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This Trash-Covered Glacier Is a Monument to Boston’s Godawful Winter

Over the course of last winter, Boston’s snowplows moved thousands of tons of snow (and trash) into ‘snow farms’ around the city, where it sat waiting to melt in warmer weather. Well, the warmer weather’s still here, and so is the snow. As the New York Times documents, the ‘snow farm’ at Tide Street (seen…

NASA Captures North Sea Algae in Full Bloom 

Every summer, the population of algae in the North Atlantic reaches a peak, with the blue-green color of the phytoplankton causing the ocean to visibly change, even from space. NASA’s aptly-named Aqua satellite captured the above image on July 1st using its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument. You can see Norway on the right, the…

Instagram Is Finally Fixing Its Crummy Resolution

Instagram is a great way to share over-emojied pictures of fireworks with friends, but for years, pictures have been limited to a fairly-pathetic 640 x 640. Now that it’s not 2009, and most high-end smartphones have screens that can handle the pixels, Instagram is (finally) upgrading to HD. In a subtle change that’s rolling out…

Skeleton Rider Versus Plucky Robots: Guess Who Wins?

Yep, you wouldn’t want to be those robots in this new sculpt by amazing artist Vincent Villafranca, called “Dark Day for the Metal-Heads.” We’ve featured Villafranca’s incredible sculptures before, but this one is really something special. “Dark Day for the Metal-Heads” is just part of a huge new exhibition opening in New York on August…

Where did the word OK come from and what does it actually mean?

We say it almost everyday. When friends text to meet at 7. Ok. When your boss hands you an assignment. Ok. When you need to pay the bill. Ok. And so on. But where did that term come from? What did it first mean? This interesting word breakdown from Arika Okrent dives into the real…

People are Poor Communicators When it Comes to Pain During Sex

Sex should be fun, but for many people pain is not. Nevertheless, sex sometimes surprises us with a side of pain. It might be fleeting–from a lack of lubrication, an unexpected muscle cramp, some chafing or pinched skin, or it could be the result of a more serious medical condition. But whether it’s from shame…

This Is Just Some Of The Most Eye-Popping Terminator Art We’ve Ever Seen

Victor Martinezhas blown our minds with dazzling concept art for Star Trek Into Darkness and Real Steel. And his Terminator Genisys concept is no less astounding. Given a chance to reimagine Skynet’s arsenal, Martinez went all out. The result is nothing less than some of the best Terminator artwork ever. We’re thrilled to premiere some…

Microsoft Rebrands Xbox Music as Groove Without Making It Any Better

Just call Xbox Music “Groove” now. Groovy, man. Over the years, Xbox Music has been a pretty decent service, but it lacks the showiness and hype of immensely popular products like Spotify, and more recently, the just-launchedApple Music. In an effort to distance itself from a brand that doesn’t scream “music,” Microsoft is renaming the…

Hack Exposes What an Utter Piece of Shit This Spyware Company Is

Spyware maker Hacking Teamjust asked its customers to stop using its software in the wake of a large data breach. Good! Because Hacking Team is a corrupt trashcan company that provides weapons to criminals. The information exposed by hackers this week makes it clear that the Italian company doesn’t give a shit if groups with…

Eric Holder Says Edward Snowden Could Possibly Work Out a Plea Deal

Former US Attorney General Eric Holder—the guy who filed a criminal complaint against Edward Snowden for three felony violations of the Espionage Act—is now hinting that Snowden could strike a plea dealif he came back to the US. In an interview with Yahoo News, Holderacknowledged that Snowden’s whistleblowing started a “necessary debate” about privacy. Asked…

See the Great Barrier Reef from the perspective of a swimming turtle

I’m not saying I’d trade places with this turtle but imagine how wonderful a life this little guy has. He enjoys things slowly, his body is protected by his home which is always attached to his body and he can just dip into the Great Barrier Reef and swim in the ocean whenever he wants…

This is amazing: For the past six years, Colorado has provided teen and low-income women access to free birth control. The result? According to the state’s department of public health, the birthrate among teens statewide plunged 40% between 2009 and 2013. Abortions fell 42% in the same period. [CDPHE via NYT]

The Most Common Vertebrate on Earth Puts Humanity’s Billions to Shame

Illustrated above is a deep-water marine fish belonging to the family Gonostomatidae. More commonly known as bristlemouths, Gonostomatidae are easily the most plentiful vertebrates on on the planet. How many are we talking? Have a guess; I bet you’ll underestimate. (I certainly did.) Here’s William J. Broad, writing on the bristlemouth last week for The…

What’s The Most Over-The-Top Tech Job Perk? 

When we looked at startup horror stories last week, several commenters pointed out that crazy perks can be used to distract employees from the awful nature of their jobs. Beer pong tables, free massages, bottomless alcohol—even company-paid trips to sex workers. What’s the perk to end all perks? In the past I’ve worked at offices…

3D Scans Show How Semen Controls Sexual Behavior in Female Flies

It definitely takes two when it comes to making baby flies. Scientists have known for years that fly semen can trigger ovulation and make females lay more eggs. But no one knew exactly what those proteins did to the female reproductive tract. A new study published in PNAStakes a deep look inside fruit flies to…

A Rideable T-Rex Skeleton Tricycle Is all my Jurassic Dreams Come True

It’s the rare finds like this, the one in ten thousand discoveries, that justify Craigslist’s existence. Someone in Eugene, Oregon, is actually willing to part with this magnificent 12-foot long custom T-Rex skeleton tricycle they made that comes complete with handlebar-controlled jaws that really open. Weighing in at 90 pounds the recumbent trike is apparently…

An Annotated Guide to the New Ghostbusters Proton Pack

The release date for Ghostbusters 3 is still a year away, but director Paul Feig is getting very excited. After tweeting images of the uniforms that will be worn by the new Ghostbusters, Feig just provided a nice annotated guide to the new proton packs. It’s a little confusing! There’s a cryogen reservoir and a…

Which of these leaves are not actually real?

Super photorealistic drawings are always fun to see because they tickle your brain into thinking things that you know are fake could possibly maybe be real because they just look so similar. Here’s a drawing from Dino Tomic showing a leaf drawing with a pile of other leaves. It’s hard to tell which one is…

Revolution Begins In 8 New Posters For Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2

The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 will finally see Katniss and her crew travel to the Capitol and bring the fight to President Snow on his home turf. Now, a set of eight character posters gives us a hint at the war paint of the revolution. Several websites debuted the extreme close up character posters,…

Reddit CEO Says Sorry For Screwing Up For So Many Years

In a post made on-site after a shitstorm of a weekend, reddit CEO Ellen Pao acknowledged that the company has “screwed up. Not just on July 2, but also over the past several years,” and vowed a change of course. After 180,000+ signed a petition calling for her resignation, the gesture is unsurprising. But it’s…