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Hey, who ripped open a hole in the universe?

This eerie patch of blackness in the middle of a busy star cluster may look like a rather misshapen black hole, but it’s actually something even stranger. It’s also quite possibly the loneliest, darkest, coldest place in the entire cosmos. This is Barnard 68, and it’s what’s known as a dark molecular cloud. Basically, the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Jan 29 '12

This electric car was invented in 1932 and looked like a giant hamster wheel

If this electric car had caught on in 1932, our roadways would have looked very different. Instead of little boxes sitting on four wheels, the roads might have been filled with giant hamster wheels that rolled over us as we drove. The Dynosphere (sometimes spelled Dynasphere) was invented in 1932 by JH Purves. Some of…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 29 '12

Flat Panel Anglepoise Lamps Are the Future

How do you fit a humongoid Anglepoise lamp in your home? Reduce it down to two-dimensions and pack it full of LEDs, of course. Forged of birch and steel, Giles Godwin-Brown’s Nepa Lamp will sit flat on a wall, or spin out into the third dimension and totally screw with your head. I love it.…

Tech News Adrian Covert Jan 29 '12

The world’s oldest “Yo mama” joke is 3,500 years old

Around 1,500 BCE, a student in ancient Babylon inscribed six riddles on a tablet. 3,500 years later, these proto-jokes lose a lot in the translation, but one thing’s for sure: the Babylonians are saying something about your mother. The tablet in question was first discovered back in 1976 by an archaeologist named J.J. van Dijk…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Jan 29 '12

Realistic Space Invader is more Predator than cuddly alien

Say goodbye to your innocent childhood vision of multi-colored Space Invader bugs dancing happily across the sky. Character artist Tom Carruthers would like to replace it with a fang-filled piece of fleshy nightmare fuel. I have to admit, Carruthers “realistic” Space Invader looks a lot more like an acid-spewing enemy you’d want to kill with…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 29 '12

Five Million Android Users Might Have Fallen Victim to Another Malware Attack

According to Symantec, 13 apps from three developers—many in the official Android Market—have been carrying malicious chunks of code called Android.Counterclank, and are suspected of running on as many as five million phones, stealing info and running ads against the will of the device’s owner. ComputerWorld, speaking to Symantec, learned that the apps have been…

Tech News Adrian Covert Jan 29 '12

To deal with stress, yeast cells ditch whole chromosomes

It’s a central tenet of evolution: Life must adapt to its surroundings or die. And the genome knows it. A new study published in the journal Nature shows that in more stressful surroundings, a yeast cell’s genome actually gains or loses chromosomes, improving the cell’s ability to mutate – and thus its adaptability. This mechanism…

io9 Sophie Bushwick Jan 29 '12

Why does Newt Gingrich want to build a moon base? Because he’s an alien, of course

Newt Gingrich may have surprised a lot of folks with his announcement that he wants to put a permanent base on the moon. But maybe they shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, the original Men in Black film revealed to the world that Gingrich is actually an extraterrestrial. Thanks to eagle-eyed readers Jared and Tim…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 29 '12

Awesome World War II Dogfighting Filmed On Zero Budget

One of the things I love computers for is how they have democratized the access to things that once were only attainable by a very few. This World War II short film called The German is a perfect example. In the film, “a British fighter pilot pursues the german ace that shot down his friend…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Jan 29 '12

How to survive your evil boarding school

So you’ve landed in an evil boarding school. Chances are your parents thought they were doing the right thing: giving you a great education, sending you to the top disciplinarians who will set you on the proper path in life. But there’s something wicked going on behind the cute uniforms and impressive alumni list, and…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 29 '12

Preppy-fetish runway fashion would be perfect Venture Bros. henchmen wear

If Triana’s friend Kim (the aspiring villainess who fell in with preppies and then went to rehab) ever returns to The Venture Bros. as a preppy-goth supervillain, she could easily outfit her henchmen and henchladies in these styles from designer Thom Browne, where embroidered pants and rugby helmets meet spiked hoods and breathing tubes. Browne…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 29 '12

In this time-lapse movie, Mongolian nomads build an entire yurt in one hour

When you’re living a nomadic lifestyle, you need to travel light. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a deluxe roof above your head. Here, videographer Dan Grossman filmed Shagdarsuren Herelchuluun’s family punching out a multiperson ger (or yurt) outside of northern Mongolia’s Lake Hovsgol. The whole process took give or take 67 minutes, but…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jan 29 '12

