Latest

This video shows how pretty much everything in Game of Thrones is fake

By now, we know that Game of Thrones uses a heavy VFX hand when it comes to building the world of Westeros but it’s still amazing how real their visual effects can make it look. That’s because pretty much everything is fake. Seriously. Anything far off in the distance or people standing around or flags…

A Museum Inspired By Oozing Oil Will Cross Over L.A.’s Busiest Street

Last month, Swiss architect Peter Zumthor revised the design for a new building on L.A.’s Los Angeles County Museum of Art campus after scientists claimed his proposal would damage the adjacent La Brea Tar Pits. Now he’s revealed the first model of the new design: an ink blot that spans Wilshire Boulevard. It’s been quite…

Read For Yourself How The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Begins

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes doesn’t come out until Friday — but you can experience the beginning of the story right now. We’ve got the first chapter of the official movie novelization, by Alex Irvine, which shows how the apes overthrow the human race. Here’s chapter one of Dawn of the Planet of…

DJ Dodger Stadium: Love Songs

Last month my esteemable colleague Kate Knibbs proclaimed a certain song by Grimes to be a strong contender for song of the summer—and that it is! But I am here to offer another worthy contender, this one with a summery video to boot: “Love Songs” by DJ Dodger Stadium. Okay, maybe this isn’t the song…

London Has Never Looked Better Than in These Mid-Century Linocuts

London has been written about, painted, sketched, photographed, and depicted in pretty much any and every creative medium available to human hands, but Edward Bawden’s linocuts of England’s capital are some of the coolest depictions of the city, ever ever ever. The Floral Hall, Covent Garden, 1967, lithograph after linocut The artist and graphic designer…

Watch How This Futuristic Fiberglass Chair Is Made By Hand

Moreso than any seat I think I’ve ever seen, the Karuselli Chair looks like something that should be stationed front and center on the bridge of the starship Enterprise. Can’t you just see Kirk in there, doing a power swivel to talk biz with Spock or Scotty? In reality, the fiberglass classic was not conceived…

We’re Going All In On ‘Science Vs. Faith,’ Under The Dome

Because that never gets old. People love to see science and religion butt heads, it’s the main thing science fiction is for. Right? Spoilers ahead… So hey, it’s me again — the Dome. I don’t have too much to say about this week’s episode, because I didn’t get to do that much. Although this week’s…

We Should All Be Using Vacant Trolley Tracks For Personal Pallet Trains

Trolleys and light rail trains are great for getting around a city and all, but let’s face it, they’re just sitting there empty a lot of the time, just begging you to trip over them. So why not turn that underused resource into a new form of mobility: A DIY pallet-train for one? This video…

Gear VR: Is This Samsung’s Plastic Version of Google Cardboard?

We’ve heard rumors before that Samsung and Oculus were working together on a VR headset, and this leak of “Gear VR” from Sammobile might be it. It’s stripped down and simple; a plastic version of Google Cardboard. Previous rumors suggested that Samsung’s entrance into the VR space wouldn’t be a full-on headset, but rather a…

Scientists Are Dropping Explosives All Over Mount St. Helens On Purpose

What could go wrong with setting off explosives all around an active volcano? As scary as it might sound, this is a carefully planned experiment to peer inside Mount St. Helens’ mysterious underground magma chamber. No, we aren’t blasting the volcano open, but the induced seismicity will let geologists finally map what the volcano looks…

This “Brazil World Cup riot” picture is actually from 2013

You’re probably seeing a lot of this picture being tweeted right now. People are saying it’s a riot unfolding in response to today’s World Cup game. It’s not—the picture is from 2013. You can see the original here. [H/T Conz Preti] Factually is Gizmodo’s new blog of fun facts, interesting photos, and weird trivia. Join…

Apple’s Secret Ebay Store Is Back With Cheap Refurbished iPhones

Just like the odd eBay storefront that popped up last year, a new site called Factory Outlet eBay Store is selling refurbished Apple products and, despite the lack of any official Apple branding, is almost definitely the result of a partnership between Apple and eBay. Andit’s selling Apple Certified Refurbished iPhones forcheap. First discovered by…

NASA shake test for the Saturn V rocket looked ridiculous but it worked

Sometimes NASA comes up with incredibly complex solutions to extremely complex problems. Other times they come up with the simplest ones. And then there’s the case of how to test the stability of an entire Saturn V rocket, which is what you can see in this hilarious video from 1966. On October 14, 1966, a…

Modern Luggage Decals Let You Humblebrag About Your Travels

Back in the day it wasn’t uncommon for trunks and suitcases to slowly become covered in labels as they visited cities and ports around the world. But it’s become sort of a lost art—one that the folks at Animi Causa are trying to revive with this set of lovingly designed luggage label decals. The set…

On The Ethics of Vampire Slaying in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I was recently re-watching “Becoming, Parts 1 and 2,” those Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes where geeky witch Willow does a spell to give the vampire Angel his soul back. And suddenly I had a burning ethical question. Spoiler alert, for people who haven’t watched “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” but plan to. Why don’t they…

NASA has received new confirmation that the Voyager 1 spacecraft is in interstellar space. The probe recently experienced a “tsunami shock wave” from the Sun, which caused the plasma surrounding the craft to “sing.” Voyager 1 may be beyond the heliosphere, but it hasn’t yet left the solar system, which lies beyond the distant Oort…

Why Oklahoma Suddenly Has More Earthquakes Than California

The latest report on the recent earthquake epidemic in Oklahoma is out, and it’s horrifying. Not only has the state seen twice as many earthquakes as California this year, but the scientific evidence that the seismic activity is linked to oil and natural gas production has become overwhelming. It’s not a secret that Oklahoma’s become…

In the future you’ll be able to learn a whole language eating a pill

When MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte says that humans will be able to learn an entire language by eating a pill, you better listen. In this new TED Talk, Negroponte shows all the times he was right predicting the future in the 1970s and 1980s even while people laughed at him. Here’s what he…

The Posters For Ridley Scott’s Exodus Are Astoundingly Not Good

The more we see of Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings, the more excited we get. But maaaaybe not for the same reasons we’re excited for other things. This movie looks ridiculous in all the best ways, and the posters are not helping. Thankfully the character posters appear to be slightly better. Then again, it’s…

Meet the Subway Superheroes Who Rescue the Crap You Drop On the Tracks

If you’re a regular subway rider in New York City, you’re familiar with the nagging fear of dropping your phone or wallet onto the tracks. Luckily, there are saviors at the ready who will show up, tongs in hand, to help those citizens in distress. In the video above, Animal New York recently followed MTA…