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Academic Publishing Giant Fights to Keep Science Paywalled

One of the world’s largest academic publishing companies wants to scrub the internet of pirated science. That’d be Elsevier, which recently filed a complaint at a New York district court against Library Genesis and SciHub.org, two massive online hubs for scientific research articles. The sites, which are both popular in developing countries like India and…

Afghanistan’s Destroyed Buddhas Given New Life As Holograms

In March 2001, the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan, a pair of giant statues dating to the 6th century in the Bamyan valley in central Afghanistan. Now, the statues have been resurrected with 3D light projection technology. A Chinese couple, Janson Yu and Liyan Hu worked to develop a projector at the cost of…

I Want This Insanely Customizable Keyboard to Exist Now

Think about how many keyboard shortcuts you’ve memorized. Now think about how much better your life would be if you knew a hundred, or a thousand, more. Why force ourselves to memorize shortcuts anyway, when we now have the technology to build infinitely customizable screens? Why, indeed? With its new keyboard concept, Sonder is offering…

Peeno Noir Meets Game Of Thrones In Jaqen H’ghar 

Titus Andromedon’s song ‘Peeno Noir’ from Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was a catchy earworm, and now, comedy group Practical Folks take the tune to Westeros. Disclaimer: we bear no responsibility this getting stuck in your head for the rest of the day. You clicked that button, not us.

Watch This 10 Thousand Dollar Apple Gold Watch Get Crushed By Magnets

There’s destruction porn, and then there’s destroying the most absurd luxury item you can get your hands on, just because. Of course, I’m talking about Apple’s 18k, 10 thousand dollar gold timepiece. Don’t tell me you haven’t thought of it. Most of us would never have the balls or spare chunk change to actually do…

The World in 2100, According to NASA’s New Big Dataset

The image you’re looking at is a glimpse into our future. Welcome to July 2099, according to 21 different climate models. CO2 concentrations have topped 900 parts per million, comprising nearly 0.1 percent of our atmosphere. (In early 2015, we hit 400). The predictions shown in this daily max temperature map come from a new…

The Philae Lander Has Woken Up!

This morning, the Philae Lander has re-awoken from its hibernation on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, according to a blog post from the European Space Agency. Rosetta’s lander Philae wakes up from hibernation The lander has been in hibernation mode since November, after coming to rest in a shady part of the comet’s surface. Now, with the comet…

MIT Scientists Can Now 3D Print Optically Transparent Glass

3D printing has become a cheap and versatile way of creating new solid objects — but some materials have so far refused to be shaped using the manufacturing technology. Now, researchers at MIT have finally developed a way to 3D print optically transparent glass. While it’s easy enough to 3D print using all kinds of…

Tracing Lines Across The Sky

This spectacular image comes from photographer Constantine Emmanouilidi. Taken from the top of Mount Athos, Greece, it shows just how busy the night sky can be. Photography credit: Constantine Emmanouilidi, via Earth Science Picture of the Day.

Glorious Night Sky Captured With Nikon’s New Astrophotography DSLR

If you’ve never seen the night sky shimmer and glow like this one does, don’t feel bad: your human eyes simply aren’t good enough. But with technology, skilled astrophotographers are able to pull back the veil and reveal the unseen glory of the cosmos. The starry sky above was captured by Adam Woodworth late last…

[F]or Noor Hashem, a Mellon postdoctoral fellow in the Humanities, [G. Willow] Wilson’s Alif is a prime example of how a growing number of Muslim fiction writers are turning to genres like science fiction, fantasy, and comics to navigate Muslim identity and aesthetics in a post-Sept. 11 world.

Watching Water Filled Condoms Explode is Suprisingly Mesmerizing

Ever wonder what happens when you fill a condom with water, spin it up with a drill, and jab it with a knife? Maybe not, but now you’re thinking about it. Thankfully, the Slo Mo Guys have yet another mesmerizing demonstration to feed our imaginations. This little experiment proves, once and for all, that fluid…

Yeah, Dark Matter Is Predictable. It’s Still Fun as Hell.

Dark Matter premiered on Syfy last night, and we spent a lot of quality time learning the personalities of our brand new protagonists. Were there any huge surprises right out of the box? Not really. But it was fun. Spoilers… The plot of the pilot can be dispensed with relatively quickly: six crewmembers of a…

Concept Art from Jurassic World Shows Off Isla Nublar’s Wild Beauty

A fantastic selection of concept art from Colin Trevorrow’s blockbuster, Jurassic World has surfaced on the web. Feast your eyes on some of the fantastic artwork that shows off theIsla Nublar’s popular attraction, and take in the wild beauty that the folks at InGen couldn’t tame. The artwork comes courtesy of Gadget-bot, which has worked…

The Shepherd’s Crown will be Terry Pratchett’s last Discworld novel

Ever since Terry Pratchett’s death in March, there’s been some speculation as to whether or not the series would continue. Now, his daughter, Rhianna Pratchett has announced that his forthcoming novel, The Shepherd’s Crown, will be the final installment of the series. https://gizmodo.com/rip-sir-terry-pratchett-1948-2015-1691042794 Pratchett confirmed that she, nor anyone else would be continuing the series…

Tiny Robotic Tentacle Can Pick Up Ants Without Crushing Them

If you discover ants in your apartment, your first reaction is probably to stomp em’ fast. But maybe you’re averse to violence and would prefer to peacefully relocate your six-legged housemates. Now, there’s a robotic arm capable of doing just that. To be fair, we aren’t going to see a commercial version of this tiny…

Go Retro With Adventure Galley’s Music Video, Marooned

Portland band Adventure Galley recently released a music video for their song Marooned. It’s dripping with retro-1950s goodness, from rockets to robots to a little mad science. It’s a really fun song, and you can read up on how they filmed it over here.

In Space, Even A Single Grain Can Lead To Catastrophe

In space, all it takes is a tiny grain of junk travelling at high speeds to create a very, very bad day. A single sand-sized grain of aluminum ripped this 28 by 12 mm hole and smaller, adjacent holes in this aluminum sheet during hypervelocity collision testing by the European Space Agency. That something so…

The Plan to 3D Print a Steel Bridge in Mid-Air

In two years, a one-of-a-kind construction project will commence over a canal in Amsterdam. It won’t involve any humans at all, but rather, a six-axis robot that can craft molten metal in mid-air. Two months later, a 24 foot-long steel pedestrian bridge will arc its way across the water. That, at least, is the plan.…

Elon Musk’s Space Internet Plan Is Moving Forward

In yet another episode of ‘What crazy idea is Elon Musk trying to disrupt the world with this week?,’ the billionaire’s space company has officially requested FCC permission to begin testing satellites for what could become a globe-spanning internet. Rumors of said spacenet began to crystallize this past January, when Businessweek published a report outlining…