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Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Review: Can a Tablet Fix What the Phone Got Wrong? (Updated)

The Galaxy Note was, just a wee bit big to be considered a phone. Why not make it bigger and call it a straight-up tablet? Add on some Wacom stylus tech, bump up the specs—be our guest! https://gizmodo.com/samsung-galaxy-note-lightning-review-wait-who-ordered-5886054 What Is It? Samsung’s new flagship: A 10.1-inch Android tablet with a stylus and Wacom technology. Who’s…

Concept art from the Sandman movie that never was

Many moons ago, Neil Gaiman pitched a three-part cinematic adaptation of his comic book Sandman to Warner Bros. The project never got off the ground and was later canceled entirely. What we’re now left with is this collection of stunning concept art by Sandman and Beasts of Burden illustrator Jill Thompson. Check out Morpheus breaking…

I Want to Crawl Through This Sprawling Lego City

Living in a city is fun, but there’s no question any metropolis would be better if it were made entirely out of Lego bricks. Not practical, sure, but as proven by this (mini) architectural installation, very beautiful. The project, “Porous City,” is a giant grid of over 600 Lego towers at 1:1000 scale—an exercise in…

Win The Most Awesome Wheel of Time Swag Ever

If you’re a fan of the intensely epic Wheel of Time series, we’ve got a special treat for you to celebrate the fourteenth and final book in the series, A Memory of Light. Later today, we’re going to be giving away five backpacks emblazoned with a logo that will tell the world that Robert Jordan…

OLPC’s Latest Tablet/Computer Hybrid Coming in 2013

The OLPC Foundation is still on their quest to bring technology to less developed parts of the world, and the latest plan is to release the XO-4 Touch in 2013. It will be a tablet/laptop hybrid with a 7.5-inch, multitouch display designed for constant exposure to sunlight and a low-power Marvell chipset. Though we know…

And now, a Japanese pop idol cosplaying as a swarm of cicadas

Have you ever wished to dress as an etymologically (and entomologically) incorrect Biblical plague? Well, Japanese idol, blogger, and cosplayer Shoko “Shokotan” Nakagawa — who considers herself a molted carapace connoisseur — recently revealed her ambitious cicada shell facial fashion. This particular look blends just the right amounts of “cloying” and “exoskeleton” to add up…

Court Rules That Cops Can Track Your Phone’s Location With No Warrant

A federal court just ruled that if your carrier’s towers can see you, the police can see you too. They don’t need a warrant to track your all over the country. All they need is a rubber stamped request for the information from your carrier. In 2006, Melvin Skinner was busted in a motorhome with…

“Fur particle tracking” reveals the mystery of the wet-dog shake

When a dog gets wet, what does it do? Answer: it shakes, and very efficiently — a large, soggy dog can shed as much as 70% of the water in its fur in just four seconds. But mammals of all shapes and sizes employ the quick-shake tactic to dry themselves. Now, a team of researchers…

Why We’re Fat—Explained In One Minute

Why can’t you stop eating at the sight of delicious fatty or sugary food, even while your stomach is full? Answer: You have a good system in place to avoid over-eating, but it’s overridden by your caveman instincts. Confused? Watch this video. When your stomach is empty, it produces an hormone called ghrelin, which interacts…

Red Bull Racing’s F1 Car Sings the National Anthem Better than You

Anyone who’s ever been to a sporting event knows how easy it is for someone to completely butcher our national anthem. But Red Bull Racing’s F1 car does pretty much the exact opposite of that. The F1 team is demoing the high-revving vehicle around NYC this week, and it sounds like it has quite the…

North America is being invaded by foreign dust

The fight against pollution is often a piecemeal, nation-by-nation affair, which is problematic because pollution knows no national boundaries. But what’s spreading isn’t quite what everyone thought. Astudy published this month in Science tracked the movement of aerosal particles from around the world using the Calipso satellite, and found that half the aerosols in North…

The Miracle Cure That’s Hiding in Plain Sight

You’ve maybe never heard of Bacillus Calmette–Guérin—it sounds kinda French after all, so why would you? But scratch a little deeper and you’ll find that BCG, as it’s commonly known, is one of the most overlooked wonder-drugs of our time. BCG is first and foremost the world’s most common tuberculosis vaccine, and was first used…

Kristen Stewart won’t be in the Snow White and the Huntsman sequel. Plus a Huge Doctor Who update!

It appears Chris Hemsworth is taking over the Snow White and the Huntsman franchise sooner than anyone expected. Doctor Who reveals episode titles and promo photos. Plus Fringe set photos, Grimm teasers, a Teen Wolf season three preview, and more! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Fringe. Catching Fire Stephanie Leigh Schlund, who…

HP’s webOS team has been rebranded as Gram—but it’s still not clear what it’s supposed to be doing. [Engadget]

This Could Be the Most Insane Gaming Keyboard Ever

If you take your gaming seriously, a stock keyboard is never going to cut it. Right at the other end of the spectrum, however, is this thing: the Mad Catz Strike 7, which is perhaps the most insane gaming keyboard ever made. Designed specifically for hardcore gamers, its modular layout lets you position its five…

Your Antibacterial Soap Could Be Harming You

Every time you wash your hands using antibacterial soap you probably feel good because you’re not spreading bugs. But check the bottle and you’ll probably find the soap contains triclosan—a chemical that has just been shown to impair muscle function in humans. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that…

Parents: Remotely Block Your Kid’s Cell Phone When They’re Driving

AT&T’s new safe-driving initiative is more than a little creepy: it’s developing software that parents can use to remotely turn off text messaging and voice calls on their children’s cell phone when they’re out driving. The app is revealed in the publicity video above. While it’s still in development, it looks kind of clever, in…

R.I.P. Harry Harrison, creator of the Stainless Steel Rat, Bill the Galactic Hero, and Soylent Green

If Harry Harrison had only created “Slippery” Jim DiGriz, the roguish hero of the Stainless Steel Rat books, he would deserve a high place in science fiction history. But he also wrote dozens of other novels, including the hilarious Bill the Galactic Hero saga, the proto-Steampunk classic A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!, and the novel that…

Windows Phone Store Bug Sees Microsoft Block New Apps

Microsoft is experiencing major problems with its Windows Phone Store as it updates from the backend system which used to power Windows Phone Marketplace. The result: major problems downloading software, and a block on new apps. In a blogpost, Microsoft pointed out that the problem is related to digital certificates and should only affect users…

Facebook Is Suing Mitel Based on AOL Patents It Only Just Acquired From Microsoft

Legal wrangling in the technology world is making increasingly less sense. In March, Canadian company Mitel struck Facebook with a patent lawsuit. Now, The Next Web is reporting that Facebook is countersuing Mitel over two patents it believes are also being infringed. So far, so normal. But there’s a weird twist. From The Next Web:…