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Do You Ever Actually Sign In With Facebook?

When that little blue “Sign in with Facebook” button first appeared, it was a little creepy. Who wants Facebook to know about every single service or app they are using online? Well it turned out to be an amazingly convenient tool—or some of us see it that way. No more forms! But, uh, it seems…

Rumor: New iPhone 5 Leaks Show NFC Chip (Maybe, Sorta)

Purported iPhone 5 parts just keep on leaking out, and this time around, photos from Apple.pro are showing what could quite possibly be a front-facing NFC chip. https://gizmodo.com/iphone-5-the-complete-rumor-roundup-5930100 Positioned next to the front-facing camera, the new piece of hardware revealed in the shots are suspiciously NFC chip-shaped, and are located exactly where NFC chips appear…

This Huge Red Dust Devil Is the Weirdest Meteorological Phenomenon I’ve Ever Seen

This is what happens when a (gigantic) dust devil forms over reddish orange soil and the light is just right: a red dust devil so vivid and tall that it looks like a cartoon. I wonder if the Tasmanian Devil is inside. Dust devils are not uncommon. You can seen them in the summer, especially…

First episode of Doctor Who’s Rory and Amy spin-off Pond Life online now!

Ramping up to the season premiere this weekend, BBC has released the very first episode of Pond Life, a five-part webseries focusing in on what happens to Amy and Rory when they’re not bashing around in the TARDIS. They’re short, adorable, and full of hilarious Doctor moments — watch what happens when the Eleventh Doctor…

Working at Foxconn Just Got Slightly Less Brutal

The Wall Street Journal reports that working conditions are getting better at the embattled Foxconn manufacturing facility where 150,000 Chinese workers assemble iPhones and iPads for the rest of the world. According to the report, wages have been raised by 16 percent and the probation period before entry-level workers are accepted as permanent has been…

How To Make an Electricity-Free Refrigerator

Conventional refrigeration does an incredible job keeping food fresh. But that technology hasn’t helped desert dwellers without steady electricity. A more recent development in refrigeration—the Zeer pot-in-pot refrigerator—only requires water, sand, and a hot, dry climate to preserve produce through evaporative cooling. Here’s how to make the simple gadget. Materials and Tools Required two terra…

It’s official: Arctic sea ice levels have reached a record low

Sea ice levels shrink every summer, but this year has been different. Yesterday brought some big news: the extent of Arctic sea ice has officially reached a record low. What’s more, it’s done so weeks earlier than ever before — and it’s not done shrinking yet. Before we look at the chart, let’s clear something…

Amazon Prime Delivery Now More Popular Than Free Super Saver Shipping

Amazon’s $79 per year Prime delivery service has passed its totally free Super Saver delivery in popularity. That’s, well, kind of a big deal. Amazon Prime has been the best deal in tech for a while now, even while Amazon loses about $11 per year on each customer. But it’s kind of amazing that more…

6 clips from Seth Green’s new Star Wars series help us decide: fun or a flop?

Last week the Star Wars Detours trailer premiered to outcries of delight and horror. Personally, we still stand by the fact that this is a children’s program backed by the folks at Robot Chicken — a show that tends to respect the Star Wars world — so we remain hopefully optimistic. https://gizmodo.com/first-supercute-trailer-for-seth-greens-secret-star-war-5937714 And this crop…

Guns in Space, and How to Kill Our Sun

MinutePhysics showed us what would happen if the Earth were hollow, but that was just one part of the nerdy YouTube channel tag team this weekend. Here’s the other half, wherein we learn how big a gun you’d need for the bullet to orbit the moon and hit you in the back of the head,…

Actual Musician Will.i.am to Premiere Actual Song on Mars Because No One’s Totally Sick of Him There Yet

This isn’t even a joke! Serious musician Will.i.am is premiering a new song tomorrow. On Mars. Broadcast through the Curiosity rover. And the name of said song, which also just for the record is not actually a joke, is “Reach for the Stars.” Let’s be realistic. It’s no “Don’t Phunk with My Heart.” And it…

The World’s Longest Bus Is a Traffic Nightmare Waiting To Happen

Public transit is a great way to reduce traffic and gridlock in a crowded city. But do those benefits still apply when the streets are filled with 100 foot buses like the Fraunhofer Institute’s AutoTram Extra Grand? Forget tight corners; this thing might not even make it through a green light. The AutoTram Extra Grand…

Read Samsung’s Sad “We Got Our Asses Kicked by Apple” Memo

Last Friday, Samsung got punched in its collective corporate throat by Apple’s legal team and a jury of its peers. Apple chief Tim Cook immediately celebrated… with a memo! Samsung’s memo was less fun. Much less fun. But hopeful! https://gizmodo.com/read-tim-cooks-blisteringly-cheerful-memo-to-apple-empl-5937837 The Samsung memo is pretty much the corporate legal equivalent of Bill Pullman’s presidential speech…

This Awesome 50,000-Piece Lego Rivendell Was Made by a Kid

The Lego Lord of the Rings sets are pretty neat, but they can’t compete with this gigantic version of Rivendell, the Elven hidden outpost in Middle-earth, home of Elrond’s family. Watch the video and look at the gallery, because it’s awesome. And—more amazingly—it was made by a kid! https://gizmodo.com/lego-lord-of-the-rings-sets-first-look-they-are-awesom-5882399 Created by Blake Baer—a teen Lego…

Ben Affleck definitely isn’t directing Justice League, but could the Wachowskis take his place?

Hugh Laurie won’t be a villain in Robocop, but another awesome Brit is lined up to take on the role. Steven Moffat explains why the new Doctor Who is all blockbusters, all the time. Plus the first Fringe season five photos! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Dredd. Justice League Ben Affleck confirms…

Why the Internet Is More Curse Than Blessing

Any list that weighs the pros and cons of the internet can only end one way: the realization that you’re wasting your life… right… now. Although to be honest, there’s way more in the plus column here than I ever would have imagined possible. [Doghouse Diaries]

The New York Times sold About.com for $300 million. Kind of like selling your old SparkNotes printouts for beer money.

Skillet Simulator: Perfect Your Sear Without the Smoke Alarm

If preparing a bowl of Ramen Noodles maxes out your culinary capabilities, you might want to consider a trip to the Tokyo Institute of Technology to enhance your skillset in the kitchen. Researchers there have developed a cooking simulator complete with virtual vegetables that can actually burn, and a force feedback frying pan that lets…

Google’s Response to Apple Patent Massacre: Don’t Freak Out, Guys

We’d heard Apple and Samsung’s responses to Friday’s lopsided decision in the pair’s patent scuffle fairly quickly. But there was a third party that felt the impact every bit as much as the two litigants: Google. And it had been quiet as a dormouse, until late last night. https://gizmodo.com/read-tim-cooks-blisteringly-cheerful-memo-to-apple-empl-5937837 The Verge reports that Google, with…

Best of the Week: August 18-24, 2012

WATCH OUT BELOW | Just one of the new images from the concept art genuises at Framestore that are going to be part of our bold storytelling experiment — where io9’s readers write a continuing story based on Framestore’s art. Read more about it here. https://gizmodo.com/join-us-in-a-bold-new-experiment-with-storytelling-5936688 This Fall’s Must-Read Science Fiction and Fantasy Books https://gizmodo.com/this-falls-must-read-science-fiction-and-fantasy-books-5937312…