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Stunning Footage Captures Never Before Seen Deep Ocean Creatures

In the Internet age, it’s easy to tell yourself you’ve seen it all. But while you’ve probably consumed a lifetime’s worth of cat videos, explosion gifs, and Hitler-vs-dinosaur action sequences at this point, the natural world’s still got plenty of surprises in store. Including, it turns out, a plethora of fascinating creatures that lurk in…

And Now, A Pair Of Dachshunds Dressed As Astro-Dogs

Or would that be cosmo-dogs? Weiner-nauts? All we know is, there was a dachshund parade in St. Petersburg, Russia, today, and these two li’l sausages were helping lead the charge. Here’s a bonus one, for all of you who were fans of a certain outrageously popular YouTube video that was everywhere last year: https://gizmodo.com/behold-the-adorable-horror-of-the-mutant-giant-spider-d-1630703670 AP…

Meet Eris, The Solar System’s Largest Dwarf Planet

Eris is the largest dwarf planet in the Solar System, and the ninth largest body orbiting our Sun. Sometimes referred to as the “tenth planet,” its discovery is responsible for upsetting the traditional count of nine planets in our Solar System, as well as leading the way to the creation of a new astronomical category.…

Google’s Skynet Drone Crash-Landed in the Desert and Nobody Noticed

While everybody’s eyes were on Google I/O this week, another little bit of Google news nearly managed to slip under the radar: The tech giant’s high-flying, solar-powered Solara 50 drone apparently crashed landed in the sands east of Albuquerque weeks ago. Whoopsie. The drone, perhaps inspired by one of those giant dragonflies that ruled the…

Lefties: Does Technology Discriminate Against You?

So, I’m left handed. Among other things, this means I smear my words horrendously as I take notes, strangers go out of their way to tell me I’m probably a “creative type,” and learning a new sport involves a surprising amount of personal discovery. Image: Wikimedia Being left handed also means navigating a technological world…

San Andreas Is A Hit. Which Fault Will Hollywood Target Next?

San Andreas has already raked in more dough than the entire haul of last year’s tornado thriller Into the Storm. Which, in originality-starved Hollywood, means only one thing: MORE EARTHQUAKES! Which fault line will form the backdrop for the next Rock-starring disaster drama? There’s one obvious choice. The Cascadia Subduction Zone, which runs for 680…

Here’s What the iPhone Would Have Looked Like in 1985

Some of my fondest childhood memories involve booting up my parents’ Macintosh Plus to play Super Munchers or make pixelated masterpieces in MacPaint. Alas, Apple hadn’t gotten into mobile devices just yet, but that didn’t stop Pierre Cerveau from imagining what the tech giant’s very first smartphone might have looked like if it were made…

For Cartoon Studies Graduates, Even The Diploma Is A Work Of Art

When students attending the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont complete their degree, they are issued a spectacular diploma. Here’s what was given to the Class of 2015: The diploma for this year’s graduating class was illustrated by Eisner Award winning Norwegian cartoonist, Jason, who’s created books such as Meow, Baby!, I…

Scientists Are Spinning Spider Silk Without The Spiders

Spider silk is often touted as a wonder material that’ll soon weave its way into everything from body armor to replacement hearts. But we can only squeeze so much of the stuff out of our eight-legged friends, which is why scientists and entrepreneurs are working hard to reproduce it artificially. Top image: The AutoMotovated Cyclist…

How Stargate and Star Trek Paved the Way for the Marvel Movie Universe

Since 2009, Disney has dominated summer blockbusters with their Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, their project isn’t the first to play with stories across television and film: television shows such as Star Trek and Stargate helped to pave the way for complicated worlds with multiple ongoing narratives. Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek is arguably one of the…

“The problem — for writers, and for writing itself — is that it’s easier to be a ghost than to be a writer,” observes this long-form Atlantic piece on authors working within the mysterious yet staunchly business-driven world of ghostwritten book series for kids, including The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.

Open-Source Cyborg Hand is Making Prosthetics More Accessible Than Ever

A generation ago, getting a prosthetic limb fitted usually amounted to a having a heavy, nearly useless hunk of plastic and metal tacked onto your body. But bionic hands such as this one illustrate just how quickly that’s all changing. HACKberry, brainchild of the Japanese company exii, wants to become a game changer for those…

Google I/O Wrap-Up: Android M, Photos, Cardboard, and Everything Else

Woohoo! Google I/O is just the best. We just got a view of Google’s plans for the your future. Here’s all the most interesting stuff you might have missed. Android M Is Here, and So Is Google’s Smartphone Future The future of Android is here. Android M (I’m still hoping for Muffin) is the software…

From Sweden, Cuban Crocodiles Return To Their Parents’ Swampy Birthplace

In the 1970s, cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov was given a couple of crocodiles by Fidel Castro. The pair (named Castro and Hillary) spent time in Moscow before ending up at Stockholm’s Skansen Zoo. This week, ten young descendants of the original crocs returned to Cuba, where they’ll be released back into the wild. As ABC News…

An Inside Look at the Construction of NASA’s Next Mission to Mars

Preparations for NASA’s next mission to Mars are kicking into high gear. And the technology the space agency is building for the Martian lander slated to launch in 2016 is enough to make science fiction fans foam at the mouth. The mission, Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight for short) is…

In The Wake Of Tomorrowland‘s Failure, Disney Kills Tron 3

Disney has officially powered down Tron 3. Last night, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that the company has decided to halt preparations for the third film in the cyberpunk franchise. The move comes just a week after Tomorrowland pulled in a disappointing Memorial Day weekend box office. Earlier this year, word broke that Disney…

Proposal to Massively Expand FBI’s Legal Hacking Abilities Moves Forward

Oh, good. A Department of Justice-proposed rule change that would make it way easier for FBI agents to obtain warrants to hack a computer from basically anywhere was just approved by a US Court committee. Which is to say, we’re one step closer to having our digital privacy rights eviscerated in the name of federal…

This Futuristic Megamall Wants to Make Shopping Eco-Friendly

I don’t go to shopping malls much these days–in fact, they kinda terrify me. But if a geothermally heated, solar powered, sky-garden capped extravaganza like this ever made its way into my neighborhood, okay, I’d probably check it out. Architectural design firm Vincent Callebaut has brought us many an incredible eco-urban concept in the past,…

The Incredible Calculations That Keep Google’s Project Loon Aloft

When we last checked in on Project Loon—Google’s moonshot project to blanket the world with internet-packing weather balloons—one had just circumnavigated the globe in a very quick 22 days. I just attended a talk at Google I/O and got some more info about the challenges the team faces in making this wild-ass project happen. First…

These Cartoon Animals Are The Most Adorable Mech Pilots In The Universe

Artist Evan Palmer draws a mech-filled future that we just want to cuddle and hug. Adorable cats, dogs, bunnies, and pigs pilot colorful and complicated machines — and engage in the cutest battles we’ve seen. Palmer told us over email that he started his animal mechs as a personal project as he got back into…