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Do Giant Plumes of Saharan Dust Explain Why We’re Having Such a Quiet Storm Season?

NASA’s Terra satellite recently captured this stunning photo of Saharan dust wafting over the Atlantic ocean. It’s one of several outbreaks this summer that some speculate may be contributing to this year’s relatively peaceful storm season. As noted by Kimberly Miller at the Palm Beach Post, Saharan dust is the strongest it has been in…

This wet microburst is like the sky turning on a giant faucet

According to the greatest Internet resource, a wet microburst is a “small-scaled downburst” that is “accompanied by significant precipitation”. I think that’s underselling it a bit because man, this wet microburst that popped off in Tucson, Arizona basically looks like the sky decided to drop all of its rain at one damn time, like a…

Mountain Lion Famous for Crossing LA Freeways Is Killed Crossing a Freeway

Like so many others, he came to Los Angeles in search of acceptance, a little place in Malibu, and the occasional deer. Ironically, he found fame only when he left the city, but even then, his itinerate nature was celebrated worldwide through a series of blurry selfies posted to social media. Sadly, P-32, the only…

Chelsea Manning Faces Solitary Confinement For Having A Copy of Vanity Fair

Chelsea Manning, the US army soldier who leaked classified documents to Wikileaks, is looking at “indefinite” solitary confinement for infractions that include possessing a copy of the Caitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair magazine and using an expired tube of toothpaste. Former intelligence analyst Manning is serving out a 35-year prison sentence at Fort Leavenworth for espionage…

Are You Doing Anything to Prepare for the “Godzilla” El Niño?

Out here in drought-stricken California, the weather has been creepily gorgeous for over a year. But now, we’re facing one of the worst storm seasons in recorded history for this region. Are any of you in the storm’s path? What are you doing to prepare? New predictions based current climate models came out this week,…

NASA Just Tested the Rocket Engine We’ll Use to Visit Mars

NASA’s RS-25 engine, the powerhouse aboard the SLS rocket that will one day launch us to Mars, just completed an explosive test run. You’re gonna wanna see this. Remember that when the SLS finally takes off, there will be four RS-25 engines working in concert, making it the most powerful rocket we’ve ever sent into…

Growing Lettuce In the Tokyo Subway Isn’t So Different From Growing It In Space 

The Tokyo subway’s romaine is growing—and fast. A project by the company that runs the city’s subways, Tokyo Metro, was highlighted today by Naomi Gingold of PRI, who visited one of the hydroponic farms. Between stations on the blue Tozai line, the company is growing several types of greens and selling them to a nearby…

And Now, a Tweet From the White House’s Official Iran Deal Twitter Account

It’s rare to see a Twitter exchange where the use of “memetacular” is the least upsetting part but here we are. The memes have won.

The President Of Lucasfilm Eases Our Worries About Han Solo Movie

Even the biggest Star Wars fan was stunned when Disney announced an upcoming Han Solo-centric, standalone film. Would they ruin one of the best characters ever? Well, the president of Lucasfilm doesn’t want that and has offered some encouraging new details on the solo Solo film. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy talked…

Luke Skywalker Is a True Jedi Master in his First Photo from The Force Awakens (Updated)

I wish I had something clever or profound to say about the first photo of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker taken in 30 years, or about it being the first time we’ve ever seen Luke wearing traditional Jedi robes. But I don’t. My stomach is full of tiny Star Wars-obsessed butterflies and I’m just really,…

We’ve Used Up Our Annual Supply of Earth’s Resources—And It’s Only August

Happy Earth Overshoot Day, that singular day each year when humanity’s resource demands outstrip the planet’s ability to regenerate them. Last year, we faced our ecological debt on August 19th, this year, we’ve reached this milestone six days earlier. Well done. Overshoot Day is estimated every year by the Global Footprint Network, an international think-tank…

Hear What Famous Horror Movies’ Theme Music Sounds Like in a Major Key

Oh my god. What happens when you shift the theme music for The X-Files from its natural minor key into a major one? Well, you get what sounds like the opening theme to an adorable Japanese RPG videogame from the Super Nintendo era. Muted Vocal recorded it and four other classic horror movie themes in…

Here it comes! Researchers at NOAA just confirmed the first signs that this year’s predicted historic El Niño has already kicked off, just like they thought it would. But what does that mean for us? Here’s a breakdown of what we can expect to happen as El Niño unfurls.

Our Favorite iOS, Android, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

With Samsung’s slew of announcements today and the steady march toward the IFA electronics show in Berlin and the iPhone event in September, all eyes seem to be on hardware—but it’s the apps that make any of these things worth using. Here are the very best from this week. Multiplatform Microsoft Translator Translation apps have…

Getting a Tiny Bit of This Element on Your Skin Will Make You Reek of Garlic for Weeks

Tellurium is usually found stuck to various metals in the ground. It forms ores with gold, silver, copper, and lead. When refining these metals, some unfortunate people have come into contact with purified tellurium—and exposure means you reek of garlic for weeks. Tellurium was a favorite among early alchemists, because it was often found hidden…

11 Years After It Was Announced, Batman: Europa Is Coming This November

Hell, it’s about time. In 2004, DC announced Batman: Europa, a miniseries from Brian Azzarello, Matteo Casali, Jim Lee and Giuseppe Camuncoli. Europa promptly disappeared from solicitations, before briefly re-emerging in 2011, only to vanish once more. That is, until now: Europa is finally hitting shelves! The series, which was originally announced back in 2004,…

Want to Make Your Commute Feel Shorter? Wait at a Tree-Lined Bus Stop

Trees, what can’t they do? They shelter urban wildlife, improve our mental health, and provide the very air we breathe. And it turns out that just the presence of trees at a public transit stop might be enough to improve riders’ perception of the transit experience—even if the actual service doesn’t improve at all. A…

And so Begins the Slow and Steady Leak of Star Wars: The Force Awakens Toys

The internet was barely trickling into most homes when Star Wars: The Phantom Menace arrived in theaters, so it was easy to keep all of the accompanying toys and collectibles under wraps. But as is apparent from these The Force Awakens figures popping on eBay, it won’t be so easy for Disney and Lucasfilm to…

Disney’s D23 Expo is This Weekend—Here Are 5 Things We’re Excited For

The D23 Expo, which takes place this weekend in Anaheim, California, is like Comic Con for Disney fans. But it’s more than a place to buy the latest Mickey Mouse t-shirt. Disney now uses the convention to break news on their big properties like Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and more. So what’s on tap this…

Seeing people’s faces get blown by air in slow motion is hilariously absurd

Silly! Fun! Absurd! That’s what this video by ScottDW is and it’s just so good. We see a bunch of people get smoked by a furious air blower in total slow motion so that you can see their skin try to escape their face. It’s so goofy and completely hilarious to see the weird faces…