Latest

Self-Stirring Cup of Tea Puts My Left Hand Out of a Job

In GizmodoWorld, no one loves a cuppa quite like I do—although the amount of times I go to the kettle each day is giving me RSI. Anyways, two French guys have designed a cup of tea that stirs itself. Simple in its design, all you need do for it to work is channel your inner…

Hands On Yamaha’s Tenori-On Synthesizer: We Love It

Tenori-On, the crazy light-up handheld synthesizer from Yamaha we’ve been geeked about for months, officially launched in the US tonight. It won’t be on sale until May 1, but we got our hands on one and simply put, we were amazed. Resident Giz musician Jonny Lam (Brian’s little brother) hit the event with us, and…

Things You Don’t Know About Modern Elevators

Earlier today we posted on a New Yorker piece about a man trapped in an elevator for 41 hours. But the real gem of the article was the mountain of “Did you know…” facts laced throughout. Like that Door Close button you’re always pushing? Yeah, it doesn’t work. Here’s the full list: https://gizmodo.com/guy-trapped-in-elevator-41-hour-ordeal-caught-on-tape-380525 As mentioned…

Predator Pilots Are Most Fatigued Military Flight Crews

According to a just-released Navy research paper, pilots of the MQ-1 Predator unmanned air vehicles are the most fatigued crews in the military, which seriously affects job performance, operational safety and family relationships. The most worrying thing is the reasons why and the lack of a clear solution: https://gizmodo.com/air-drones-to-invade-the-planet-now-325163 M&S did not identify an alternative…

Power and Wealth (1984)

The late, great Sir Arthur C. Clarke wrote about hope in the 1984 introduction of his book, Profiles of the Future. Specifically, Clarke wrote of his hope for a future without concern for politics and economics. An excerpt from his introduction appears below. I also believe – and hope – that politics and economics will…

DIY Moped Runs on Air

This Puch moped only has a range of about 7 miles and with a top speed of only 18 mph, it isn’t going to break any land speed records, but there is definitely something special about it: it runs on air. Jim Stansfield, an aeronautics graduate outfitted his Puch with a pair of carbon-fiber air…

Comcast Ducks Out of Tomorrow’s FCC Hearing at Stanford

Comcast has opted out of the FCC hearings to be held tomorrow at Stanford University. Did they not find enough net neutrality hecklers in the Silicon Valley? [Portfolio via Valleywag] https://gizmodo.com/fcc-holding-comcast-do-over-hearings-at-stanford-on-apr-369816

LGs “Innovation Challenge”: Design Your Dream Phone and Win Money, Gadgets

The folks at LG must be running out of ideas because they are once again tapping the general public for new designs. Earlier this month, they launched a touchscreen UI contest, but now they have moved on to hardware with the Innovation Challenge. The goal: design your dream phone. The payoff: LG will manufacture your…

Blame Aliens For Your Shitty iPhone

Comedian Dave Chapelle usually transcends, and subverts, stereotypes — so I was very disappointed when I first saw this moment from the Chapelle Show. What’s up with the blatant alien stereotyping in this skit (which sort of grows out of a larger skit making fun of Morgan Freeman’s president in Deep Impact)? Aliens don’t all…

Ergoskin Orthopedic Underwear Prevents You From Becoming a Hunchbacked Freak

The Ergoskin is one of those far out concepts that will probably never see the light of day, but the fact that poor posture is a common problem (especially amongst us computer nerds) makes this unique solution intriguing. The design utilizes sensors woven directly into fabric at special points along the body—sensors that deliver small…

Flip Camcorder Stole 13% of Market, May Have Also Stolen Software

The Flip camcorder won our hearts with a stripped down, value priced approach to home video. However, a company called Advanced Video Technologies (AVT) has filed suit claiming that the company behind the Flip stole their patented Full Duplex Single Chip Video Codec compression software. Fortunately for consumers, AVT is not seeking to block sales…

The Public Transit Projects that Should Have Been

Urban history is littered with the dead bodies of scrapped public transit projects. When eager commuters and car companies turned the automobile into the most popular form of transit in the world in the twentieth century, many cities set aside plans for expanding their public transit systems, such as the electric tram system planned for…

Can R2D2 Talk To An Old Ford Fiesta?

It’s easy to see why everybody’s so crazy for these photos of Star Wars characters in ultra-gritty urban settings. Besides looking incredibly cool, there’s something unsettling about seeing Jabba the Hutt in a cracked-out squat, or C3PO in a broken-down garage. The images, by French photographer Cédric Delsaux, show off how harsh and realistic Star…

NBC Wants iTunes to Block Pirated Content from iPods

NBC Universal Chief Digital Officer George Kliavkoff: “We’d love to be on iTunes. It has a great customer experience. We’d love to figure out a way to distribute our content on iTunes.” Obviously NBC did, until they walked out. In order for them to come back, they want more money per show (still) to “reflect…

Why Do You Think Apple is Good or Evil?

We ran this photoshop contest of Steve Jobs, asking for Good and Evil versions of the man. For some reason, we got an overwhelming result of Evil Steve Jobs entries. Actually, they’re almost all evil Steve Jobs photoshops. Is that because it’s more fun to dress him up as Osama than it is to make…

NASA to Doomsday Asteroid Student: “Shut Up, Dimwit”

Stop looting supermarkets and get back to your homes, because NASA is saying that “doomsday” asteroid Apophis doesn’t have any significant chance of impacting Earth in 2036, basically classifying the 13-year-old German student as a moronic smartypants. In fact, even if it hit, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. Or that’s what…

DIY Scientific Calculator Watch: Wrist Candy For Mega Nerds

If you thought the original calculator watch was nerdy, get a load of this DIY gem from designer David Jones. According to his website, the “uWatch” is the “world’s most powerful programmable RPN/Algebraic scientific calculator watch.” Unfortunately, the project site is still under construction, so a step-by-step tutorial has yet to be developed. However, there…

You can read the new book by John Kessel, author of Good News From Outer Space, for free, thanks to publisher Small Beer Press. Satirist Kessel’s new short story collection The Baum Plan For Financial Independence includes his classic story sequence about life on the Moon, the “Lunar Quartet.” It also riffs on source material…

Nintendo Shuts Down New DS Rumor Hard

Those of you hoping for a next-gen DS to be unveiled by Nintendo at E3 this year will have to stop by the supermarket to get a gallon of consolation ice cream on your way home from work. Nintendo Japan just shut down the rumor by saying “We cannot comment…but at the very least there…

Should Congress Ban Cellphone Calls on US Flights?

Europe may be ok with passengers making in-flight calls on their cellphones, but at least a few members of Congress have the foresight to see how this situation could become problematic in the US. A new bill has been introduced that promises to ban cellphone calls on US flights, but not text messaging and web…