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A Cardboard Skateboard Is Surprisingly Durable

Signal Snowboards has a long history of making custom boards using unorthodox materials. But lately it’s been fixated on using cardboard, and after building both a rideable surfboard and snowboard, the company has now gone and built a surprisingly tough cardboard skateboard. But it’s not like they cut the side off a cardboard box, attached…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Jul 30 '15

Ruby App Gets Period Tracking Right

The company that makes the fertility app Glow released a new iOS app called Ruby today, which lets women track their menstrual cycles and sexual health without an obsessive in-your-face focus on pinpointing ovulation. Like its baby-focused cousin Glow, the Ruby app still tells you when you’re in a ‘fertile window’, but its interface is…

Tech News Diane Kelly Jul 30 '15

We Actually Learned a Lot From Philae’s Botched Landing on Comet 67/P

The ESA’s attempt to land a probe on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko didn’t go as planned, but the mission has been far from a failure. A recent analysis of Philae’s harrowing journey across the comet has revealed some fascinating clues about its surface, while providing critical insights for future comet missions. A meticulous analysis of Philae’s first…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 30 '15

A Rare Glimpse of the Ancient Infrastructure That Controls NYC’s Subway

New York City’s subway system is a wonder of engineering—but sadly, that engineering is so old that it’s not even manufactured anymore, causing huge problems for the people who run it and anyone trying to use it. That means the MTA has built a whole shop up around trying to maintain its aging technology, and…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Jul 30 '15

The True Story Behind This Famously Arresting 1945 Photograph

What’s going on here, exactly? The date is Oct. 17, 1945. The place is Pontiac, Mich. The woman is Deputy Sheriff Clemmia A. Hurst, of Lee County, Ky. The man in handcuffs is Raney Allen, 25 years old and wanted for murder—all four feet of him. This study-in-contrasts photo, taken just before Hurst and Allen…

Tech News Cheryl Eddy Jul 30 '15

I Can’t Stop Watching This Automated Ping-Pong Death Machine

This ping pong bot is so good it doesn’t even need to watch the ball, it just—OH MY GOD IT’S EYEING THE CHILD. This advertisement for Omron Automation & Safety spends the majority of its one-minute duration teasing the viewer with glimpses of an automated ping-pong bot. When the full-frame reveal happens at the 53…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jul 30 '15

10 Books You Pretend to Have Read (And Why You Should Really Read Them)

Science fiction and fantasy offer a rich legacy of great books—but that abundant pile of reading material can also be daunting. So sometimes, it’s easier to fake it. We asked some of our favorite writers, and they told us the 10 books that everyone pretends to have read. And why you should actually read them.…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Jul 30 '15

Panasonic CM1 Review: Finally, a High End Camera Inside a Smartphone

Most people are perfectly satisfied with the camera in their smartphone. But to photographers and hobbyists, even the latest iPhone doesn’t come close to emulating the capability of a full-fledged camera. Panasonic’s CM1 is the answer. What Is It? It’s a $1000 unlocked GSM Android phone with a 4.7-inch 1080p display, 2.3GHz quad-core processor, and…

Reviews Michael Hession Jul 30 '15

This Desk Vac Proves R2-D2’s an Awesome Sidekick Even When He Sucks

There’s no reason to feel upset when you see R2-D2 forced to do menial jobs—that’s exactly what droids were built for. Believe it or not, he will thoroughly enjoy his latest role as a tiny $24 vacuum for your desk, and happily suck up your bagel and Doritos crumbs. Powered by a single USB cable,…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Jul 30 '15

Mr. Robot Recap: Hacking a Prisoner Out of Jail

Last night’s Mr. Robot was intense—and arguably the most dystopian episode so far. After breaking into a world-class data center last week, Elliot’s next hacking assignment is a prison. But this time, there’s way more on the line. COMMENCE SPOILERS. Shayla’s dead. Elliot’s girlfriend was kidnapped by the incarcerated Fernando’s drug gang, only to be…

Television Bryan Lufkin Jul 30 '15

The World’s Longest Urban Gondola Is Growing Into a Huge Network

Adding public transit in dense, complicated urban centers normally means a hugely expensive and extremely slow undertaking—just look at New York’s Second Avenue subway, which has been underway for decades. La Paz, Bolivia, has found a better way. Last year, La Paz—which sits high in the Andes, making construction even more difficult—began building cable car…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Jul 30 '15

Farmers Stumbled on Genetics That Stop Chickens Loving Their Offspring

Birds have a quality known as broodiness. It means that, after they lay their eggs, they stick around and take care of those eggs. Most commercial chickens don’t have that quality. And it looks like their complete disregard for their offspring results from one genetic mutation. Broodiness, in chickens, is not a trait that farmers…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jul 30 '15

