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Why I Bought the Apple Watch Even Though It Makes No Damn Sense

Even though I know better and am fully aware of the very real technological limitations and have read all the tepid reviews on the stupid thing and know that first generation Apple products aren’t worth the trouble and like most humans, enjoy having a bigger number than a smaller number in my bank account, I…

Why Is It Called “Rebooting”?

You hear the phrase all the time when you’re working with computers, especially on customer service calls: “Please reboot your computer.” Why do we use the word reboot to mean “turn it off and on again”? It all goes back to tech history — and to one of the most revolutionary aspects of these computing…

Video: Terrified fish hides as a gang of sharks hunt right on top of it

This clip from Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s 2012 film Planet Ocean shows a parrotfish pulling one of the oldest tricks in the book to get away from sharks: it hides right next to coral while staying impossibly still as the sharks just swim right by it, over it and next to it while completely missing it. It’s…

Google Maps Shows an Android Robot Taking a Big Pee on the Apple Logo

A soldier in the operating system enthusiast wars has taken to the streets of Google Maps to spread a simple message, one that transcends the artificial boundaries of language and culture. If you look south of Rawlpindi, Pakistan, on Google Maps, you’ll see this unforgettable image of ruthless robot dominance and fruit submission, a tribute…

Another one of our favorite short films could become a feature-length movie. Fox just picked up the rights to Controller, Saman Kesh’s proof-of-concept film about a woman who psychically takes control of her boyfriend’s body in order to free herself from captivity.

That Movie About An Eternally Young Blake Lively? It’s A Dud.

In The Age of Adaline, Blake Lively plays a woman who gets struck by fancy weird-science-lightning and stops aging, for decades. But she keeps her condition secret, which means she needs to be alone. This could have been the premise of a neat movie, but instead it’s the basis of a grinding mess. Minor spoilers…

Happy 25th Birthday Hubble! Amazing Pics of the Telescope’s Construction

If it weren’t for the Hubble telescope, our selection of dope images for lock screens and desktop backgrounds would be far scantier. Thankfully, NASA’s omnipresent orbiter has been snapping celestial photos for a good quarter century—but its construction actually began way earlier, back in the late 70s, continuing throughout the next decade. These images show…

The Fed’s Cold War Bunker Had $4 Billion Cash For After The Apocalypse

New York and DC are piles of ash, but at least your checks are clearing. That was the idea behind the Culpeper Switch, a sprawling bunker built by the Federal Reserve to keep the banks running after nuclear apocalypse. But even some Cold War-era politicians thought it was silly. The compound was built just outside…

Calbuco’s Massive Volcanic Plume As Seen From Space

Two days ago, Chile’s Calbuco volcano erupted for the first time in over four decades. It spewed an ash cloud nearly 10ten miles high, resulting in evacuations within a 12-mile radius around the volcano. Here’s what the action looked like from space. For a period of about 90 minutes, Calbuco violently ejected ash and pumice…

How the Apple Watch Compares to Its Biggest Competition

The Apple Watch is finally here in what has been one of the longest waits for an Apple anything in the company’s history. And like almost every product in that storied produce lineage, the Apple Watch enters the retail world with some stiff competition. But where the iPod and the iPhone were stupid better than…

An Adorable Felt Apple Watch That Never Needs Charging

You caved on the iPod Touch, and maybe even bought your kid a cheap tablet, but how are you going to explain to them that there’s no way you’re buying them a $500+ Apple Watch? Easy, you just make an adorable felt alternative like Hiné Mizushima did and tell them it’s powered by their imagination…

Why an Artist Totally Whitewashed This LA Motel—Palm Trees and All

With a sweep of a paint sprayer, an artist has managed to take a decrepit motel in my Los Angeles neighborhood and turn it into a destination—not by fixing it up, but by temporarily erasing it from the street. Last week, French artist Vincent Lamouroux used a water-soluble whitewash—no, it’s not actually paint, but more…

You’ll Think Twice Before Biting Into These Realistic Chocolate Tools

If you’ve got a parent who’s handy with tools but has a better equipped workshop than Bob Vila, you might want to consider something a little different for Mother’s or Father’s Day this year. This adjustable wrench, rubber mallet, and pipe wrench might look like the real thing, but they’re actually all made from chocolate…

Awesome video shows unmanned X-47B drone refueling in the air

Earlier this week, the badass X-47B drone became the first ever unmanned aircraft to refuel while in the air. Think about how cool this is, the drone has to meet the KC-707 tanker plane in the air, position itself perfectly to snatch onto the fuel line and then gas itself up with no one on…

Two Controversial Cybersecurity Bills Just Passed the House

The House of Representatives has passed two cybersecurity bills over the past three days. Intended to help stop cybercrime by helping companies share information with the government, the bills have received close scrutiny from privacy advocates worried that they’ll further bulk up surveillance efforts. The National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act passed yesterday with overwhelming support.…

Attention, GIFs! Please Join Your Party Inside

There’s no time to waste, GIFs! This party is happening now. How was your week? Do you have any upcoming plans or new things to share? Detail your own very recent past and tell us what the not-too-distant future will hold for you using our language of both choice and necessity: interpretative GIFing.

Virtual Reality Can Fool People Into Feeling Invisible 

Virtual reality messes with your brain—and it gets especially weird when neuroscientists use it to scramble your illusion of self. A new VR study uses a few simple tricks, like a paintbrush, to fool the brain into thinking the body has disappeared. The study published in Scientific Reports riffs on an old trick in neuroscience:…

Here’s the Most Perfect Screen-Accurate Toy Story Woody You Can Buy

It’s not easy to make a perfect replica of a toy that only appeared in a movie as a computer-generated creation, but Medicom has gone above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that its new Woody figure is the most screen accurate Toy Story replica you can buy. Available in December to help…

Postal Drones Are Coming, And Everything Else You Missed Yesterday

The Swiss want to replace postal workers with drones, a new Yahoo program reportedly enters the mobile search arena, and Sony will let you take photos without lifting a finger. BitStream is the all the news tidbits and rumors you missed in the last 24 hours. Postal workers may soon go the way of the…

The Mushrooms You See In Every Children’s Book Are Psychoactive

These adorable mushrooms are in every children’s book illustration. They’re so cute, with their bright red umbrellas and white spots! They’re also psychoactive. And toxic. They’re called Amanita muscaria, or fly agaric. You might have even sat on stools painted to look like this mushroom while reading the children’s book. If a kid stumbles across…