Latest

What Was Your Most Disappointing New Technological Purchase Ever?

Being an early adopter has its rewards (you get to try things first!) and its challenges, namely the bought-in-haste, but ultimately terrible, tech that you are now that not-at-all proud owner of. Today, we want to know about the most disappointing, useless new technology you ever regretted buying. Tell us in the comments what it…

io9 Ria Misra Jan 8 '15

Philips’ New Noise-Cancelling Cans Plug Straight Into a Lightning Port

Last year, Philips launched its Fidelio M2L headphones that plugged straight into an iPhone’s Lightning port. Now, it has a noise-cancelling version, which draws power from the port and negates the need for batteries. The Fidelio NC1L headphones use the same 24-bit digital-to-analog converter as their stablemate, instead of the one on board the phone.…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jan 8 '15

An Ancient Musical Instrument Has Been Discovered In China

Chinese archaeologists working in Hubei province’s Zaoyang City have unearthed an ancient stringed instrument dating back thousands of years. It’s said to be the earliest ever found in China. Above: a “qin-type” instrument, which closely resembles a se. Credit: silkqin. It’s called a “se” and it was found near a frame that holds chime bells.…

io9 George Dvorsky Jan 8 '15

Now There’s Going To Be A New Ghost In The Shell Anime Movie, Too

While Scarlett Johansson gets ready to star as Monique Kutcher (or whatever she’ll be renamed) in America’s live-action adaptation ofGhost in the Shell, Japan is already hard at work making a third GitS movie starring Motoko Kusanagi in all her original, scantily clad cyber-crimefighting glory. Besides this teaser, details on the new anime movie are…

Anime Rob Bricken Jan 8 '15

How Soap Works

For well over a century, public health officials have been pushing regular hand washing with soap as one of the most effective methods of inhibiting the spread of disease and infection. The result of physical, as opposed to biological processes, proper hand washing with regular soap will thoroughly remove bacteria. Yes, contrary to popular belief,…

Tech News Melissa - TodayIFoundOut.com Jan 8 '15

Guy straps fireworks to his ankles for insane breakdance performance

Lil Amok—a professional dancer based in Berlin, Germany—strapped fireworks to his ankles, lighted them up, and performed this insane breakdance show. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Sploid Omar Kardoudi Jan 8 '15

Familiar Faces Join Kong: Skull Island, Doctor Who, And Shannara

J.J. Abrams talks about his own fears about The Force Awakens. Russell T. Davies explains why he won’t return to the Whoniverse. And get a look at the cast of the next James Bond film, on set. Spoilers now! Top image: Doctor Who Kong: Skull Island Michael Keaton is finalizing details to join the cast…

Television Katharine Trendacosta Jan 8 '15

New gorgeous Guardians of the Galaxy concept art revealed

Olivier Pron was the lede matte painter for Guardians of the Galaxy. His concepts for the movie sets—and other movies and personal projects—are extremely cool. I love the Chris Foss-iness of Xandar, the home planet of the Nova Corps. The rest of his work is equally great. I wish I could roam his worlds with…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Jan 8 '15

These Helmets Let You See the World as an Animal

These sleek, polished metal helmets may look good from the outside—but from the inside, they reveal the world in a whole different way. You see, they allow you to take in your surroundings as if you were an animal. There are four different helmets, which allow your to peer into the outside world as if…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jan 8 '15

Report: New Super Cookies Can Even Track Your Privacy-Mode Browsing

Private browsing modes on most modern browsers are a nice way to at least partially cloak your online habits. But a new breed of super cookies can apparently bypass those privacy modes and keep track of what you’re looking at all the time. Ars Technica reportsthat a chink in the HTTP Strict Transport Security protocol…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jan 8 '15

Brave girl fishes piranhas holding a piece of raw meat with her hand

Watching this Brazilian girl fishing piranhas barefoot made me cringe. Watching the water boil when the piranhas devour a piece of rawmeat she is holding inches away from them made me cringe a bit more. But watching her doing it with such ease is what impresses me the most. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow…

Sploid Omar Kardoudi Jan 8 '15

LG’s New Smart Watch Is Powered by WebOS

Android Central has confirmed that LG’s new smartwatch is powered by webOS. The watch has been shown off at CES by Audi, where it was used to beckon a car on to the stage. A closer look, by both Android Central and Verge reveals a fairly rich experience beyond the presence of webOS. Verge points…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jan 8 '15

Amazon Might Soon Look Like This

Amazon’s been testing a new design for its homepage, and it appears that this rather dark-and-stormy front page has today been appearing for far more users across the U.S. Amazon has apparently been working on a design refresh since July. Now, it seems Amazon is selectively using this new front page on a variety of…

Commerce Jamie Condliffe Jan 8 '15

When It Premieres, 12 Monkeys Could Control the Lights In Your House

Is this a story of interactive home viewing taken far? Syfy is partnering with Phillips to give each episode of 12 Monkeys a “light track.” Get ready to have the future scenes turn off all the lights in your house to make sure that you’re really feeling the apocalypse. Phillips’ Hue lighting line connects color-changing…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Jan 8 '15

What it must be like being inside a kid’s imagination

Here’s a cute video that I hope turns into an entire series: imagining what’s inside a kid’s, well, imagination. The video starts off with the toddler waving a stick as he runs around (as kids tend to do) and then transforms into a level of Super Mario Bros. Being a kid is awesome. We just…

Sploid Casey Chan Jan 8 '15

Sunset at Yosemite Bathes the Mountaintops in a Golden Glow

This image posted to Instagram by the National Parks Service shows a perfect sunset at Yosemite National Park. The reflection of the light in the clouds and off the rock give it a beautiful halo. See the full Instagram post below.

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Jan 8 '15

What Does It Mean That James Bond’s In the Public Domain In Canada?

On January 1st, 2015, the works of Ian Fleming entered the public domain in a number of countries. That means that the character of James Bond is no longer copyrighted in those countries, just likeSherlock Holmes has been for a while. But it doesn’t mean that it’s suddenly open season on that character. Why now?…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Jan 8 '15

A song made using just noises from Star Wars

Eclectic Method’s latest song is called ‘Droids of Star Wars’ and it uses footage and sounds (mostly from our favorite droids) from the original trilogy and the ignored second trilogy. It’s going to be a part of a series that summaries the first 6 movies as the world prepares for Episode VII. Eclectic Method is…

Sploid Casey Chan Jan 8 '15

The Hotel That Inspired The Shining Wants You to Design a Maze For It

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado has the … honor of being the inspiration behind The Shining. And as a way to further connect the real hotel to the fictional Overlook Hotel, the management has announced that it will build a a 61,500 square foot hedge maze inspired by the one in Kubrick’s film.…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Jan 8 '15

You’ll Soon Be Able To Use K’NEX To Build Your Own Custom Dart Guns

How many times have you found yourself playing with a Nerf gun and thought you could come up with a cooler design? That dream will soon be a reality according to the folks at Blaster Labs because at some point this year K’NEX will be releasing new building sets that let you design and construct…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Jan 8 '15

What Was Your Most Disappointing New Technological Purchase Ever?

Philips’ New Noise-Cancelling Cans Plug Straight Into a Lightning Port

An Ancient Musical Instrument Has Been Discovered In China