Latest

Game Cartridges Found Intact at E.T. Atari Dig

They exist! Excavators have found intact examples of the Atari 2600 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial video game, complete with cartridge, packaging, and inserts, and the folks at the dig say there are lots more to be unearthed. To see what’s been uncovered, head on over to Kotaku. https://gizmodo.com/the-atari-e-t-landfill-excavation-starts-today-what-w-1568029345

The Most Sensational Cosplay From Calgary Expo… So Far

Turns out Canadian cosplayers have some pretty great chops. This totally makes sense — half the science fiction TV shows, and a lot of the movies, are made in Canada these days. So it’s no surprise that the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo has featured some jaw-dropping cosplay so far. Last weekend, we brought you…

Watch a Pro Golfer Knock a Drone From the Sky With One Golf Ball

Shooting down a flying drone is challenging even for machine gun-wielding sharpshooters. But professional golfer Keegan Bradley just made it look easy, swatting a DJI Phantom out of the sky with just a well-aimed golf ball. Thankfully, the quadcopter was carrying a GoPro, so we could see the whole thing unfold. Poor drone. The story,…

Harsh Reality Break: 234 Girls Kidnapped from Physics Test (Updated)

Warning: this is a horrible story. 234 young women were abducted from a physics test in Nigeria, specifically to keep them from getting an education. Nothing is being done to find them. Collective public outrage is the only tool that can possibly get a search started. Updates at the bottom. Over 200 students were abducted…

Balloons, E-Cigs, Powdered Alcohol, Poop, and More

What a week! We looked back at the time Cleveland unleashed 1.5 million balloons into the sky, looked at the 7 best-designed objects (supposedly) of the past year, and examined what your poop might be trying to tell you. Yes, you read that correctly. Your poop. And so much more! That Time Cleveland Released 1.5…

​A New Grimm Named Trubel Makes Trouble On A Troubling Grimm

Oh, Grimm. Only you could provide such a game-changing new character and then absolutely refuse to let her change the game until next episode. Our gamechanger is Ms. Theresa Riubel, and if I may paraphrase Agents of SHIELD, “Someone really wanted her name to spell T.Rubel.” Theresa is a young Grimm who doesn’t know she’s…

How to Enjoy Nature Without Getting Yourself Eaten

Ah, the great outdoors, how I loathe thee. What with all that sunshine, fresh air, and hordes of ravenous apex predators lurking around every trail bend. But if you do insist on communing with Mother Nature, here’s what you need to know to keep from becoming a part of the food chain. Surviving a Cougar…

A Strange New Mineral Has Been Discovered in Australia

It’s purple, translucent and goes by “putnisite.” Discovered in Western Australia, putnisite contains the unusual elemental combination of strontium, calcium, chromium, sulphur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen and is notable for its dissimilarity from other, known families of minerals. Photo Credit: P. Elliott et al via PopSci PopSci’s Douglas Main has the details: While dozens of…

Paparazzi, Tourists, Marathoners: What’s Ruining Our Cities This Week

L.A. is being overrun by photographers trying to snap photos of celebrity spawn. Tourists are making a mess out of Barcelona. And four runners cast a cheatery vibe over what should have been a triumphant day in Boston. Let’s investigate What’s Ruining Our Cites. Paparazzi are ruining Los Angeles The horribleness of TMZ is nothing…

Epic Astronomy Hang-Out

CosmoQuest, the citizen science project to map craters, is hosting an epic hang-out marathon fundraiser this weekend. Their objective is to raise $295,200 to develop more citizen science software, and they’ve recruited some astronomy-celebrities to help them out. Why does a research project at a university need your money? As they say in the fundraising…

The Atari E.T. Landfill Excavation Starts Today. What Will They Find?

In 1983, the failing Atari video game company allegedly dumped millions of unsold E.T. the Extra Terrestrial cartridges in a New Mexico landfill. Ever since, game nostalgists have tried to track them down. Today, screenwriter Zak Penn’s documentary crew begin digging, and our friends at Wired got a sneak peek at the excavation. Update: They…

Elon Musk: SpaceX Will File Suit Against the U.S. Government

Elon Musk, CEO and founder of SpaceX, announced Friday that SpaceX is filing suit against the Federal Government to protest and break the US Air Force’s awarding of lucrative launch contracts for high priority national security satellites to a sole rocket provider – United Launch Alliance (ULA) – on a non competitive basis. The gloves…

Don’t Drive 1,000 MPH: Raindrops Will Destroy Your Windshield

Rain hitting your windshield can mean dicey road conditions and traffic snags. According to XKCD’s What If, the force of those drops hitting your windshield can also destroy your car’s windshield. Lesson learned: don’t drive at speeds of Mach 1.5 in a downpour if you want your glass to survive. As XKCD’s Randall Munroe explains,…

Some Samsung Galaxy S5 owners are experiencing “fatal camera errors” that can only be fixed by replacing the phone. Affected S5 owners can call Samsung at 1-888-987-4357, and Verizon is also reaching out. [The Verge]

Celebrate Game Boy’s 25th Anniversary With a Tetris Birthday Card

Nintendo’s Game Boy turned 25 this week. We’ve come a very long way in mobile gaming since then, but the gray brick with the queasy green screen still holds a place in our hearts. And Petr Tichy’s browser-based tribute brings back the most universal Game Boy memory of all: Tetris. Go ahead, hum along with…

Wildlife Vets Treat A Lioness Who Was Gored By A Buffalo

Sometimes nature really is “red in tooth and claw,” as Tennyson famously wrote. It’s also red in horn, as this lioness found out recently. The Africa Geographic blog reports that rangers discovered the female, who they know as Siena, with a nasty gore in her flank from a buffalo’s horn. They quickly got in touch…

Star Wars’ sound effects replaced by mouth noises

We all have made sci-fi sound effects with our mouths, which is why this bad foley edition of Star Wars’ scenes is absolutely ridiculous and fun. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Map reveals all asteroid impacts from 2000 to 2013

There have been 26 asteroid impacts recorded from 2000 to 20013 by the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization’s infrasound detection network. Our friend Félix Pharand-Deschênes sent us this graphic showing the atmospheric impact points. It demonstrates that they’re more common, and dangerous, than we would like to believe. All these asteroids exploded too high in…

The Thinkings You Think Must Not Be Thought (NSFW)

A short animated film about boobs. And sex. And happiness and life and the unbearable amounts of soul-crushing stress that all these wonderful things will cause you.

This Immersive Video Makes You Feel Like You’re Floating Upside Down

For a dizzying start to your weekend, grab your headphones and watch Underlapse at full screen. This time-lapse video takes you around an inverted world and screws with your brain in the process. By altering the position of spatial cues, floating the Earth above our heads and suggesting the motion of clouds beneath our feet,…