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Oh Hey, Ikea Bought Another Giant Wind Farm

Back in March, we learned Ikea had purchased an Illinois wind farm big enough to power all its US stores. Well, that was small potatoes. Today the company announced its largest investment in renewables ever: The acquisition of a much larger wind farm in Texas. The new farm will be built in Cameron County, Texas,…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Nov 19 '14

Cool photos of F-22s and F-35s flying together for the first time

Behold the F-22 Raptor (top two) and F-35 Lightning II (bottom two) flying together for the first time in history. Arguably the two most technologically advanced military jets in the world, the Lt. Col. Matt Renbarger—commander of the 58th Fighter Squadron—says they mix together like peanut butter and jelly: When the F-22 and F-35 come…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Nov 19 '14

Serene Modern Buildings Designed To Mimic Ocean Waves

When looking to nature for design inspiration, these architects needed to look no further than the ocean, creating fluid buildings that evoke cresting and undulating waves. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, designed by Jørn Utzon in 1957, opened in 1973 (via Wikimedia Commons) The Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (via ADTeasdale and…

io9 Vincze Miklós Nov 19 '14

This Kid-Proof Outlet Wouldn’t Power Up Until You Plug Something In

Any household with small roaming humans inevitably has to block its electrical sockets from tiny probing fingers. But most of the childproof measures out there—plastic plugs, sliding faceplates—can still be impregnated by determined hands. This outlet prototype wouldn’t supply any electricity to its sockets until a plug is inserted—and it could even tell the difference…

Tech News Alissa Walker Nov 19 '14

This Stunning Mosaic Was Just Uncovered In Greece

Archaeologists working in Northern Greece have uncovered a new part of the spectacular mosaic at the Roman baths in Plotinopolis, Didymoteicho. The stunningly colorful piece conveys an ocean theme, and includes the depiction of sea centaurs, dolphins, cupids, and sea-horses. The newly uncovered section of the mosaic, which represents 90 square meters out of a…

io9 George Dvorsky Nov 19 '14

DARPA Director Totally Cool With Google Taking All the Fun Toys

In an interview this afternoon at the Defense One Summit, DARPA director Arati Prabhakar explained the history and future of the agency. And Prabhakar wants it known that Google and other commercial enterprises are not their enemy. In fact, they’re more important that ever to DARPA’s national security goals, as private R&D spending has slowly…

Tech News Matt Novak Nov 19 '14

In This Trailer Blake Lively Is Young and Pretty Forever & That’s Hard

Honestly, they should just re-title this movie “Who Wants To See Blake Lively In Different Period Outfits?” Or “Blake Lively, You’re Too Pretty To Be That Old!” Behold the trailer for The Age of Adaline. So Blake Lively drives her car into a pond of ice and is then struck by lightning and never dies…

io9 Meredith Woerner Nov 19 '14

Why App Store Apps Now Say “Get” Instead of “Free”

Peruse the digital wares of the OSX or iOS stores, and you might notice a peculiar change: All of the apps previously labeled as “free” now say “get.” It’s a pretty small change that has no real impact on us users. “Get” apps are still free, and the apps themselves haven’t changed either. “Get” is…

Tech News Darren Orf Nov 19 '14

This Is Why the App Store Now Says ‘Get’ Not ‘Free’

Next time you go to download an app in the Mac or iOS App Store, you’ll notice that apps not requiring an upfront payment no longer say ‘Free.’ Instead, they sat ‘Get.’ Here’s why. You see, European regulators want to try and protect children—and perhaps more accurately, their parents—from expensive in-app purchases. It’s been enough…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Nov 19 '14

Climbers escape iceberg as it starts to collapse

Impressive video of professional ice climbers Klemen Premrl and Aljaz Anderle climbing icebergs in Greenland’s Disko Bay. Or, better said, trying to climb: They were very fragile and one started to collapse as they were going up. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Sploid Jesus Diaz Nov 19 '14

Who Is The Sexiest Book Character, Ever?

Earlier today, Asgardian god Chris Hemsworth was crowned King Sexy Pants of People Magazine. And while the “real life” actor is nice, we’d still rather bang the fantasy (Thor). Which lead us to this question: who is the hottest fictional literary character of all time? Our answer is Robb Stark, the less needy version of…

io9 Meredith Woerner Nov 19 '14

Batman vs. Superman stop-motion raises the bar on Lego animation

Tommy Williamson from BrickNerd has shared this funny stop-motion video of the epic battle between Batman and Superman. The background sets are incredibly good and the animation is so clever that it looks like CGI but it isn’t. This thing had to take a bunch of time to produce so, go enjoy it and share…

Tech News Michael Schulte Nov 19 '14

Holy crap, someone turned Groot into a Swing!

