Rhett Jones, Author at Gizmodo

You Can’t Unsee This Roach Giving Birth While Being Eaten by Ants

The circle of life is gross. It’s even grosser when you throw in a cockroach, larvae and some violently ravenous fire ants. This 18-minute video would seem to be for the true ant farming aficionado. That’s a lot of time to dedicate to the insane process of thousands of ants eating a live cockroach. It’s…

Sploid Rhett Jones Sep 25

Win Friends and Influence People With This Rubik’s Cube-Solving Program

Do you remember that Will Smith movie where he got the big high-powered Wall Street job by solving a Rubik’s Cube in front of the company’s CEO? With a little deception, that could be you, by using this Rubik’s Cube-solving application. Cubr is a project that Carnegie Mellon student Chris Barker put together for his…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 25

China Powers Up the World’s Largest Alien-Hunting Telescope

You had a good run Arecibo, but there’s a new big dog in town. China has switched on the massive dish that now officially holds the record for the world’s largest single-aperture telescope. Among other things, researchers hope it will provide a big boost in the hunt for extraterrestrial life. What’s been dubbed the “FAST”…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 25

Here’s a Pretty Legit Gibsonian Cyberdeck

Back in the mid-80’s, the “cyberdeck”—the neural-connected, on-the-go interface from William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy—captured the imagination of every cyberpunk fan. IMGUR user D10D3 has uploaded pics of one of the slickest attempts at a real Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 I’ve seen. Built using a dead Commodore 64c, Raspberry Pi 3 and an assortment of connectors, this…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 24

Don’t Look Into This Robot’s Eyes While It Learns to Play the Ball-and-Cup Game

Japan’s popular Pepper robot can guess your mood, dress up in cute clothes and now, it can learn to play simple games. Pepper’s human overlords have demonstrated that their robotic baby can learn how to play the ball-and-cup game virtually on its own. At first, they guide its arm to swing the ball on its…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 24

‘The Final Countdown’ Played on 64 Floppy Drives Would Make Gob Bluth Proud

Much like the venerable technology of the floppy drive, Europe’s hair metal classic “The Final Countdown” just won’t die. After floating into laughable obscurity, the synth-heavy anthem was reborn when a magician named Gob made it his theme song. Now, hobbyist Paweł Zadrożniak has fed the tune through the hardware harmonics of his “Floppotron.” We’ve…

Sploid Rhett Jones Sep 24

Google Glass Is Dead, Long Live Snapchat Spectacles

It seems like it was ages ago that Google Glass was the future that nobody wanted. The wearable tech had at least one bad design flaw—it seemed to get its early adopters punched in the face because people didn’t like the camera being pointed at them. Now, Snapchat thinks people are finally ready for glasses-mounted…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 24

Lyft Says Self-Driving Cars Will Dominate the Road in Five Years

Lately, Uber has been gobbling up all of the self-driving car attention with its launch of an experimental program in Pittsburgh. But Lyft wants you to know that it shouldn’t be counted out. In a manifesto published this morning on Medium, the rideshare company’s co-founder, John Zimmer, outlined his vision of the future. At the…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 18

Washington Post Throws Snowden Under the Bus

Although The Washington Post shared a Pulitzer Prize with The Guardian for its reporting on the NSA leaks provided by Edward Snowden, yesterday its editorial board became the first paper to call for the prosecution of its own source. Last night’s joint editorial from The Post’s editorial board comes at a moment when activists are…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 18

Plastic Junk You Don’t Need Melts in Gratifying Macro Glory

You’ve never truly known what kind of gunk lives beneath the keys of your keyboard until you’ve seen them melted off in hi-def macro photography. The folks at Macro Room have rounded up some the best objects one could possibly watch melt and shot them with a Canon 70D variously fitted with MPE-65 and 100mm…

Sploid Rhett Jones Sep 18

The Mystery of the Hissing iPhone 7s

Is your iPhone hissing? Some are reporting that the iPhone 7 is doing just that when it’s pushed to the limits of its processing power. According to 512 Pixels, this is what that sounds like. That certainly is a hissing sound. So what is going on here? Stephen Hackett at 512 Pixels was the first…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 18

This Is iPhone7 Getting Crushed by a Hydraulic Press

While a lot of people have been infuriated by the 7’s removal of the headphone jack, I’m having a much more difficult time getting used to this new haptic feedback home button. It just makes the whole phone feel dinky to me. I am frustrated. My frustration is not large enough to smash my own…

Sploid Rhett Jones Sep 17

Fish Are a Bunch of Lame Posers

A new study has found that “schooling” is a horrendous process in which an individual’s unique personality is unceremoniously supplanted by groupthink and the notion of bravery is cast aside when a danger to the overall status quo is presented. School, in this case, is the group that fish swim in. What did you think…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 17

