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You Might Accidentally Swallow the World’s Smallest RC Helicopter

At what point does a flying remote control toy become too small? Bandai’s new Pico-Falcon is just 1.8 inches in length and looks like it can be flown and maneuvered inside a cupboard with enough skill. But it also looks like the slightest breeze could send it careening out of control—”Nobody cough or sneeze, I’m…

A New Pacific Rim Otachi figure that’s 18 inches of Kaiju awesomeness

NECA’s Pacific Rim line of action figures has gone from strength to strength since it launched last year – and it’s about to get even better with this beautiful new Kaiju figure set to terrorise your toy shelf. This is the first time NECA have made a toy version of Otachi – star of the…

6 Brilliant Ideas That Tackle the Toughest Environmental Problems

Buckminster Fuller was a designer, futurist, and humanitarian, from hisfamous dome to his perspective-changing map. Each year, the Buckminster Fuller Institute honors the visionary’s legacy with a competition showcasing ingenious solutions for global problems. The international competition aims to acknowledge design work that solve issues at the “system scale”—ideas that are easily replicated and widely…

Watch Samsung’s Big Galaxy Note 4 (And More) Reveal Live Right Here

In just a few short minutes, Samsung will begin its keynote presentation at IFA, Europe’s version of CES, which is America’s version of “hey look at all these fancy new gadgets.” While the headliner should be an updated Galaxy Note, Samsung’s never been shy about peddling out a whole lot of screen sizes and seeing…

This ad’s food porn made me so hungry I started to hallucinate

This ad made me so hungry I started to get a little bit anxious and lightheaded just by watching it. I can’t stop thinking about egg yolks dripping, burgers sizzling and slices of country bread soaked in Spanish extra-virgin olive oil. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

The Shocking News That Greeted The World 75 Years Ago Today

It was on this day in 1939 that Great Britain declared War on Germany, a momentous decision that was reached just two days after the invasion of Poland. Here’s a sampling of the newspaper headlines and news reels that greeted the world on that fateful day. At 11:15 a.m. British time, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain…

Fredkin’s Paradox Explains Why You Waste Time On Meaningless Decisions

Ever notice that you spend a full 15 minutes agonizing about whether to have apple-cinnamon pancakes or banana-walnut pancakes in the morning? Ever had that decision affect your day in any way? Fredkin’s Paradox explains why you agonize anyway. Edward Fredkin is a professor of digital physics, which means that he has made great contributions…

ASUS Is Resurrecting the Netbook With the EeeBook X205

And you thought the days of the netbook were done in the wake of the tablet takeover. Think again. It’s using IFA to launch the EeeBook X205, a netbook in all but name, that will cost $200. It’s to tablets what the vinyl revival is to digital downloads. An 11.6-inch laptop, it’s running off an…

​Why Are Superhero Movies So Much Better Than Superhero Comics?

Greetings, my stamp stars. I must escape this land ruled by apes. Generally it’s pretty great here — the apes are chill, the banana wine is pretty good — but they have me delivering the mail here too, and half of what they send to each other is their own feces, because they’re too civilized…

What If We Tried to Fly On Alien Worlds?

Could we fly on far-away worlds, or will it forever be a tantalizing fantasy? Randall Munroe of xkcd tackled the practicalities of flight on the 32 largest stars, planets and moons of our solar system as part of his What if? series. Top image: Excerpt of the visual summary of flying on different bodies within…

Asus ZenWatch: Home-Grown Functionality With a Big Price Tag

Asus has announced its first smartwatch at IFA in Berlin. Shuning the fashionable round faces of Moto and the like, this watch has a whole heap of home-grown software and a hefty price, too. The watch uses a square 1.63-inch, 320 x 320 AMOLED touchscreen—in fact, it’s the same as the Samsung Gear Live—and the…

The Samsung Gear S Gets a Smartwatch Keyboard You Might Actually Use

Fleksy has created a keyboard to work with the upcoming Samsung Gear S. Will it make typing on a tiny smartwatch screen anything other than completely awkward? It’s too soon to say. The Gear S is set to be the first smartwatch with a data connection, and Samsung intends users to send messages from the…

Show Us What Projects You’re Working On!

What have you been working on lately? Building a robot? Putting together a gallery of microscopic images from your lab? Stitching together a 3D panorama from Hubble stills? Whatever it is, get it all together, because it’s io9 show-and-tell time! Image: Commenter zheng3, from our last run of show-and-tell, showing us this incredibly detailed 3D-printed…

Acer R13 and R14: Overhauled Convertibles That Look Oddly Familiar

Acer has just announced two heavily redesigned convertibles at IFA: the R13 whose screen swings around in its bezel, and the R14, whose screen hinges a full 360 degrees. Oh, andanother cheap Windows tablet. If either of those designs sound familiar, that’s because… they are. Let’s take the R13 first, pictured above. A redesigned version…

A Map Of The U.S. Military’s Expanding Operations In Africa

While much of our attention is focused on ISIS and the Middle East, a closer look at the news cycle during the past two days reveals the extent to which the U.S. military has expanded its presence in Africa, where it is providing support for French counter-terrorism operations against militant Islamist groups. As the Washington…

New York’s frenetic energy captured on a video that makes my head spin

The world seems to spin faster in some cities than others. And hyper-energetic New York City might be the one that spins the fastest.Harlem based filmmaker Cutsdatflo captures the frenetic movement of the city in this imaginative video. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

First Look At Allison Williams As Peter Pan Trades Tights For Shorts

The first-ever image from the NBC live Peter Pan musical shows off Allison Williams in her updated Peter Pan costume, and the modern day recreation of the Broadway show has upgraded Peter from tights to shorts. Now Peter kind of looks like he belongs in Brooklyn, which yeah, that works. This first image was released…

A group of space ophthalmologists inspect the eye of a brand new spacecraft which is going to see farther, and going to take better images of our universe, than any of its predecessors. So what is going on in this photo taken in May, 2014? NASA engineers inspect a new piece of technology developed for…

John Oliver And Cookie Monster Are The Only TV News You’ll Ever Need

Sesame Street continues is unprecedented reign of being the Best Thing Ever as John Oliver and Cookie Monster give you the day’s most important word news. Besides a cavalcade of guest stars, the clip attempts to teach the correct use of “literally” to today’s impressionable youth — a truly noble goal. But my favorite part,…

This Is the First of a Slew of Cheap Windows Tablets

Prefer swiping through Windows tiles rather than Android’s app icons? If you’re on a budget, you rarely have any other option other than Android when it comes to tablets—but Toshiba’s new Encore Mini is the first of what could be a long line to buck that trend. Running full Windows 8.1 and offering a year’s…