abby set off from California in her 40-foot boat on January 23 with the aim…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

The Spyder III, the World’s Most Powerful Portable Laser, Is a Real Life Lightsaber

Built with the blue-laser diode of a dismantled Casio projector, the $200 Spyder III Pro Arctic is the world’s most powerful portable laser. It can permanently blind you and set your skin—or anything else, really—on fire almost instantly. “With greater power comes the need for greater responsibility.” That’s actually what Wicked Lasers, the mad geniuses…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

AT&T Taking Pity on Recent iPhone 3GS Buyers With Upgrade Offer

As part of a “one-time Customer Price Protection” program, AT&T is helping the poor suckers who bought an iPhone 3GS in the month before the iPhone 4 was re-revealed. They’ll credit your account some dough or let you trade up. How nice of them! According to an internal memo over at ModMyi, if you bought…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

The Federal Aviation Administration Is Looking Into Pilotless Commercial Flights

The FAA wants to bring the aviation industry into the 21st century, and one particularly terrifying area of their research, announced today, is the possibility of commercial planes that fly themselves. What could go wrong, besides just about everything? The work falls under the umbrella of FAA’s NextGen initiative, which looks to update many facets…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert

Kyle VanHemert

Watch a Raven Do Battle With an RC Airplane

100,000 LEGO Bricks Build One Hell of a Robotic Chess Set

A Soccer Ball To Light Up Developing Nations

Cousteau’s Amazing Fleet of Vehicles

Charles Eames and His Solar-Powered Toy Cosmos

Watch the U.S. vs. England World Cup Match Live On Your Computer

The Droid X Is Going To Be One Gigantic Phone

Reeder For iPad: RSS With Attention to Detail

Taking The Cove, the Incredible Account of Dolphin Slaughter, to Japanese Theaters

A Real Adobe Photo Shop

The Best iPad Kickstand Is a Robotic iPad Kickstand

Our Brains on the Internet: A Defense

Stop What You’re Doing and Watch the World Cup (On the Internet)

Close-Up Photos of the iPhone 4 Bumper Case

The Undersea Robot Pilots Working in the BP Oil Disaster

Deadly Leopard Seal: Undersea Friend or Foe?

16-Year-Old World-Circling Solo Sailor Lost at Sea

The Spyder III, the World’s Most Powerful Portable Laser, Is a Real Life Lightsaber

AT&T Taking Pity on Recent iPhone 3GS Buyers With Upgrade Offer

The Federal Aviation Administration Is Looking Into Pilotless Commercial Flights

Watch and Follow Live as NASA Launches Its First Crewed Mission to the Moon in 54 Years 🔴

This Is the Way to Lego’s April Releases

Group Pushing Age Verification Requirements for AI Turns Out to Be Sneakily Backed by OpenAI

Amazon Facilities in Bahrain Hit Again as Iran Follows Through on Threat, Report Says

Why the PS6 Handheld Will Matter More Than the PS6

DNA Study Casts Even More Doubt on Shroud of Turin’s True Origin

Sam Witwer Is Ready for Maul’s Moment

Anthropic Can’t Cover Up Its Claude Code Leak Fast Enough

Zach Cregger Recruits Second Zach for His Aunt Gladys Spinoff

Can You Run a Computer Without RAM? Surprisingly, Yes—But You’ll Be Miserable

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?