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Vast swathes of white can make Google Maps a shock to the eyes at night. On iOS it now has a new night mode to help you see your route more easily after dark.

Cutting Emissions Through Biofuels Will Lead to Water Shortages

Climate change mitigation could actually increase water shortage in some areas rather than reduce it, according to new research. The source of the problem is clear: greater demand for biofuels, intended to reduce emissions from fossil fuels, requires massive increases in irrigation in productive but relatively arid American farmland. The study, published in the journal…

The Stormy Nebula Inside Sagittarius

Inside the constellation Sagittarius is the Lagoon Nebula, a tempestuous cloud of gas and star formation. See the full image below. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Contact the author at [email protected].

This 21st Century Cat Hunts For RFID-Tagged Prey

Outdoor cats get to massacre untold millions of mice per year, but indoor cats have to make do with balls of yarn and laser pointers. To try and bridge the gap, one man built a machine that would only feed his kitty when he ‘hunts’ down an RFID-chipped plastic ball. Ben Millam made the device…

Josh Trank Has a Defense of Fantastic Four

Director Josh Trank put this tweet up today, implying that Fox is to blame for the response Fantastic Four is getting. He deleted the tweet shortly after posting it. The reviews for Fantastic Four are not good, and it seems that Trank was driven to explain that the way it turned out wasn’t his fault.…

Sorry Shippers, Mulder and Scully Aren’t Together in the New X-Files

Love is dead. Or at least abducted by aliens. According to Entertainment Weekly, the returning show is going to turn the clock back on Mulder and Scully’s relationship. I’m more upset about this than I am some real-life break-ups. The first hint was in a clip shown at the Television Critics Association press tour, which…

HBO Now Gets Chromecast Streaming Support

HBO Now and Chromecasts are two wonderful things in a world that also contains Donald Trump; it is fitting and right that they should work together. Now, they do. Thanks to an update to the HBO Now iOS and Android apps, you can now cast Game Of Throne to the big screen using only Google’s…

iOS 9 Will Use Cell Data When Your Wi-Fi Sucks

The latest version of the iOS 9 beta has brought some goodies, among them the new Wi-Fi Assist feature, which will recognize bad Wi-Fi connections, and use cellular data instead. You can switch it on and off with a toggle in Settings, so if you’ve got spotty home Wi-Fi — or jealously guard your data…

Ancient Humans Had More DNA Than We Have Now

Our ancestors weren’t blessed with smartphones, WiFi and Amazon Prime, but for what it’s worth they did have a little extra DNA. According to a study published today in Science, Homo sapiens have shed about 40.7 million base pairs of DNA since migrating out of Africa nearly two million years ago. The human genome’s 3…

Tapeworms: Bad for your guts, good for your brain? The intestinal worm Hymenolepsis diminuta appears to protect against memory loss in rats, researchers reportinBrain, Behavior and Immunity. It’s the latest example of how parasitic worms might be harnessed for therapeutic purposes. Contact the author at [email protected].

How Coastal Cities Are Preparing for Cataclysmic Floods

When it comes to flood preparation, what seems like a good solution today might be making things worse in the long run. A pair of studies in Science this week look at the way cities in coastal areas are preparing for the cataclysmic flooding and storms that will threaten them over the next few centuries.…

The Most Enlightening Explanations of Cyberwalls From Twitter

During the debate this evening, presidential hopeful (and former HP executive) Carly Fiorina surprised us all by asking that we “tear down that cyberwall.” Especially Russian and Chinese cyberwalls. WTF? Fiorina’s response came after a bizarre question about how terrorists “hide behind cyberwalls.” Immediately, Twitter seized upon the new meme. It was especially exciting for…

The Best Worst Presidential Campaign Merchandise

The world imploded when it was discovered that Republican presidential hopeful Jeb! was selling a cheap plastic bowl for $75 (especially seeing as one could buy24 of the same cheap plastic bowls for $36). But it’s not the most egregious product being sold by a candidate. Just in time for tonight’s debates, here are worse…

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

Welcome to another week of great apps where Android plays catch up, legendary apps on iOS get even better, and Windows Phone adds a selfie app that can rival the best out there. It’s The Best Apps of the Week. Take a look. Android Genius Back in January 2014, Genius—the web service known for annotating…

This video of a Soyuz flight to the ISS is simply outstanding

This is so cool. Stitched together from both old and new clips of Soyuz launch footage over the years, this video shows what a Soyuz flight from Earth to the International Space Station looks like. And it’s absolutely incredible. You get to see the launch, approach and how it docks to the ISS from multiple…

Don’t Have Cable for The Republican Debate? Try Periscope, If You Dare

If you don’t have a cable subscription, you won’t be able to watch tonight’s Republican Presidential debate on Fox News.Which feels so 20th century. But if you’re a cordcutter who’s really desperate, we might humbly suggest you try Periscope. People are already streaming the “kids’ table” version of the Presidential debates on Periscope now. The…

The 50 Most Cringe-Worthy Moments In Comic-Book Movie History

There have been hundreds of movies based on comic books, going back to the earliest days of both media. And that cinematic flood has come with a certain amount of “holy crap, what was that” moments. Here are the 50 most shudder-inducing comic-book-movie moments… according to you. Check out our new video, created in honor…

Crazy people chainsawed a frozen lake to make a spinning ice carousel

Winter makes people desperate. Being surrounded by snow for months saps the fun out of the world. Walking on a frozen ice lake is not comforting. But screw it all. Because people need to be, well, people, crazy folks that were sick of winter this year decided to chainsaw up a frozen lake and make…

The Worst Apple Store Customer Horror Story

We asked for nightmare tales of the Apple Genius Bar—from both sides of the bar. One Apple Store employee submitted a customer encounter that makes us despair about mankind. The majority of Gizmodo commenters sang the praises of Apple’s in-house customer service, reporting helpful, pleasant interactions with Genius Bar and Store staffers. The horrors often…

It Has Been Zero Days Since the US Government Was Last Hacked

Same as it ever was. [August 6, 2015] Contact the author at [email protected].