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In an effort to find and train promising science communicators—perhaps even find the “Carl Sagan of chemistry”—the American Chemical Society is launching the Chemistry Champions contest. The first round of the contest asks scientists to explain their research to the general public in a fun, two- to three-minute video.

Who’s The Coolest Fictional Assassin Of All Time?

Assassins are deadly and stealthy — so it’s no surprise that they have a certain mystique and glamor going on. Science fiction and fantasy are full of assassins who win our admiration while taking lives. But who’s the most badass fictional assassin of all time? Please include a picture, book cover or clip for your…

Why Life Before Anesthesia Made Doctors More Caring

In 1812, the English novelist Frances Burney described her mounting terror as she prepared to undergo a mastectomy without any anesthetic. Having two hours to wait until the dreaded event (her ‘execution’, as she put it), she wandered into the room where the operation was going to take place and ‘recoiled’. In an effort to…

Charge Everything In Your Car, Makeshift Camelbak, Free Amazon Coins

There are car chargers, and then there are car chargers. This model from Mpow features two USB ports, and 20W of power, which means you could charge two full-sized iPads at nearly full speed at the same time. At $7, why not? Mpow 20W 4.2A Car Charger | $7 | Promo Code MPOW42AP Here are…

Smart Drugs Could Be Impairing The Brains Of Young People

It’s estimated that over a million students in the U.S. misuse prescription drugs and stimulants to boost their attention span, memory, and alertness. But a new study suggests some of these drugs are detrimental to developing brains, causing long-term impairments to cognitive function. As noted in the new study by Kimberly Urban and Wen-Jun Gao,…

Japanese Architects Are Uniting to Stop Tokyo’s Heinous Olympic Stadium

We knew that a cadre of famed Japanese architects were… unhappy with Zaha Hadid’s design for the 2020 Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. But we didn’t quite realize how pissed they really are: A petition to stop the project, started by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tokyo Ito, already has nearly 14,000 signatures. Back in October, a group…

Is Second Life about to die? Wagner James Au wonders about reports of the game world’s demise on his blog, while the rest of us wonder where we’ll go to act out Gor fantasies when all those Gorean islands are gone. Is it back to IRC?

Japanese Drink Company Plans To Put The First Advertisment On The Moon

One small step for can, one giant leap for advertising. The makers of Pocari Sweat are looking to send a can of their powdered drink to the moon. If all goes according to plan, it will be the first time an object has been sent to the moon specifically for marketing purposes. It’s official: nothing…

A Round Ping Pong Table With a Spinning Net Makes College Even Harder

The average college student spends the majority of their time either playing foosball or ping pong. It’s arguably one of the most vital skills you can leave higher education with, but it’s important to keep improving yourself after graduation. And that’s why this round ping pong table with a net that’s free to spin is…

The Movies You Must Watch To Understand Godzilla

Since he first rose out of the Pacific Ocean to destroy Tokyo in 1954, Godzilla has been an icon. But he’s also changed with the times, morphing from a terrifying death monster into a kid-friendly pal and back again. Here’s what you need to know about the Big G’s cinematic past to understand this complicated…

Person Of Interest‘s Creators Had To Fight For The Show To Include A.I.

Person of Interest is one of the most fascinating explorations of artificial intelligence in pop culture. But executives originally pushed for the show to avoid mentioning where Finch’s “irrelevant” numbers came from at all, according to creator Jonathan Nolan. The show’s producers also told us what’s next in season four. We were lucky enough to…

Hurricanes Are Migrating Closer And Closer To The Earth’s Poles

We may need to revise our ideas of just where we expect hurricanes to land. A new study shows that the location where tropical cyclones hit their most powerful peak is shifting closer to the Earth’s poles. Top image: A visualization of the strongest tropical cyclone to hit each pictured are between 1980-2010 / Ken…

We’re getting reports that Adobe’s ID services have been offline for nearly a day—which seems pretty excessive! Twitter, naturally, is less than pleased. So tell us, dear readers, have you been having problems logging into Adobe products?

This Drawing Device Lets You Sketch Like Da Vinci

It would be cool to have the ability to eyeball something sitting in front of you then draw it with some semblance of accuracy, but I’ll be damned if that kind of hand-eye coordination isn’t tough to achieve. NeoLucida is here to help those whose artistic enthusiasm outweighs their talent. The nifty device attaches to…

Truck transported on a ropeway going up a 5,400-foot mountain

Linthal 2015 is one of the most fascinating power projects going on in the world right now. When finished, this 2.35-billion-dollar pumped storage system will be able to generate as much power as a nuclear power plant—1,480 MW. The only problem is that there are no roads connecting the construction sites, so they have to…

NASA and the Six Million Dollar Man

This flying bathtub is not only a real NASA prototype, but is also a television star. A test flight went awry in 1967, crashing into the desert floor. The pilot survived, and the footage from the crash made it into the opening credits for The Six Million Dollar Man. M2-F1 being towed by a C-47.…

One Man’s Insane Plan to Make Oculus Rifts for Chickens

Problem: Too many chickens don’t have room to roam around and be happy. Solution: Strap virtual reality headsets onto said chickens so they think they’re free-range. No seriously, an assistant professor at Iowa State University seems to think this is a good idea, but he has to be kidding. Right? RIGHT?! Austin Stewart recently launched…

You Can Crush Nuts and Rebellions With a Tie Fighter Nutcracker

It’s far from being the first Star Wars-branded nutcracker to come from Lucasfilm and Disney’s marketing machine. But there’s a good chance that even casual Star Wars fans won’t mind having this screw-type nut destroyer sitting somewhere in this kitchen. Supposedly made from Quadanium steel—which is a fictitious alloy that only exists in the Star…

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Watch This Net Neutrality PSA From Your Friends at the FCC—or Else

This year, our beloved world wide web turned a hearty 25 years old—and yet, it feels like just yesterday we were browsing Prodigy and burning AOL trial discs for fuel. Considering how far we’ve come, we can’t even begin to imagine what the next 25 years might hold. Thankfully, our friends over at Funny or…