Bob Sorokanich

Make Matches Into Mini Missiles Using Common Household Junk

Wile E. Coyote always used matches to light his ACME rockets. He wasted a lot of money. Turns out, you can cut out the middleman and use matches to make your own tiny rockets. Just don’t try to ride them. YouTube madman mist8k brings us this fun little trick that turns match heads into motors…

Watch the Olympic Torch On Its First Spacewalk, Live Right Now

The Olympic Torch has embarked on its longest trip yet, and right now it’s on a pretty scenic stop: a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Watch live on NASA’s stream right here.

5 Retrofuturistic Designs That Helped J Mays Reshape the Automobile

Ford Motor Company announced this week that top designer J Mays is retiring. In his 33-year career and 16-year tenure at Ford, Mays ushered in the era of retrofuturistic styling that other car companies scrambled to follow. Here, we look back at five of his vehicles that steered the shape of automotive design. Audi Avus…

Now Available: Galaxy S4 Zoom, Lumia 1520, Nook GlowLight, More

Why be normal? That’s the question seemingly posed by this week’s latest offerings. We’ve got two phones that buck size trends, an e-reader that flouts normal dimensions, and a phone speaker dock thing that just … well, you’ll see. Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom This smartphone-with-a-camera-on-its-back hits AT&T today for $200 on contract. It’s packing a…

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

There’s a cruel chill in the air. The clocks have changed. It seems like it’s already dark out by lunch time. But never fear — the warming glow of your smartphone is always there. Build a blanket fort and hunker down til springtime with our favorite new apps. No, I will not end this with…

3D-Printed Mini Human Liver Survives 40 Days, Works Like the Real Thing

Organovo’s 3D-printed mini-liver just shattered its own record, carrying out the same cellular functions as a natural human liver for 40 days in the lab. That may not seem like a lot — human liver cells are replaced about every 300 to 500 days — but the company’s previous millimeter-sized liver slivers only managed five…

Pop Music Makes Experimental Solar Panels Work 50% Harder

Ever notice how you feel more productive while listening to a great song? It’s not just you. Researchers just discovered that a certain type of solar panel works most efficiently when exposed to the acoustic vibrations of pop music. Crank it up! The UK research team works on zinc oxide solar panels, a cheaper, more…

3D-Print Your Own 20-Million-Year-Old Fossils

What do you do if you don’t have a breathtaking room full of ancient bones and fossils? You get yourself a 3D printer and start downloading files from African Fossils, an online archive of prehistoric East African artifacts. No pith helmet required. https://gizmodo.com/inside-the-bone-room-where-dinosaurs-live-at-amnh-1179620156 With over 40 digitized fossils in their collection, you can explore 3D…

Report: Apple Supplier Flextronics Used Indentured Employees

Bloomberg Businessweek has an in-depth report today alleging that electronics supplier Flextronics used recruiters who charged workers exorbitant fees to place them in Malaysian plants, confiscating their passports and deserting them in employee housing without food when production idled. The full story is a must-read, but this is the basic timeline: Apple contracted Flextronics International…

AT&T Decides to Fight Android Malware with Android Bloatware

AT&T and security software maker Lookout announced today that, from here on out, all Android phones the carrier sells will come with Lookout’s security app pre-installed. Which sounds nice enough, but is really a lousy idea. Bloatware sucks. At the very least, it’s a waste of memory. At its worst, pre-installed software can actually ruin…

RunKeeper Now Harnesses iPhone 5S M7 Muscle

RunKeeper is one of our favorite techy ways to track your athletic activity. The app’s latest update, out today, harnesses the power of the M7 chip to turn your iPhone 5S into an always-watching fitness tracker. Like a personal trainer named Siri. https://gizmodo.com/keeping-up-with-runkeeper-5859700 Taking advantage of the M7’s always-on tracking, RunKeeper 4.1 adds a Pocket…

This Video Projected on Water Will Take You To a Creepy Fantasy World

In nature, the combination of water droplets and light create the floating color phantasms we know as rainbows. In the hands of artist Robert Seidel, the two elements form advection, a morphing kaleidoscopic video installation that’s dripping with abstract digital beauty. https://gizmodo.com/a-horizontal-rainbow-makes-for-easier-trips-to-oz-5992582 The installation in Bad Rothenfelde, Germany, projects video onto the spraying water of…

Amazon’s Throwing Independent Booksellers a Kindle Lifeline

Amazon’s Kindle Fire and other e-readers are usually considered nails in the traditional independent bookstore’s coffin. Amazon’s flipping all that around, with a program that lets bookstores sell Kindle e-readers and make money off the e-books their owners buy. https://gizmodo.com/kindle-fire-hdx-review-third-times-a-charmer-1427201835 Announced today, Amazon Source gives independent bookstores a discount when buying Kindles and related accessories…

Digg just launched Digg Video, a clearing house for the funny/weird/interesting/actually educational videos the internet bubbles up. Digg says a mobile version is coming soon, too, so you’ll never be without distraction ever again. [Digg Blog]

Nexus 5 Teardown: (Almost) No Glue For You

The folks at iFixit got their hands on Google’s new Nexus 5, and did what they do best — tore it apart. And they liked what they saw. https://gizmodo.com/nexus-5-review-the-best-is-still-the-best-especially-1458003288 Since Nexus 5 details have been leaking at the speed of Niagara Falls, there aren’t too many surprises here. The video gives a good look at…

30 Years Ago Today, Chrysler Invented the Minivan, And Changed History

On November 2nd, 1983, the world’s first minivan rolled off of Chrysler’s assembly line. It was the vehicle that saved Chrysler from financial doom — and in the process, shaped the automotive landscape for thirty years to come. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, there wasn’t really an ideal vehicle for families. Sedans and…

Soundtrack: J Dilla vs The Beach Boys

Okay, stay with me here. The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds is perhaps the greatest rock album of all time (and Sir Paul McCartney’s favorite). J Dilla was the virtuoso who created the sound of golden era rap. Bullion is a London producer who put the two sounds together. And it works. J Dilla’s sound is…

Does Switching Between Two Different Gadgets Mess You Up?

My kitchen table looks like some kind of laptop turf war right now. On the left, my beloved beater ThinkPad. On the right, a borrowed MacBook. I’ve been using both all day. It’s driving me crazy. I’m used to switching between Mac and Windows machines. There’s an iMac at my desk at the office, and…

East Coast: Wake Up Early Sunday For An Eclipse Not Seen Since 1854

Sunday morning at 6:45AM, folks on the east coast will have a chance to see a very rare hybrid solar eclipse. The last one occurred 150 years ago, and the next one won’t come until the year 2172, so make sure you set your alarm. Let’s talk terminology. An annular eclipse is the “ring of…

Cow Tunnels, iPhone Conspiracies, Nexus 5, iPad Air and More

Big goings on this week. New gadgets, new airline laws, new mysterious barges popping up on both coasts. Here’s the best things we wrote this week. iPad Air First Impressions: Big Never Felt So Small It’s fitting for the iPad Air to have a new name, because it feels like an almost entirely new device.…