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These Spring-Loaded Skate Trucks Make Me Wish I Knew How To Skateboard 

Skateboard suspension is an idea that sounds long overdue—modern skateboarding is a lot rougher than it was when my parents were young. Professional riders fly through the air, grind across metal rails and land on hard concrete after jumping down enormous flights of stairs. They do it all without suspension, forcing them to make hard,…

Photos from the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal

Tragedy struck the world when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Kathmandu, Nepal earlier this morning. Over a 1000 people have died in the disaster that turned buildings into rubble and leveled the city’s 200-foot tall Dharahara Tower to the ground. The quake was so strong it caused an avalanche on Mount Everest and was felt…

io9 Newsstand: The Best Stories from the Week of April 19 – 25

This week’s stories are about rescue and saving, gaining freedom and feathers, and the lengths we will go to for the people who are dear to us. The Ways of Walls and Words by Sabrina Vourvoulias | Tor.com We are behind these walls because we sweep the house clean on Fridays. Because we light two…

Medical Robots Can Be Hacked During Surgery, Researchers Find

Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle have just hijacked a teleoperated surgical robot, demonstrating major security weaknesses in the machines that may eventually replace a surgeon’s hands in hospitals worldwide. Yikes. When trained surgeons are a plane ride away, remotely operated surgical bots can save lives. Doctors have been performing telesurgical procedures since…

Dazzling Short Film About An Alchemist Whose Invention Feeds On Memories

John Hurt voices a dead alchemist in the gorgeously animated short film The Alchemist’s Letter. A young man arrives at his late father’s lab and learns all about his father’s invention, a device that can turn objects into gold, but at the price of his most precious memories. Director Carlos Andre Stevens tapped Hurt and…

Artist’s Trash Exhibitions Depict A Planet Colonized By Plastic

Landfills, E-waste piles, and ocean garbage patches are a part of our world we’d rather not see, but these eyesores aren’t going away. Rather than simply accept that our planet is being swallowed by garbage, one artist has started turning this discarded junk into something beautiful. The landscapes shown here are the work of Alejandro…

The Life of an Ex-Hacker Who Is Now Banned from Using the Internet 

When programmer Higinio Ochoa wants to share some a batch of new code with his boss, he has to mail it in on paper. Why the roundabout process? Ochoa is a convicted hacker, and his punishment is that he is not allowed to use the internet. Back in 2012, Ochoa was part of an Anonymous-affiliated…

“Western culture throughout its long and tangled history provides us with a rich array of images, a remarkable set of windows into both popular and latterly professional beliefs about insanity,” writes Andrew Scull in his extensive look at images of madness throughout history, including an oddly peppy Thorazine ad.

Sorry Trekkies, Tau Ceti Probably Doesn’t Harbor Alien Life

The number of exoplanets that might harbor alien life grows every year. But now, astronomers now think we can check one of science fiction’s most beloved staples off the list: Tau Ceti. Tau Ceti, a sun-like star system only 12 light years away, has long been considered one of the first places we might discover…

Here’s A Handy Introduction To The Concept Of Spacetime

The latest episode of the PBS YouTube series Space Time is a great little eight-minute primer on, well, spacetime. Really looking forward to future episodes, which will explore the concepts that this video introduces in greater detail. [PBS via Laughing Squid]

Starbucks Computers Are Down Nationwide, And You Might Get Free Coffee

Think you’re going to pay for Starbucks with your shiny new Apple Watch this evening? Think again. Starbucks computers are down across North America, and some stores are giving out free coffee in the meanwhile. I certainly enjoyed mine! “Yes it is true,” Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson told CNNMoney. “The point of sale cash registers…

A Creepy Comic About Kelpies, Scotland’s Murderous, Supernatural Horses

In Scottish folklore, a kelpie is a shape-shifting water spirit that may take the form of horse in order to drown anyone foolish enough to try to ride them. This comic by cartoonist Emma Weakley imagines a particularly tragic encounter between two young boys and one of those horse-shaped monsters. Be sure to go to…

The Best of Gizmodo This Week

What I really want to point out this week is two original Gizmodo videos, both awesome. We time-warped to the lair of badass swordsmith and watched him forge swords. And we created a totally bizarre yet oddly soothing video of Jony Ive crooning adjectives about the Apple Watch. Speaking of Apple Watch… Why I Bought…

Drink Beer Cocktails If You Don’t Want to Get Hammered Tonight 

Getting drunk is very fun! This is a truth known to both human and island-dwelling monkey for centuries. But some nights, ALAS, are no good for chasing a Long Island Iced Tea with seven watermelon vodka shots and regret. It’s Friday afternoon, you’ve made it through the long week, and it’s time for Happy Hour,…

Some Of The Strangest Restaurants And Bars The World Has Ever Seen

For some eateries, it’s not enough to have good food and a reasonably attractive decor. They instead use odd gimmicks to attract drinkers and diners. While some of these places do look like a great deal of fun, others might encourage you to lose your lunch. The Beer Spa, Prague, Czech Republic, where guest are…

Watching Water And Sand Transform Into A “Liquid Marble” Is Hypnotic

Weird stuff happens when water hits hydrophobic substances. In this case, water and hydrophobic sand turn into a “liquid marble” in this video. It’s like watching the T-1000 get mobbed by fire ants. When a single drop of water falls onto hydrophobic sand we expect to see the water get away clean. Instead it gets…

Let’s Talk About Whatever You Want Right Now

We could talk about the Apple Watch. We could also talk about nothing related to the damned watch. Happy Friday, Gizmodo. What’s on your mind? I’m ready for the weekend, in which my scintillating plans involve sleep, sleep, and some more sleep. In honor of Age of Ultron bowing soon, I’m also planning to read…

Paratroopers fill the sky in awesome photo

Here’s a really cool photo showing US Army and British paratroopers jumping out of C-130J Super Hercules airplanes in a line at Fort Bragg. It was the largest jump exercise in 20 years at Fort Bragg and there are so many paratroopers filling the sky that it looks like a floating human wall (okay, a…

Madame Tussauds Names 10 Nominees for Next Tech Icon to be Wax-ified

The Madame Tussauds in San Francisco already has a waxy Jobs and a waxy Zuck. But now they want you to decide who they should do next. They’ve wittled the nominees down to ten. Who would you choose? You can vote here! Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX Getty Frank Oppenheimer, Exploratorium Exploratorium Museum Jane Metcalfe,…

Simple robot arm is hilariously efficient at packing up bolts in a box

This robot is so dumb and goofy but also very, very decent at its very, very simple job: it packs up bolts in such perfect alternating orientation that it would make any factory worker jealous. In fact, with the soundtrack that the video is set to, I almost wish that I will come back as…