Wow. Which ever Guardians of the Galaxy-loving kid had parents as creative as this is pretty damn lucky. The life sized statue of Groot, complete with built in leafy swing is apparently from an upcoming Reality TV show called Super Fans, Super Builds – at least according to director James Gunn, who originally shared the…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook Nov 19 '14

Recreate Raiders’ Goriest Scene With a Melting Nazi Candle

Die-hard fans of Raiders of the Lost Ark will finally be able to recreate what is certainly the most unsettling scene in the movie, and one of the creepiest uses of practical effects ever to hit the silver screen. But instead of multiple layers of melting gelatin, this Major Toht candle is of course made…

Movies Andrew Liszewski Nov 19 '14

DOJ Says iPhone Encryption Will Kill a Child, Which, C’mon Man

Here we go again. Just a few days after a former FBI agent argued that the new iOS 8 encryption would cause somebody to die, a Department of Justice boss upped the ante. At a meeting on October 1, Deputy Attorney General James Cole told a room full off Apple executives that iPhone encryption would…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Nov 19 '14

These Parasitic Wasps Trick Trees Into Building Them Weird Houses

Gall wasps belong to a family of insects that hoodwink oak trees into building a stunning array of structurally unique homes – called “galls” – for their parasitic larvae. The video is the latest installment in “Deep Look,” a collaboration between KQED and PBS Digital Studios: …each miniature mansion the trees build for the wasps’…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Nov 19 '14

These Gloves Let You Climb a Glass Wall Like a Goddamn Gecko

Geckos are, objectively, way better at climbing stuff than people. Our big sweaty meathooks are no match for the wall-scaling optimized toe pads of a small lizard. That’s why a team at Stanford University is busy making gloves that simulate the sticky grip of the gecko. The Stanford team’s secret ingredient for truly adhesive gecko-inspired…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Nov 19 '14

Big Hero 6 Supersuits That Didn’t Make The Cut—Like Catgirl Honey Lemon

Not all of the concept designs for Big Hero 6’s superhero costume designs were as bright and colorful as what we saw in the final film. In fact, some of the suggestions from the design team were heavy on the black and earth tones—and one put Honey Lemon in cat ears. These are some of…

io9 Lauren Davis Nov 19 '14

This Lego building started with train track

Builder lisqr has shared this extremely interesting office building he calls Pirate 100. Architecture builds are always interesting to me, but this one is especially cool because in the land of blocks, it is really rare that you get curved shapes. He accomplished this by utilizing the curved tracks for Lego trains as the base…

Tech News Michael Schulte Nov 19 '14

Quirky’s Ohm Bluetooth Speaker Charges Wirelessly So It’s Always Ready

Portable Bluetooth speakers are awesome and convenient until, inevitably, you want to take yours somewhere and it’s out of batteries. This new speaker from Quirky is less likely to suffer this indignity because it charges wirelessly. On the surface, the $170 Ohm is a pretty standard Bluetooth speaker block that allows you to play music…

Gadgets Mario Aguilar Nov 19 '14

Oh Hey, Ikea Bought Another Giant Wind Farm

Cool photos of F-22s and F-35s flying together for the first time

Serene Modern Buildings Designed To Mimic Ocean Waves

This Kid-Proof Outlet Wouldn’t Power Up Until You Plug Something In

This Stunning Mosaic Was Just Uncovered In Greece

DARPA Director Totally Cool With Google Taking All the Fun Toys

In This Trailer Blake Lively Is Young and Pretty Forever & That’s Hard

Why App Store Apps Now Say “Get” Instead of “Free”

This Is Why the App Store Now Says ‘Get’ Not ‘Free’

Climbers escape iceberg as it starts to collapse

Who Is The Sexiest Book Character, Ever?

Batman vs. Superman stop-motion raises the bar on Lego animation

Holy crap, someone turned Groot into a Swing!

Recreate Raiders’ Goriest Scene With a Melting Nazi Candle

DOJ Says iPhone Encryption Will Kill a Child, Which, C’mon Man

These Parasitic Wasps Trick Trees Into Building Them Weird Houses

These Gloves Let You Climb a Glass Wall Like a Goddamn Gecko

Big Hero 6 Supersuits That Didn’t Make The Cut—Like Catgirl Honey Lemon

This Lego building started with train track

Quirky’s Ohm Bluetooth Speaker Charges Wirelessly So It’s Always Ready

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