Latest

You’ve Heard of the Chicken of the Sea? Meet the Whale of the Air.

The oilbird, or guacharo, is not a morbidly obese bird. It’s called “the whale of the air” because like its larger, ocean-dwelling brethren, it contained oil—oil that was harvested yearly, and which lit lamps and greased up South American society. The oil comes from the oilbird’s special diet as a chick. Adult oilbirds only weigh…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Pintasking Gives Your Android Device a Shortcut Taskbar

The customization options open to third-party Android apps mean you can completely overhaul your device’s interface, should you want to. Pintasking is more subtle in its changes—it works like a Windows taskbar for your Android smartphone or tablet, giving you instant access to the apps and the options you use most often. The app runs…

Gadgets David Nield

This Self-Rolling Yoga Mat Harnesses ’90s Slap Bracelet Technology

Does the frustration involved with rolling up a mat keep you from avoiding a daily yoga routine? That’s my excuse, which is now rendered moot with a yoga mat that rolls up tightly all by itself thanks to some fashion technology that was popular in the 1990s. The YoYo Mat, which is attempting to raise…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Game of Thrones Is Filming Scenes From The Winds of Winter Right Now!

Chris Evans could be playing Captain America for years longer. Mads Mikkelsen may have revealed big details about his Rogue One character. Ron Perlman drops huge, massive Hellboy 3 spoilers. Plus, Jenna Coleman talks Clara’s arc in Doctor Who, and a look at Rutina Wesley in Arrow. Spoilers! Captain America: Civil War After saying last…

Television James Whitbrook

GoPro’s Google-Powered Camera Is the Next Best Thing To Teleportation

This year, the most amazing thing I saw at Google’s annual developer conference wasn’t a phone, a tablet, or even a head-mounted display. It was a 360-degree 3D video that took me to Japan. Now, filmmakers can spend $15,000 on the tech that made it possible: the GoPro Odyssey. It’s one heck of a camera.…

Tech News Sean Hollister

A $60 Hack Can Fool the LIDAR Sensors Used on Most Self-Driving Cars

Many autonomous cars use LIDAR — a kind of laser-based radar — to sense the world around them. But now a researcher has developed a simple system that can fool the devices into seeing objects where really none exist. Spectrum reports that Jonathan Petit, from Security Innovation, has developed a system to send spurious signals…

Privacy & Security Jamie Condliffe

This Is the First Official Raspberry Pi Touchscreen, Yours For $60

People have been plugging Raspberry Pi boards into all kinds of displays for years, but now there’s an official—and portable—option: a 7-inch capacitive touch screen that will set you back just $60. The new screen, which has been development at the Raspberry Pi Foundation for almost a year, provides 800 x 480 pixels spanning its…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

23 Facts About Your Eyes (And What Can Go Wrong With Them)

Our eyes are a fundamental part of the human sensory system—but they’re complex things that can easily go wrong. Here are 23 facts about your windows to the world, including 11 things that can go horribly wrong. Eight surprising things about eyes Eyebrows: Among the many potential functions of eyebrows, they keep sweat and moisture…

Tech News Bryn Nelson - Mosaic

Scientists Can Levitate Nanodiamonds in a Vacuum Using Laser Light

A team of researchers from the University of Rochester has managed to levitate nanodiamonds in a vacuum using laser light for the first time—which could provide a new breed of microscopic sensors. It’s not the first time scientists have used laser light to levitate nanoparticles. But what’s different this time is that the nanodiamonds are…

Physics & Chemistry Jamie Condliffe

An Android Porn App Takes Your Photo and Holds It to Ransom

Users of the “Adult Player” Android app are in for a shock: it’s emerged that the Android app has been secretly taking photos of users – and wants their cash in exchange for deletion. The Register reports that security firm Zscaler was first to spot the app, which presents itself as a normal video playing…

Tech News James O Malley - Gizmodo UK

This Magellanic Cloud Is a Tiny Galaxy Sat Close to Our Milky Way

It may look like a contorted Van Gogh painting that’s been run through Google’s dreaming neural networks, but you’re actually looking at an image of one of the Magellanic Clouds—which is among the nearest companions of our Milky Way galaxy. The Magellanic clouds—first discovered by European astronomers in the 16th Century—are known as Dwarf Galaxies.…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

This Glass Will Let You Enjoy Whiskey in Microgravity

Now that whiskey is being aged in space, it seems only fitting that there should be a way to enjoy the results in low gravity. Fortunately, this glass provides a way to sip the stuff en route to the stars. Developed by Open Space Agency’s James Parr for distillery Ballantine, the glass is designed to…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

