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This Is How You Inspect an Exotic Spacecraft Heat Shield

When NASA’s Orion crew module re-entered Earth’s atmosphere in 2014 tests, it did so covered in 180 small squares of an advanced heat-shielding material called Avcoat. Now, NASA’s research scientists are inspecting them to find out how they worked. Yes, that does appear to be a vacuum cleaner. The 16.5-foot-diameter heat shield is being inspected…

The 2015 Fashion Trend We Love: Stars! Stars On Everything!

There is no way I could afford these or, save the coat, look good in any of them. But that doesn’t mean these star-filled selections from the Fall/Winter Emilio Pucci Collection aren’t fabulous. Contact the author at [email protected].

Europa’s Icy Surface Looks Like Cracked Glass

This is a false-color image of Europa, Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon, a water-covered giant with the smoothest surface in the Solar System. And yet, I could still swear I’m looking at the end result of a football going through a stained-glass window. The image, taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, shows a region charmingly known as the…

Person of Interest Renewed For What Will Probably Be Its Last Season

Well, thank the Machine for this: CBS has given Person of Interest a truncated fifth season. Which is great news since the season four finale did not end in a good place for our team. The fifth season is said to be thirteen episodes, rather than the usual 22 or 23. This smacks of CBS…

A One-Minute Explanation Of Why Sitting Is Bad For Your Health

You’ve probably heard by now that sitting is bad for you, but do you know why? Take 60 seconds and let this beautiful animation tell you why it’s so bad. If you’ve been sitting down all day, you might want to get up and move around a bit. Sitting for around 11 hours per day…

Imagining The Lab-Grown Food Of The Future

Scientists are charging full steam ahead with building lab-grown meat, so that we can fulfil our burger cravings without the moral, environmental and economic costs of raising cows. But that raises an important question: what the hell would a lab-grown meal even look like? https://gizmodo.com/the-worlds-first-lab-grown-meat-burger-tastes-terrible-1027385867 The first lab-grown burger was grilled up back in 2013…

How Broken Hyperlinks Are Screwing Up Science

For most of us, a hyperlink 404ing is a problem fixable with a quick visit to the Wayback Machine (or maybe just taking a walk away from the computer and reflecting on the importance of cat GIFs). But for academics, broken links present a more serious issue. In case (like me) you thought that broken…

Nokia vs Nokia: Holy Crap Smartphone Cameras Have Come A Long Way 

You probably take your smartphone for granted: it’s your portal to the internet, an instant messaging machine, a video recorder, music player and, of course, a phone. It’s probably also your primary camera. Be grateful for it: smartphone cameras have come a long way. See that split-screen snapshot up there? That’s almost a decade of…

Flying jetmen stunningly soar all over Dubai in amazing video

Watch as Jetman Yves Rossy and his protege, Jetman Vince Reffet, take their crazy jetpacks to the skies of Dubai and tour the city like Superman would. It’s unbelievable every time I see them soar through the air like fighter jets, busting moves and tricks that only stunt planes dare to try. Except they’re not…

Why Washington Is the Best State for Biking

The weather might not always be bike-friendly but that doesn’t stop enthusiastic residents from riding in it. The League of American Bicyclists released its annual scorecard for the most bike-friendly states today and for the eighth year in a row, Washington leads the list. All 50 states are graded each year across five categories that…

Every date this week, and a good portion of the following one, is a palindrome. Is this an emergent feature of our largely arbitrary calendar system? Absolutely. But our brains are wired to seek out patterns, even meaningless ones, and it sure is fun when we find one—let alone ten in a row. H/t Vox…

Woman Says She Got Fired for Deleting a 24/7 Tracking App Off Her Phone

And now in a delightful new installment of a series I just made up right now—Why Isn’t This Illegal?—we have an employer allegedly firing a woman for not wanting to be tracked after-hours on her work phone. A California woman is suing her former employer for invasion of privacy, labor infractions, and wrongful termination after…

Silly animation imagines if Fast and Furious 7’s stunts were realistic

Some people think the Fast and Furious movie franchise is too ridiculous and dumb and filled with stunts that are even more realistic and dumb. Those people are so, so wrong. Because it really doesn’t matter how crazy it gets because it’s fun as hell to watch. You wouldn’t want to see the realistic version…

This Gemstone Is Two Different Colors At Once

Don’t worry. This isn’t a repeat of Dressgate, nor is it a matter of perception. Iolite, or cordierite, really does change color depending on where the light is coming from. Find out why. Iolite is the gem-quality version of cordierite. It’s relatively cheap and found all over the place. It can be either a beautiful…

A Bullshit-Free Guide to the Gear You Need to Commute By Bike

So you’re thinking about commuting to work by bike this summer? Congratulations, your life is about to get a zillion times more fun. But where to begin? The insular world of cycling can seem a little, uh, confusing to those unfamiliar with it—it’s hard to know what you really need to get started riding. This…

Get Lost In These Hypnotic Swarms And Swirls Of Schooling Fish

When fish move together in a single school, they can sometimes resemble one massive organism that changes its shape depending on how it needs to travel. From mesmerizing vortexes to shoals that scatter before larger fish, these piscine movements each have their own kind of beauty. A giant school of Anchovies, migrating through La Jolla,…

The US Is Finally Getting Access to a Promising Cancer Drug From Cuba

Tourism isn’t the only industry eager to benefit from the relaxing of the decades-long trade embargo against Cuba. Medical researchers on both of sides of the Straits of Florida now have the chance to collaborate with previously off-limits colleagues. Of particular interest to the U.S. is a Cuban lung cancer drug that took 25 years…

Minority Report TV Series Trailer Shows What Happened After The Movie

Behold the first footage from Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report TV show. And unlike a lot of movie-inspired series spinoffs, this looks truly similar to the film from which it was born. Honestly, we’re digging the trailer. There’s talent behind this series; Godzilla writer Max Borenstein is executive producer with Amblin Television. The show takes place…

A Must-Watch Flash Gordon Fan Film Made By A Disney Animator

A few years back, animator Robb Pratt, who worked on Pocahontas, Hercules, Tarzan, and a number of other Disney movies, gifted us with a pair of 1940s-style Superman fan cartoons. Now he’s turned his retro pen on Flash Gordon, giving us an animated fan film with a touch of Disney flair. https://gizmodo.com/what-if-superman-was-a-disney-cartoon-5755105 https://gizmodo.com/this-superman-fan-cartoon-is-good-enough-to-warrant-an-5922922 [via GeekTyrant]

The X-Files Will Return This January

Now you can believe again. Fox just announced at their annual upfront presentation that The X-Files will return for two nights next year on Sunday, January 24th and the following Monday. The new six-episode series will mark the return of Chris Carter, David Duchovny, and Gillian Anderson.