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These Lights In The Sky Are So Strange, They Look Like Alien Signals

Don’t worry, there is nothing unnatural about that strange arcs of light you’ll sometimes see in the sky. Ice halos are a very natural atmospheric phenomenon, created when ice crystals suspended in the sky reflect and refract sunlight. But they truly are an impressive sight. You can read all about the different types of ice…

The OnePlus Two Warmly Embraces USB-Type C

Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus is known for surprises. When it released the One back in 2013, it was a device that redefined what it meant to mean “budget.” Now, after reportedly getting a complete overhaul with both its hardware and software, OnePlus has confirmed that USB Type-C will be coming to its next flagship. That’s…

The Neanderthal That Got Mistaken For A Cossack

Today, we think that the discovery of neanderthal fossils were a revelation. At the time, they were just another thing to argue about. Here’s why one talented scientist confused a neanderthal with a Cossack. Neanderthal remains came to light in the 1800s. One of the first sets of remains to be unearthed is what’s now…

The War Correspondent Who Shaped What We Think Space Looks Like 

io9’s comment of the day today comes from our own Ron Miller, space artist, who took to the comments of this post about the books we’ve owned the longest to share the story behind these 1950s-era space books. https://gizmodo.com/which-book-have-you-owned-the-longest-1713031484 Probably By Spaceship to the Moon and its companion book, Rockets, Jets, Guided Missiles and Spaceships.…

Why the NSA Didn’t Want Your Anti-Virus Software to Work 

Anti-virus software is supposed to keep computers safe from intruders, but spy agencies in the US and UK tried to break into these software for exactly the opposite purpose: To track their users. The National Security Agency and Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters hunted weaknesses in popular anti-virus software to collect information about their users, as…

Facebook Says It Can Now Recognize You from the Back of Your Head

Well, this is scary. The head of artificial intelligence at Facebook now says the social network’s experimental facial recognition technology is so advanced that it can read other clues in photos to recognize individuals. In other words, Facebook’s technology no longer needs to see your face to know you’re you. The Facebook team lead by…

Strange & Norrell‘s Italian Adventure Goes A Bit Off The Deep End

Many fans of the book expected Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell to skip, or greatly condense, Strange’s escapades in Venice—but instead the show gave us a whole episode dealing with the consequences of Strange’s madness. Unfortunately, it also tried to do a lot of finale setup, and it made the episode a bit of a…

You Want to Believe, But This Kid Did Not Break His Phone With a Hammer

Did this cute towheaded kid really destroy his phone because he trusted his case too much? The viral video is almost too good to be true. We call bullshit. The setup is perfect. A kid who no doubt considers himself to be the future of gadget blogging makes a video to show off the protective…

Jurassic World Is A Huge Mega-Hit, And That’s Terrible News For Movies

Jurassic World is now on track to beat the box office records of both Avengers films, and it has a shot at beating Avatar. This is terrible, awful news for anybody who loves movies. Not because Jurassic World is a horrible movie—it’s actually pretty fun. But because this means a lot more pandering sequels. I’m…

Foursquare Attempts to Unterrible Itself By Bringing Back Mayorships

Remember last year when Foursquare split its app in two, and got rid of all the fun features that actually made people want to use Foursquare? Well, people like me didn’t like it! Now Foursquare is backing down, at least a little bit. You can now be a mayor of your favorite coffee shop again!…

The Walking Dead In Virtual Reality Was The Scariest Thing I Saw At E3

It wasn’t that the zombies were too realistic. I wasn’t afraid for my life or anything silly like that. No, when I tried The Walking Dead in VR, what I chiefly saw was this: the disturbing possibility that virtual reality might get written off as a fad. Virtual reality was huge at this year’s Electronic…

Sad news, Hannibal fans: our cannibal won’t be getting a fourth season. Bryan Fuller thanked NBC for indulging the show’s “images that would have shredded the eyeballs of lesser Standards & Practices enforcers.” Indeed. The season two capper was epic, but look for the series finale to be a bloodbath for the ages.

The Supreme Court Just Kicked Out a CNN Intern For Wearing a GoPro  

The US Supreme Court forbids cameras in the courtroom. But apparently one intern from CNN didn’t get the memo. He was removed from the Supreme Court press room today after he was caught with a GoPro strapped to his chest. Politico first reported on the incident this afternoon. CNN claims that the intern, Walbert Castillo,…

All Ant-Man Figures Look Great In Real-Life Environments

A while ago we got a first look at Diamond Select’s Ant-Man figure, complete with an even teenier Ant-Man. But now that the figure is nearly here, the company have given us a closer look at the figure — and it turns out, shooting an Ant-Man figure in a real world environment just makes it…

The Epic Rap Battle Between Robocop And The Terminator Is Indeed Epic

Neither Robocop nor the Terminator is known for being particularly eloquent but, on the Internet, that changes. The team behind the ultra popular YouTube series Epic Rap Battles In History has used the occasion of the fifth Terminator film, Terminator Genisys, to pit two of the most famous Eighties cyborgs against each other in a…

Will the Confederate Flag Ever Truly Go Away?

Before he shot nine black Americans at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, 21-year-old Dylann Roof posed for photos holding a symbol of racial hatred. The same symbol that’s worn on t-shirts, wrapped around beer coozies, intertwined with American pop culture. Even if the flag is removed from South Carolina’s capitol, as leaders called for…

The Enduring, Unsolved Mystery Of The “Deep Freeze Murder”

On December 30, 1957, 17-year-old Ann Noblett was seen getting off the bus that was returning her home from a dancing lesson. She had only a short journey on foot to reach her house, but she never made it. A month later, her body was found … frozen to the core, despite England’s mild winter…

Action Comics’ Iconic Superman Cover Is Now Immortalized In Lego

What is considered to be the most valuable comic book of all time is finally being immortalized in Lego. For reference, the most recent mint copy of Action Comics #1 featuring Joe Shuster’s Superman art on the cover sold on eBay for $3.2 million. But this 145-piece Lego set? It will only cost you $40.…

What Should Parents Do With Their Spare IVF Embryos?

When in vitro fertilization was developed in the 1970s, critics of the technique imagined a world a la Aldous Huxley, filled with assembly-line designer babies. It didn’t turn out like that. Instead, the procedure simply gave infertile couples another route to start a family. But it also created a problem that critics never imagined. Couples…

Why This Critter Was The Must-Have Pet For Gold Miners

The ring-tailed cat is a creature that looks like a lemur had a wild night with a fox. It hangs out in arid places, eating whatever’s available. Here’s why it became the purse-dog of the gold rush. Few people know of the ring-tailed cat, even though the animals aren’t particularly rare. They range from southern…