Latest

Woogie iPod Touch Case Helps You Lobotomize Your Kids Comfortably

This is Woogie, “the Huggable Case and Media Player for iPod touch and iPhone” that allows parents to keep their kids glued to electronic entertainment while keeping the latter safe from drool, food, and play-doh. Just put the iOS device inside the integrated sleeve with transparent, touch-sensitive screen protector, and watch the kids’ eyes go…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Sep 9

Scientists unveil more proof that water still flows on Mars

We now know two things about the Martian atmosphere’s carbon dioxide: volcanic eruptions created the gas quite recently, and it probably reacted with liquid water. Taken together, these discoveries confirm water is still a major player in Martian geology. NASA’s Mars Phoenix Lander has provided the most precise readings yet on the carbon dioxide gas…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Sep 9

Darpa Wants Remote Controls to Master Troop Minds

The Pentagon’s research arm wants to trick out troops’ brains, from the areas that regulate alertness and cognition to psychiatric well-being. And they want to do it all from the outside in, with a gadget installed inside the troops’ helmets. “Remote Control of Brain Activity Using Ultrasound,” the Defense Department’s Armed with Science blog promises.…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert Sep 9

100 years ago, the New York Times predicted cars would be abolished today

Back in 1909, a fanciful New York Times journalist decided to spice things up by pretending to describe a futuristic 2009 “centennial celebration.” His portrait of future NYC is surprisingly eco-conscious and pedestrian-friendly. Thanks to pulp history scholar Jess Nevins, we’ve got access to a transcribed version of this story, written by mystery writer and…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 9

At Last, Someone Untangled Those Horrible Low-Consumption Light Bulbs

Bless English design company Hulger, for they have unraveled those horribly twisted contraptions that are low-energy, long-life green lightbulbs. This is Plumen 001, which actually looks so good on its own that you will not need a shade for it. And like those ugly light bulbs, the Plumen 001 uses 80% less electricity than incandescent…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Sep 9

Intel’s Latest Processor Has Graphics Capabilities Built In, Probably Still Won’t Frighten Competition

Intel will be showing off a new chip design dubbed “Sandy Bridge” next week. This clever little part will be Intel’s “first chip design that has graphics capabilities built into the processor” and is supposed to frighten AMD and Nvidia. The basic idea is that it should give the company a cost-advantage while marking a…

Tech News Rosa Golijan Sep 9

What would happen to Earth if we stopped expanding fossil fuel use tomorrow?

If all the peoples of the world got together tomorrow and agreed to never build another fossil fuel power plant or gasoline-powered automobile, all the carbon-emitting structures already built would still produce 496 gigatonnes of carbon between now and 2060. According to Steven Davis and his team at the Carnegie Institution, our energy infrastructure is…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Sep 9

Stop-Motion. Human. Pac-Man.

111 human pixels. Countless colored t-shirt changes. Weeks of planning. That, some homemade bleep bloops, and four long hours in Baden, Switzerland’s Trafo cinema will get you one incredible stop-motion game of human Pac-Man. The video is part of artist Guillaume Reymond’s Game Over project—it’s the fifth in a series that also includes classics like…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 9

An In-Depth Look at the Factory That Makes the iPhone Possible

Bloomberg Businessweek has just dropped an incredibly up-close look at controversial Chinese electronics supplier Foxconn and its founder, Terry Gou. It’s the most thorough look to date at one of the most powerful—and intriguing—manufacturers in the world. What’s most interesting about the eight-page spread, aside from the details of Gou’s own story and how intertwined…

Tech News Brian Barrett Sep 9

The Vampire Diaries is your new guilty pleasure

In the universe of The Vampire Diaries, vampires can eat cheese along with other normal human foodstuffs. Which is a good thing, since The Vampire Diaries is the most awesomely cheesy television program we’ve seen in years. It’s can’t-miss television. Spoilers for season one of Vampire Diaries below. When The Vampire Diaries started a year…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Sep 9

The iPod Nano Watch Is Here and It Is Glorious

Everyone knew it the moment they saw it. Hell, even Steve Jobs alluded to it when he was unveiling the thing. The new multitouch iPod Nano was made to be strapped to a watch band. Here it is, for $17. https://gizmodo.com/the-new-multitouch-ipod-nano-and-how-you-use-it-5627044 OK, so there’s still the issue of having headphones plugged into your watch at…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert Sep 9

Naomi Novik says fanfic is part of literary history – and reveals what’s next for Temeraire

Author Naomi Novik recently published Tongues of Serpents, the sixth book her Temeraire series. We talked to her about what’s next for her dragons-in-the-Napoleonic Wars alternate history, as well as her passion for preserving fanfic online. Best known for her beloved Temeraire series – which Peter Jackson has vowed to turn into a miniseries –…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 9

Did FTC Probe Cause Apple to Change App Rules?

