Latest

Watch The Navy’s Railgun Catapult A 4-Ton Sled Off An Aircraft Carrier

The day is coming when the U.S. Navy will be able to use its electromagnetic launch system to hurtle all manner of aircraft into the skies, but for now we’re content to watch this rather impressive demonstration of its awesome power. The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) represents a revolutionary next step for the U.S.…

Ecologist Barbara Schroeder is the National Sea Turtle Coordinator (!) for NOAA, overseeing the conservation and recovery of turtles in U.S. waters. In honor of National Sea Turtle Week, she’s hosting an AMA over at /r/science. Got a question about sea turtles? She’ll be answering questions from 2:00 pm—4:00 pm ET. Contact the author at…

Pepper, the Robot That Reads Your Emotions, Will Be Sold to Consumers

Starting this weekend in Japan, people can buy a talking, person-shaped robot that reads your body language and gets sad when you turn off the lights. You may remember Pepper, the four-foot-tall, 60-pound, talking, dancing, joke-telling robot that guesses users’ moods and keeps them company. Pepper, whose software is open source, can be outfitted with…

Artificial Neural Networks Can Day Dream–Here’s What They See

When you look for shapes in the clouds, you’ll often find things you see every day: Dogs, people, cars. It turns out that artificial “brains” do the same thing. Google calls this phenomenon “Inceptionism,” and it’s a shocking look into how advanced artificial neural networks really are. In a post yesterday on its blog, Google’s…

The ’80s Marvel Super Heroes RPG Was Class 5000 Awesome

The 1980s Marvel Super Heroes RPG was well-designed and was supported by a ton of supplements and adventures. But the greatest thing about it was the FASERIP chart, the one chart that could tell you once and for all who would win in a fight, Thor or the Hulk. If you played it, you remember…

Our first official look at some of Lego’s new Halloween-themed Minifigs

It’s been rumored for a while that Lego’s upcoming Minifigures Series 14 would exclusively feature monsters and other spooky characters. And now, courtesy of French Lego blog Hoth Bricks, we have our first official look at at least four of those new Minifigs including Frankenstein, a witch, a person in a skeleton costume, and a…

New York City Is Very Pissed About Verizon’s Failed FiOS Rollout

If you live in New York City, you most likely don’t have access to Verizon’s very 21st-century fiber optic internet service, FiOS. And you should be because Verizon told the city in a contract that it would deliver fiber to every household by 2014. As of today 75-percent of New York City is still without…

Making a meat cleaver from a circular saw blade

John Heisz is an absolute master at repurposing old things into awesome and beautiful knives and tools. Here he is carving a meat cleaver from an old circular saw blade. The blade on blade cutting action is spectacular, the sanding of the knife is always fun to see and the making of the handle is…

Weird New Sitcom Stars An Animated Barbarian And His Live-Action Family

Yes, you read that right; Son of Zahn, a new TV series developed by Hollywood golden boys Phil Lord and Chris Miller (of The Lego Movie, 22 Jump Street and The Last Man on Earth fame), is on the way, starring a cartoon barbarian who returns to his living, breathing wife and kids after a…

Kids Can Finally Play Out Quint’s Death Scene From Jaws

It’s one of the more terrifying scenes in Spielberg’s thriller that made us all afraid to go in the water, and now kids can re-enact Quint’s death scene from Jaws whenever they want with this new playset from Funko. The set is part of the company’s ReAction line, which features collectibles that hearken back to…

How to Make Money from Your Photos

If you’re wanting to earn some extra dollars and cents from your adventures in photography then there are many ways to go about it online: A growing number of sites can hawk your pictures around and give you a slice of the cut if your work gets picked up. Here are some of your options…

The Most Important Thing We Will Need to Survive In Space

None of us would be alive today without plants, and if humans want to survive beyond Earth long-term, we’ll need to bring our leafy greens with us. Eventually, astronauts are going to have to become space farmers. There’s an obvious argument for growing plants in space: unless we want to pack enough shrink-wrapped protein bars…

What’s The Most Surprisingly Useful Tool That You Use In Your Work?

Astronauts may need tape to make their way into space, but what’s the glue (perhaps literal glue?) that holds your work together? Today, we want to know about the surprisingly necessary tools of your trade. https://gizmodo.com/astronauts-have-done-so-so-much-with-duct-tape-and-ele-1711503831 Tell us in the comments about what you use for work and why it’s so useful. It could be…

Terry Dodson’s Alternate Teen Titans Are Getting Their Own Lovely Toys

Last year’s Teen Titans: Earth One Graphic novel gave us a new take on the Titans — and a new look from Terry Dodson. Now those designs are coming to DC’s awesome Designer Series, and they’re looking pretty damn great. We got a brief tease of the 7” scale Starfire figure recently, but new DC…

What Creates This Underwater “Smoke”?

We’ve seen the dramatic white creatures that live around underwater vents in the Earth’s surface. But what about the vents themselves? There’s no “fire” inside them, so what is the black “smoke” pouring out of them? Certain types of hydrothermal vents are called “black smokers.” Obviously, what’s coming out of them isn’t “smoke” in the…

Amazon’s Delivery Drones May Only Be a Year Away

On December 1, 2013, to much fanfare and next-level hype, Jeff Bezos announced Amazon Prime Air on 60 Minutes. The idea seemed insane, implausible really, due to a bunch of air space regulation that hadn’t even been thought of yet. But now that regulation is beginning to shape up, and Amazon says it’s ready. Technology…

How Did They Squeeze a Camera Into This Tiny RC Helicopter?

We’ve been flying tiny helicopters around our living rooms for years now, but Silverlit, the company who created the world’s smallest flying toy, has somehow found a way to squeeze a video camera into its miniature RC choppers now. The NanoFalcon DigiCam features a double-rotor design to keep it from spinning out of control while…

First Plot Details For The All-Female Ghostbusters Reboot!

Jessica Chastain discusses some changes from the original book for The Martian. There’s already going to be sequel to The Last Witch Hunter. Dan Aykroyd talks about the need for female Ghostbusters. Plus, Rob Thomas talks up iZombie season 2 as the “Season of Dads”, and new Ant-Man footage. Spoilers Get! The Martian Matt Damon…

This Could Be Best Way Yet of Turning Your iPhone Into a Kickass Camera

Product designers have been trying to find a great way of combining the power of your smartphone with an attachable souped-up camera. So far, designs have been awkward and less than user-friendly. DxO thinks it has a better solution with the new One camera. The One looks like an action cam in size and shape.…

HP Fixed Everything Wrong With Its Budget-Friendly Detachable Notebook

It’s hard to build a cheap two-in-one PC that doesn’t have something fundamentally wrong with it. Believe us, we’ve looked—lower end convertibles usually have bad screens, flimsy hinges or sell essential accessories separately. Then something like the new 10-inch HP Pavilion x2 comes along. It’s small, costs only $300 and, at first blush, seems to…