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Cowboys & Aliens is part of a bizarre UFO theory

This week a conference on UFOs, science and consciousness was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is the city where gamechanging SF movie District 9 takes place, but apparently that movie has less hold on locals’ imaginations than recent flop Cowboys & Aliens does (see io9’s glowing review of Cowboys & Aliens here). One of…

io9 Annalee Newitz

How computer simulations of animal behavior led to a powerful new form of secret communication

How can we use foxes and rabbits help transmit secret messages? No animal cruelty is necessary – a new technique encodes messages using a predator-prey model normally used to predict the changes in animal populations. This advance in steganography could revolutionize the art of secrecy. Cryptography is the art of disguising messages so they’re incomprehensible…

io9 Sophie Bushwick

Meet Curiosity — NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory

The Mars Science Laboratory — also known as MSL, or Curiosity — is the most sophisticated Martian vehicle that NASA has ever built. And it’s set to launch for the Red Planet tomorrow. The rover’s primary objective is to assess whether Mars is, or ever was, capable of sustaining life. Weighing in at almost 2000…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Chunky Concrete Sketch Pencil Is a Weighty Way To Write

Your sketches and notes will carry a lot more weight if they’re created with this squat mechanical pencil that’s made from actual hand-poured concrete. You’ll just want to make sure you’re not the type who likes chewing on the end. The pencil has an equally thick 5.5mm 2B lead making it slightly more better suited…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Dreamjet’s Artist Printing Kiosk Spits Out Custom Phone Cases

They’re never as cheap as online solutions, but there’s something to be said for the immediate gratification you get from automated kiosks. And now custom smartphone cases can be added to the list of things you can buy from a machine. Unveiled at the Korea International Sign & Design Show, Dreamjet’s new Artist kiosk lets…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Google Search, Timelines for Facebook, Dominos Pizza Hero, Martha Stewart Cocktails

Google sneaks Chrome onto the iPad. You can kinda, sorta get Facebook Timelines without Facebook’s help. And if your sick of turkey, make your own pizza while sipping a delicious cocktail. If you want to see all the apps on one page click here. https://gizmodo.com/google-search-timelines-for-facebook-dominos-pizza-he-5862423 Google Search: Pssst, don’t tell Apple. But it looks like…

Tech News Roberto Baldwin

How to Deflect an Asteroid Attack

A 15 kilometer wide asteroid is headed toward the Earth, but NASA scientists spot it three years before impact. Movie lore not withstanding, what the hell are we supposed to do? Could we even organize the global community enough to stop this flaming ball that astronomers call a near-Earth object (NEO)? Let’s find out. Top…

io9 Keith Veronese

BlackFly Day, 360 Panorama, Price Check, Rick O’Shea

The turkey has been decimated, the door-buster deals have been acquired, and your family is already arguing about who’s going to host Christmas dinner. Just because the Back Friday deals have come and gone doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue your moving-saving ways. Panorama 360 will help you capture the three-circus that is your family. Plus,…

Tech News Roberto Baldwin

Burn and Turn, Is It Ready Yet, SampleTank, Cosmonauts

Okay, maybe that turkey recipe was a bit of a disaster. No worries, you got 364 practice meals before next Thanksgiving. First order of business, figure out how long it takes to actually cook meat. Or you can say to hell with it and lay down some beats between trips to moon and playing an…

Tech News Roberto Baldwin

Arthur Christmas sullies the House of Claus, but will make you a believer

Arthur Christmas may look like your generic store-bought egg nog holiday treat. But this coming-of-age Santa Claus feature humanizes the people of the North Pole by turning them into the fallen heroes and not-so-perfect parents from our past. It will make you laugh then make you cry. Santa has become your typical obsolete figurehead, taking…

Movies Meredith Woerner

Audi Ad Turns the iPad’s Slide To Unlock Into a Twisting Driving Course

Before you get too excited, you can’t actually turn your iPad or iPhone’s “slide to unlock” feature into a twisting race course. What you see here is actually an interactive ad created by Audi for the iPad, promoting their magazine. You’re still able to actually guide the “slide to unlock” arrow around the course, but…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

A New Spray Makes Hard-To-Spot Cancer Cells Visibly Glow

A new sprayable reagent has been developed by Japanese researchers that makes small tumors, typically missed by CT scans, visibly glow within minutes of being applied—making them easier to spot and remove during surgery. The magic ingredient in the spray is a green dye called gGlu-HMRG which glows after reacting with an enzyme in the…

