Latest

How We’ll Find Out If the Discovered Plane Wreckage Is Part of MH370

It’s been nearly a year and a half since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared and investigators finally have their first big lead in the search. A piece of an aircraft’s wing—a flaperon, to be specific—washed up on Réunion Island, east of Madagascar, some 3000 miles away from where investigators were looking. But we’re still a…

Drunk Ron Weasley Wishes Harry Potter A Happy 35th Birthday

Simon Pegg, in his finest role thus far, stopped by Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show as a rather distraught Ron Weasley to wish Harry Potter a happy birthday. Clearly, the post-Hogwarts years for Weasley haven’t treated him all that well. [EW]

We’re Actively Creating the Geekiest World in the Universe

It’s no secret that scientists are incredible, unrepentant geeks, so we really shouldn’t be surprised that the tentative maps for Pluto and Charon read like the most awesome mishmash of exploration history and popular culture to ever grace a planetary system. And every single place holds a story. The New Horizons science team is busy…

Your Computer Probably Can’t Use One Of Windows 10’s Coolest Features

How did I just do that? I’m using Windows Hello, a new feature of Windows 10 that can log you in with your face instead of a password. It gets better: Microsoft plans to let you log into all kinds of things the exact same way. Once your computer knows that it’s actually you sitting…

Researchers this week announced the recovery and identification of four sets of human remains belonging to leaders of colonial Jamestown. Among the items recovered from the graves was a sealed silver box, revealed by X-ray to contain bone fragments, and two pieces of a lead ampulla. Contact the author at [email protected].

In The Rush To Kill Their Lawns, Californians Are Killing Their Trees

The good news yesterday that California cut urban water use by 27% came with a sad asterisk. In their frenzy to disable their sprinklers and eradicate every inch of water-sucking grass from their drought-plagued yards, Californians are accidentally killing their trees. And some of them are falling over dead. The Associated Press brings to light…

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

Guys, Windows 10 is out, and we played with it alllll week. Tl;dr? We like. We also tested out two hotly anticipated smartphones (that we also like) and the redesigned Chuck Taylors, which made for some great shoe porn. Here are the highlights from this week. I Installed Windows 10 and Now I’m Talking to…

RIP “Rowdy” Roddy Piper

Today, we join director John Carpenter in remembering the life and career of Roddy Piper; just days ago we were celebrating the actor, wrestler, and all-around big personality’s participation in one of the greatest the greatest fight scene in cinema history, as seen in Carpenter’s They Live. Here’s that epic brawl again, because it never…

A Time Lapse View of the Drought Collected From Satellites

It’s been a common refrain in the Midwest this year: If only we could pipe all this rain to the West. But a new NASA visualization shows just how drastic the difference has been. Last year, NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched a project called Global Precipitation Management that uses 12 satellites to…

Here’s a sunny, stress-free Internet diversion: Can you spot a drowning child? “Computer programmer Francisco Saldaña created the simple educational game to help people recognize the deadly situation. A person who is drowning is physiologically incapable of calling out or waving for help – meaning often there is little noise or splash.” [NYT] Contact the…

Let’s Talk About Whatever You Want Right Now

It’s Friday, Planeteers. Let’s kick the weekend off right. What’s up, Gizmodo denizens? This was a big week in Techlandia, with the Windows 10 roll-out and shiny new mobile toys from Motorola. Cecil the lion’s hunter was hounded online, although he and his ilk actually help lion conservation. Dirty snow piles refuse to melt, kids…

“We did plan to do a museum about social history of women, but as the project developed we decided a more interesting angle was from the perspective of the victims of Jack the Ripper”—former Google exec Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe, explaining why a proposed women’s history museum was revealed, once constructed, to be a Ripper museum instead.…

Zuck Is Having a Baby, But What About That Adorable Dog?

Congratulations have been pouring in ever since Mark Zuckerberg posted (on Facebook, of course) that he and his wife Priscilla Chan are expecting a daughter in a few months. It’s wonderful and all (mazel tov, you two!), but most people took a look at their photo and wondered, is that a dog—or a mop? Yes,…

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence proving that members of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition resorted to cannibalism. The two-ship fleet, dispatched in 1845 to map the Northwest Passage, became hopelessly stuck in the Arctic ice. Remains of 36 bones show signs of cutting, breakage, and bone marrow extraction. Image: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Cool Off With a Michelada Popsicle Dunked In Your Favorite Beer

Micheladas are already the perfect warm weather drink: a mix of savory flavors, ice-cold beer, and just a snap of spice. Now imagine making the michelada even better by turning it into a popsicle that you drop into the beer, slowly melting into a slushy sublime summer cocktail. It’s Friday afternoon, you’ve made it through…

Under the Dome Wasted Its Chance to Make You Love Me. Screw Everything!

I’m a sad Dome here. I’ve spent the past few years waiting for everyone to realize how awesome I was, because all along it was clear that eventually something terrible would happen, and I would get to do what Domes do best. And then it finally did, and… sigh. Spoilers ahead. So anybody who was…

YotaPhone 2 Review: More Than a Gimmick, Less Than a Good Phone

Being different can make or break you. Apple decided to do things different back in 2007, and now they make almost all dem smartphone monies. But being atypical for no real reason also means certain death. Yotaphone 2 lies somewhere in the middle—a great idea wrapped up in a phone you just don’t want. What…

Being a combat engineer in the army is really bad ass

Being an engineer isn’t usually associated with being a bad ass. In fact, it’s probably one of the gigs furthest from badassery! But here’s a job description that’s totally bad ass: you and your team go into combat zones and build or demolish things while people are shooting at you and looking to kill you.…

What If Everybody James Woods Talked Shit About On Twitter Sued Him?

James Woods has filed a $10 million lawsuit against a semi-anonymous Twitter user who tweeted that the actor was acocaine addict. Many people are holding up this case as the perfect example of the Streisand Effect, where more attention is drawn to the accusations by suing rather than ignoring the trolls. But what if Woods…

I’m About to Pour a Weak Acid on Your Face.  Are You Safe?

Let’s say someone offers you a lot of money to pour a vial of acid on your face. They won’t tell you what kind, but they will reassure you that it’s a “weak acid.” Should you do it? The answer, of course, is no. Even if they show you the money up front, it’s going…