Latest

The most insane Tom Cruise stunts from the Mission Impossible movies

Tom Cruise is crazy. And not crazy in the jump on couches and shoot lightning bolts crazy but legitimately a crazy person because he has the boulders to do his own stunts. And not just stunts like playing hopscotch in a pond but stunts that get crazier and crazier with each Mission Impossible movie. Rock…

Turn These Giant Bundles of Foam Into Comfy Custom Seating

At most you can customize a chair bought at a furniture store with a throw pillow or a blanket. But Keren Shiker’s wonderful Sink In seat actually starts off as a large bundle of foam pieces that have to be slid around before you can comfortably sit. It’s not unlike those pinart toys that use…

Why the Argument Against a Ban on Autonomous Killer Robots Falls Flat

This week, an open letter was presented at an AI conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina calling for a ban on autonomous weapons. The letter has been signed by nearly 14,000 prominent thinkers and leading robotics researchers, but not everyone agrees with its premise. Here’s the case against a ban on killer robots, and why it’s…

Zoo Finally Admitted It’s Sort of a Comedy

Zoo, the show about mysterious animal attacks around the globe, has shown signs of taking itself too seriously—but deep down, this show knows it’s ridiculous. Exhibit A: the punny title of last night’s episode (“Blame It on Leo”), along with its somewhat lighter tone. Spoilers ahead. The search for clues is onnnn, as “Leo” dedicates…

An 8-year-old boy has become the youngest recipient of a double-hand transplant. Four surgical teams worked in shifts for 11 hours to perform the operation at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Zion Harvey will have to remain on medications for the rest of his life, but his new hands are expected to function and grow…

A Religious Mystery Is Found Buried At Jamestown

A team of Smithsonian researchers has been studying the remains of four men discovered in Jamestown, Virginia, the site of England’s first successful colony. Two years of forensic detective work revealed their probable identities—but the biggest mystery is a sealed silver box found in one of the graves. The bodies’ burial at the Jamestown church…

Bookmark this: Young Jennifer Pan felt tremendous pressure from her parents to succeed. When she stumbled, one lie led to an elaborate false life she was willing to kill to protect. Or at least hire someone to kill, as this absolutely fascinating Toronto Life piece explores; it’s a must-read for true crime fans.

You Can Now Buy Those Stupid/Great Amazon Dash Buttons

Amazon Dash buttons are either the peak of convenience or a step toward a commercial-rampant apocalypse, but whatever camp you happen to be in, you can now buy those amazingly awful and awfully amazing brand-specific buttons for $5 as long you’re a Prime member. The way these technological terrors/wonders works is you buy one (out…

Half of Biomedical Research Studies Don’t Stand Up to Scrutiny

What if I told you that half of the studies published in scientific journals today – the ones upon which news coverage of medical advances is often based – won’t hold up under scrutiny? You might say I had gone mad. No one would ever tolerate that kind of waste in a field as important…

Lion Murderer Walt Palmer Has Done More For Conservation Than You Have

Lion murderer Walt Palmer is an asshole. But, he’s also an asshole who’s contributed more money to animal conservation in Africa than pretty much anyone else. In fact, trophy hunters like him are a large part of the reason we still have animals like lions at all. Hunting is one of those things that, if…

Beautiful video of beautiful birds flying in slow motion

Birds being able to fly is Mother Nature’s ploy to make us all jealous. There are few cooler abilities in the real world. What else even comes close? Being able to hold your breath really long? Change colors? Grow back a chopped claw? Flying tops them all. Here’s a collection of birds flying in slow…

What on Earth is Fake Cream Made Out Of?

The cream inside your Twinkie is not the same thing as the cream inside that eclair at the fancy French bakery—we know that, because real cream goes bad after a while, and can’t sit on shelves for months. So what’s really inside that Twinkie? (And are you sure you really want to know the answer?)…

The Terribly True Tale of the Youngest Girl Ever Executed in America

Today, the crimes of Hannah Ocuish would be readily explained, if not outright forgiven. Her childhood incorporated all the clichés and every demographic of the youthful offender: poverty, neglect, ignorance, discrimination. Taken together, they ensured that Hannah would be a naughty little girl indeed. Unfortunately, it was Hannah’s poor luck to be born in 18th…

Here’s Every Crazy, Suicidal Stunt From The Mission Impossible Movies

The fifth Mission Impossible movie comes out on Friday—and you’ve already seen the absolutely batshit, life-threatening stunt where Tom Cruise hangs off an airplane in flight. The without-a-net, potentially deadly stunts have become a trademark of the series—see for yourself, with our video roundup. Seriously, the dedication to realness, even at the risk of extreme…

Windows 10: The Gizmodo Review

Windows 10 defies review. It’s not a finished product. It will never be a finished product, if you believe Microsoft. Like Apple with Mac OS X, Microsoft has decided that the tenth version of their operating system will be the final one—it’ll just get updated, year after year. Only with Windows 10, even some already-announced…

This Is the Quietest Place in the United States

If you really want to get away from it all, head to Washington State. There, on a trail along the Hoh River, in the rain forest of Olympic National Park, only 40 miles from Seattle, it’s what one scientist has deemed the quietest place in the contiguous United States. An incredible story in Outside follows…

Tom Cruise Has An Idea For An Edge of Tomorrow Sequel

Edge of Tomorrow is one of those movies we haven’t stopped thinking about since we saw it. It seems the same is true for Tom Cruise. In a new interview, the film’s star admitted he has an idea for a sequel, which he recently pitched to the film’s writer and director. Speaking to MTV, Cruise…

LG’s Latest Innovation Is… An Android Flip Phone?

Do you miss T9? Do you dislike productivity? Then the new LG Gentle is for you. In today’s word of overpowered massive handsets, it’s not hard to imagine that there might be some nostalgia for a simpler time, when texting was complicated, email required a computer, and you could still count on receiving a few…

Why Is Beef So Expensive This Year?

You may have noticed something a little odd happening at your meat counter. Most meat prices, especially for chicken and pork, are down—but beef prices are surging. Just what’s going on here? Part of it is the rise around the world of people buying beef. But that’s also been paired with a curious trend: In…

Japanese Telecom Companies Are Having a Robot Showdown

Here in the US, telecom giants like Verizon and AT&T fight for their share of customer data plans. But Japan’s own telecom outfits are embroiled in an additional head-to-head: selling robots. Yesterday, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT)—Japan’s biggest carrier—announced that it’s launching a service that lets a small, talking robot interact with other smart objects…