Latest

Operation Igloo White Illustration (1970)

This illustration of Operation Igloo White comes from the January 10, 1970 report ADA485166. You can read more about Igloo White, Vietnam War-era drones, and the invention of modern border surveillance here.

Instagram Just Made an App That’s Basically Apple Live Photos for Facebook 

Instagram is coming out with a new app called Boomerang that lets people share one-second silent mini-videos. The obvious comparison here is Vine, but Boomerang won’t have its own feed—instead, you post the mini-videos on Instagram or Facebook. So it’s a tool, not a social network. Boomerang doesn’t do anything Apple’s Live Photos doesn’t do—just…

Arrow Gives Everyone Exactly What They Want, Including the Audience

“Restoration” gives us exactly what it sounds like it will give us. After the turbulence of last season, the show irons out its rough edges and sets the stage for the next big thing. while positioning several more potential “big things” for us to anticipate. Felicity Pounds the Pout Out of Her Guys Hey, when…

These Star-Crossed Stellar Lovers Are Heading for a Disaster of Cosmic Proportions

Behold VFTS 352, the hottest and most massive “overcontact binary” star system ever discovered. The two stars, which are so close that they’re touching, feature a combined mass 57 times that of our Sun. Astronomers say it’s a unique stellar relationship that will culminate in a rather dramatic finish. This unusually large contact binary was…

If You Want To Read An Inhumans Comic This Week, For The Love Of God, Read Karnak

This week, Marvel’s big push for the Inhumans released another salvo with the launch of Uncanny Inhumans and Karnak, two flagship titles in the “All-New, All Different” relaunch. One of these comics is okay. The other is Karnak, and it is absolutely brilliant. Spoilers ahead, for both Uncanny Inhumans #1 and Karnak #1. https://gizmodo.com/can-marvel-make-you-love-the-inhumans-1732852138 Both…

A Beginner’s Guide to the Synth

You know the sound. Listen to Devo’s “Whip It” or Parliament’s “Flash Light.” Like countless modern pop songs, they’re full of sounds that aren’t made by acoustic instruments; the sound is pure synthetic. You’re listening to electricity manipulated by a machine. The machine of course is the synthesizer, and it’s been one of the most…

A Ton of New Game of Thrones Details Tease Some Unlikely Alliances!

The Flash teases the arrival of Harrison Wells—and the new Firestorm. Go behind the scenes in new pictures from Batman v Superman. Jessica Jones has a cool new poster (and a teaser for a new trailer). Plus, clips from Agents of SHIELD, and Doctor Who, and new Supergirl pictures. Spoilers Now! Labirintus Joe Dante has…

Airbnb Really Screwed Up With Ads About Paying Taxes

This week, Airbnb rolled out a series of ads around San Francisco to raise awareness of the $12m or so it raises for the city through hotel taxes. Sadly, the effect was passive-aggressive — and it’s now at the receiving end of biting criticism. The ads in question have been posted on bus shelters and…

Apple Plans to Offset the Energy Used to Make Every iPhone With Renewables

Apple’s been pushing its shift to renewable electricity for a little while, but its latest plan is pretty ambitious: it’s working with Foxconn to ensure it generates as much clean energy as it takes to put the iPhone together. In an announcement made this morning, Apple explains that it’s working with partners in China to…

Material Made from Industrial Waste and Orange Peel Sucks Mercury Out of Water

Mercury in water can damage food and water supplies and in the worst cases even kill. Now, a team of Australian researchers has stumbled across a material made from industrial waste and orange peel that can suck the metal right out of H20. Synthetic chemists from South Australia’s Flinders University have created a polymer that…

Full-Disk Encryption Is Mandatory on Android 6.0—If the Device Can Cope

Google has a long-held ambition to make full-disk encryption mandatory on Android. It didn’t quite work for Lollipop—so it’s taking another stab with Marshmallow. With Android 5.0, attempts to roll out all-encompassing encryption fell through because many devices lacked the specs to make it happen. That led Google to simply ‘strongly recommend’ full-disk encryption to…

This Is What Happens When You Combine Ferrofluids and Glowsticks

Ferrofluids are cool. Glowsticks are cool. And what happens when you combine them is pretty neat, too. Ferrofluids are liquids that hold tiny nano-sized particles of magnetic material within themselves in suspension. When they experience a magnetic field, they assume all kinds of interesting patterns, from complex swirling loops to spiky hedgehog-like domes. Here, Physics…

This Modular Hi-Tech Buoy Is Helping Africa to Monitor Its Coasts

A hi-tech buoy that provides real-time data can play a key role in helping South Africa manage its coastal waters. It could also be deployed beyond the country’s waters. Devised and tested virtually using 3D computer simulation technology, the buoy will feature locally sourced components as opposed to the current fully imported flotation systems. The…

Google’s Getting Serious About Battery Life With the Next Android Version

Android Marshmallow, Google’s latest update to its mobile OS, is already rolling out to a few lucky handsets. With a more general rollout poised to begin, Google is showing it means business when it comes to battery life. One of the big features Google announced for Marshmallow was ‘Doze’, its new power-saving sleep mode. When…

Don’t Buy Your YouTube Red Subscription On iOS

YouTube Red, the long-anticipated $10-a-month ad-free YouTube, launched today. Whether or not watching Hillary ads is worth $10 a month is up to you, but one thing is very obvious: don’t get our subscription via the App Store. https://gizmodo.com/youtube-really-wants-you-to-pay-for-youtube-1737829631 Apple has the option to subscribe to things on iOS, using your existing method of payment…

Autopiloted Teslas Screwing Up Proves Self-Driving Cars Aren’t Quite Here Yet

Hey, Tesla owners: know that bit in the instruction manual where it says the new Autopilot feature will only work on highways, and only under certain conditions? That’s not there just to cover ass, as this compilation of Autopiloted Teslas shitting the bed nicely demonstrates. The Autopilot feature, recently enabled via firmware update on some…

This Artist Painted Physicists Into a 3D Living Chalkboard

That’s not a painting or chalk drawing above, it’s a photograph of two painted physicists interacting in real time within a three-dimensional chalkboard “canvas” — and apart from cropping, it hasn’t had a lick of Photoshop. “What you see is photographs of real people covered in paint, even though your brain interprets them as two-dimensional…

On a World Constantly Under Attack, City Halls Are Also Weapons

Our ancient cities are defined by their defensive stone walls and bell towers announcing the city square. In the future, transport rings and laser bows keep us safe. This is the work of Jeff Liesenborghs, whose other spectacular work you can see at his DeviantArt page. Contact the author at [email protected].

BB-8 Has By Far The Best Reaction To The New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer

By now, you’ve probably seen the final Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer a few dozen times. You may have even seen the film’s stars, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, freak the hell out when the first saw the trailer. But you ain’t seen nothing yet. One of the official Star Wars Instagram feeds posted…

Ant-Man director Peyton Reed is negotiations to return and direct the sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, which will be out July 6, 2018. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly will co-star. [The Hollywood Reporter] Contact the author at [email protected].