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Four Myths About Robotic Coworkers, Debunked

It’s a robot nerd lovefest at RoboUniverse 2015, and it’s great to be surrounded by other folks decidedly pro-robot. But some naysayers are less keen on sharing space with soulless gizmos. Know this: Misconceptions about robotic companions are aplenty. Brian Benoit, Senior Product Manager at manufacturer Rethink Robotics, gave a presentation at RoboUniverse called “Making…

Real Plants And Fungi That Look Like Something From The Monstrous Manual

The Earth is a weird, weird place and there are some weird, weird organisms living on it. Just take a look at these members of the plant and fungal kingdoms, which sometimes look like something dreamed up for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Monkey Face Orchid (Dracula simia), lives on the side of mountains in…

This Goo Accurately Paints Patterns on Your 3D-Printed Creations

If you try to describe 3D printing to someone, you can’t help but channel a little science fiction. “You put designs in this machine, which then just like…makes it.” I’m convinced that its the great-great-great-grandfather to the oft-referenced Star Trek replicator. Luckily, I already like my tea Earl Grey and hot. But almost every new…

Your New Favorite Journal: Medical Problems of Performing Artists

Published studies include: “Physiological assessment of bagpipers: a preliminary study of cardiopulmonary parameters”; “Music Performance Anxiety in Young Musicians: Comparison of Playing Classical or Popular Music”; and “Foot and Ankle Pain and Injuries in Elite Adult Irish Dancers.” Per the journal’s website: Medical Problems of Performing Artists is the first clinical medical journal devoted to…

These Pitches For Low-Key Marvel Movies Are Perfect

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a big place, one in which characters can go from fighting evil aliens hellbent on destroying the city to sharing some shawarma in a blink of the eye. Even so, many of the best parts of these stories happen off-screen (at least so far). Which is why we were so…

What Science Fiction Or Fantasy Character Deserves More Recognition?

Samwell Tarly is no one’s favorite Game of Thrones character. Sure, he can’t fight and he’s kind of a coward, but he’s the only person in Westeros to have killed a White Walker, and he’s very possibly the smartest person in the Night’s Watch, which is going to be far more useful than swords in…

First Supergirl Trailer Really Does Feel Like An SNL Parody

Oh no, someone took the Black Widow SNL sketch and turned it into a real series. CBS just released its first trailer for the Supergirl show and it is so depressingly paint-by-numbers we had to list the cliches off. But halfway in, it gets better. https://gizmodo.com/snl-hilariously-skewers-marvels-idea-of-a-girl-superhe-1701853744 This is depressing. Why must this big, awesome female-led…

What’s the Craziest Computer Bug You’ve Ever Encountered?

System errors and software glitches appear without warning to mess with our workflows. If you work in tech, it’s often on you to fix ‘em. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen? Our EIC Annalee Newitz shared a story of a friend whose library software randomly decided to order 10,000 books in Russian. The friend was…

Science Literacy Isn’t As Bad As The Statistics Make It Look

Read the catchy one-line statistics that circulate in the headlines and on social media and you’d be forgiven for thinking that public understanding of science is in a sorry state. Truth is, it’s not as bad it appears — a misconception fueled by the bad survey. A few months back, we heard that 80% of…

The US House Just Voted to Stop the NSA’s Bulk Data Collection

As key provisions of the Patriot Act are about to expire in June, Congress is in a big hurry to figure out how to reform surveillance. The House just overwhelmingly voted in favor of the USA Freedom Act, a bill that’ll limit the NSA’s bulk data collection. Unfortunately, it may not be able to fix…

Limitless The TV Show Is Basically Limitless The Movie, But With Cops

Okay, so we knew from the start that the CBS spinoff of Neil Burger’s Limitless would be a police procedural, but the first look trailer shown at CBS’s Upfronts presentation doubly confirmed it: This is Limitless, right down to the presence of Bradley Cooper, complete with added procedural fun times. https://gizmodo.com/limitless-will-be-turned-into-a-police-procedural-for-t-1682512070 The series, which follows…

Video: A tour of an abandoned asylum is the eeriest thing

Yeesh. Project Senium took a tour of an abandoned asylum and seeing the decay and emptiness and mess is quite unsettling. And then imagining the stories the walls could tell and then thinking about the people who walked through the halls and then having to convince yourself that ghosts aren’t real sure makes your spine…

How the Atomic Age Gave Us Robot Surgeons

Your next surgery may be performed by a robot. It will be controlled by a doctor in the room, or perhaps by one across the country. What’s truly extraordinary, though, is where these surgery robots came from. Their origin stories stretch back to the radioactive labs of the atomic age. Image via Atomic Robo by…

Ferries, Bears And Adventure Bikes In British Columbia, The Video

Last September, I traveled to British Columbia with Aether Apparel for a 1,200-mile adventure motorcycle ride through its remote fjords and mountains. Now, there’s beautiful video we shot along the way. Read about the trip here. IndefinitelyWild is a new publication about adventure travel in the outdoors, the vehicles and gear that get us there…

The Napa Earthquake Accidentally Unearthed a Time Capsule

If you’re going to put a bottle of wine in a time capsule, maybe don’t bother with a cheap rosé. Yesterday afternoon, curious onlookers gathered at the Napa County Courthouse in California to glimpse the contents of a time capsule from 1979. And they learned that the time-capsulers of the 1970s included a bottle of…

Walmart Challenges Amazon Prime with Its Own $50/Year Shipping Service

Except when treating employees like garbage, Walmart isn’t much of a trendsetter. Now, the mega huge big box store may be continuing its “me too” tradition according to a new report from The Information and the Associated Press, saying Walmart is working on a shipping service to rival Amazon Prime for $50 per year. The…

Either William Shatner is the world’s most surprising Jem fan, or the live-action Jem movie is so obviously terrible that even the 84-year-old William Shatner knows it’s a travesty. Personally, I am fine with either possibility. Contact the author at [email protected].

Somehow The Flash Just Keeps Getting Better

Holy crap, how was that not the first season finale? Last night’s episode of The Flash, innocuously titled “Rogue Air,” is jam-packed with everything that’s made the second series in the DC TV-iverse so enjoyable, but also takes the show to a new level of goodness. And we still have one more episode to go!…

How Long Can You Stay in Space, and What Happens If You Stay Too Long?

We don’t fully know the answer. But every crew that resides on the International Space Station provides us information that we use to adjust our protocols and that extends that period of time. Let’s take a closer look. The longest contiguous amount of time a human has spent in space is 437 days. That was…

Director Josh Boone Will Bring The New Mutants To The Big Screen

The X-Men cinematic universe is about to get a little bigger: Fox has announced a new spin-off movie set in the universe based on the teen mutant comic series The New Mutants, and The Fault In Our Stars director Josh Boone will head the project. The movie, produced by Simon Kinberg and Lauren Shuler Donner…