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Smoke From Canadian Wildfires Is Pouring Into the US Like a River

It appears that Canada is in for a rather long and arduous wildfire season. As of this moment, there are hundreds of fires raging in Alberta, BC, and the Northwest Territories. A stunning satellite image shows just how much of that smoke is darkening skies across the US. As of June 29, the Canadian government…

How To Make Your Gmail Look Way, Way Better

The handful of themes offered by Gmail have let you make your inbox look less like a faceless, nameless sprawl of email and more like something you actually enjoy gazing at. And now, Google has added hundreds of photos and new theme options that are going to make it look much better. You’ve been able…

Neat visualization shows which country has the most nukes over history

This visualization by drwtsn breaks down the nuclear arms race starting from the 1940s until now. The countries shown are the countries who have historically had the most nuclear weapons: the US, Russia, the UK, France and China (a few other countries have nukes too but are not represented). You can see the arms race…

3D Fingerprint Scans May Be the Ultimate Security Tool

Compared to a password that’s either too simple to be effective, or too hard to remember, a fingerprint is a great security tool. But they’re not infallible, in fact, they can be easily replicated with just a photo. So researchers are taking fingerprint security one step further and scanning them in three dimensions. The idea…

31 Flavors of Bullshit: Your Horror Stories of Working At a Startup

We asked for your nightmare tales of startup employment. Did you ever deliver—sending narratives of woe, scams, drugs, psychotic managers, drinking at your desk and more hookers than a venture capitalist could handle. The One With All the Drugs and Douches K writes: I moved to Silicon Valley as a youthful, totally oblivious woman. I’d…

The Jurassic World Dinosaur Toys Are Clever Girls Again

Having been labeled as male both online and on their packaging, the Jurassic World dinosaur figures have been correctly relabeled as girls (at least online). Hasbro says the gender swap was “an oversight” and not an egregious, deliberate change, which may or may not be true. Given the toy industry’s track record, I don’t think…

Mondo is Making Incredible, Comics-Accurate Ninja Turtles Figures

Excellent poster-makers and awesome vinyl distributors Mondo have slowly been getting into the action figure market recently—and while their recent “Original Turtle” figure was pretty damn amazing, this latest figure takes it to a whole new level. Announced as part of Mondo’s exclusives range at San Diego Comic-Con next week, the 11 inch tall, 1/6…

Garmin’s New Bike Light Looks Farther Ahead the Faster You Ride

As part of its new Varia line of smart cycling devices, Garmin just introduced a couple of lightning options that promise to make it safer for cyclists riding at night. And not only when it comes to visibility but also because they help riders keep their eyes glued on the road. When connected to one…

Sorry Ikea, This Robotic Arm Prints Furniture Any Shape or Size I Want

This robot that can spin together 3D-printed furniture could really get your creative juices flowing. And maybe eventually inspire the world to nix sectional couches once and for all. Meet Galatéa, the honking, seafoam-colored robot arm that looks like road construction equipment. “She” was invented by engineer Sylvain Charpiot, founder of French startup Drawn. Galatéa…

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Discusses Why Sandman is a Movie and Not a TV Show

Scott Lang learns how to take a punch in new Ant-Man footage. The Minority Report TV show casts a major lead. The Vampire Diaries is adding a new lesbian couple. Plus, set reports from X-Files filming, the cast and crew talk new characters coming to The Flash, and a new teaser for Hannibal. Behold, Spoilers!…

The Southern Lights Look Beautiful Through Satellite Eyes

The infrared eye of the Suomi NPP satellite captured this amazingly atmospheric light show created by the southern lights—aka aurora australis—over Antarctica before dawn on the 24th of June 2015. The view was captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) “day-night band” (DNB) aboard the satellite, which detects dim light signals such as…

What makes you happy to eat lobster, but still balk at eating larvae? Nature took an overview of the strategies to get people eating insects. The appeal of environmental or nutrition benefits fall short, instead better presentation and taste are what get bugs on your plate.

Can Lightning Strike an Indoor Pool?

Two swimming pool weather policies have surprised me in recent years. One was when I showed up to swim laps at an outdoor pool as it was beginning to drizzle. “Come on in,” I was told; as long as there was no lightning, the pool was still open. So I had one of my weirdest…

How to Listen to Apple’s Beats 1 Radio Station on Android, Right Now

Your friends that use iOS and OS X have been babbling about Apple Music and Beats 1, but you use an Android phone and are feeling left out. Well, now there’s a “very unofficial” way to listen along. While the official Apple Music app won’t arrive on Android until the fall, Twitter user Benji R…

A deserted farmhouse that has been untouched inside since the 1940s will soon be up for auction. See the house-turned-time-capsule at theCoventry Telegraph website.

There Are Weird Undeveloped Sperm in Your Semen (But No Need to Worry)

Doctors have long observed odd, circular cells in semen. They resemble undeveloped sperm, but scientists have been unable to work out how or why they appear—until now. Whenever a sperm sample is checked, healthy swimmers are counted along with the mysterious round cells. They’re often assumed to be underdeveloped sperm, but sometimes classified as white…

Mark Zuckerberg on VR, AI and Sending Thoughts Over the Internet

Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg ran a Q&A on Facebook, answering questions about the future of the social network, its technology and the Internet more generally. Here are some of the choice cuts. We’ve already covered his first public statements on real names and LGBT users. But elsewhere in the Q&A his discussed some of the less…

How Bigger Atoms Could Help Make Smaller “Lab-on-a-Chip” Devices

“Lab-on-a-chip” devices – which can carry out several laboratory functions on a single, micro-sized chip – are the result of a quiet scientific revolution over the past few years. For example, they enable doctors to make complex diagnoses instantly from a single drop of blood. In the future, shrinking such devices to extremely small sizes,…

Long Ago, a Ship Entered a Lake And Became an Island For The Lost

On these small islands, spindly rock formations are the only hints of the dark magic that transformed the original ships into monuments to angering the local mages. Alternately, it’s an island called Phantom Ship located in Crater Lake in Oregon. Lots of inspiration in both the island and lake names. Contact the author at [email protected].…

Here Are All the Ways Scientists Propose to Protect Earth From Asteroids

In a short, informative video, the American Museum of Natural History explains all the proposals for deflecting asteroids. Sadly, the plan from Armageddon is not on the list. Happy asteroid day! Here’s a bunch of reasons not to be too frightened of them. Contact the author at [email protected].