Apple’s surprising announcement that it’ll allow third-party developer tools for the iPhone and iPad may cause issues in the federal investigation into whether the restrictions were anti-competitive. Apple’s unexpected announcement Thursday that it would let programmers use third-party tools to write apps for the iPhone and iPad may deflate a federal investigation into whether the…

Tech News Ryan Singel - Wired Sep 9

Apple, Are You Sure We Don’t Need Any More Fart Apps?

“We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don’t need any more Fart apps”, Steve/Apple says in its App Guidelines. “Above all else, join us in trying to surprise and delight users,” they say. Well, watch this. https://gizmodo.com/censorship-stays-as-iphone-app-development-rules-relax-5633721 … I rest my case. Paraphrased from the conclusion of Apple’s App Review Guidelines: When…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Sep 9

Missile-Blocking Lasers Will Protect the Army’s ‘Copters

As if lasers needed a public image overhaul! They’ve suddenly got cooler, now that a Michigan university professor is building only a friggin’ missile-blocking laser small enough to be affixed to US Army helicopters. While the lasers won’t physically hurtle them off in another direction, the wavelengths of heat will ensure the missile follows the…

Tech News Kat Hannaford Sep 9

The most awesomely ridiculous science fiction/fantasy-themed wrestling “characters”

Remember when wrestling used to be filled with “Supermen”? Many of wrestling’s craziest gimmicks have had a fantasy/scifi theme. From a Mortal Kombat rip-off to a man from the future, here are ten of wrestling’s most way-out scifi characters. These bizarre characters are what got me into wrestling during the early 90’s. It was like…

io9 Thomas Landry - Nerd Bastards Sep 9

New io9 comment feature helps moderators give you feedback on your comments

We do our best to keep our site’s comments troll- and abuse-free, but there’s always room for improvement. Our new comment reassignment feature allows your comment moderators to dole out warnings and suspensions, and explain why they did so. The system works like this: If we see a comment that we don’t think belongs in…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 9

Despite Justin Bieber Videos, YouTube Still Losing Google Money

Google CEO Eric Schmidt let slip that YouTube has yet to achieve profitability, after over five years of sharing videos of awesome explosions and unlikely animal friendships with the world. Schmidt did say that it’s “nearing profitability,” which means nothing. The statement makes one revisit some of YouTube’s recent decisions through the lens of makin’…

Tech News Sam Biddle Sep 9

New Megamind trailer reveals Will Ferrell’s secret origin

A new full-length Megamind trailer is out, and it gives more backstory for both Will Ferrell’s bulbous-headed blue supervillain and Brad Pitt’s Megaman. Plus we see what happens to Megaman after the villain wins. This trailer might have a few of the same jokes as the last one, but we’re still excited about Will Ferrell’s…

io9 Meredith Woerner Sep 9

Set Your Font to 282,000,000,000 to Reach the Moon

Enlarged fonts have saved the asses of many a panicked student at 3 in the morning. But besides padding essays, what can a bigger font do for you? Crank it up to the billions, and you can reach the moon. As this will be a mission of not only intrepid spacefaring, but true typography geekery,…

Space & Spaceflight Sam Biddle Sep 9

Woogie iPod Touch Case Helps You Lobotomize Your Kids Comfortably

Scientists unveil more proof that water still flows on Mars

Darpa Wants Remote Controls to Master Troop Minds

100 years ago, the New York Times predicted cars would be abolished today

At Last, Someone Untangled Those Horrible Low-Consumption Light Bulbs

Intel’s Latest Processor Has Graphics Capabilities Built In, Probably Still Won’t Frighten Competition

What would happen to Earth if we stopped expanding fossil fuel use tomorrow?

Stop-Motion. Human. Pac-Man.

An In-Depth Look at the Factory That Makes the iPhone Possible

The Vampire Diaries is your new guilty pleasure

The iPod Nano Watch Is Here and It Is Glorious

Naomi Novik says fanfic is part of literary history – and reveals what’s next for Temeraire

Did FTC Probe Cause Apple to Change App Rules?

Apple, Are You Sure We Don’t Need Any More Fart Apps?

Missile-Blocking Lasers Will Protect the Army’s ‘Copters

The most awesomely ridiculous science fiction/fantasy-themed wrestling “characters”

New io9 comment feature helps moderators give you feedback on your comments

Despite Justin Bieber Videos, YouTube Still Losing Google Money

New Megamind trailer reveals Will Ferrell’s secret origin

Set Your Font to 282,000,000,000 to Reach the Moon

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