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NBC Re-Releases Trailer For Heroes Reborn

NBC dropped trailers for its new shows today, including this peek at Heroes Reborn. (EDIT: Apparently this is the same trailer that’s been around since February. Throw us some new details, NBC!) There’s not much revealed here, but it definitely looks like horn rims are still in style.

VR Soccer Is As Entertaining As Real Soccer

Soccer—or football if you’re from anywhere else but the U.S.—is the most popular sport in the world. But what if it could be better? I mean…I’m not talking so much in the sense of fast-paced athletic play than I am grown up men making idiots of themselves with VR headsets. I’d watch that. A Norwegian…

What Tech Terms Need to Die?

Technology creates amazing new advances that make our lives easier. It’s also a wellspring of dumbass words. Let’s talk about the latter for a second. There was a moment back in 2012—let’s saaaay February 20—when I was introduced to a new word: Phablet. It is of course a portmanteau of “phone” and “tablet” meant to…

Earth’s Oceans May Have Crash-Landed via Ancient Asteroids

SimEarth was right about one thing. The best way to wet up a planet? Hurl a bunch of icy asteroids at it. That, at least, is one interpretation of a new study published in the Royal Astronomical Society, which supports the hypothesis that most of our planet’s water crash-landed via space rocks eons ago. And…

In Central Java, This Bookmobile Travels On Hooves Instead Of Wheels

In Serang Village, Purbalingga, Central Java, a young student makes his selection from a mobile library carried by a horse named Luna. Toting a stash of books received from donors, animal caretaker Ridwan Sururi and his Kudapustaka (“horse library”) make thrice-weekly visits to local schools. Getty Images News photo by Putu Sayoga

“She’s likely to be in her twenties or thirties, middle-class, probably married, probably Christian, probably average intelligence. I just described, you know, your next-door neighbor” — Evolutionary psychologist Melissa Harrison, speaking about her new study on female serial killers in America.

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

We had some great explainers on Giz this week, elucidating in-flight wifi, DNA editing, and the problem with electric bicycles. Also: exploding Apple Watches, “X-Philes” fandom, and some weird-ass gadget erotica. Here are the favorites. Everything You Need to Know About CRISPR, the New Tool that Edits DNA CRISPR, a new genome editing tool, could…

This Is What Happens When Geologists Need To Leave Their Boats

United States Geological Survey field researchers have needed to get creative over the years at getting their boats up-stream. While portaging and lining up boats is common practice, the activity is far more amusing when undertaken while wearing such lovely field hats. Top image: The Brooks party of USGS field researchers carrying their craft from…

Shiver Me Timbers! Possible Captain Kidd Pirate Treasure Discovered

Look, even if it’s not pirate treasure, can we just pretend it is, because PIRATE TREASURE? It sure sounds promising, given the 110-pound silver bar was found in what’s believed to be wreckage from 17th century Scottish pirate Captain William Kidd’s ship, Adventure Gallery. Discovery Science reports the find comes courtesy of an American team…

Great, Now Even Cacti Can Spy On Us

In dystopian science fiction, overbearing police states have cameras and sensors perched on everything imaginable— like buildings, lamp posts, human bodies, and….fake desert flora? A local Fox affiliate in Paradise Valley, Arizona, reports that over the past few days the town has been quietly installing license plate readers in fake cacti around town. Although fake…

Official Cuban Street Dog Has A License To Be Adorable

Meet former stray Vladimir, one of six dogs “employed” by the Old Havana Museum of Metalwork. His canine crew is one of several that have been taken in by Cuban state institutions, who offer medical care, housing, and protection from the dogcatcher to previously homeless animals. Though the pups do serve as de facto watchdogs,…

Carl Sagan’s Solar Sail Is Ready For Its First Test Flight

“There’s just a tremendously exciting prospect called solar sailing. [It] travels on the radiation and particles that come out of the sun, the wind from the sun. Because it has a constant acceleration, it can get you around the inner part of the solar system a lot faster…than the usual sorts of rocket propulsion.” That’s…

Who Cracked The Planet? Ice Shatters In Spring Melt

As spring approaches, even the northern reaches of Canada are melting up. Extensive rafts of sea and lake ice are shattering during the spring thaw, creating beautiful landscapes of broken glass glittering in the sun. Lake ice melting in northern Canada as seen from the International Space Station on 2 May 2015. Image credit: NASA/Scott…

Season Two Of Del Toro’s The Strain Promises Plenty Of Vampire Mayhem

The vampire series based on Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s novel trilogy returns this summer to FX, right around when star Corey Stoll will be also hitting the big screen as Yellowjacket in Ant-Man. The Strain’s season two trailer hints at a plot to “infect the infected,” as well as lots more visceral horror.

How to Organize the Best Bar Crawl

Summer is coming, which reminds me of my two favorite warm-weather activities: day drinking and drinking during the day. But climbing on the couch with a case of Miller High Life is no way to spend a sunny afternoon. Why not combine your urge to imbibe with the spirit of urban adventure? Here are my…

Colt’s Original Gun Factory and Its Quirky Utopian Village Are Rotting

At one point in time, Samuel Colt firearms company held the largest private armory in the world. Colt’s original factory and the utopian village that flanked it (a.k.a. Coltsville) was like the Google campus of the 1800s. Now, it sits in ruin—because guns. It’s a shame. Atlas Obscura’s Luke Spencer recently visited Coltsville, where rotting…

New Version Of Millennium Falcon Drone Looks Ready To Make Kessel Run

We’ve shared the work of quadcopter wizard and Star Wars fanatic Olivier C. before (check out videos of his TIE Interceptor and first Millennium Falcon builds), but his new Falcon drone is his best yet. (Still no Wookiee co-pilot, though.) Keep watching until the end to see what he’s working on next! H/T Shingo

Lucifer TV Series Is Happening, Will Still Be A Police Procedural

Lucifer, based on the character spun off from DC’s Sandman comics, got news of its series order last night. And it also has a new showrunner: Joe Henderson, who previously worked on the con-artist-turned-FBI-informant drama White Collar. As Deadline reports, the Fox drama’s writer, Californication creator Tom Kapinos, will stay on as an executive producer,…

A Humble Hero’s Journey Begins In This Lantern City #1 Comic Preview

Times are tough in the dark depths of Lantern City, where Sander Jorve struggles to provide for his family while the elite live in soaring skyscrapers and party on floating airships above. Desperate, he links up with an activist group and goes undercover in “the Guard,” determined to even the playing field at any cost.…

The Writer Behind the Weirdest Tech Erotica You’ve Ever Read

Have you wondered what it’s like to get fucked by the Apple Watch? Canadian erotica master Leonard Delaney did. Delaney is the author of “Invaded By the iWatch,” a 4000-word yarn about a young woman, Christie Aackerlund, who walks out her door one day to find a new “iWatch” sitting on her stoop. She puts…