Here’s Some Clay Smashed, Burned and Dipped in Liquid Nitrogen

Pretty much any lab-based destruction of colorful clay you could ask for is covered in this video. Freezing, exploding, melting and crushing? Check. Fiery balls of molten metal and application of blow torch? Check. Combinations of the aforementioned methods? Double Check. But since this is soft clay, all of that torturous material disfiguration is actually…

Sploid Rhett Jones Sep 17

Russian Runaway Robot Radicalized, Got ‘Arrested’ at Political Rally

The Russian robot that gained internet infamy by “breaking out” of its lab a few months ago just can’t stay out of trouble. A new report says that Promobot was “arrested” at a political rally in Moscow. After traveling to Moscow from its home in Perm (this time accompanied by technicians), Promobot attended a rally…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 17

Watch a Stuntman Complete Evel Knievel’s Failed Rocket Bike Jump

Stuntman Eddie Braun has recreated Evel Knievel’s Snake River Canyon rocket bike stunt in every technical way but one—Braun actually succeeded. He is the first to pull off the jump in the 42 years since Knievel’s attempt was mired by a parachute malfunction. Yesterday, at 3:54 pm, Braun hopped into a rocket that was built…

Sploid Rhett Jones Sep 17

Watch Dude Hand Carve a Very, Very, Very Small, Working Super Nintendo

Sure, YouTuber Hugo Doris could have 3D-printed some slick shell for his super-mini Super Nintendo, but when you’re making a one of a kind object, why not craft it by hand? Using a Raspberry Pi Zero, a USB hub and clay, Doris (lyberty5) has meticulously put together an emulator for the SNES that rivals Nintendo’s…

Sploid Rhett Jones Sep 11

Airlines Now Verbally Warning Passengers Not to Use Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on the Plane

Airlines and airports are beginning to crack down on explosive Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones. This morning, New York Times reporter Mike Isaac tweeted that his airline verbally warned passengers to power off and stow the recalled device. In a direct message, Isaac clarified that he was flying American Airlines. Several others have said they’ve…

Tech News Rhett Jones Sep 11

Snowden Movie Might Actually Be Worth Seeing

Reviews for the new Oliver Stone flick, Snowden, have begun to trickle in from the Toronto International Film Festival and it may come as a surprise that some critics are into it. When the full trailer first appeared it had a lot to groan about. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s impression of Snowden is distracting. To portray the…

Movies Rhett Jones Sep 11

Hydraulic Press Tries To Use a Soap Dispenser, Fails, Soap Is Everywhere

When a hydraulic press takes on the bathroom, things get messy. First, the ceramic toilet completely explodes. Then, the toilet paper is flattened into a useless disk of cardboard. Finally, the soap dispenser dispenses a little bit of soap and cracks in slow-motion before shattering in all directions into a mess of goo and broken…

Sploid Rhett Jones Sep 11

Rhett Jones

You Can’t Unsee This Roach Giving Birth While Being Eaten by Ants

Win Friends and Influence People With This Rubik’s Cube-Solving Program

China Powers Up the World’s Largest Alien-Hunting Telescope

Here’s a Pretty Legit Gibsonian Cyberdeck

Don’t Look Into This Robot’s Eyes While It Learns to Play the Ball-and-Cup Game

‘The Final Countdown’ Played on 64 Floppy Drives Would Make Gob Bluth Proud

Google Glass Is Dead, Long Live Snapchat Spectacles

Lyft Says Self-Driving Cars Will Dominate the Road in Five Years

Washington Post Throws Snowden Under the Bus

Plastic Junk You Don’t Need Melts in Gratifying Macro Glory

The Mystery of the Hissing iPhone 7s

This Is iPhone7 Getting Crushed by a Hydraulic Press

Fish Are a Bunch of Lame Posers

Here’s Some Clay Smashed, Burned and Dipped in Liquid Nitrogen

Russian Runaway Robot Radicalized, Got ‘Arrested’ at Political Rally

Watch a Stuntman Complete Evel Knievel’s Failed Rocket Bike Jump

Watch Dude Hand Carve a Very, Very, Very Small, Working Super Nintendo

Airlines Now Verbally Warning Passengers Not to Use Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on the Plane

Snowden Movie Might Actually Be Worth Seeing

Hydraulic Press Tries To Use a Soap Dispenser, Fails, Soap Is Everywhere

Tubi Manages to Turn People Against Recommendations With Bad AI Branding

Gizmodo’s Favorite Photos From NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission

Lucasfilm Keeps Telling Authors Not to Bring Back Mara Jade

As Mass Drownings Add Up, Emperor Penguins Officially Join the Endangered List

OpenAI: Hey, We Also Have a New Tool That Is So Scarily Powerful We Can’t Release It

Razer’s Wireless Gaming Earbuds Are Back With Upgraded ANC

How ‘The Testaments’ Uses Voiceover to Add Layers to Its Characters

The Trump Regime Really Wants You to Know About Its Cool Secret Agent Gadgets

Artemis 2 Day 9: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Chimpanzees Are Murdering Their Former Friends, and Researchers Can’t Wrap Their Heads Around It

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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