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Geologists finally understand how sandstone arches get their shape. By studying cubes of sand, researchers showed that areas squeezed by vertical stress are strengthened and protected from erosion. This means that it’s gravity — and not erosion — that gives rise to elegant sandstone arches, pillars, and alcoves. Image: Doug Meek/Shutterstock.

New ‘Quantum Bounce’ Theory Explains How Black Holes Become White

Some cosmologists speculate that black holes end their lives by transforming into their exact opposite — so-called ‘white holes‘ that pour all the material they gobbled up back into space. A new theory based on quantum gravity could explain how this is possible. https://gizmodo.com/what-are-white-holes-5545135 Black holes form when a dying star collapses under its own…

Gum-Packing Coffee Cup Sleeves Prevent Burns and Bad Breath

If you think a fancy new lid is the only way you can upgrade a disposable coffee cup, you clearly haven’t seen what ad agency DDB came up with for a South African chain called the Seattle Coffee Co. For a limited time its paper sleeves that prevent burns (and lawsuits) were upgraded with a…

The Little-Known Story of El Niño And the Mutiny on the Bounty

The “Great El Niño” lasted from 1789 to 1793, profoundly impacting weather and causing massive droughts. A lesser-known consequence of this climatic event is that it saved the lives of Captain William Bligh and his crew when the mutineers on the HMS Bounty set them adrift in the South Pacific. El Niño is associated with…

Facebook Adds a Save Button Since There’s Too Much Crap on Your News Feed

Over the years, Facebook has slowly morphed from a voyeur’s wet dream into what is now essentially a popularity-based RSS feed. And since there’s only so many listicles one can read in a day, Facebook just added a “Save” feature that compiles all your readables for viewing at your leisure. Just click the little arrow…

12 Guardians Of the Galaxy Facts The Movie Won’t Tell You

Everybody’s super-excited about Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and justifiably so, but there’s one problem: if you’re only watching the film, you’re not getting the truth. The Guardians — the group and the members — have a far weirder history than the movie will acknowledge, and here’s the proof. 1) None of the Guardians in…

Here’s the First, Full-Length Trailer for the Alan Turing Biopic

Alan Turing, the venerated WWII Nazi Enigma cracker and creator of the modern AI standard (whether or not it actually works), is getting the biopic treatment. And today, we’re getting our first, full-length look at Benedict Cumberbatch as the father of computer science himself. And from what we can see so far, the movie seems…

Watch A Whole Episode Of Sailor Moon Re-Animated By More Than 250 Fans

Sailor Moon and her friends get a couple hundred makeovers thanks to the Moon Animate Make-Up! project, in which more than 250 animators pooled their talents to completely re-do the animation for Sailor Moon’s 38th episode. It’s sometimes pretty, sometimes silly, and often flat-out ridiculous. Seriously, great job to the organizers and all the animators.…

Benedict Cumberbatch Is Alan Turing In The First Imitation Game Trailer

Get a first look at Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, computer scientist, mathematician, father of artificial intelligence and the person who cracked the German Enigma code. The Imitation Game appears to focus on the latter of Turing’s accomplishments, which makes sense as solving the Germans’ “uncrackable” code helped the Allies defeat the Axis Powers. Turing’s…

How A Biochemical Invention Of The Mongols Gave Us Sour Cream

When you’re enjoying your burrito, you should briefly think of the biochemical ingenuity of the horse-riding culture that nearly overran Europe. The Mongols had to process their food in a special way, and they liked getting drunk — this led to a culinary treasure. The Mongols tended to eat what they brought with them, and…

How the United States can collapse and fall on a Black Friday

Our complex society is so fragile that a virus—spreading through cash and products sold during Black Friday—would bring it to its knees in a couple of days. That’s the premise of this impressive video by motion graphic designer Patrick Clair—the guy who created the awesome True Detective intro. The video was created as a teaser…

Anti-Missile Tech Is Being Used to Find Malaria Before it Strikes

As it stands now, there’s no truly effective method of protecting against malaria. Vaccines are notoriously difficult to make, and it’s almost impossible to detect the infection in its early stage—until now, that is. And it’s all thanks to highly advanced, tank-fighting military hardware. The bit of tech pulling double duty is called Focal Plane…

Deals: Superhero Blu-rays Assemble, BOGO 3DS Games, Adventure Time

It’s superhero blu-ray mania today, starting with the X-Men Adamantium Limited Edition Collection, which packs in six X-Men films, one for each claw. [X-Men Adamantium Limited Edition] Next up is the Dark Knight Ultimate Trilogy Collector’s Edition, which as you might imagine contains all three movies, along with three figures of Batman’s vehicles and a…

Deals: Acer Chromebook, Blue Microphones, Gift Cards, Tyrion Lannister

Sporting a Haswell processor and amazing battery life, the Acer C720 is the best value in the Chromebook world. We’ve featured a few deals on refurbs in the past, but today you can take $20 off a brand new one for the first time. [Acer C720 Chromebook, $179] If you aren’t turned off by a…

Robots with Digital Eyes Could Pick Your Next Peck of Peppers

The days of hand-picked fruits and vegetables—at least those picked by human hands—are quickly coming to a close as robotic farming technology continues its rapid advancement. A team of roboticists from the EU, for example, have just debuted an automated fruit and vegetable harvester that can spot ripe produce just by looking at it. The…

About 200 Americans get leprosy each year. 1/3 get it from armadillos.

Leprosy is both incredibly rare and treatable in the United States. There are only about 150-250 cases of leprosy in the U.S. each year. Most of these people get it when they travel overseas. But what about people who haven’t traveled outside the country? The government believes those people most likely contract it from armadillos.…

This Week’s TV: Will The Manhattan Project Show Have West Wing‘s Magic?

While childhood secrets are revealed on this week’s Masters of Sex, another behind-the-scenes science drama debuts on Sunday: Manhattan, which takes us inside the secret city that helped create the atomic bomb. Plus, Phineas & Ferb takes on Star Wars—and it’s bound to be goofy. See all the details below! Tonight Teen Wolf (10 PM,…

Live Chat: What Happens When Your Son Has an Illness Unknown to Science

For most of his life, six-year-old Bertrand Might has bounced from hospital to hospital with an illness no doctor had ever seen. Then came two turning points: first, he finally received a diagnosis, and second—perhaps more surprisingly—his father wrote a blog post that blew up on the internet. That blog post, titled “Hunting Down My…

Watch the Marines’ New Self-Driving Car Navigate a Battlefield

While we’ve all heard about Google’s silly-looking self-driving cars. But did you know that the military’s been working on own autonomous vehicles of its own? Honestly, it’s no huge surprise that soldiers would want this technology, too. It sure does look badass, though. The U.S. Marines recently uploaded a video of their new self-driving car,…

Holy crap, check out the awesome new Lego Batman Tumbler!

Behold the Lego Ultimate Collector’s Series Batman Tumbler, a 1,869-piece vehicle built to minifig (mini-land?) scale. That means it’s huge: 15 by 9 inches long, with a gorgeous interior cockpit. It’ll come with Dark Knight Batman and Joker (the Heath Ledger version) minifigs for $200 this September.