Latest

If Only Modern Infographs Were As Stunning As These 19th-Century Ones

Modern infographs can be fun and fascinating, but when it comes to pure aesthetics, they’ve got nothing on the works of John Philipps Emslie, who mapped the Earth and the sky with an illustrator’s flair. In fact, Emslie was an illustrator in addition to being a topographer. He wrote and illustrated New Canterbury Tales, and…

This Galactic Mass of Soccer Balls Were Found in Oceans Around the World

Fútbol fever is going around. And for every Wold Cup superstar on a global stage, there are tons of amateurs out there playing around with their own, non-regulation balls. The sad reality is a lot of those get tossed out before their time, and the sadder reality is that many of them end up clogging…

The Chemistry Behind That New Car Smell

The interior of a new car has always ranked high in the pantheon of aromas, taking its rightful place alongside the smell of fresh-cut grass and bread baking in the oven. And now, thanks to a British chemist, a handy infographic reveals the mélange of odiferous compounds that make it possible. Compound Interest, a blog…

How Defiance Season 2 Plans to Get Its Multimedia Right

Defiance wasn’t just a hit Syfy TV series last year, it was also a reasonably popular MMORPG. The show and the game’s events were supposed to constantly crossover each other, but only a few characters and plot devices ever made it through. But all that changes in Defiance season 2. In a Syfy conference call,…

Live Your Hogwarts Fantasies With Universal Studios’ Interactive Wands

If you’ve refused to acknowledge a reality without magic and wizards after the Harry Potter books and films ended, Universal Studios’ Wizarding World of Harry Potter will now let you further live out your fantasies with new interactive wands that bring many parts of the attraction to life. The wands will be available for purchase…

The Navy Wants to Mount an Anti-UAV Laser on a Hummer–A Hummer!

The Office of Naval Research has just announced another breakthrough in its efforts to bring laser-based weapons to future battlefields. What once could only be accommodated by a tractor trailer now fits neatly in the back seat of a Humvee. It’s only a matter of time until our armed forces march off to war with…

The Truth About Pavlov’s Dogs Is Pretty Disturbing

Pavlov’s dogs made their name in psychology classrooms, but should probably be more famous for their physiology. A Pavlovian response is a physical, not psychological, reaction. And it’s possible that that physical reaction is causing people to overdose on drugs in a very unexpected way. The Real Story of Pavlov’s Dogs When did Pavlov’s dogs…

Is This Experiment Worth Having Your Testicles Squeezed?

There’s no question that knowledge has value. The question is, how much value does it have? One experiment involved male participants having their testicles squeezed by a strange man. We’ll tell you what they learned from the experiment, and you decide whether it was worth it. What would you sacrifice for science? This comes to…

iOS 8 Will Make Drawing on Your Devices Way More Intuitive

Perfecting your artistic technique using a stylus is about to get a whole lot more refined. With the introduction of iOS 8, your screen will be sensitive to the relative width of whatever’s running across its surface. That’s great news for folks who prefer Paper and other drawing apps to, well, paper. Over on Co.Design,…

Caesar Speaks In The First Clip From Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

Humans trespass onto ape land in the first clip from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and what they encounter is frightening. A swarm of apes is ready to face them, led by a booming-voiced Caesar. Get More: Movie Trailers, Celebrity News The sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes is looking…

Scientists Use a Shadow Network That’s 1000x Faster Than Your Internet

When it comes to truly humongous amounts of data, it can be faster to just drop a hard drive in the mail—unless you have access to the Energy Sciences Network, a blazing shadow network that is 100 times faster than even the much-ballyhooed Google Fiber. Of course, you need to be doing something more important…

The Location Of Every Tornado Touchdown In America, Graphed

America has more tornado touchdowns on average than anywhere else in the world, but those touchdowns are not at all evenly distributed. These maps, which break down the coordinates of each tornado, illustrate exactly where the danger falls the heaviest. [UPDATE] https://gizmodo.com/the-u-s-gets-more-tornadoes-than-anywhere-else-in-the-1561468276 Tim Brice, a meteorologist with the NWS based out of El Paso, put…

OK Go Proves Again That Eye-Popping Optical Illusions Don’t Need CGI

Ignore the grumblings of some sourpuss Gizmodo staffers: OK Go’s new video for “The Writing’s On the Wall” is just straight-up fun for your ears and your eyes, thanks to a plethora of optical illusions rendered in the real world, rather than on a computer. The crazy one-take mindbender genre is familiar territory for OK…

Deals: The LEGO Movie, Dragon Ball Z/GT, Video Game Pre-Orders

The LEGO Movie is out today, so grab it on blu-ray for $18. Dare we say, an awesome deal. [The LEGO Movie] The 3D Everything is Awesome Edition that includes a mini fig is also available for $35. There are a ton of great pre-order deals happening at the moment, so let’s round them up.…

Facebook’s Snapchat Competitor Is Finally Here (For Real This Time)

After a false start late last week, Facebook’s Snapchat clone is finally available, on purpose, and will stay so for the foreseeable future, or the end of recorded history, whichever comes first. http://www.sling.me/ https://gizmodo.com/you-can-download-slingshot-facebooks-snapchat-competit-1588228152

The Faded Glory of Dilapidated Modernist Homes

Modern architecture is usually grandly depicted in pristine photographs against seductive backdrops. But buildings, like all things, are subject to the decay of time. The photographs of Chris Mottalini depict modernist homes, built by Paul Rudolph in the mid-twentieth century, in a deteriorated state, shortly before their planned demolition. They sit unoccupied, bereft of the…

Despite rumors that Nike will be killing Fuelband, the company has finally released an Android app. It’s long overdue, but better late than never, sure. Besides, even if the fitness band is on the outs, it still makes sense to support existing devices. [Google Play via Engadget]

Dentists Found a Pain-Free Cavity Fix That Might Actually Work

Researchers from King’s College London just announced a new approach to fixing cavities that requires no injections, no drills, and no pain. It’s just a little blast of electric current that encourages the tooth to self-repair. And they say it’ll be on the market in three years. The new technique sounds confusingly simple. Cavities form…

Deals: Nest Protect Returns, Hard Drives, $20 Polarized Sunglasses

After a brief recall, the Nest Protect carbon monoxide and smoke detector is once again available for sale, this time at a $30 discount. It’s still more than your garden variety smoke detector, but boy is it awesome . [Nest Protect, $99] http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sr_1_1_acs_h_1i_3036671011&?tag=gizmodo08c-20 Apple’s AirPort Express and AirPort Extreme aren’t the most customizable routers out…

Ikea’s New Glowing Stool Lights a Safe LED Fire Under Your Butt

The summer isn’t even here yet, but if you’re leaving home and heading off to college in September, it’s never too early to start planning and stockpiling what you’ll need. And since you’ll probably be crammed into a tiny dorm room, Ikea’s new glowing LED stool does double duty as a lamp and place to…