Packed Like Sardines in a Can

From this point of view it seems that one cannot fit a knife between two planes in the crammed hangar bay of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, where sailors perform maintenance on F/A-18 Super Hornets. Let’s play! How many aircraft can you count in this photo? [Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ryan McFarlane/U.S.…

Tech News Attila Nagy

CERN’s “Cosmic Piano” Makes Music Out of Raw Particle Data

At Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival in July, jazz pianist Al Blatter found himself jamming with an unusual collaborator: the so-called “cosmic piano,” an instrument developed by physicists at CERN that relies on data generated by cosmic rays to make beautiful music. Whenever a particle passes through a detector pad on the instrument, the result is…

Physics & Chemistry Jennifer Ouellette

Report: Apple Rejected Justice Department Demands for iMessages

The fight between law enforcement and tech companies about encryption and privacy is getting nastier than ever. According to a report from the New York Times, the Justice Department obtained a court order for real-time messages between suspects using iPhones to communicate, but Apple didn’t comply. The Times reported on the “standoff” between Apple and…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

The De Brazza’s Monkey: The Monkey With the Wizard Beard

We’re not saying that this monkey is magic. We’re just saying that it doesn’t like people, and the guy for whom it is named promptly died of dysentery. Be advised. The De Brazza’s monkey is common, but not easy to find. It spends as little time on the ground and in the open as it…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Would You Buy an Android Tablet If It Only Cost $50?

According to a rumor from the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is readying a $50, 6-inch Android tablet for a launch before Christmas this year. The company hasn’t had runaway success with its existing line of Android tablets, so it’s clearly hoping that cutting the price can get a few more people on board. The company’s…

Tech News Chris Mills

From Space, a Remote Salt Lake In the Middle of a Desert Looks Like an Alien World

This is Lake Amadeus, the largest salt lake in Australia’s Northern Territory. Taken by Sentinel-2A (mean orbital altitude of 786 km/488 miles), this image of Lake Amadeus shows the salt crust, rock, and sand that are part of this lake’s unique look. Also visible in the full image below are the Australian landmark Uluru/Ayers Rock…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta

How Filmmakers Use Aspect Ratio Tricks in Movies

Often, it’s the things you don’t notice that make or break a movie, and there’s no more subtle mindfuckery than playing tricks with aspect ratios. In this wonderfully educational short video, Now You See Itexplains how different aspect ratios — and switching between them — can be used as thematic devices in movies. I’m ashamed…

Movies Chris Mills

How Is This Hot Air Being Photographed?

There are plenty of reasons why people might want to photograph air, but not too many methods to do it. This is an image of hot air rising off a soldering iron, and you can see it because of Schlieren photography. Air can move things around for some dramatic photos, but on its own it’s…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

You’ve Heard of the Chicken of the Sea? Meet the Whale of the Air.

Pintasking Gives Your Android Device a Shortcut Taskbar

This Self-Rolling Yoga Mat Harnesses ’90s Slap Bracelet Technology

Game of Thrones Is Filming Scenes From The Winds of Winter Right Now!

GoPro’s Google-Powered Camera Is the Next Best Thing To Teleportation

A $60 Hack Can Fool the LIDAR Sensors Used on Most Self-Driving Cars

This Is the First Official Raspberry Pi Touchscreen, Yours For $60

23 Facts About Your Eyes (And What Can Go Wrong With Them)

Scientists Can Levitate Nanodiamonds in a Vacuum Using Laser Light

An Android Porn App Takes Your Photo and Holds It to Ransom

This Magellanic Cloud Is a Tiny Galaxy Sat Close to Our Milky Way

This Glass Will Let You Enjoy Whiskey in Microgravity

Packed Like Sardines in a Can

CERN’s “Cosmic Piano” Makes Music Out of Raw Particle Data

Report: Apple Rejected Justice Department Demands for iMessages

The De Brazza’s Monkey: The Monkey With the Wizard Beard

Would You Buy an Android Tablet If It Only Cost $50?

From Space, a Remote Salt Lake In the Middle of a Desert Looks Like an Alien World

How Filmmakers Use Aspect Ratio Tricks in Movies

How Is This Hot Air Being Photographed?

Latest news

Tesla Goes Ahead and Admits Its Robotaxis Are Sometimes Fully Human-Controlled

School Forced to Replace Toilets After Kids Flush Vapes

‘Scream 7’ Just Won’t Stop Making Money as ‘Scream 8’ Gets Started

The Curtain Has Closed on Meta’s Movie Rating-Inspired Content Filters

Good News! You Can Finally Change That Ridiculous Gmail Address

ExpressVPN Just Launched ExpressAI: Your Prompts Are Now Invisible

VR Just Took Another Massive Body Blow

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

Latest Reviews

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Let us help find what you are looking for...