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The recent revelations about the NSA’s clandestine electronic surveillance programs have highlighted the risks of European dependency on U.S. technology, says a new report—which adds that Germany’s spying scandals should spur the EU to revitalize its declining science and technology sectors.

13 of the Weirdest Computer Mice We’ve Ever Seen

Not too long ago, I asked you to help me dive into the world of unconventional, strange, and often horrible computer pointing devices. Some of them have very specialized purposes. Some of them are just dumb. Here are 13 of the weirdest. 1. The Open Office Mouse Found by live2skico2: only 1 or 2 buttons…

Three Uses For Tumblr That Don’t Involve Blogging

You can use Tumblr to blog about your love of BBC detective shows or YouTube celebrities, but you don’t have to. It’s a platform that offers more versatility and nuance than you might think. Here are three alternative approaches you can take with your Tumblr site. 1. Single-serving website Tumblr includes a very useful random…

We Toured The Gruesome Set Of Guillermo Del Toro’s The Strain

We’ve seen Guillermo del Toro’s disgusting vampire monsters in the pasty flesh on the set of his mystery series The Strain. And they were way weirder than we ever imagined, but also gorgeous. This is a unapologetic gross-out monster series with vampires that crap themselves when they eat, but somehow it still manages to be…

Periodic table alarm clock lets you see atomic numbers at a glance

University of Nottingham’s chemistry professor Martyn Poliakoff says that most chemists don’t know the atomic number of most elements and that it’s a pain to look in the periodic table. That’s why alarm clock is his favorite gadget: “The first periodic table that you lets you see an element’s atomic number without thinking.” SPLOID is…

An Evil Alarm Clock That Only Uses the World’s Most Annoying Sounds

When you’re staring down a day filled with work meetings and deadlines, there’s usually not much motivation to roll out of bed in the morning. So by blasting you with terrible sounds like drumsets and fog horns, this G-Buzz alarm clock uses negative reinforcement to make heading to work seem like the lesser of two…

​The Two Organizations Trying to Destroy U.S. Science Education

The Heartland Institute, a prominent, Chicago-based organization opposing climate science, has teamed up with the creationist Discovery Institute to launch a smear campaign against a group promoting the nationwide adoption of updated science education guidelines. The guidelines in question are the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), adopted so far by 11 states and the District…

Not a jellyfish. Nor a sperm. In fact, this is a cloud formed by a Russian Soyuz rocket as it rose through the thin air of near space on the morning of Tuesday 8 July. The cross, right at the top of the formation, was made by the Soyuz’s four boosters, as their plumes ballooned…

Horrifyingly Powerful Mudslide In Japan Tears Down Trees In An Instant

Typhoon Neoguri slammed through Japan yesterday bringing widespread flooding. A closed circuit camera captured this jaw-dropping footage of a debris flow that levelled trees as if they were matchsticks. The storm has left several people dead and a ton of damage in its wake. More than 500 houses in several prefectures were flooded due to…

The factors that turn a movie into a cult movie

The guys at Screen Junkies talk cult movies—why do some films rise unexpectedly from obscurity to achieve this hallowed status when most just fade into oblivion? Does a cult movie have to be bad? And why if you set-out to make one will you almost certainly fail? SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff.…

Peering Through Objects One Slice At Time Is A Surreal Experience

Artist Laurin Döpfner used an industrial sander to smooth his way through various objects one layer at a time, photographing each stratum as he went. When he was through, he compiled the images into the stop motion video you see here. The result is utterly entrancing. This video comes by way of Chris Jobson over…

The World’s Offensive Place Names, Mapped

We’ve all sat in the passenger seat, notionally giving directions to a driver, but instead giggling at the slightly rudely named towns on the map. Fortunately, now you can find all those amusingly offensive place names, across the entire world, on one wonderfully juvenile interactive map. Maybe, perhaps, possibly a little NSFW. Find a Dikshit…

Morbid Cross-Sectional Cake Is a Delicious Anatomy Lesson

This anatomical confection from Conjurer’s Kitchen reveals what one of their intricately crafted cakes looks like on the inside. “I often get asked what’s inside the decorated cakes, what they taste like,” writes the cakes creator, Annabel de Vetten. “So I thought I would create a cake to answer that question. Of course only the…

This GIF Party Cannot Be Stopped.

Whether you’re here to dance or simply to linger quietly over by the chip bowl, this one is for you. So send out your GIFs (and whatever news and updates you want them to bear for you) and let the party begin!

China Says the iPhone Is a Security Threat

China’s (massively influential) state broadcaster has decided that the iPhone is a “national security concern” because of its location-tracking functionality. TheWall Street Journal reports that, in a broadcast aired at noon on Friday 11th July, China Central Television said that the “frequent locations” function in iOS could be a security threat to the country. It…

This is How You Literally Feel Other People’s Pain

How many times have you seen someone receive a painful blow and doubled over yourself? People seem to have the ability to feel a kind of phantom pain when we see others getting hurt. What’s the neurology behind sympathy pain? A Tale of Two Primates At the University of Parma, in Italy, Giacomo Rizzolatti was…

This Summer’s Vans Are Made of… Cork?

If you’re after a new pair of kicks for the summer, Vans is offering up a new take on its classic designs that are made of… cork. The new addition to its Off The Wall series use the same silhouette as the rest of the OTW range, but features uppers made of natural cork. With…

You Won’t Believe Who’s Rumored For Star Wars And Batman V. Superman!

Fresh details about Peter Capaldi’s Doctor Who premiere. Alec Baldwin may be Mission Impossible 5’s CIA Director. And Guillermo del Toro has a weird little project to complete before he finishes Pacific Rim 2. Plus, news from the casts of Heroes Reborn, Arrow, and The Walking Dead. Spoilers now! Top image: Doctor Who Star Wars…

An Augmented Reality Windshield Tells You How to Take a Racing Line

Land Rover’s windshield experiments have already been pretty impressive — rememberthe conceptthat would make your car’s bonnet appear transparent to make it easier to avoid potholes? But what if you’re on a silky-smooth race track, looking to perfect your performance? That’s the focus of the auto manufacturer’s latest concept. Just like a video game’s HUD…

The Lord of the Rings In 90 Seconds Is All About the Walking

Even for 90 seconds, this video is tilted a little heavily on the Fellowship of the Ring end of the trilogy. But we can’t say it’s not accurate. We’ve officially reached the point where Sean Bean not dying is the twist. [via Tastefully Offensive]