Latest

Battle Subway Crowds With a Perfect Replica Of Captain America’s Shield

When you’re late for work and the subway is packed full of meandering commuters, you don’t have time to politely push your way through the crowds. You need to use the snowplow approach to get everyone out of your way, and this Captain America shield prop replica is obviously the perfect tool for the job.…

This short film about exes meeting again is hilarious because it’s real

This show film written and produced byAli Vingiano and directed & shot T.J. Misny made me laugh out loud at parts because this is exactly how it is sometimes. I wish life came with subtitles all the time. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Orbital Sciences: Yep, That Old Soviet Engine Probably Blew Up Antares

When the Antares rocket exploded on the launchpad last week, a lot fingers pointed toward its 70s-era Soviet engine. Indeed, Orbital Sciences now confirms a malfunctioning turbopump in the engine was the likely cause of the explosion. The company remains committed to fulfilling its space station resupply contract with NASA, though, likely by buying (newer)…

This Totally Acoustic Instrument Sounds Just Like an Electronic Synth

When it comes to modern instruments, there’s usually a team of engineers and musicians trying to make an electronic device sound exactly like the acoustic counterpart it’s trying to emulate. But Görkem Şen has gone in the other direction with his unorthodox Yaybahar, an unplugged instrument devoid of electronics that somehow sounds like it’s a…

The Four-Eyed Night Vision Goggles that Helped Take Down Bin Laden

When Seal Team Six kicked in the front door of Al Qaeda’s top brass back in 2011, you can be sure they didn’t spend any time looking for a light switch. Not when they had these cutting-edge, panoramic night vision goggles in front of their faces. Don’t confuse these with the helmet-mounted FLIR systems also…

20 Doctor Who Stories That Are Based On Real Science

Sometimes Doctor Who plays fast and loose with science. (Just like Star Trek and Star Wars.) But this show was created, in part, to teach science to children, and its producers used to subscribe to New Scientist. Here are 20 Doctor Who stories which are based on real scientific ideas. Top image: Horsham Museum, via…

New pictures of 2015 Lego City, Creator, Friends, Ninjago and Pirates themes

Thanks to another premature listing on Spielwaren Bludau, our pals over at Brickset were able to update their already huge database of all things Lego. They have included new images from the City, Creator, Friends, Ninjago and Pirate themes. Nearly all of the sets slated for 2015 release now have at least box art images.…

Creator of Giant New York Cityscapes Talks About His Process

Jeff Chien-Hsing Liaois not content in shooting one photograph of a particular scene. Instead he shoots dozens, then digitally combines them to create his stunning works. This new video by Aperture visits Liao’s studio where he talks a bit about his thinking and process of composing a piece.

How Astronauts Use Laptops on the International Space Station

When the ISS was being designed, its architects wisely concluded that installing physical interfaces into the structure of the ISS was not a good idea. It’s very hard to upgrade and/or repair interfaces that are part of the vehicle, whereas if laptop computers are used, upgrading or repair is as simple as launching a CD-ROM,…

How to Stream Local Video From Your Android Device to Your Chromecast

The Chromecast is cheap, useful and easy to operate, so it’s no surprise that it’s become Google’s biggest hit yet in the world of home theater. Out of the box it’s designed to stream online content directly from services such as Netflix and YouTube, but with the right utilities installed you can cast local content…

Where is all of Earth’s groundwater going? Groundwater supplies around the world are undergoing a massive depletion. So what’s the answer? Well, since the majority of groundwater is used for agricultural purposes, improving agricultural efficiency could have the biggest impact. Graph via J. T. Reager, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

New Bill Watterson Comic Is A Simple But Perfect Celebration Of Comics

When Bill Watterson makes a comic about comics, his affection for and mastery of the medium are clear. This nearly wordless, Sunday newspaper-style comic is a reminder of just how much we’ve missed Watterson’s work since Calvin and Hobbes ended. Watterson made this comic for a poster to promote the 42nd annual Angoulême International Comics…

Amazon Fresh’s Same-Day Delivery to Lazies Continues NYC Metro Creep

After a soft launch in a Brooklyn neighborhood, more New Yorkers can now order Amazon Fresh. For a limited time, Amazon Prime members in certain ZIP codes will be able to get free same-day delivery of over 500,000 goods, including groceries, electronics, and items from local vendors. But there’s still a ways to go. The…

Black Widow‘s Writer unveils 6 glorious pages for her hypothetical Film

When Marvel announced plans for a Captain Marvel movie last week, fans were overjoyed – but some still called for Black Widow to get a movie of her own. Comics writerNathan Edmondson showed his support by writing a hypothetical 6-page script that is packed to the rafters with Romanoff goodness. Since Marvel’s Phase 3 announcement,…

Watch As A Lone Porcupine Fends Off 17 Lions

Lucien Beaumont, a guide at the Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa, was observing a pride of lions on the move, when they surrounded something. “My imagination started to race, trying to figure out what they had found,” he writeson his blog. He never imagined it would be a porcupine—or what would happen next. Image:…

This Is The Most Recognizable Pop Song Ever

It takes an average of just over two seconds for most people to identify this song, which a new experiment describes as the most easily recognizable song to ever chart. But how does that work? The University of Amsterdam partnered with Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry to conduct a year long experiment in how…

CNN Discovers Promotional Surface Pros Make Fantastic iPad Stands

Last night, CNN wasn’t just covering the mid-term elections. It was also pimping the Surface Pro 3, conspicuously placing a kickstand-ed unit in front of a bunch of its commentators. The catch? They were actually just being used as iPad stands. As GeekWire points out, a few eagle-eyed viewers pointed out that behind every Surface…

Interstellar Is the Best and Worst Space Opera You’ll Ever See

If you love epic space opera, you shouldn’t miss Interstellar. But before you go, you need to be prepared to overlook its major flaws. Interstellar is a thematic sequel to Christopher Nolan’s last original film, Inception. It drops us into a dark future full of otherworldly landscapes and time distortions. Its spectacular action is propelled…

Rebuilding the Black Hole from Interstellar with DIY Effects

The black hole from Interstellar is the product of millions of dollars of movie magic, but maybe it didn’t have to be. DIY effects extraordinaire Joey Shanks of Shanks FXmade a pretty good poor man’s version with just some sparkers and Photoshop. Spoilers, sort of. The step-by-step process of shooting all the different layers by…

Watching a Master of Street Photography Rant for Two Hours is Bliss

If you’re into street photography, you’re well familiar with Garry Winogrand, one of the genre’s most recognized icons. Even if you don’t know him, watch this video from his visit to Rice University in 1977 for some rare off-the-cuff insights about photography. In addition to helping define street-style shooting in the mid-twentieth century, Winogrand was…