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It’s Almost Impossible To Topple These Tron-Inspired Scooters

It’s tempting to call this pedal-less scooter a balance bike since kids simply use their legs to propel it. But rolling on a set of four extra-wide wheels it doesn’t look like there’s any balancing required to keep the yoMOTO upright. So it’s safer for toddlers to live out their video game fantasies—as long as…

Whatever You Think of Edward Snowden, Go See Citizenfour Now

I have mixed feelings about Snowden. After spending more than a year reporting on the whistleblower patriot traitor spy skinny guy from North Carolina, I’ve gone from lauding his regard for American civil liberties to deeply distrusting his intentions and methods for exposing state secrets. But last night, I saw Citizenfour, a new documentary about…

Pilot saves the day when plane suddenly takes a dive at landing

The pilot of this flight from the German airline TUIfly managed to correct a sudden dive while landing at the Madeira International airport, one of the hardest in the world. Crosswinds were so strong that he could only managed to get the plane completely straight a few seconds before touching the ground. SPLOID is a…

Doctors in Australia have transplanted a ‘dead’ heart that stopped beating for 20 minutes. It’s being described asthe biggest heart transplant breakthrough in a decade, one that could revolutionize the way organs are donated. The technique, which utilizes a portable unit that keeps blood flowing through heart tissue, took 12 years to develop. Previously, transplant…

Need An Evil Lawyer? Watch Sleepy Hollow‘s Parody Of Legal Commercials

Dealing with the legal ramifications of a curse or monster? Henry Parish, attorney at law, promises to end your legal woes in this lawyerly ad spoof. After all, bringing about the apocalypse is sure to make those pesky criminal charges go away. Be sure to read all of the various types of cases that Sleepy…

Archaeologists Have Discovered The Highest Known Ice Age Settlement

Researchers working in the Peruvian Andes have found an ice age camp located 14,760 feet (4,500 meters) above sea level. It’s so high that the archaeologists were surprised ancient humans could even survive up there. Photo: Matthew Koehler/Science/AP. The 12,400 year-old settlement, called the Pucuncho workshop site, is more than 6,560 feet (2,000 meters) higher…

The Best Device For Reading Is Still the Phone In Your Pocket

For long-time book lovers, reading on an electronic device can be disorienting experience. The most obvious choice for those going down the e-book path is a device like the Kindle, completely and utterly dedicated to emulating the traditional experience of reading. I’ve been seduced by the promise of an e-reader many-a-time, but I always find…

My First Kindle: I Finally Stopped Multitasking and Got Lost in a Novel

Still don’t have an e-reader? I can respect that. Physical books just feel better. Print is sacred. I’m with you—or at least I was, until our reviews editor thrust a Kindle in my hand and made me use it. Amazon has just updated its bare-bones, entry-level Kindle to finally include touchscreen navigation like phones and…

Ouija Proves That Movies Based On Random Products Have Hit Rock Bottom

Ouija offers a few genuine scares. But mostly, it raises lots of interesting questions about Hollywood’s odd and ongoing affection for turning board games and other random pieces of intellectual property into movies. Granted, as Hasbro-spawned movies go, this low-budget teen thriller makes a lot more sense than the bloated Battleship, which was made for…

New images of the Lego Brick Friday giveaway

Earlier this week, we reported that a box image was leaked for the upcoming Brick Friday giveaway. We now have the official images for that set. On or after Black Friday (November 28th, 2014) with a $99 or more purchase at the Lego brand store and Lego online and while supplies last, you will receive…

Is There A Limit To How Big Vegetables Can Grow?

Fourteen years ago, the world’s largest pumpkin weighed in at 1,140 pounds. That’s an impressively-sized pumpkin, but it doesn’t even come close to sizing up to the newest monster crop of the last decade, the largest of which weighs more than twice that at 2,323 pounds. Writing in the New Yorker, Nicola Twilley takes on…

New Trailer For Judge Dredd: Superfiend Is So Wonderfully Weird

Here is the longest Judge Dredd: Superfiend trailer yet, along with a lot of footage of Judge Death just going bananas on the citizens of Mega-City One. For those of you unaware, creator Adi Shankar, who introduces the trailer, made this unofficial “departure” of the Dredd world for fun, and we think it’s great. This…

US Special Forces’ New Sniper Scope Works Like a Human Eye

Conventional sniper scopes may allow for superlatively long shots but they are far from perfect, requiring a time-consuming refocusing of the sights should the target (or shooter) have to move position. But with the new RAZAR scope from Sandia National Labs, that refocus is handled almost instantly with the push of a button. Conventional long-range…

Attacks On Health-Care Workers Are Fueling The Resurgence Of Polio

The Council on Foreign Relations maintains a map of global outbreaks of diseases that are easily prevented by inexpensive vaccines. Today, on World Polio Day, the map includes updated data that dramatically illustrates how violence against health-care workers has led to a polio resurgence in Pakistan. Each red triangle on the interactive, color-coded map indicates…

The Best Extensions for Safari in iOS 8

When Apple unleashed iOS 8 on the world, it didn’t exactly break down the boundaries of its walled garden—but it did put in one or two windows. Apps can now share with each other more easily, and there’s improved integration for third-party tools in Safari thanks to the new extension support. Here are 8 of…

The First Full Look At Ultron In All Of His Terrifying Robotic Glory

Care to see the first full-body shot of the foe of the second Avengers movie? Of course you do. Ultron’s torso and limbs are a bit overdesigned for my tastes, but it’s not like he’s a Bayformer or anything. Plus, he’s got some great gams for a robot bent on destroying all of humanity. H/t…

This awesome roadster should be the new Batmobile

The new Batmobile for Batman v Superman is cool, but I wish we could go back to something lighter, less militaristic, and a lot cooler. The Vapour GT by Swedish design firm Gray Design is the car that I would like for a new Batman TV series that is more smart detective work and less…

There’s a Knock-Off Segway For Kids Who Hate Walking Too

It was heralded as the device that would change cities and urban landscapes forever. But thanks to a price tag that put it in direct competition with a used car, the Segway ended up a punchline instead of a revolution. Will that ever change? If we get kids addicted to never having to walk again…

This brilliant video essay looks at Inception and the Narrative Illusion

Christopher Nolan’s Inception is a delightfully surreal look at merging the worlds of dream and reality – but this video essay from Brows Held High takes a deep dive into Nolan’s surrealist influences as well as Inception’s flirtation with the greatest filmmaking illusion of all: the Narrative. The video takes a look at Surrealism’s influence…

Everyone Is Lying To You All The Time And Only Butlers Know Why

Those new-fangled contraptions these days — with their beeping and their “online” social interaction — are making us dishonest! Researchers from Cornell University have determined that they have led to a new kind of lie. Learn about the “butler lie,” and why it fools everyone. Everyone Needs a Butler Now There once was a time…