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An interesting look at the life of a master woodturner

Steven Kennard is a master woodturner and this is his story. Filmed by Breakwater Studios, this short shows in detail how Kennard transforms wood into unbelievably intricate art pieces and gives you a bit of background on how Kennard became a woodturner. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Archivists Are Rescuing Old Manuscripts Using Dry Ice

In their battle against time, archivists have picked up a new weapon to bring back old manuscripts: dry ice. One of the big problems in preserving papers, or getting a closer look at old, salvaged papers has been figuring out how to get beneath the grime of history to what’s waiting below. Obviously, the old…

NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovered 1,000 Planets In Its Quest to Find Life

It was six years ago this month that NASA shot the Kepler telescope to the heavens on a galactic, planet-finding mission. Today, the space agency released this graphic that could also be Kepler’s mic-dropping resume. Launched on March 6, 2009, Kepler’s duty is pinpointing stars in our galaxy that sport orbiting exoplanets (like sun does…

The Making Of Mad Max: Fury Road: “We Shot One Scene For 138 Days”

In our exclusive interview with the Mad Max: Fury Road cast, Tom Hardy explains the very real correlations between Max and The Littlest Hobo. Plus Charlize opens about the motivation behind Imperator Furiosa. Max Rockatansky/Tom Hardy Is he going to be an ex-cop in this? Are you playing with the backstory at all? Tom Hardy:…

Avengers Concept Art Shows A Scarier Ultron, And The Scariest Hulk Ever

Age of Ultron has only been in theaters for — what, 11 days? — but the movie’s concept art has already begun to hit the internet. Check out a variety of alternate costumes for Quicksilver, other possibilities for Ultron Mark I and the Iron Legion, and a Hulk pic that will haunt your nightmares. All…

These Century-Old Drawings Show Humanity’s Deepest Fear: Alien Invasion

We all know the scenes of a devastating Martian invasion: gigantic alien tripods and fighting-machines destroying towns, killing helpless humans, abducting men, women, and children. But do you know the Brazilian painter who was responsible for bringing those images for the first time in the early 1900? It was a painter and illustrator named Henrique…

This Weekend, Watch A Rare Look Inside The Making Of Green Porno!

Since 2008, the Sundance Channel has hosted Isabella Rossellini’s quirky contribution to nature documentaries. Green Porno is a series of short films that Rossellini writes, produces, and performs in – donning over-the-top animal costumes to reenact their reproductive behaviors. The films have spawned a one-woman live stage show, a sort of illustrated lecture about animal…

In This Week’s Comics, A Team Of Heroes Keeps Magic From The World

There might not be any gigantic crossover events beginning this week, but there’s plenty to love in the newest comics. The classic Night Nurse series gets a collection, Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona comes to print, and the Steampunk epic Lantern City begins! Let’s dig in to tomorrow’s new releases. https://gizmodo.com/a-humble-heros-journey-begins-in-this-lantern-city-1-c-1703229977 Dark Horse Single Issues Harrow County…

Australian Meteorologists Are Warning Of A Substantial El Niño Event

Earlier this year, U.S. scientists announced El Niño’s arrival, but described it as “weak.” Now, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has moved its own tracker status from alert to full-on El Niño, warning of widespread drought and warmer temperatures. This article originally appeared at The Conversation and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.…

We just updated The Best Smartwatch for Every Wrist. The Apple Watch isn’t perfect, but it’s still one of the best!

Which Movie Do You Wish Had Lasted Just A Few Minutes Longer?

One test of a good story is that it leaves you wanting more — but some movies really leave you wanting to know what happens right after they end. Which movie’s ending left you dying to see what happened in the next few minutes? Please include a picture, poster, clip, trailer, or other piece of…

A Look Inside The Mind Of Revolutionary Neuroscientist Karl Deisseroth

If you work in neuroscience, or follow the field, you probably know who Karl Deisseroth is. At the very least, you’re familiar with his methods. He’s best known for his development of optogenetics, a technique that enables researchers to manipulate individual neurons with light. Today, Deisseroth estimates the technique, which is only about a decade…

What Was Your First Kiss Like?

I was a few weeks shy of my fifteenth birthday, at a Christmas party thrown by one of the other members of the high school concert choir. The pizza and cake had been consumed, and everyone had tromped down to the rec room to watch the annual broadcast of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I…

Video: The sound effects of Star Wars

If you see a light saber, you can hear the glowing sound it makes. If you see C-3P0 or R2-D2 or Chewie, you can automatically hear them even if they’re not talking. Vader? Yeah, you hear the breathing. And that goes for X-Wings and Tie Fighters and everything else, the sounds of Star Wars are…

Not Even Adding A Cape Could Make These “Retro” DC Toys Better

Frequent Toybox readers will probably have surmised at this point that a good cape on an action figure can make me interested. Mainly because I enjoy the simple things in life, but also because nothing beats a lovely, swooshy cape. Alas, not even a cape can make me become a fan of these DC retro…

9 Designs That Could Finally Replace New Zealand’s Controversial Flag

When New Zealand first raised its current flag, the design deferred to its United Kingdom rulers and bore a striking resemblance to another British colony next door. 100 years later, New Zealand is a diverse, sovereign nation which would also very much like to visually differentiate itself from the Aussies. So New Zealand is looking…

Read A Disturbingly Weird New Story By Vonda McIntyre

Vonda McIntyre’s new novelette, “Little Sisters,” starts off seeming like a thrilling space opera tale. But halfway through, this companion story to her Nebula-nominated “Little Faces” takes a really unsettling turn. Top image: Rosette Nebula by NASA McIntyre’s story is partly about the strange cultural norms that might arise with an interstellar civilization, where journeys…

Dealing With People Who Want Weird Plastic Surgery

Next month, Vegas hosts the annual Aesthetics Show, an industry conference for the cosmetic surgery community. The topics they’ll be discussing — including the one captured in the headline above — hint at the future of consumer biotech. Or a future dystopia. You decide. So yeah, there’s a special lunchtime talk on the topic of…

Small-Scale Marvel Movies We’d Love To See (But Will Never Get Made)

As much as we love the wham-bam-pow of the Avengers fighting larger-than-life foes, sometimes we wish that we could have smaller Marvel movies, focused on what the characters do when they’re not punching robots. Here are our pitches for lower budget, character-driven movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After The Avengers: Age of Ultron came…

The Schemes and Secrets of Skyscraper Spires

To most of us, the spires that top tall building are an afterthought—a necessary extra, by no means interesting. But if you look closer, those spires are where all the drama has gone down, from the 1920s to this very week. Yesterday, the prolific real estate development blog NY YIMBY published a surprising report: The…