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New Orleans’ Marshes are Still Recovering From Katrina

Hurricane Katrina’s damage wasn’t all to man-made objects: the storm also hit the marshes and swamps surrounding New Orleans. The city has done a good job of regrowing over the last decade, but the landscape is still showing scars. NASA has published a three images captured by its Landsat satellites. The first shows the marsh…

Apple Pay will now work with PayAnywhere, a card reader that attaches to mobile devices to accept NFC and magnetic stripe payments. That means Apple’s contactless payment solution will now work in 300,000 more places in the US, and we’re one step closer to the walletless utopia. [9to5Mac] Contact the author at [email protected].

Logitech’s New Gaming Headphones Might Actually Sound Good

Most gaming headphones I’ve ever used have sacrificed actual sound quality for aggressive styling that lets everyone else know you call your computer desk a battlestation. Logitech’s latest headphones for gamers aren’t exactly discreet, but the company is promising sound quality that lives up to the visual hype. There’s two new pairs: the G633, and…

How to Build a Globe From Scratch

Time, patience, time, dedication, and time are just a few of the things Peter Bellerby needed to found and subsequently operate Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, one of the only companies on Earth that still makes globes by hand. Here’s Jenny Zhang via My Modern Met: Bellerby and a small team of dedicated globemakers construct high-quality,…

Valve’s Virtual Reality Headset is Delayed

It seemed like the amazing HTC Vive virtual reality headset would be the first to market—ahead of Sony’s Morpheus and the Oculus Rift. That’s not necessarily happening. According to a new press release, consumers probably won’t be getting their hands on Valve VR until 2016. Shame. While originally, the Vive was set to ship this…

Bow Down to the Beauty of These New Godzilla Posters, Out Friday

Who wouldn’t want to see the King of the Monsters, bursting out of the water and screeching on their wall, every single day? We all would, and that’s what these brand new Godzilla posters by artist Laurent Durieux will do, if you can snag one. These officially licensed posters for original 1954 Japanese version of…

Why Doesn’t Instagram Allow Me to Manage Multiple Accounts Like Twitter Does?

The other day I wanted to post a photo to Gizmodo’s Instagram account. I had to log all the way out of my personal account, dig up the password for Gizmodo’s account, log back in as Gizmodo, and post the photo. It made me wonder: Why doesn’t Instagram make it as easy as Twitter to…

ASAP Science Runs Through How Many Cherry Pits and Tablespoons of Spice Will Kill You

This is the ultimate video to illustrate that “the dose makes the poison.” ASAP Science explains how much seasoning, how many cherry pits, and how much loud music will murder you. Was anyone really surprised to learn that only a few cherry pits will kill someone? This video makes marijuana look surprisingly safe by comparison.…

Here’s an Early Look at Russia’s New Manned Spacecraft

While NASA and its commercial partners try hard to develop several new American spacecraft in order to get American astronauts into Earth’s orbit and beyond, Russia is working on its own new craft, too. On Monday, the Russian Space Agency published a few photos taken at MAKS-2015, the 12th International Aviation and Space Salon in…

What the Heck Is a Road Diet?

You might have heard the term “road diet,” which sounds like the dining habits of some asphalt-chomping ogre. And it kind of is! But what does it really mean? Here are four videos that explain exactly what transportation planners are doing when they turn space for cars into space for walkers and bikers—and why it’s…

This Messy Mass of Colorful Orbs Shows How Cancer Grows

Healthy tissues are like healthy ecosystems: Both composed of diverse populations. But in tumors, a single, malignant cell type often dominates. A new computer model is helping researchers understand why, and it could pave the way to more effective cancer treatments. Using mathematical algorithms, a team of researchers has developed a new, 3D simulation depicting…

Nielsen Is Tracking What We Like to Watch on Netflix

Global information company Nielsen is months into a program that allows it to track the performance of shows on streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, the Wall Street Journal reports. This sort of data could offer major studios the ammo they desperately want in order to negotiate higher licensing fees. Studios like Twentieth…

How to Recreate One of Aliens‘ Most Iconic Props For Under $30 

Many of you now know about one of the many things I collect. Another thing on that list is prop replicas of weapons from movies. I’ve got lightsabers and samurai swords, but one thing I always wanted and never got was the Pulse Rifle from Aliens. Now I can build one for under $30. The…

Check Out “Noticing,” a New Project From Robert Krulwich and Aatish Bhatia

Two of our favorite science writers, Robert Krulwich and Aatish Bhatia, just launched a new science blog about “noticing small things and exploring big ideas.” They call their project “Noticing.” [Noticing is] for folks who like to look around. Who can’t not. Who find it hard to get anywhere on time because there’s always something…

The Vast Majority of the World Doesn’t Use Facebook

Soon-to-be dad Mark Zuckerberg just made a big announcement on Facebook, a soul-searching website he created in 2004: “For the first time ever, one billion people used Facebook in a single day.” Do you know what that means? That means that over 6 billion people did not use Facebook in a single day. In the…

So, Every Science Fiction and Fantasy Character Ever Walk Into a Bar … 

Artist Noah Stacey (Zen-Master on DeviantArt) created this piece of art for the menus at Storm Crow Tavern in Vancouver, which imagines a galactic way station where Lando absolutely destroys Link at holographic monster chess. See the full art below. Contact the author at [email protected].

The Fembots of Ashley Madison [Updated]

Now we know that almost none of the woman in the Ashley Madison database ever used the site. The question is, was this a deliberate fraud? Or was it just a dating site gone wrong? Editor’s Note: The number of female users reported in this article are based in part on a misinterpretation of the…

A Cyclist’s Track Stand Befuddled One of Google’s Self-Driving Cars

It’s usually easy for our human brains to predict how any given car, pedestrian, or cyclist is going to act, but computers must be programmed to “understand” all of our varying behaviors on the road. The latest thing perplexing Google’s self-driving cars (and thereby entertaining us)? A simple track stand, according to Washington Post’s Matt…

What’s the Most Enjoyably Terrifying Animal-Attack Movie Ever Made?

Last week, Zoo was the second-most watched show in America. Yep, the silliest show on TV is a huge hit. Clearly, the people have spoken, and what they’re saying is: We can’t get enough of ANIMALS ATTACKING! But this genre is hardly new, with some of its finest examples hitting (drive-in) theaters decades ago. So…

Scandinavian Children’s Books Get Away With Way More Sex and Violence

Scandinavians are just a lot more relaxed about certain things. Like, one popular Norwegian book for eight-year-olds includes lessons on how to masturbate. Author Ingelin Røssland, writing in the Guardian, explains just how far children’s and young-adult titles can go in Scandinavia. Røssland writes: Traditionally, Scandinavian authors take a child’s world very seriously. Think of…