Health Andrew Liszewski

In A Dangerous Method, we find out what really caused Freud’s sexual frustration

For some, Sigmund Freud’s name is synonymous with medical quackery and sexual obsession. But in David Cronenberg’s new movie about Freud’s circle of colleagues in the 1910s and 20s, the founder of psychoanalysis emerges as a complicated figure, fighting for scientific recognition in a society where he’s treated as an interloper for being Jewish —…

Movies Annalee Newitz

Nuclear Taco Hat Predicts How Unpleasant the Morning After Spicy Foods Will Be

You know it’s coming, but this sensor hat developed by altLab for their hack project at Codebits 2011 will give you a better idea of just how unpleasant your morning will be the day after eating spicy foods. Inspired by the nuclear taco eating challenge at the previous year’s Codebits, as well as those beer…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Moscow Hopes To Boost Tourism With a Giant Spokeless Ferris Wheel

The London Eye has become a major tourist attraction for the city, so Moscow is hoping a similar structure will attract more visitors to the Russian capital. Except that theirs will be the world’s tallest, with a unique spokeless design. Standing over 722 feet tall, the tentatively named Moscow View ferris wheel will top the…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Drown Out The Holiday Cheer

Between the bone-jangling din of jingle bells, and the tireless shrieking of joyous children, the holiday season can be earsplitting. Fortunately, all you have to do is take this short survey and you could win a pair of SE215 Sound Isolating Earphones from Shure. Fa la la la la la WHAT?? To enter, email the…

Tech News Sponsored post

Our future robot overlords will be obsessed with Martin Scorsese’s Hugo

There’s no actual robot in Martin Scorsese’s new movie Hugo — although there is a totally gorgeous clockwork man, whose workings are nothing short of magical. But the whole movie is a celebration of the earliest roots of our rising cyber-culture, and the ways in which people use technology to tell stories that live on…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

Twisted Gifts for the Merry Prankster

It’s the roommate who keeps saying your ex-girlfriend called. The teacher who loves a pop quiz fake-out. We all have prankster friends, but let’s face it: their acts are getting stale. Here are some gifts that should jumpstart their jokes. 1. Reeve and Jones Jokes on You! Prank Kit (12 Piece) Time to get back…

Tech News Brian Barrett

A Riot Over a Two Dollar Waffle Iron Is What the Holidays Are All About

We hope you found some great Black Friday deals today, while avoiding situations like this riot over a two dollar waffle maker at Walmart. This is your reward for waking up and standing in line at three in the morning? https://gizmodo.com/all-the-black-friday-deals-5851137 Don’t get me wrong, waffles are certainly delicious and definitely worth fighting for, but…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Participate in the largest drug-use survey ever conducted

Drugs play a huge role in our lives, but it’s hard to find in-depth research on how people take them and what effect it has on their lives. Here’s your chance to help change that. For the last several years Britain’s Mixmag — a popular dance music magazine — has been gathering international data on…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Cowboys & Aliens is part of a bizarre UFO theory

How computer simulations of animal behavior led to a powerful new form of secret communication

Meet Curiosity — NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory

Chunky Concrete Sketch Pencil Is a Weighty Way To Write

Dreamjet’s Artist Printing Kiosk Spits Out Custom Phone Cases

Google Search, Timelines for Facebook, Dominos Pizza Hero, Martha Stewart Cocktails

How to Deflect an Asteroid Attack

BlackFly Day, 360 Panorama, Price Check, Rick O’Shea

Burn and Turn, Is It Ready Yet, SampleTank, Cosmonauts

Arthur Christmas sullies the House of Claus, but will make you a believer

Audi Ad Turns the iPad’s Slide To Unlock Into a Twisting Driving Course

A New Spray Makes Hard-To-Spot Cancer Cells Visibly Glow

In A Dangerous Method, we find out what really caused Freud’s sexual frustration

Nuclear Taco Hat Predicts How Unpleasant the Morning After Spicy Foods Will Be

Moscow Hopes To Boost Tourism With a Giant Spokeless Ferris Wheel

Drown Out The Holiday Cheer

Our future robot overlords will be obsessed with Martin Scorsese’s Hugo

Twisted Gifts for the Merry Prankster

A Riot Over a Two Dollar Waffle Iron Is What the Holidays Are All About

Participate in the largest drug-use survey ever conducted

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