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12 Monkeys‘ Heroes Both Do The Unforgivable, But We Still Root For Them

Last night’s episode of 12 Monkeys went to an incredibly dark place, showing both Cole and Cassandra Railly doing things that are basically unforgivable. It’s actually hard to say whose transgression was worse. And yet, we still manage to sympathize with both of them, which is kind of impressive. Spoilers ahead… In “The Cassandra Complex,”…

Snapchat’s First Webseries Is Exactly as Terrible as You’d Expect 

Snapchat has unleashed its first ephemeral scripted webseries, Literally Can’t Even. The first five-minute episode, “Sip & Surf Party XXX,” is available today on the Snap Channel in the app’s new Discover platform. Keeping with Snapchat’s whole disappearing schtick, you can only watch it for 24 hours and then it’ll vanish, like a rare flower…

Shaun Of The Dead Outtake Features Simon Pegg As John Lennon

This is so silly I can hardly stand it: An outtake from Shaun of the Dead, in which Simon Pegg and Peter Serafinowicz pretend to be John Lennon and Paul McCartney (instead of Shaun and Pete). This may be old footage, but it’s new to me – and really, who can’t get on board with…

This Is The Clearest, Sharpest Video Of Lightning Seen From Space

This lightning storm is an eerie, glowing spider in a web of clouds when seen from above. Video footage of this unusual perspective was captured from the International Space Station using a specialized camera to minimize motion blur. Lightning strike as seen from 400 kilometers above the Earth. Image credit: ESA/NASA While this looks a…

Magic Leap Ripped Off Those Awesome UI Concepts

Magic Leap is secretly building a headset that could blend computer graphics with the real world. Recently, we lucked into a treasure trove of illustrations from Magic Leap about what that future might hold. There’s just one problem: Magic Leap didn’t actually create all those awesome UI concepts. It copied them. https://gizmodo.com/how-magic-leap-is-secretly-creating-a-new-alternate-rea-1660441103 The images speak…

Planet Earth In Infrared, At 4k Resolution

Here’s something you don’t see every day: An ultra-HD time-lapse of Earth, as seen in infrared. James Tyrwhitt-Drake is perhaps best known for his stunning microscopy work (this matryoshka-like GIF of a scanning electron microscope zooming in on an amphipod, a diatom, and, finally, a microscopic bacterium is a favorite of mine), but the University…

The Pirate Bay Is Back 

Update, 2:57 pm: Looks like it’s down again. Will report back when I hear more about the outage. Update, 10:04 am Monday: It’s back up for some people. Still down for me. Popular torrenting site The Pirate Bay is back after it was shut down by Swedish police late last year. While tons of copies…

If You Want a 100% Sunny Wedding Day You Can Pay $150k to Explode Clouds

This sounds fake as hell but it does have some scientific backup: A luxury travel company is offering a $150,000 cloud-killing package to guarantee sunny wedding days in the south of France. Pilots will consult with meteorologists to fly planes near the ceremony space three weeks leading up to the wedding. The planes spray silver…

Google’s 3D-Scanning Project Tango Just Got a Little More Real

Google ATAP (that’s Advanced Technology and Projects) is where wonderful things are born. Things like the animated magic of Glen Keane’s Duet or the modular Project Ara smartphone. It’s all great stuff, but it’s also all experimental—if a project doesn’t make enough progress in two years, it’s dead. But Google’s Project Tango is alive and…

The Case Against DRM Needs to Be Made Now

DRM, or digital rights management, is a digital lock placed on media content and devices. Supporters say DRM protects businesses and artists from piracy and theft. Sounds good, right? Opponents say it kills innovation, doesn’t stop piracy, and helps malware distributors. This month, a group led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation has assembled to come…

Here’s why Drive was such a spectacular looking movie

The always excellent Tony Zhou of Every Frame a Painting takes a fascinating look at why some films resonate with us by explaining what the average movie goer thinks is unexplainable. Take Drive. Anyone who saw the movie knew it looked beautiful and felt alive. Why? It’s the simple quadrant system. Top, down, left and…

This Is The Funniest Tweet We’ve Read This Week

This tweet from Priscilla puts a whole new spin on the original 1980s V series. A lot of things about Diana’s plans are suddenly starting to make a lot more sense.

This anti-bullet wall can stop bullets from penetrating and ricocheting

Somehow a wall filled with these hard ceramic balls is bulletproof. It stops bullets from penetrating through the wall and even prevents bullets from ricocheting off the wall too. It’s basically the best shield against a gun we have. Sure, sandbags can also stop bullets but Saab’s Soft Armour system anti bullet wall looks like…

Check Out Crash Course Astronomy, A New YouTube Series From Phil Plait

Throughout the year, as Earth progresses through its orbit around the sun, one can witness stars in the night sky rise and set at different times. It’s an example of an astronomical cycle visible to the naked eye, and the first of three subjects in Episode 3 of Crash Course Astronomy, a new series by…

The Vampire Diaries Can Still Go Straight For The Heartstrings Sometimes

The Vampire Diaries is basically doing its own version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “The Body.” But thanks to some genuinely razor-sharp writing and some strong acting from Candice Accola in particular, it’s still incredibly moving and effective. Just check out this crazy-intense clip from last night’s episode. Spoilers… So yeah, Caroline’s mom is dying…

“Dragon” Dinosaur Was 50 Feet Long, Had Most Epic Neck Ever 

Before you get too excited on the heels of today’s Game of Thrones news items, we’re not talking actual fire-breathing monsters here. However, it’s possible this newly discovered dinosaur species could have inspired the dragons that populate Chinese folklore. The Canadian team that studied the skeleton, which was found in central China, dubbed it “Qijianglong”…

Secret message found in WW2 bullet tells the story of some stupid Nazis

August, 13, 1944. The British 8th Army occupies Florence. The Allies finally break out of Normandy. Meanwhile, somewhere in the south of Tuscany, a soldier writes this encrypted message and hides it inside a bullet. In 2015, someone found it and deciphered it. It was the end of a hilariously absurd story. Many people all…

Fire Fighters of the Future Race to Save Their City

Even in a technologically-advanced future, we’ll still need to put out fires. Bastien Grivet is a concept artist in Castelnau-le-Lez, France. You can see more of his amazing work in his ArtStation gallery.

Step Inside Your Isolation Pod, Worker Drone, and Be Free

This is the Orrb. The futuristic pod is just large enough for one human to sit and stare at a screen in total isolation for the sake of “wellness and learning.” It’s like one of those nap pods you might find at Google, only more private and, somehow, more alien-looking. You know you want one.…

Get to the chopper! Geologists from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory rush to board a helicopter as fountains of lava erupt in the background, in the 1984 eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. This picture was recently featured in the U.S. Geological Survey‘s #ThrowbackThursday series. (Photo: R.B. Moore.)