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We Already Know Exactly How Star Wars Episode VIII Will Begin

And yes, there are already rumors about Episode VIII’s subtitle. Has Doctor Who found its new companion? Nicholas Meyer discusses what will make the new Star Trek TV show different. The Walking Dead teases unhappy times for Rick, and hypes up Negan. Plus, new pictures from Agent Carter’s finale and Civil War. Spoilers Now! Star…

ThinkGeek’s GoBrix Are a Cheap and Easy Way to Bring Your Lego Creations to Life

Through its Technic sets, and even Mindstorms, Lego builders have long had the tools they need to add remote control functionality to their creations. But with its new GoBrix components, ThinkGeek wants to make it even cheaper and easier to bring a Lego model to life. The GoBrix starter set includes two building toy-compatible (Lego,…

A Hot Breakfast Looks Even More Delicious Under a Thermal Camera

Scrape out your eye boogers because even the most quotidian breakfast foods look like insane NASA photos through a thermal camera. A mug of coffee looks like a cup of lava; a toaster more closely resembles a furnace; and washing the dishes becomes an alarming proposition. It’s so damn cool, we won’t even blame the…

The 2016 Presidential Candidates’ Views on NASA and Space Exploration

Want to get to Mars? Well, NASA needs money to do it, and the president, along with Congress, mostly calls the shots. But NASA has been consistently underfunded over the last decade, and only saw its budget restored to healthier levels in 2016, when Congress carved out $19.3 billion for the agency. With missions to…

The 2016 Presidential Candidates’ Views on Net Neutrality and Broadband

The FCC ruled in favor of a free and open Internet in 2015, but the battle against that stance continues. Industry groups are appealing the FCC decision, in the hopes that they can delay or prevent the government from reclassifying broadband as a utility. President Obama was a strong advocate for net neutrality, and the…

The 2016 Presidential Candidates’ Views on Environmental Issues

When President Obama signed a climate-change agreement with almost 200 other nations in Paris last year, it was a major triumph for clean energy advocates around the world. But the truth is that the next US president will largely bear the burden of reducing the nation’s carbon emissions. There’s no question that climate change is…

The 2016 Presidential Candidates’ Views on Computer Surveillance and Encryption

The next commander-in-chief will be faced with tough questions about national surveillance and encryption. It’s likely that the current Apple vs. FBI encryption battle will consume the 2016 election and spill into the next presidency. And the next leader of the US will have to answer complicated, lingering questions surrounding the future of the NSA…

The 2016 Presidential Candidates’ Views on Cyber Warfare

Cyber attacks are an ever-increasing threat to the US. Just last year, a colossal hack believed to be conducted by China revealed personal information of more than 21.5 million people—and that was just one attack. To get into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, the FBI had to pay at least $1 million to a hacker…

The 2016 Presidential Candidates’ Most Embarrassing Tech Fails

The 2016 presidential candidates talk a big game when it comes to technology policy, but do they even understand the technology they’re using every day? Here’s a look at the candidates’ greatest tech blunders: Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton used her family’s private email server for official communication while US Secretary of State. And as a…

Actual Dogs Don’t Like Robotic Dogs Either

Boston Dynamics’ line of robotic dogs creep the hell out of me and other sensible humans on this doomed planet. But at least my gut call is partially justified by this probably world-first meeting of man’s best friend and man’s future downfall. The video, shot by venture capitalist Steve Jurvestson, shows Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot…

Australian Lifeguards Are Getting a $200,000 Drone to Spot Sharks

Drones are slowly but surely becoming part of the equation for emergency services for jobs like search-and-rescue or avalanche prevention. Australia’s taking things a step further, thanks to the introduction of a long-range helicopter drone to help with a very Australian problem. Little Ripper is a modified version of a military drone, and has the…

Google Is Finally Selling VR Headsets Directly

Google’s Cardboard VR viewer is the cheapest way to get in on the virtual reality game, but up until now, they’ve only been sold by third parties (or given away en masse). If you’ve got a cheap, slightly abrasive Cardboard-faced hole on the front of your face, Google will now help fill it. The new…

Ski Jumping On a Ziplining Bungee Sounds Fundamentally Unsafe

Look, I’m sure a large team of well-trained ropework professionals have decided that ski jumping while attached to a bungee line, attached to a zipline, is a safe thing to do. But every single part of my brain involved with self-preservation is telling me it’s a bad idea. Bun J Ride is an activity in…

The Walking Dead Just Completely Changed the Game

You don’t need a thousand zombies to have a tense-as-hell episode of The Walking Dead. As last night’s episode proved, all you need to do is upend everything we thought we knew about the post-apocalypse, make the fights political instead of physical, and have Abraham obsess about unprotected sex… a lot. Last night’s episode, the…

Biologists Turn Bacteria Into ‘Swarmbots’ 

We’re covered in bacteria every day. They help us digest our food and protect our skin, and they’re potentially a great medical tool—but only if we can control them. Scientists think they’ve taken the first step by engineering bacteria that can live in a swarm, but die when they try to escape individually to new…

The final Divergent movie will be directed by Lee Toland Krieger (Age of Adaline). Krieger replaces Robert Schwentke, who directed—yawn—sorry, it’s just Divergent is so boring. Anyway, Schwentke directed the last two… ZZZZZZZZZZZZ [The Hollywood Reporter]

This 520 Million-Year-Old Fossil Is So Intricate You Can See Individual Nerves

A team of scientists has discovered a fossil with what may be the the oldest and most well-preserved example of a central nervous system ever found. Uncovered in southern China, the specimen goes by the name of Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis and clocks in at roughly 520 million years old. The Cambrian creature is roughly 10 centimeters…

Giant Viruses Feature Their Own Built-In Antivirus Software 

Mimiviruses are viruses so big they can actually be seen with a simple light microscope. European scientists have now learned that these bizarre organisms have their own immune system that makes them virtually invulnerable to predatory viruses, suggesting these creatures may actually represent a new branch in the tree of life. Mimiviruses, which measure just…

New York Judge Rules US Can’t Force Apple to Help Unlock an iPhone 

On the eve of a Congressional hearing about the Department of Justice’s fight with Apple over a locked iPhone, a Brooklyn judge has ruled that the DOJ cannot force Apple to assist in unlocking an iPhone in a separate New York drug case. Judge James Orenstein rejected the government’s interpretation of the All Writs Act,…

This New Behind the Scenes Video Gives Us Our First Look at Game of Thrones Season Six… Sort of

Sure, we’ve had multiple teases for Game of Thrones’ sixth season, but none of them have given us actual, honest to god footage from the season. However, this new featurette focusing on the camera work that goes into a huge production like Game of Thrones does give us an actual look at the next season……