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Nature’s Dark Side: Symbiotic Relationships Can Produce Vampire Birds

Have you seen those birds that climb around the rhinos, picking away parasites, and thought, “Ah, nature can provide inspirational stories of peaceful cooperation”? Get ready to have your illusions shattered. Those birds are on their way to being vampires. A Symbiotic Relationship The creation of a vampire starts innocuously. A bird notices a tasty-looking…

The WHO has released its latest look into the state of malaria worldwide — and the news is both good (malaria-related deaths have fallen by half since 2000 and contraction has fallen by about a third) and bad (doctors are also seeing increasing resistance to existing medicines). You can check out the full report here.

You Can Now Barter With Amazon Sellers

Amazon has today added a new Make An Offer option to its site, which allows customers to negotiate prices with sellers. At first the option will be available on 150,000 items in Amazon’s collectibles and fine art section. You’ll be able to submit a price you’d be willing to pay to the seller, who will…

This latest creation of JDS Architects, in Seoul, uses a cascading façade of staggered cubes to try and encourage communication between neighbors. [Design Boom]

James Bond’s Q Was a Real Guy

We all know that Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels, really did work in intelligence before he turned to writing. But did you know that he really worked with a gadget-obsessed Q? Ian Fleming worked with Charles Fraser-Smith, who had one of the stranger careers in the spy business. He started out…

What’s Your Absolute Favorite Book Ever To Introduce Other People To?

Whether you’re buying a stack of the same paperback to give out as gifts, lending out (and then retrieving) the well-turned copy you’ve had for the past decade, or simply pinging an e-copy over to as many friends’ e-readers as you can, we want to know about which book you most love to share. Tell…

Windows 8.1 now natively supports the MKV video format, which has been supported by the Xbox One for a little while now.

The Soaring U.S. Outbreak of Vaccine-Preventable Disease, Visualized

Mealses, mumps, polio, rubella, whooping cough… All diseases that are eminently preventable by vaccination. But, as this data visualization shows, while their incidence has decreased by 57 percent around the world between 2008 and 2014, in the U.S. it’s soared by 6,000 percent. There is, of course, one very compelling reason why whooping cough became…

Paramount Thinks Transformers 4 May Be The Best Picture Of The Year

Because they’ve just taken out an ad asking the Academy to consider the movie about giant robots blowin’ shit up for Best Picture, as well as pretty much every other available Oscar. Transformers 4 was the least egregiously awful movie in the franchise, but does that achievement make it Oscar-worthy? I say thee nay. Seriously,…

Researchers have found that male smokers are up to four times more likely to have blood cells with no Y chromosome than nonsmokers. That’s worrisome, they say, because a recent study found an association between Y chromosome loss and a shorter life span, as well as a higher risk of multiple cancers.

Amazon to FAA: We Might Just Take Our Delivery Drones Elsewhere

In the technology world’s equivalent of a teenage sulk, Amazon has told the Federal Aviation Agency that “without approval of our testing in the United States, we will be forced to continue expanding our Prime Air R&D footprint abroad.” It’s now more than a year since Amazon announced its Prime Air delivery service. But things…

Which Iconic Character Will Already Be Dead in Batman v. Superman?

Al Pacino has met with Marvel, but could he actually appear in a Marvel movie? Jason Momoa reveals how many movies he’ll play Aquaman in. George Lucas isn’t that interested in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars. Plus a ton of information about Doctor Who’s scary “thriller” of a Christmas episode. Spoilers now! Top image: Batman v.…

How Genetic Testing Proved That Swans Are Cheating on Their Mates

This clip from the Smithsonian Channel’s Truly Strange: From Here to Paternity is this clip of researchers doing DNA testing on swans and their offspring. Ugly Duckling, you are not the father. Mostly, this is further proof that human beings have decided that swans embody certain virtues value because we think they’re pretty. But that…

Walking on this transparent frozen lake feels like walking on air

These two guys were hiking in the High Tatras Mountains, in Slovakia, when they bumped into this frozen lake with crystal clear ice. The water is so transparent that they seem to be floating a few feet above the ground. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

The Latest Sony Leak Includes Extra Scripts, Phone Numbers and More

Day after day, things keep getting worse for Sony. In the most recent leak, as well as extortion emails, there was a whole treasure trove of private information that’s now freely available online. Fusion has sifted through thelatest dump of Sony Pictures data and found an awful lot of loot. In particular there are: Personal…

It’s the 100th anniversary of World War I: experience it in real time with “The First World War in 261 weeks,” a podcast that recounts the events of the war, week by week, 100 years from when they occurred. The podcast will run, as the war did, for five years. Find it oniTunes, Podbean, and…

Forget Encryption, Encode Secret Messages in Fake Spam

Send an encrypted email, and whoever sees it whistle past their eyes knows you’re trying to hide something. So why not hide your most secret messages in plain sight, hidden in otherwise innocuous looking spam? Spam Mimmic takes your message and hides it in a stream of spam-style text. It’s really just an internet-savvy form…

Neighborhood teams up to create crazy synchronized Christmas light show 

The neighbors of this community in Yucaipa, California, synchronized the Holiday lights on their houses together to create this impressive show. I can’t imagine the endless discussions to agree on colors, types of lights, or music—a nightmare before Christmas. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Obama’s Plan for Better Policing: The Good, the Bad, the Body Cameras

You may be shocked to hear that EFF doesn’t think technology is a solution to every problem. That includes problems with the police and with public safety. And, as we’ve pointed out when it comes to drones and other types of local surveillance, we think adoption of new technology requires communities to understand and discuss…

Video: Skiing through this impossibly narrow ridge is so freaking insane

Holy cow. I don’t know how professional skier Cody Townsend pulled off this insane ski line that saw him pretty much drop straight down and then through the most narrow of cracks while skiing insanely fast but he did it. The English language is not equipped to express how unbelievably mind-blowingly awesome his ski run…