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Pebble Time Preview: Why Can’t All Smartwatches Be This Simple?

Before the Apple Watch, there was the Pebble—the smartwatch that raised an incredible $10.3 million on Kickstarter. The smartwatch that managed to outsmart Google’s Android Wear. The Best Smartwatch according to critics everywhere. For the past six days, I’ve been wearing its successor: the Pebble Time. It’s the most fun I’ve had with a smartwatch…

Android Auto Preview: It’s Not Perfect, But You Want It

I was really excited when Google announced Android Auto last year. I spend a lot of time driving, and it sounded way safer and more convenient than sticking my phone to the dash. Eleven months later, I finally got to take it for a spin. The TL;DR version? I want it in my car, like,…

What The Ozone Layer Would Have Looked Like Without A Global Treaty

The Montreal Protocol of 1987 placed strict controls on the release of ozone-depleting substances. A new study now shows what would have happened to the ozone layer in the absence of this critically important international treaty — and it wouldn’t have been pretty. Above: Arctic ozone without the Montreal Protocol (left) and following its implementation…

How to Build Your Own Muscle-Controlled Wolverine Claws

Part of Wolverine’s charm is his surly disposition, but the real reason we all love the X-men’s grumpiest Canadian is because of his bad-to-the-bone retractable claws. So here’s a tutorial on how to build a set of your own that extend and retract by simply flexing your arm muscles. The step-by-step build instructions can be…

This Bike Was Specially Designed to Teach Kids to Ride

Teaching a kid how to ride a bike is tough enough without mechanical problems, flat tires, and messy chains. It’s high time someone built a smarter learning bike—and now, one company has. Last year we wrote about Priority Bikes, a lightweight, low-cost commuter bike designed to be “maintenance free.” Its Kickstarter campaign was successfully funded,…

Tiny Lego video game consoles to keep your Minifigs entertained

Worried your collection of Lego Minifigures is bored while you’re at your nine-to-five all day? Even tiny plastic people need a way to stay entertained, and for those times when the carnival isn’t in town, these Minifig-scale Lego video game consoles and controllers are the perfect addition to any studded living room. The custom pieces…

Screentendo Turns Screenshots Into a Playable Super Mario Level

When you’re bored at work, pulling out your Game Boy to pass the time isn’t exactly inconspicuous. But this simple app called Screentendo is. It snaps a screenshot of whatever you’re working on and then turns it into a simple Super Mario level with clouds and breakable blocks. Spreadsheets have never been more entertaining. Developed…

Earlier today, a NYC judge heard arguments on the rights of two chimps being used for science experiments. During the two-hours of proceedings, the president of the Nonhuman Rights Projects described the chimps as “autonomous and self-determining beings.” A decision on their fate is expected in one to two months. More here. Image credit: Associated…

Lovely illustrations of 25 different types of ramen

Anyone with motor skills and a place on their head to chew food substance loves ramen. It could be fancy, it could be instant, it could be piping hot, it could even be cold, it could be dipped, it could be weird but it is almost always fun to eat (or at least, is food…

People Are Redesigning World Cup Sponsors’ Logos to Protest Worker Abuse

FIFA is getting it from all sides right now, and for good reason. Last night the US Justice Department reportedly arrested officials for fraud related to the upcoming World Cups in Qatar and Russia. And even before the arrests, fans were protesting the use of forced labor at World Cup construction sites by hitting the…

Cyborg’s New Comic Look Is Basically Terminator Genisys‘ New Terminator

DC heroes and villains alike are ditching their old wardrobes for snazzy new threads ahead of the company’s new post-Convergence wave of comics releasing next month. Cyborg is the newest character to have a makeover — one that looks uncannily that slick new Terminator from Terminator Genisys. https://gizmodo.com/terminator-genisys-reveals-a-brand-new-type-of-termina-1694097334 Another part of DC’s wave of preview…

Heard That Humans Can Smell 10,000 Odors? Here’s Why You Heard That.

If you poke around online, you’ll find someone claiming authoritatively that humans can distinguish 10,000 odors. Unfortunately, that’s not true. It’s based on an experiment from the 1920s, that tried — and failed — to quantify smell. But here’s how it became a pop fact. In 1927, scientists Lloyd Henderson and Ernest Crocker started by…

Why Are Human Eggs So Huge?

Your mom helped you get through one of the most dangerous times of your life – the first few days after fertilization. She did it without even thinking about it, by stuffing the egg that helped make you full of everything you needed for those first few cell divisions. You think I’m exaggerating? I’m not.…

A Simple Text Can Crash Messages on Any iPhone It’s Sent To

A newly discovered bug seems to cause Messages on iOS to crash when a specific string of text is received—and if it happens while the phone is locked, it also seems to reboot the iPhone too. It’s easy enough to find the offending string of text on Reddit, and plenty of Twitter users are already…

10 of the most impressive movie sets ever built

The biggest movies are spectacles that can teleport your eyeballs to another world but so much of that is done through green screens and special effects now that it’s important to note when it’s not (or when it’s done really, really impressively digitally). CineFix has come up with 10 of the coolest movie sets that…

Which Book Is Best Read Aloud?

After a certain age, reading aloud pretty much comes to a dead halt and this is mostly a pretty good thing. There are some books, though, that make you want to make an exception. Tell us in the comments about the books where reading along in silence seems like a total waste and why this…

How to Change Between OS Channels on Your Chromebook

Just like the Chrome browser, Chrome OS offers several channels for you to choose between: stable, beta and development. Each one offers a different mix of new features and stability, so you can access updates earlier if you’re prepared to put up with a few bugs. Here’s how to switch between the available channels on…

This Ad for Banned Food in Russia Can Hide Itself From the Cops

Websites are already able to serve up ads customized for whoever happens to be viewing a page. Now an ad agency in Russia is taking that idea one step further with an outdoor billboard that’s able to automatically hide when it spots the police coming. The ad was created in response to Russia’s ban on…

This Might Be Our First Look At The Force Awakens‘ Stormtrooper Figure

Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ merchandising extravaganza begins three whole months before the film is out — but before that, there’s the inevitable leak of figures onto eBay from Chinese manufacturing facilities. And such a leak, if true, may give us our first look at a Force Awakens action figure. A figure claiming to be…

Bill Nye Explains The Universe With Amy Schumer And Broad City

In this NSFW Comedy Central video, Bill Nye — with the help of some familiar faces — explains how the Universe is a force that sends “cosmic guidance” to white women their 20s.