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Watch The ISS Fly Through An Aurora

The ESA has just released a stunning timelapse video of the International Space Station flying through an aurora, which was created when a giant cloud of gas from the sun — a “coronal mass ejection” — collided with Earth’s magnetic fields last week. The footage was taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst. A few days…

Gorgeous renders look like alien planets or Minecraft worlds

Lee Griggs is an expert in Maya and Arnold, a 3D rendering engine that produces amazing images in the right hands. Like his topographical experiments. He uses millions of tiny geometric elements combined with beautiful color palettes to create exquisite abstract visualizations. Some could be alien planets, others could be microscopic photos of minerals or…

Teens go bananas and take scariest selfie ever atop 1135-foot skyscraper

I’ve seen many coldblooded daredevils climbing skyscrapers and towers, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone having a picnic up there—The Centre skyscraper in Hong Kong, 1,135 feet (346 meters) above the ground. I couldn’t avoid gasping when photographer Daniel Lau lifted his camera above him and his friends. SPLOID is a new…

7 New Materials That Could Change How Our Buildings Act

The gap between material science and actual construction is very far and very wide. It can take decades to move a breakthrough in engineering from a lab to a building site. But as architects and engineers face bigger challenges—from earthquakes to dwindling resources to sheer cost—a new generation of smart materials is emerging. Over the…

Another Crazy Star Wars Rumor! Plus Did The Stand Movie Find Its Star?

Could Superman actually face the music for his actions in Man of Steel? The members of Amazing Spider-Man’s Secret Six may not be whom you’re expecting. A Doctor Who rumor gets an intriguing non-denial. See tons of clips and promos for Gotham, Doctor Who, Defiance and Star Wars: Rebels. Spoilers right now! Top image: Batman…

You’d Never Spot This Razor-Thin ATM Skimmer

The constant drive for miniaturization doesn’t just apply to consumer electronics: the crooks are at it, too. And when it comes to card skimmers, this tiny thing is pretty much impossible to spot. https://gizmodo.com/the-latest-long-life-super-thin-atm-skimmers-are-virtu-1601076751 Krebs on Security has pictures of this new breed of card skimmer—the devices that lurk in a card slot to read…

Terrifying video shows the lung capacity of smokers vs nonsmokers

I’ve seen many photos and videos of smokers’ lungs—all of them disgusting—but I’ve never seen a better case against cigarettes than this Vine showing the differences in lung capacity between a smoker and a nonsmoker. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Amazing video shows hundreds of pelicans diving into a feeding frenzy

Birds are awesome creatures, but seeing huge flocks of them—like these pelicans diving into a feeding frenzy—both amaze and scare the bejesus out of me. Maybe is Hitchcock’s fault. Or maybe it’s because I know these sons of dinosaurs are really waiting for their opportunity to eat us all one day. SPLOID is a new…

There Are Huge Plumes of Methane Leaking From the Atlantic Floor

Methane can come from all kinds of places. But now a team of researchers has discovered over 500 bubbling methane vents just off the east coast of the U.S. that are releasing the gas, too, https://gizmodo.com/do-cow-farts-actually-contribute-to-global-warming-1562144730 The team of scientists has been studying the continental margin—part of the ocean floor that divides the coast and…

Short film shows the dangers of a computer that makes wishes come true

What would you do with a magic computer that could make anything you want to appear in front of you. No payments, no three-day Amazon Prime shipping—just type something and boom, it’s yours. It sounds awesome until you see what happens in this short directed by Spencer Susser. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome…

Scientists Just Grew a Whole Organ Inside an Animal For the First Time

We’ve been able to grow organs in labs for some time now. But what if you could grow them directly inside a living body just by injecting a few cells? It looks like now we can, at least in a limited way. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have grown thymus glands directly inside lab…

These Lamps Are a Sleek Modern Take on Industrial Lighting

Look around hip London or Manhattan coffee shops and restaurants, and you’ll know that big, heavy lampshades of industrial light fittings are in right now. But these stripped-back lights provide a nod to that style—with a lighter, modern feel. The Slims Collection of lamps by Tel-Aviv-based Studio Beam is a contemporary take on the industrial…

A sneak peek into the guts of the new European Space Shuttle

Photographer Enrico Sacchetti got a peek of Europe’s new experimental space shuttle, the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, and sent us this cool photo of its guts. The IXV will be launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on October 2014. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Wingsuit guy flies so close to trees he probably got twigs in his pants

I’ve seen people in wingsuits flying so close to the ground that I thought they were going to land on their belly at any time. I’ve seen them fly through tight canyons or so close to a cliff that they could high five people standing there. But this flight between trees seems like the most…

What You Really Use Your Smartphone For

Your smartphone has so much promise: tons of computational power and masses of smart software. But all you really do with it is play Temple Run on the toilet and drunkenly flip through Tinder. [Truth Facts] http://kindofnormal.com/truthfacts/2014/08/22

U.S. Open Ball Boys Will Be Wearing Smart, Connected Shirts

Later today, the first balls will be served at the U.S. Open. But this year, the ball boys retrieving all those missed shots will be under closer scrutiny than usual: they’ll be dressed in nylon Ralph Lauren T-shirts lined with conductive silver-coated thread and sensors, recording all of their biometric data. In a venture with…

Robo Brain Is Google For Robots

Till now, scientists have been teaching robots, at least the kind that are meant to help you around the house, one thing at a time: how to find your keys, pour a drink, put away dishes. But what’s a robot to do when it doesn’t know something? Go on the internet, of course! Robo Brain…

The First 4K OLED TV You Can Buy Will Cost $11,000

OLED has taken its sweet time to arrive in 4K sets, but now LG has announced that the first such set is about to go on sale. And this thing looks good enough to fall in love with. https://gizmodo.com/hands-on-i-just-fell-in-love-with-lgs-flexible-4k-ole-1496503499 LG will be selling its 65-inch 4K OLED—first in South Korea this week and then in…

This is awful. Uber might have to shut down its services in India, its largest market outside the United States, by October 31, for not complying with the Reserve Bank of India’s two-factor authentication regulations. India is a huge market, so Uber’s obviously not going to back off so easily. But they might have to…

A Simple Guide to Choosing Which Messaging Service to Use

Given the myriad ways we now all have of sending digital messages, it can be difficult to to choose the most appropriate. So why not follow the simple guide? Put together by Doghouse Diaries, this chart suggests which medium you should use to send your precious words. Ultra time-sensitive? Shoot off an SMS. Completely unimportant?…