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Why Are Computers So Bad At Jokes?

That was the question a group of researchers—including The New Yorker’s Cartoon Editor, Bob Mankoff—asked in a study highlighted by Arxiv and MIT’s Technology Review. And really, asking why robots can’t tell jokes is a roundabout way of asking why humans find anything funny. What is funniness? Can it possibly be quantitative? And why is…

Beautifully simulated 3D trip through space is what dreams are made of

I woke up today and had already seen this stunning video of space before I even saw it in real life because I’m 100% sure it was created in my dreams. It wasn’t, it was rendered in the 3D simulation program Space Engine. But seriously, this digital recreation of space is what every kid imagines…

This is the Soundtrack of a Martian Marathon

The first Martian marathon was no easy trek: the Opportunity rover had to struggle through smooth, soft sand and clamber over sharp rocks. This is the sounds of the terrain it covered in its 11-year journey exploring the red planet. In July 2014, the Mars Opportunity rover broke the off-world driving marathon. In March 2015,…

The Pacific Rim Toy Line Finally Made The Best Jaeger Toy

Sure, there’s been versions of Striker Eureka in NECA’s excellent Pacific Rim line, both big and small. But none have let you do one of the giant robot’s coolest attacks: its anime-inspired salvo of rockets spewing out of its chest. That is, until now, with the most badass Jaeger figure yet. Being a movie about…

This Locked-Down Prison Tablet Makes iOS Seem Open

The nation’s overcrowded prison system is in a sad state, and it’s not made any better by only having access to this incredibly basic 4.3-inch JP5mini tablet. Available to inmates for $70, the Jp5mini is actually an upgraded (“upgraded” being a relative term) version of JPay’s JP4 tablet that introduces wireless connectivity in prisons where…

I Worked at Hacking Team, My Emails Were Leaked, and I’m OK With That

Is radical transparency the best solution to expose injustice in this technocratic world, a world that is changing faster than law can keep up with? That question became even more relevant to me, a privacy activist, when I found myself in the WikiLeaks archive, because I worked at Hacking Team nine years ago. The break-in…

Firefox Now Blocks Flash By Default (Update)

The Mozilla Firefox web browser now blocks Flash by default. And when I say “blocks,” I don’t mean it asks you nicely if you’d really like to use Flash. I don’t mean it automatically pauses Flash videos like Google Chrome. I mean Mozilla has decided that Flash is going down. I mean that the freaking…

What exactly is a calorie and why do we care?

By now, in 2015 with gluten excommunicated from diets and paleo celebrated and superfood vegetables being discovered left and right, we all generally know what kind of food is good for you and what kind of food is bad for you. But do most of us really know what a calorie is other than a…

New Android Wear Features May Take a Cue From Apple Watch

Apple may be on an imitation streak lately, but Cupertino isn’t the only one who knows a good thing when it sees it. According to Phandroid, the next update to Android Wear, Google’s smartwatch OS, will be taking a few ideas from the Apple Watch. Technology is filled with all kinds of rumors and speculation…

Apple Music Lets Siri Work as a Silly Sound Effects Machine

An unexpected perk, if you can call it that, of your free three-month Apple Music subscription? Siri can access it in order to work as a kind of sound effects machine. Go on, ask Siri to play the sound of farts. Go on. Ah, such juveline fun.Verge reports that the following list of silly sounds…

Is it possible that we could get an allergy-free peanut, that still tastes like a peanut? That’s just one of the projects detailed in the USDA’s newly-released Tech Transfer report, detailing some of the unlikely ways their research has been showing up out in the world.

Tour de France Cyclist Computers Hacked by Doping Critics

If doping is a relatively modern problem for the sports world, the Tour de France 2015 sees it colliding headfirst with a modern technological concern, as race leaders Team Sky have accused rivals of hacking their computers. According to Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford, critics of cyclist Chris Froome (currently leading the pack in…

Your Fear of Radiation Is Irrational

Radioactivity stirs primal fears in many people—but an undue sense of its risks can cause real harm. Bad Gastein in the Austrian Alps. It’s 10am on a Wednesday in early March, cold and snowy – but not in the entrance to the main gallery of what was once a gold mine. Togged out in swimming…

Check Out This Gorgeous Frog and Learn a New Word

This is Microhyla pulchra, otherwise known as the beautiful pygmy frog. It seems to be doing okay in the wild—it may even be an invasive species—but that’s tough to confirm because of its unique biological ability: crypsis. First, some from facts: It lives in southeast Asia. Although the frog is small and it lives in…

The Fantastic Four Comic-Con Footage Is Here and It’s on Fire

Because it’s full of the Human Torch, see? Yeah, you get it. There’s not a ton of new footage here, but it does contain the first we’ve heard of Doom and the Thing talking and oh my god are they really not modulating Jamie Bell’s voice at all? It’s so weird to see and Thing…

The LHC Has Discovered a New Sub-Atomic Particle Called a Pentaquark

After restarting to run at higher power than ever, the Large Hadron Collider has made its first proper discovery. Today, a team of scientists announced that they’ve found a new class of sub-atomic particles known as pentaquarks. Quarks are a series of charged sub-atomic particles that come together to form larger particles—such as protons and…

Guillermo del Toro Wants To Make A Jabba the Hutt Movie!

A second Wreck-it-Ralph is happening! Toby Kebbel talks Doom’s origins in Fantastic Four. How long will it be until we see more footage from Deadpool? Plus, Arrow’s return gets a title, Barry Allen gets an updated costume in The Flash, and Rob Thomas discusses how he wants Veronica Mars to return. Spoilers now! Star Wars…

Facebook Is Apparently Building a Human-Powered Personal Assistant

New reports suggest that Facebook is working on a personal assistant service baked into Messenger called Moneypenny. But unlike Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana, this isn’t a virtual helper—it’s a real human service at the other end. The Information reportsthat the new service, known internally as Moneypenny, will allow users “to ask real people for…

Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Makes More Sense for Mars than California

Ever wanted to ride to work in a screaming roller-coaster gun? If your answer was yes: good news! Elon Musk – of SpaceX and Tesla Motors fame – recently proposed the “Hyperloop,” a high-speed floating train that’s accelerated by magnets and coasts between destinations. Hailed as the train of the future, the concept is indeed…

Fly Through the Largest Ever Map of Our Galaxy’s Cosmic Dust

A team of astronomers has created the largest ever three-dimensional map of our galaxy’s cosmic dust—and you can fly right through it. The researchers, from Harvard University, have mapped out the distribution of space dust across three quarters of the night sky. They did that using data about 800 million stars taken with the Pan-STARRS…