A Hidden Tesla Coil Wirelessly Powers This Lamp’s Interchangeable Bulbs

Based on a fun demo used at science centers across the country, the Arc Light features a pair of glowing LED tubes that aren’t actually connected to the lamp in any way. Instead, tucked out of sight is a compact Tesla coil that wirelessly powers the bulbs whenever they’re close enough. Designed by Vedat Ulgen,…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Jul 30 '15

Review: A Lego Brickumentary Is the Lego Doc You’ve Been Waiting For

Lego has built its empire just like the interlocking bricks themselves, by connecting kids and adults, using pop-culture and mass appeal. On July 31st, A Lego Brickumentary will premiere. It’s the very first full-length documentary chronicling the powerful toy brand. The film is narrated by a minifig voiced by Jason Bateman, who maintains a lively…

Movies Tatiana Danger Jul 30 '15

Police Body Cams Are Big Business: Taser’s Profits Jump By 57 Percent

Taser International, the company best known for its namesake product, announced today that its profits were up 57 percent over the previous quarter. But it’s not because tasers are flying off the shelves. That huge bump in profits is coming from sales of body cameras to America’s police departments. As the Wall Street Journal reports,…

Tech News Matt Novak Jul 30 '15

The World’s Biggest Free Form 3D Printer Is Being Used to Build Houses

The dream of 3D printing buildings is not a new one and, typically, it’s not a pretty one either. However, the visionaries at Branch Technology, a startup founded by architects in Chattanooga, Tennessee, want to change that—and they’ve built the world’s largest free form 3D printer to do it. The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce flew…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Jul 30 '15

Before-and-After Pics Show the Extent of Mount Baker’s Dwindling Snow

Located in the North Cascades of Washington State in the U.S., Mount Baker is one of the most heavily glaciated and snow-covered mountains in the region. But as these satellite images show, its perma-snow doesn’t look so permanent anymore. At 10,781 feet (3,286 meters), Mount Baker is the third highest mountain in Washington State and…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 30 '15

What It’s Like to Wear the New Converse Chuck II

The new Chuck Taylors are here. The first new design in 98 years. I’m wearing them right now. These absurdly, blindingly white objects are shoes. More precisely, they’re the much-hyped Converse Chuck IIs, which were released on Tuesday. By the end of that first day on sale, these lowtops were the last pair of size…

Tech News Mario Aguilar and Michael Hession Jul 30 '15

Seeing a M1128 Stryker fire its cannon makes my spine freeze

It’s not even the blast from the cannon of the M1128 Stryker that scares me the most (though it is a very impressive blast). It’s the fact that right after the 105mm cannon goes boom, the world around it looks post-apocalyptic. The ground shakes so hard from the gun that it looks like lost souls…

Sploid Casey Chan Jul 30 '15

This Globe Holds Some Of The First Detailed Photographs Of Mars

How do you organize photographs of an alien world in the era before computers? By printing them out and sticking them to a globe of the planet! Mariner 6 (top two rows) and Mariner 7 (center to down right and south pole) pictures printed and assembled on a Mars globe on March 20, 1970. Image…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Jul 30 '15

A Cardboard Skateboard Is Surprisingly Durable

Ruby App Gets Period Tracking Right

We Actually Learned a Lot From Philae’s Botched Landing on Comet 67/P

A Rare Glimpse of the Ancient Infrastructure That Controls NYC’s Subway

The True Story Behind This Famously Arresting 1945 Photograph

I Can’t Stop Watching This Automated Ping-Pong Death Machine

10 Books You Pretend to Have Read (And Why You Should Really Read Them)

Panasonic CM1 Review: Finally, a High End Camera Inside a Smartphone

This Desk Vac Proves R2-D2’s an Awesome Sidekick Even When He Sucks

Mr. Robot Recap: Hacking a Prisoner Out of Jail

The World’s Longest Urban Gondola Is Growing Into a Huge Network

Farmers Stumbled on Genetics That Stop Chickens Loving Their Offspring

A Hidden Tesla Coil Wirelessly Powers This Lamp’s Interchangeable Bulbs

Review: A Lego Brickumentary Is the Lego Doc You’ve Been Waiting For

Police Body Cams Are Big Business: Taser’s Profits Jump By 57 Percent

The World’s Biggest Free Form 3D Printer Is Being Used to Build Houses

Before-and-After Pics Show the Extent of Mount Baker’s Dwindling Snow

What It’s Like to Wear the New Converse Chuck II

Seeing a M1128 Stryker fire its cannon makes my spine freeze

This Globe Holds Some Of The First Detailed Photographs Of Mars

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