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Masterpiece on PBS, basically printing its own currency after the success of Downton Abbey and Sherlock, will build off the success of the latter title by airing a three-part adaptation of Julian Barnes’ historical novelArthur & George later this year. Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) will star as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Deep-Fried Graphene Could Be the Future of Batteries

The wondermaterial graphene could have so many crazy applications: Computer chips that run on light, saltwater electricity generation, and on and on. Perhaps most humble and important of all, though, is energy storage. South Korean scientists have found a way to make pom-pom-shaped graphene microparticles ideal for electrodes, and it involves a process essentially like…

Minimal Laptop Stand, Cheaper Treadmill Desks, and More Deals

The Belkin Loft laptop stand is a real looker, and will only set you back $32 today, an all-time low. [Belkin Loft for Laptops and Notebooks, $32] Treadmill desks are great for your health, but bad for your wallet. If you’ve been waiting for a good deal, the LifeSpan Treadmill Desk is about $200 off…

Alien and Aliens Remastered, $5 Blu-rays, and More Deals

Alien is probably the best science fiction film ever made. You can own it and its inferior sequel for $5/each today. – Shane Alien Remastered ($5) | Best Buy Aliens Remastered ($5) | Best Buy Here’s Sigourney Weaver Test-Firing the Flamethrower From Alien https://gizmodo.com/heres-sigourney-weaver-test-firing-the-flamethrower-fro-1680153096 It’s unusual to see a movie drop to $6 on Blu-ray…

Gaze Into the Future of Scotch Tape With 3M’s Amazing New Dispenser

Few of us touch or even think about Scotch tape between holidays, birthdays, and whenever a gift needs to be wrapped. But some people deal with the sticky stuff all day long, so 3M enlisted designer Joongho Choi to help create a better tape dispenser, and the results are surprisingly impressive. It’s obvious that 3M…

Even Drawn Realistically, Pikachu Looks Adorable

For all intents and purposes, Pikachu should be kind of petrifyingly weird. It’s an Electric Rodent, after all. But he’s always so damn cute, even so in this collection of ‘realistic’ Pokémon drawings by Juan Hugo Martinez – his fellow Pokémon don’t get off so easily however. It’s not the first time an artist has…

10 Rules For Making Better Fantasy Maps

If you look at the beautifully illustrated fantasy maps on posters, in books, and across the Internet and wish that you could make such incredible pieces of worldbuilding, then you’re in luck. We have some guidelines for making your maps better, more beautiful, and easier to understand. Top image: Map of H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands by…

Momofuku’s David Chang cooks four delicious dishes using instant ramen

Chef David Chang, owner of the Momofuku restaurant group, shows how to make delicious food using a humble college favorite: Instant ramen. From a fancy omelette with ramen seasoning to the more elaborate gnocchi parisienne using the actual ramen as gnocchi. The Ramelet Instant Ramen Cacio e Pepe Ramen Encrusted Skate Instant Ramen Gnocchi Parisienne…

You’ve Been Eating These Chemicals In Your Food For Years

Pyridoxal phosphate. Ascorbic and Nicotonic acids. Alpha-Tocopherol. Menadione. You’ve probably been eating all these chemicals in your food for years — and that’s a very good thing. Why? Because they’re also known by some other names: Vitamins B6, C, B3, E, and K. Over at Compound Interest, Andy Brunning has put together this chart showing…

The Bizarre, Glitchy Glory of Wiggling 3D-Map Disasters

Remember a couple years ago when everybody was freaking out about the all of the 3D-imaging fuckups in the new Apple Maps? Well, those surreal portrayals of the world we live in, exist in many mapping services. And as one anonymous Tumblr user shows, they’re works of art—especially when they wiggle. That Map Looks Right…

Impressive image of Earth surrounded by Saturn’s rings

I love to see Earth next to other objects, like this comparison of all planets and the Sun or this visualization of all the planets between the Earth and the Moon. It helps me comprehend the scale of it all. Actually, it doesn’t. It just doesn’t compute, sorry. Ron Miller imagined how this would look…

A Huge Batch Of Unseen WWII Photos Have Been Discovered And Restored

Photographer Levi Bettweiser from the Rescued Film Project has discovered and processed 31 rolls of film captured by an unknown American solider during the Second World War. All photos: Levi Bettweiser/Rescued Film Project. They appear here with his permission. As reported in PetaPixel, Bettweiser found the rolls of film late last year at an auction…

Barcode license plates? Try mass traffic surveillance

Back to the Future Part II was a classic ’80s movie in part because it was an escape. From the harp plucking and the optimistic-sounding French horn in the first scene, it’s obvious that you’re going to get a picture of the future that is probably closer to Star Trek than Big Brother. So when…

This Week’s TV: The Venture Bros. Are Back! And In Space!

Go Team Venture! The Venture Bros. may just be back for a one-hour special, but you know what? We’ll take it. Plus, Billy Dee Williams reprises his role as Lando Calrissian on Star Wars Rebels, The Flash and Arrow are back from vacation, and American Horror Story and Galavant finish their seasons. Tonight Gotham (8…

Moog’s Gigantic Modular Synthesizers Are Getting a New Lease on Life

Moog’s newly announced modular synthesizers aren’t really new at all. They’re recreated versions of giant hardware the company originally released in 1973. This is big news—like literally, the synths are huge. These days, you probably recognize Moog more for its (relatively) compact all-in-one synths like the Minimoog Voyager and Phatty lines. But before this road-ready…

The First Watch With a Built-In Speedometer Is Absurdly Wonderful

As smartwatches gain more and more functionality, they’re also gaining popularity. So it’s more important than ever for makers of traditional mechanical watches to pack as many novel features into their creations as they can, like Breva, which has actually found a way to squeeze a pop-up speedometer into its new Génie 03. Say what?…

Constantine Tries To Save His Own TV Show In Bizarre Claymation Short

The future of the Constantine TV series looks pretty bleak, but supernatural detective/exorcist John Constantine isn’t waiting around to be canceled. He’s decided to hunt for his own missing showrunners in this silly, surreal claymated short titled “John Con Noir.” As weird as it is, this thing is technically official — that’s Matt Ryan doing…

How Product Placement Took Over Science Fiction, From E.T. To Star Trek

These days, product placement is an accepted part of science fiction. We’re used to seeing big brands splashed all over every TV show and movie about aliens or the future. But it wasn’t always this way. Here’s the quick-and-very-dirty history of how on-screen advertising became a science fiction mainstay. Science fiction helped to invent product…

The Spectacular Sight of Subway Cars Being Dumped Into the Ocean

Of all the things you’d expect to find at the bottom of the ocean, a small village of old New York subway cars may not cross your mind. But for over a decade, subway cars have been discarded into the Atlantic in an environmental effort to create artificial reef habitats for fostering sea life. Photographer…

New York Hosts The Vampire Apocalypse In New Trailer For The Strain

FX has debuted the first trailer for the second season of Guillermo del Toro’s vampire series The Strain, and it appears the ammonia-laden Strigoi fecal matter has completely hit the fan, as the war between humans and the vampires has escalated from covert to “the city is overrun and also on fire.” If you read…