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Disney Has Invented 3D Coloring Books

With its Color Alive line, Crayola was the first company to merge coloring books and apps so kids could bring their on-page creations to life. But Disney Research is taking that idea one step further by letting kids see a coloring book character move in 3D while they’re still coloring it. It’s all made possible…

Are You a Nighttime Tooth Grinder? Here’s How To Tell—And What to Do About It

Teeth grinding is a problem that affects nearly one in ten individuals, yet many of us don’t even realize we’re doing it. And that’s a problem given just how harmful it can be to our health. Here’s how to find out if you grind your teeth when you sleep—and why it’s something you shouldn’t ignore.…

A New Kind of Molecule Prevents Jet Fuel from Exploding

Jet airplanes load up with tens of thousands of gallons of fuel for transcontinental flights, which can lead to massive explosions in a crash or terrorist attack. But adding “molecular velcro” to fuel can dramatically reduce its volatility, or explosiveness. You can see the difference between the two in the above high-speed video. The untreated…

Meet the Jedi-Hunting Inquisitor Sarah Michelle Gellar Is Playing on Star Wars Rebels

Earlier this year, genre fans got pumped up when Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, was announced as a cast member on Star Wars Rebels season 2. Speculation ran rampant about who she’d be playing and now we know for sure. Buzzfeed reveals Gellar is not playing Princess Leia, but instead a character named the Seventh…

Department of Defense Finally Requires Contractors To Report Major Cybersecurity Breaches

Today the Department of Defense announced that it will soon require all of its contractors to report any major cybersecurity breaches. And if your first question is, why in the hell didn’t they require that before?, that’s a great question. The move comes after a tough few months for US government officials and their data.…

Sleepy Hollow Is Back, and It’s as Surprised as You Are!

Let’s be honest—after season 2 of Sleepy Hollow, which always seemed an inch away from texting you directly asking for advice, we were wary about it coming back. Turns out, the show was, too! In some ways, any season opener that comes after a decent wrap-up is going to be a re-pilot: reminding us of…

SolarCity Is About to Start Manufacturing the Most Efficient Rooftop Solar Panel Ever 

Normally,22.04 percent wouldn’t exactly inspire awe. What about the other 78 percent? Where is it being wasted? But for solar panels, it’s a leap forward. SolarCity, the 9-year-old solar energy company that counts Elon Musk as a co-founder and current chairman, announced this morning that it has reached a new record for solar panel efficiency.…

Developmental biologists noticed back in the 1990s that a lot of the genes that make a penis are the same as the ones that make limbs. They’ve been finding new similarities ever since. Ed Yong, writing at his occasionally penis-obsessed blog Not Exactly Rocket Science, explains how legless, but not penis-less snakes have just showed…

Fun stop-motion video awesomely reveals the wild imagination of a child

This is absolutely one of the coolest and most fun videos I’ve seen in a while mostly because it’s a time machine back to childhood in the 80’s and 90’s. The stop-motion video, directed by Marc Donahue, reveals the imagination of a kid and it’s filled with everything we love coming to life: Back to…

10 White People Who Inexplicably Became Ninjas

Ninjutsu, the art of the ninja, is an ancient, closely guarded tradition of stealth, martial arts and assassination that is only taught to the most skilled of Japanese warriors… and pretty much any white dude who happens to be in the neighborhood. Seriously, it’s like ninjas have their own version of Affirmative Action just for…

Google Becomes Alphabet Today

Remember how Google announced plans to create a new parent company to rule them all? It’s called Alphabet, and the company just announced that today is the day the plan becomes reality. When markets close, Google shares will become Alphabet shares. What does that mean for you? Basically nothing. Even if you own Google stock,…

The Final Spectre Trailer Is Non-Stop James Bond Action

We’re just about a month away from the newest James Bond film, Spectre, and Sony figured we could use one more trailer to raise our collective excitement just a little higher. It worked. Director Sam Mendes returns to the director chair for Spectre, which follows James Bond (Daniel Craig) on an adventure that’ll dive deep…

Here’s a Map of the 3,000 Punniest Business Names In America

There are two types of people in this world: Those who appreciate puns, and those who do not. Actually there’s a third type of person: The person who laughs uncontrollably at said pun, talks about the pun relentlessly, then texts you the pun again later along with alternate puns. That person is me. Atlas Obscura…

You Can Blast Your Selfies to the Moon on this Crowdfunded Rocket

If a friend told you he was going to blast a rocket to the Moon, and that if you wrote him a check he’d send your selfies along with it, you’d probably tell him to go find a job. But when a group of experienced rocket engineers made the same suggestion, you would probably pay…

This is How Your Brain Shifts From Pain to Pleasure

It’s a common phenomenon: a touch that normally feels a bit painful can feel much nicer when you’re sexually aroused. In an article at BBC Future, Zaria Gorvett examines how the brain’s natural opiates can produce a shift between pain and pleasure inside our heads. (the hippocampus)…responds to pain signals by ordering the production of…

Mobile Emergency: What To Do If You Just Lost Your Phone

We’ve come to depend on our smartphones so much that losing one can be a real problem, whether it’s gone missing in a restaurant or been grabbed on the subway. If you want to make sure your phone and its contents are protected, here’s what you need to do next. Most of these pointers rely…

All It Takes Is a Little Rain to Get Steven Universe on Track

Last week’s episode of Steven Universe delivered on two of the show’s greatest strengths: its adorable humor, and a keen eye for character development. Not only does this week give us the heart-cloggingly sweet joy of Peridot and Steven on an adventure together, it delivers the show’s third strength: actual plot advancement. Spoilers ahead, of…

What Happens When You Do a Chemical Analysis on the Durian Fruit?

The Durian fruit is famous for being a botanical stink-monster. How does it put off such a rich array of offensiveness? We’ll tell you the results of a chemical analysis. Durian, with its outer spikes, its inner slime, and its arsenal of odors, is an example of what can only be termed edible Stockholm syndrome.…

Mini Versions of Classic Roland Synths Let You Recapture Analog Glory

Roland has a trio of new synthesizers called the Boutique Series. They are affordable miniaturized versions of three classic analog synths from the early 80’s. Say hello to the sweet electronic sounds of the good old days. The synths are modeled after the Jupiter 08 from 1981, the JX-3P from 1983, and the Juno-106 from…

The 12 steps that basically every hero in a movie goes through

It’s pretty simple even if we don’t want to acknowledge it: movies are pretty much set up all the same and a hero’s journey roughly follows a pretty universal 12-step process. Or at least that’s what Iskander Krayenbosch thinks in his animation The Hero’s Journey. He deftly utilizes characters from popular movies to prove his…