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A New Documentary Shows How Gene Roddenberry Almost Killed Star Trek TNG

Former Star Trek star William Shatner has made a slew of Trek documentaries in recent years, so when I saw he had a new one about the first few years of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I wasn’t sure if it was worth watching. But it totally was. Shatner’s new film, Chaos on the Bridge,…

These Baboons Eat Shark Eggs

These are Chacma baboons. For the most part, they scavenge on land, but once every two weeks in the spring, they head out to the edge of the ocean to eat the babies of the sea’s alpha predator. Papio ursinus, or Chacma baboons, live around the southern tip of Africa. They’re notable for their size—males…

A sword made of fire is the coolest thing

There are swords that are on fire, swords made in fire and now, swords that are made of fire. The Backyard Scientist created this “fire saber” which is basically a seltzer bottle that spits out a stream of butane which lights on fire with a lighter. The look of the fire stream resembles a light…

Why Did NASA End The Space Shuttle Program?

At the time the space shuttle program ended, the three remaining shuttles had flown 25, 33, and 39 times respectively. They were designed for a lifetime of 100 flights each. Though troubled with parts obsolescence throughout the program, it would have been possible to continue to adapt and fly the vehicles for many more years,…

Today is the 40th anniversary of Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance, a case that’s become one of America’s biggest unsolved mysteries, and CNN has a piece about property owners who’ve become an unwitting part of the search over the years—and the insane publicity circus that inevitably follows. Top image: Jimmy Hoffa on July 26, 1959, in Washington.…

Incredible Robotic Water Strider Jumps Like the Real Thing

Researchers from South Korea have created a robotic insect that’s capable of jumping and landing on an aquatic surface, a unique mode of transportation found only in specialized animals. To reproduce this jumping ability in a robot, Je-Sung Koh and colleagues from Seoul National University studied the way water striders do it. The resulting bio-inspired…

Does the Indictment of a Killer Cop Mean That Body Cams Work?

University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing has been indicted for murder in the shooting of Samuel Dubose, an unarmed black man. According to prosecutor Joseph Deters, video captured by Tensing’s body camera was the critical piece of evidence in the decision to pursue charges. Does this mean that cameras work? Tensing shot Dubose during…

I Love This Study On Activated Charcoal’s Effect on Farts

Every day you learn something new, and that’s great. But some days are extra special. Some days, you learn things about the “fecal liberation of intestinal gases.” Those days are the best. I knew that activated charcoal water filters existed. These filters, alternately known as granular activated carbon filters, are made of grains of charcoal…

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

This week is all about Windows 10 (as it should be), but that doesn’t mean mobile operating systems decided to take a weeklong vacation. We’ve got a new launcher from Microsoft, ways to finally get down to business and learn code, and Yahoo’s zombified resurrection of Yahoo Messenger. Should be fun. Let’s get to it.…

Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars Is Still The Best, Silliest Marvel Tribute

Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars might just be the best thing to come from Marvel’s ongoing Secret Wars event. It’s not only filled with brilliant deep cuts for the classic ‘80s comic crossover, but it’s irreverently funny—and this week, it takes on the most iconic moment from the original event. https://gizmodo.com/the-oddest-goofiest-marvel-meta-joke-in-deadpools-secr-1712062488 Minor spoilers ahead for Deadpool’s…

This Video of Protestors Trashing Uber Cars Makes Me Feel Bad for Uber 

I don’t like Uber. It’s an apparently evil company that overcharges people and eschews accountability as often as possible. However, seeing an angry mob of cabbies descend upon and destroy a number of Uber cars in Mexico City actually made me feel bad for Uber drivers. At this point it’s a common tale. Taxi cab…

This ejector bed that launches you to wake up is a real funny nightmare

Waking up is hard. Anybody who can just get straight up in the morning cannot be trusted. For the rest of us, we make do with phones and alarm clocks and snoozing and coffee and showers and jobs that pay us to not be late. Perhaps we’re going to easy on ourselves. Maybe we need…

Let’s Talk About NASA’s Mission to Europa

The search for life in the Solar System is about the hunt for water. Wherever we find liquid water on Earth, we find life. I’m talking everywhere. In the most briny, salty pools in Antarctica, in the hottest hot springs in Yellowstone, under glaciers, and kilometers deep underground. So we go searching for liquid water…

A Cardboard Skateboard Is Surprisingly Durable

Signal Snowboards has a long history of making custom boards using unorthodox materials. But lately it’s been fixated on using cardboard, and after building both a rideable surfboard and snowboard, the company has now gone and built a surprisingly tough cardboard skateboard. But it’s not like they cut the side off a cardboard box, attached…

Ruby App Gets Period Tracking Right

The company that makes the fertility app Glow released a new iOS app called Ruby today, which lets women track their menstrual cycles and sexual health without an obsessive in-your-face focus on pinpointing ovulation. Like its baby-focused cousin Glow, the Ruby app still tells you when you’re in a ‘fertile window’, but its interface is…

We Actually Learned a Lot From Philae’s Botched Landing on Comet 67/P

The ESA’s attempt to land a probe on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko didn’t go as planned, but the mission has been far from a failure. A recent analysis of Philae’s harrowing journey across the comet has revealed some fascinating clues about its surface, while providing critical insights for future comet missions. A meticulous analysis of Philae’s first…

A Rare Glimpse of the Ancient Infrastructure That Controls NYC’s Subway

New York City’s subway system is a wonder of engineering—but sadly, that engineering is so old that it’s not even manufactured anymore, causing huge problems for the people who run it and anyone trying to use it. That means the MTA has built a whole shop up around trying to maintain its aging technology, and…

The True Story Behind This Famously Arresting 1945 Photograph

What’s going on here, exactly? The date is Oct. 17, 1945. The place is Pontiac, Mich. The woman is Deputy Sheriff Clemmia A. Hurst, of Lee County, Ky. The man in handcuffs is Raney Allen, 25 years old and wanted for murder—all four feet of him. This study-in-contrasts photo, taken just before Hurst and Allen…

I Can’t Stop Watching This Automated Ping-Pong Death Machine

This ping pong bot is so good it doesn’t even need to watch the ball, it just—OH MY GOD IT’S EYEING THE CHILD. This advertisement for Omron Automation & Safety spends the majority of its one-minute duration teasing the viewer with glimpses of an automated ping-pong bot. When the full-frame reveal happens at the 53…

10 Books You Pretend to Have Read (And Why You Should Really Read Them)

Science fiction and fantasy offer a rich legacy of great books—but that abundant pile of reading material can also be daunting. So sometimes, it’s easier to fake it. We asked some of our favorite writers, and they told us the 10 books that everyone pretends to have read. And why you should actually read them.…