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Charts Show When We’re At Our Most Miserable During the Year

Our moods ebb and flow with the seasons. They also change quite dramatically over the course of a single week. These visualizations show exactly when we can expect to be depressed, anxious, and stressed. These visualizations were put together by Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post, and he calls them the index of misery. Using…

A UK Government Lab Accidentally Mailed Out Live Anthrax 

The Centers for Disease Control has some dubious competition in the mishandling deadly pathogens business. A investigation by theGuardian reveals dozens of serious safety lapses in UK labs. In one case, a government lab shipped out live anthrax because someone had grabbed the wrong tubes. TheGuardianfound 70 incidents in the past five years at UK…

All The Details You Might Have Missed In The Terminator Genisys Trailer

The brand new Terminator Genisys traileris out,and you’re not going to believe all the insanity we found when we went through it frame by frame. Start up the HK-Aerials — we’re going to the future, or past, or both, who knows? The trailer opens on Los Angeles. With three HK-Aerials scooting around the sky. SKYNET…

NOW It’s Official: Benedict Cumberbatch Is Playing Dr. Strange!

We’ve been hearing for months that the Imitation Game and Sherlock star, Benedict Cumberbatch, was in line to play the Sorcerer Supreme in Marvel’s big movie in 2016. But now it’s really official. Marvel has announced that Cumberbatch will be playing the surgeon who suffers an accident and gains mystic powers. The movie comes out…

The Factories That Churn Out America’s Most Iconic Trophies

There’s a little trophy shop called Aardvark Laser Engraving down the street from our office in Oakland. It’s small but bustling, and its windows are stuffed to the brim with awards made of all kinds of materials and in any shape you can imagine: chalices, orbs, golfers, gavels, apples, and plaques. Plenty of plaques. They…

This Frozen Calendar costs 100 million Yen

That’s a low low price of $835,800. My word. The rest of the world’s obsession with Frozen might be abating, but Japan’s certainly isn’t, judging by this ludicrously expensive Calendar made out of pure Platinum. The huge 30″ x 20″, 22lbs calendar is part of a range of Frozen-themed products from Ginza Tanaka – and…

Ayn Rand personally profited from FDR’s New Deal

In 1936 Ayn Rand was no fan of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal programs. So it may come as a surprise to fans of Rand that the libertarian icon took money from the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Theatre Project. Like a lot of money. Rand’s courtroom drama “Night of January 16th” closed in…

To Combat Global Warming, We Have To Eat Less Meat. Period.

If you believe in global warming, and that people should take measures to limit its destructive effects, then you should also believe in eating less meat. Not no meat, necessarily (nobody is demanding you become a vegetarian), but less meat. Photo Credit: Streetwrk viaflickr | CC BY-ND 2.0 The reason for this is abundantly clear:…

The Tech That Will Kill Passwords Dead

Passwords are broken. Most people pick crappy passwords, and thatinevitably leads to trouble.(We’re looking at you Sony Pictures.) Good passwords are basically impossible to remember. Heck, even the dude who invented passwords thinks they’re a total nightmare. The time to kill the password is overdue, and thankfully there’s some promising technology that will enable us…

Your Old Laptop Batteries Could Be Repurposed to Power Lightbulbs

Every year, some 50 million lithium-ion laptop batteries find their way to the trash heap. IBM researchers in India have come up with a better idea. Many of those batteries still contain useable cells, which can be used to keep the lights on in homes without reliable access to the grid. As Technology Review reports,…

Holy Chimichangas! Ryan Reynolds Will Star In The New Deadpool Movie

It’s almost official! It looks like Ryan Reynolds will be reprising his role as the Merc with a Mouth in the upcoming Deadpool solo movie. Let’s hope he’s perfecting the art of talking to himself and breaking the fourth wall. Deadline reports that Fox is closing a deal with Reynolds to play Wade Wilson, a.k.a.…

Design and Detonate a Simulated Fireworks Show With No Risk of Injury

If you ask someone what their favorite toy was growing up they’ll probably say something like Lego. But deep down, it was really the illegal fireworks their friend’s cousin’s uncle got from his neighbor. Nothing can quite match the thrill of something going boom, and now amateur pyrotechnics enthusiasts can safely scratch that itch with…

Here’s What Happened With The Scrubbed Orion Launch Attempt

The Orion spacecraft toyed with our hearts this morning, three times reaching the terminal countdown before the launch attempt was ultimately scrubbed. Twice, gusts of wind were to blame; the third time, a sticky valve refused to close. Here’s what went down and what needs to happen before the next attempt. Top image: Delta IV…

Why Are These Wormy Amphibians Attacking Their Mother?

Caecilians look like worms, but they’re actually amphibians. Like most other animals, they’re born hungry. And they have quite possibly the grossest feeding system in the entire world. Caecilians are popular pets for people with a high tolerance for things that look like worms roaming around their house. The limbless amphibians are, some biologists believe,…

I’ll Be Back: The First Trailer for Terminator Genisys Is Here

Paramount Pictures just released the first full trailer for the still awkwardly named Terminator Genisys, and it’s got all the explosions, time-traveling, robots, and Arnold Schwarzenegger action you could ask for. There’s actually quite a lot going on in this two-and-a-half minute spot. First off, we’ve either seriously fucked with time or we’re in another…

Krysten Ritter Will Play Marvel’s Superpowered Detective Jessica Jones

We’ve been wondering which actress would be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the lead in the Netflix series Jessica Jones. Now reports say Veronica Mars, Breaking Bad, and Don’t Trust the B— actress Krysten Ritter will be playing the superhero turned private eye. While there’s no official word from Marvel, Deadline is reporting that…

This tiny tortoise regains mobility with Lego

We’ve seen the bionic Lego tortoise before, but where as that poor guy lost a limb, this little guy named Blade lost the use of all of his limbs. He is now able to scoot about with some Lego wheels that are attached to his underbelly. Blade’s owner, Iris Peste, noticed that he was having…

Moose!

During the fall, winter and spring, Gareth Wishart works at an environmental NGO in Washington, DC. During the summer, he’s a hunting guide on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula. This is the story of one of his kills. — Ed. Taking it between my bare hands, the hot blood stinging wind-chilled fingers, I pull the bull’s heart…

Would you watch a scifi movie made by the Saw and Insidious co-creator? In a Hollywood Reporter interview, Leigh Whannell (set to make his directorial debut in 2015 with Insidious: Chapter 3) said: “If I had to pick one genre next, I’d love to make a scifi film. I grew up in the ’80s, going…

The Port Authority Bus Terminal: Myth, Mystery, Mess

For many coming to New York City, the available entry is the Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT). However, if a traveler seeks the charm of a grand entrance, they will be greatly disappointed. The PABT is considered, colloquially, to be a hall of unfathomable nightmares. As one Yelp! reviewer put it: If I die and…