Read the speech Nixon prepared in case the Apollo 11 astronauts died on the moon

The 1969 moon landing was one of humanity’s most impressive achievements, but there was always a chance that things could go terribly wrong. But if the worst happened, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were commended to the void of space, Nixon had a stirring speech prepared, one that celebrated the spirit of exploration and…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 29 '12

Disney princes grace the covers of men’s magazines

We’ve seen plenty of clever and quirky artwork centered on Disney’s stable of princesses, but what about their other halves? The Disney princes finally get their due, taking center stage on the covers of familiar magazines. Artist Petite Tiaras created these clever Photoshopped covers, and she did a similar (albeit rougher) series with the Disney…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 29 '12

Best of the Week: January 21-January 27, 2012

ENDANGERED BUT LOVABLE | A Pallid Bat, one of the endangered creatures photographed by National Geographic’s Joel Sartore. See more photos here. https://gizmodo.com/heartbreaking-photographs-capture-the-facial-expression-5878918 https://gizmodo.com/everything-we-know-about-ridley-scotts-space-jockeys-5879560 Everything we know about Ridley Scott’s Space Jockeys Now that we’re all 100% certain that the Space Jockeys will be making a cameo in Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus, it’s time…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Jan 28 '12

Turn Your E-Waste Into Furniture and Hide It In Plain Sight

There are lots of recycling programs that will happily salvage the raw materials from your outdated electronics. But if you still can’t let your old 386 go, maybe Rodrigo Alonso has another solution for you—turn it into gaudy furniture. His N+ew, or No More Electronic Waste, stools are composed of a small mountain of defunct…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Jan 28 '12

Speed archer could dominate the Hunger Games

If your name is ever called up in The Hunger Games reaping, you should consider training with Russian archer Iza Privezenceva. This speedy shooter could pump arrows into a muttation faster than you could say “Katniss Everdeen.” Privezenceva’s weapon of choice is the recursive bow. I’m glad the camera person finally turns the camera on…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 28 '12

This Beautiful Hand Mixer Sadly Doesn’t Actually Exist

It is a crime against humanity, at least those who cook, that Meike Harde’s beautiful Quix handheld mixer only exists as a concept prototype. Because it somehow improves upon every one I’ve ever used with a design that’s actually simpler. Instead of exposed buttons that can let food in, a sealed silicone membrane located on…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Jan 28 '12

Kenneth Branagh wants to experiment on your superpowered devil children, in Prodigal

Kenneth Branagh is one intense bastard in the first trailer for Prodigal, a short film directed by Benjamin Grayson, Branagh’s long-time assistant. In Prodigal, some kids are showing supernatural abilities, complete with the spooky black contact-lens eyes and demonic expressions as they make shit go haywire. One of them is a little girl named Samantha…

Trailers Charlie Jane Anders Jan 28 '12

Solargraph tracks the sun’s six-month path across the sky

What’s incredible about this stunning photograph isn’t just that it captures the path the sun appears to take across the sky from the summer solstice to the winter solstice. It’s that it was taken with such a simple device: a pin-hole camera made from a drink can. This view of the University of Hertfordshire’s Bayfordbury…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 28 '12

Hey, who ripped open a hole in the universe?

This electric car was invented in 1932 and looked like a giant hamster wheel

Flat Panel Anglepoise Lamps Are the Future

The world’s oldest “Yo mama” joke is 3,500 years old

Realistic Space Invader is more Predator than cuddly alien

Five Million Android Users Might Have Fallen Victim to Another Malware Attack

To deal with stress, yeast cells ditch whole chromosomes

Why does Newt Gingrich want to build a moon base? Because he’s an alien, of course

Awesome World War II Dogfighting Filmed On Zero Budget

How to survive your evil boarding school

Preppy-fetish runway fashion would be perfect Venture Bros. henchmen wear

In this time-lapse movie, Mongolian nomads build an entire yurt in one hour

Read the speech Nixon prepared in case the Apollo 11 astronauts died on the moon

Disney princes grace the covers of men’s magazines

Best of the Week: January 21-January 27, 2012

Turn Your E-Waste Into Furniture and Hide It In Plain Sight

Speed archer could dominate the Hunger Games

This Beautiful Hand Mixer Sadly Doesn’t Actually Exist

Kenneth Branagh wants to experiment on your superpowered devil children, in Prodigal

Solargraph tracks the sun’s six-month path across the sky

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