Latest

Let’s All Write Stories About the Moons of Moons

Submoons — satellites of satellites — are theoretically possible. However, they’d suffer the same eventual fate of the things we launch into orbit of our planet: eventual decay of orbit and crash into the planet below. That’s a fascinating location to set a story on. Image credit: Lunar Farside, As Seen by Apollo 8 by…

The Northern Lights Are Even Better Seen From The ISS

If the aurora happens in space, you probably can’t call it the Northern Lights. But names aside, this shot of an aurora (and the ISS bathed in moonlight) sure is pretty. The picture was taken by ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti a few nights ago. Cristoforetti is on the ISS for six months as part of…

A Woman Plays a Game That Lets Her Create a World Full of Dinosaurs

This trippy animated short is so much fun to watch on loop. I don’t even know why, but I think it’s the little “bloop” sounds. [via Vimeo Staff Picks]

This Mad Genius Built His Own Game Streaming Server For Almost Nothing

In less than a month OnLive, the world’s first cloud-based PC game streaming service, will be gone forever . Most of us took this news with a shrug. Madman Larry Gadea took it as a challenge—he built his own PC gaming cloud service. You can too. https://gizmodo.com/a-wonderful-lunatic-turned-a-macbook-air-into-a-badass-967800593 It’s both more and less complicated than it…

Watch SpaceX Nearly Land A Rocket On A Barge

They say the line between genius and a multi-million-dollar flaming mess in the Atlantic Ocean is razor-thin. The Vine of this afternoon’s attempt SpaceX put out shows what looks like a successful landing — the rocket touches the barge, in the correct orientation, and not going 600 miles an hour. But apparently, the lateral motion…

Here’s A Tank Drifting Across A Frozen Lake

If Batman ever needs to fight a bunch of Siberian warlords trying to invade Gotham from the North (free plot idea), he’ll want to be riding in this: a terrifying custom-made tank that you can see here just casually drifting across a frozen lake. Called the Ripsaw EV2, it’s the product of a company called…

This Elevation Map Of Mars Makes The Red Planet Much More Colorful

In this brand new map of the Ares Vallis region of Mars, released by the German space agency DLR, you can see the true differences in height between the high and low parts of our neighboring planet. The highest parts, expressed in red, are about 4000 meters (2.4 miles) above the lowest parts, in blue.…

A Landscape Made Up Entirely Of Tiny Robots

The view in Kirsten Zirngibl‘s illustration is breathtaking, but the concept behind the design is equally intriguing. She imagines that this landscape is made up entirely of microbots, and researchers can manipulate the environment by feeding the microbots new information. In an email, Zirngibl explained the concept behind “Microzoo 1”: Regarding the piece itself: It…

This Siemens MRI Scanner Is a Beautiful Machine That Saves Lives

Siemens’ latest MRI machine (Ma­gne­tom Pris­ma Tim+Dot Sys­tem 3 Tes­la) is one of the most powerful, state of the art medical imaging devices in the marketplace. The first Magnetom Prisma 3-tesla MRI units was installed in the USA at the University of Minnesota a year ago. Now there are about 50 units in Europe, and…

Yikes, A Guy Played So Much Candy Crush That He Ruptured a Tendon

Let us bring you yet another cautionary tale of a deceptively sweet and bubbly menace to our nation. We speak, of course, of Candy Crush. A 29-year-old man actually ruptured a tendon after weeks of torturing his thumb in pursuit candy matches. We kid you not. https://gizmodo.com/holy-shit-i-just-spent-236-on-candy-crush-help-1032185653 So uhh, how much Candy Crush do you…

You Can Read This Whole Collection Of Unearthly Six Word Stories Here

Whether exploring the difficulties of setting up a surprise party for a hivemind or sending us to a future where debt collectors have gotten deadly serious about the whole payment plan issue, these stories have plenty to say about life beyond Earth — and they do it all in just six words. You submitted several…

Online Extortionists Are Using Encryption as a Ransom Weapon

Most of the time we discuss encryption as a way to protect ourselves online , but an increasingly popular form of digital attack uses it as an extortion tool. Criminals are stealing personal files, encrypting them, and hold them hostage until their targets pay for the decryption key. A report from security firm Symantec details…

Ken Liu’s Grace Of Kings Is The Bold Epic Fantasy We’ve Been Waiting For

Ken Liu has plenty of awards for his short stories, and with his debut novel, he’s likely to earn acclaim as a novelist as well. The Grace of Kings is an ambitious, astonishing, and sublime work, one that both exemplifies and diverges from what one might think of when it comes to epic fantasy. It…

This epic Daredevil hallway fight scene was filmed in a single take

Netflix’s new TV show Daredevil is supposed to be fantastic. I haven’t watched it yet but judging from this super long fight scene that was filmed entirely in a single take, I just might start tonight. I like the fight scene because it’s choreographed perfectly and even though there were points where they could switch…

What if the laws of the universe actually worked according to magic and pseudoscience? In his latest comic, cartoonist Boulet wonders “What if it was true?” and imagines a world governed by astrology, psychic predictions, and alchemy.

The Plan to Drill into the Crater from the Dinosaur-Killing Meteorite 

Sixty-five million years ago, a meteorite careened into Earth, leaving a huge crater on the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. The impact is likely responsible for killing off the most of the dinosaurs—along with 75 percent of all species on Earth. Scientists are now planning an expedition to drill into the middle of the crater.…

Watch These Drops Of Water Going For A Walk

Want to know how to make a drop of water “walk” in a certain direction? Want to know how to make it walk a little bit, and then pause, as if it were wondering whether it left its front door unlocked? We’ll tell you how. This is another manifestation of the Leidenfrost effect, which is…

How P-22 Became Hollywood’s Most Famous Mountain Lion

A mountain lion named P-22 is making headlines today for being discovered inside—and eventually escaping from—a Los Angeles basement. In this excerpt from his new book about the urban wilderness, Tristan Donovan gives us the origin story of P-22. The discovery of P-22, the mountain lion that lives in Griffith Park, was pure fluke. The…

Take a Tour of New York City’s Best Architecture in One Image

Love it or hate it, you have to admit that New York City is home to some of the world’s most impressive and diverse architecture. Pick a style from the last 200 years, and you’re bound to find a fantastic example somewhere in Gotham. Now, you can find them all on one reasonably priced poster.…

These 80s And 90s Versions Of Your Favorite Apps Show How Far We’ve Come

User interfaces have come a long way in the past 30 years. Not just because graphics and touchscreens have improved — we also know a lot more about how to make a system feel intuitive. Just check out some videos that show how the most popular sites and apps would’ve looked decades ago. Facebook Google…