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Using Electrical Charge to Make the World Feel Different

Imagine if you picked up a ceramic teapot and it felt hairy, of if you ran your hand across a counter top and it felt like sandpaper. That’s exactly the kind of thing researchers at the cutting edge of touch interfaces are trying to do, by changing the way everyday objects feel using a weak…

With Marissa Mayer at the helm, Yahoo is following Google’s lead: it wants to focus on product, not profit. [WSJ]

Physicists Claim It Would Be Impossible to Nuke an Earth-Killing Asteroid

If you’ve always assumed that the idea proposed in Armageddon could save us in the face of a crisis, by destroying an asteroid to avert the destruction of Earth, think again. Physicists from Leicester University, UK, have calculated that such a feat would require a bomb a billion times stronger than the biggest bomb ever…

Counterpoint: How to Lose Friends and Alienate People Using iMessage

Nobody enjoys being ignored. It is the worst, most loathsome feeling in the world. And being ignored via text message is the double worst, because your whole body is practically salivating for that familiar chime or buzz alert, and it just. never. comes. It’s like the worst, most emotionally fraught, prolonged sneeze. Have I made…

How a Fake Erotic Fiction eBook Hit the Top 5 of iTunes

The Diamond Club is an erotic fiction book that reached as high as #4 on the iTunes paid eBooks list just behind the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. It’s an amazing accomplishment as it’s only been on sale for three days. And even more amazing since it’s a fake book. How is the book fake?…

Does Cybersex Count as Cheating?

As technology evolves to allow more of life to take place on the internet—online shopping, online dating, video chats, etc—the lines blur between what is true and what is a faux, web version of the real deal. Online shopping still takes money, your money, so that’s an easy answer. But what about cybersex? There’s a…

Nikon 1 J2: Nikon Updates Its Cute Beginner System Camera By Hardly Updating It at All

Last year’s Nikon 1 J1 promised some professional features for the amateur photographer looking to move on up and man was it a huge disappointment. The Nikon J2 is a virtually identical camera packed with even more gimmicky features for amateurs with some dollar to burn. https://gizmodo.com/the-best-affordable-pro-compact-camera-5870931 As Nikon’s first affordable, compact, interchangeable-lens camera, the…

The Stoner Channel: Stevie Ray Does El Mocambo, Jim Carrey Does Stand Up, and Bob Dylan Does the Dead

Stevie Ray Vaughan Live at the El Mocambo 1983 Anything Hendrix could do, SRV could do better—that includes the guitars and the cocaine. How Marijuana Works Nat Geo takes a CGI tour of our insides and discusses the physiological processes of getting blunted. Jim Carrey – Stand Up Comedy Mr. Rubberface himself doing a half…

How Much It Cost to Design Famous Logos

Some companies think logos and branding are so important that they spend millions and millions of dollars on designing them. Other companies go with something simple and end up spending nothing. The funny thing? It’s usually the companies that spend little on designing logos that become the most iconic brands. Seriously, companies like BP spend…

17-Year-Old Speed-Texting Champion Does it Drrrty (UPDATED)

17-year-old Justin Bieber look-alike Austin Wierschke, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin (and a native of the United Kingdom?), is $50,000 richer today—thanks to his speedy-quick thumbs and unfailingly accurate dexterity. He’s a two-time prize-winning SMS champion, ladies and gents, the fastest in our great nation. A noble talent undeniably deserving of large piles of cash. The eight-round…

Now Everyone Is Free to Join Pinterest, No Invite Needed

If you aren’t already planning out your hypothetical fantasy wedding on digital vision board Pinterest, you may now start doing so: the once invite-only platform is now free for everyone and anyone to join. From their blog: Today we’re thrilled to announce open registration! For those of you who haven’t joined Pinterest yet, this means…

David Bowie: Life on Mars

So much Mars Madness, so little David Bowie, weirdly. It’s only appropriate that tonight’s #soundtrack reflect the current red planet rage. David Bowie looks a lot like a glam clown in this video—or a Martian, maybe? Whatever his stylistic intent, this song is a classic and ought to be revisited by us all. Because: Curiosity.

Picture of the Day: August 8, 2012

SUMMER LIGHT | A gorgeous sketch of the ships that arrive in summer by Giuseppe Severino. Want to read today’s io9 stories a different way? Check out our blog view Or watch the io9 show. Or visit Observation Deck, our general discussion forum.

Hot damn, this book is pure geeky fun

You probably know Jim C. Hines as the guy who recreated the absurd poses that women strike on the covers of fantasy novels a while back. But now he’s written a new fantasy novel about a guy whose power comes from books — and it’s actually way more fun than you could have expected. https://gizmodo.com/macho-fantasy-novel-covers-as-reenacted-by-a-normal-du-5904770…

A News Broadcast Reenacted Olympic Highlights with Lego

Because showing highlights of the Olympics can be quite the political mess of air rights and restrictions and licensing and sponsors and other BS like that, ABC News in Australia decided to circumvent the issue by re-creating the women’s 100m hurdles finals with Lego. It’s awesome. As you may know, Australian Sally Pearson beat out…

Breakthrough “genetic circuits” bring us closer to synthetic human cells

We’re one step closer to building artificial cells. Synthetic biologists have found a new way to assemble “genetic circuits,” components that perform logical operations in living cells. This breakthrough could facilitate the development of artificial cells designed to solve problems in medicine, energy, and the environment. This new technique, which was developed by Boston University…

Singaporean ad campaign promotes sex in this awkward music video

In the dystopian future, as the human population plummets, we’ll need PSAs to remind us to get laid. Apparently that future is here, at least in Singapore, a nation whose birth rate is one of the lowest in the world. Now a local ad agency, with the help of Mentos, is trying to jumpstart a…

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2: Looks Like a Tablet, Behaves Like a PC

When Windows 8 launches in October, the Surface won’t be the only tablet option. Joining it will be the 10.1-inch Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, a Intel Atom-packing, enterprise-leaning device that might come packed with enough features to appeal to a larger swath of nerds. Slightly thicker than an iPad at 0.39 inches, but also lighter…

McAfee Is Going to Blur Your Facebook Pictures And Make Them Impossible to Download

Sharing your pictures with friends on Facebook is convenient! It’s also really convenient for creepers you hardly know to peer at your body and digitally stalk you too. And with Facebook’s privacy settings so confusing, you need something better. You need McAfee’s Social Protection app. It’s potentially a very useful tool for people who are…

Ditch That Old, Bulky Lamp for a Sleeker Piece of Lighting

Inspired by the shadows it casts, the Silhouette Lamp is unassuming and elegant. Turn it to its side, and you might mistake it for a coat rack because it’s so slender. It uses an acrylic shade that doesn’t look like a shade at all. Its unexpected design was actually intended for smaller homes where you…