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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…

Here’s How Much Better Apple Music Could Be Without iTunes 

Apple Music on iOS? Pretty good! Apple Music on your desktop? Pretty widely criticized as a steaming pile of garbage—largely because of the messy iTunes integration. More and more users have pointed out the growing problems with iTunes of late; just this week, The Atlantic’s Robinson Meyer gave us a long, very specific rundown of…

What It’s Like to Have the Oldest Phone in San Francisco

I live in the world’s most famous tech city, surrounded by the most advanced personal electronic devices. None of them, however, grab quite as much attention as my own phone does. My phone was already old-fashioned when I bought it eight years ago, and by now, even a drug dealer would be embarrassed to own…

Seeing sugar get swallowed by a cappuccino is so completely satisfying

This video is titled ‘Granular Satisfaction’ and there’s really no better way to explain it. A mound of sugar disappearing into the vortex that is a cappuccino is so satisfying. You wait and wait and wait for it to happen and then it does and the black hole closes up and waits for its next…

Whisky Is Being Sent to the ISS, But It Won’t Get Astronauts Drunk

The best whisky on Earth is headed into space. Yesterday, Japanese distillery Suntory announced it’s shipping booze to Kibo, Japan’s module on the International Space Station. Unfortunately, astronauts aren’t going to pound shots of the earthly delight. The whisky’s being experimented on, instead: Scientists want to know how microgravity might make alcohol age faster. It’s…

I Talked With the Astronauts Living in NASA’s Underwater Lair

Deep at the bottom of the Atlantic, NASA has built an underwater lab—and there are astronauts living there. I joined them (sadly, in a digital format) to see what they’re up to down there and just what kinds of things they might be bringing back from the depths. This is the 20th team to gather…

Buy Your Hard-Working Coworker A Beer, It’s #SysAdminDay

It’s Sysadmin appreciation day! What exactly are you appreciating? The primary duty of a system administrator is the upkeep and ongoing operation of computer systems, especially servers—and that job description means they are responsible for elements like uptime and security that are essential to the health and functionality of computers, networks and the ability of…

Incredible photo of hawks tossing food to each other in midair

Photographer Phoo Chan captured this perfect sequence of a Northern Harrier tossing prey to one of its baby chick hawks in midair. It’s an amazing display of coordination, like a little game of pitch and catch between a dad and his kid. You can see the adult hawk drop the prey and then watch the…

The Team Behind Entourage Is Developing An Alien Bounty Hunter Franchise

“I’ve got an idea for an alien bounty hunter franchise.” “Oh yeah? What should we call it?” “How about… Alien Bounty Hunter.” “Perfect!” “Love it!” *High fives and bro hugs all around.* That’s what we can only imagine the pitch meeting was like for Alien Bounty Hunter, a literally titled potential franchise that’s being produced…

Selina Kyle is a Brilliantly Complex Character When She’s Not Catwoman

When Catwoman #35 kicked off a new story arc for Selina Kyle—written by frequent io9 contributor Genevieve Valentine—many fans bristled at the thought of taking Selina Kyle and placing her as role of a mob boss. But not only does it work, it turns Selina, and eventually Catwoman, into one of DC’s best current characters.…

What’s the Most Revolting Thing You’ve Ever Seen in a Horror Movie?

Some horror movies are carefully constructed operas of psychological dread. And others are just out to make you feel like you’re gonna yak into your popcorn. While we love the former, today’s question is all about the latter: what is the single most repulsive, gore-gastic thing anyone’s ever dared to put onscreen? NO SCENE TOO…