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Twitter’s new, Facebook-style design is now available to all. If you don’t have the new look already, head on over to Twitter’s new profile page and click the button that says “get it now.” [Twitter via Techblock]

Everything You Need to Know to Rebuild Civilization from Scratch

Lewis Dartnell is an astrobiologist in England who wants to help you save the world after civilization collapses. To that end, he’s written a book called The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch. It’s the one post-apocalyptic guide you’ll ever need. We’ve got an excerpt. In this chapter, Dartnell describes how we can…

Read a Gorgeous and Twisted Webcomic Retelling Of The Wizard Of Oz

Toto, I don’t think we’re in L. Frank Baum’s Oz anymore. In The Black Brick Road of Oz, an amnesiac girl who thinks she’s Dorothy Gale finds herself in an Oz populated by flesh-hungry witches, zombie scarecrows, and a tin woodman mourning more than the loss of his body. Xamag’s webcomic uses Baum’s Oz as…

iCracked: The Screen Repair Service That Comes to You Is Fantastic

There comes a time in every phone’s life when its screen cracks. The are three ways to deal with it: You could live with it, to teach yourself a lesson, you could get in line for a replacement at the Apple Store, or you could call the on-demand screen repair service iCracked. You should probably…

Atmospheric Signal of the Russian Fireball

When we reported another Russian fireball on Saturday, we weren’t sure if it was real or a hoax. Now, thanks to geophysical stations in the region, we can confirm that the event coincides with a sound-blast, and even pinpoint a probable location on the Kola Peninsula. Fireball observed in Murmansk, Russia on April 19th, 2014.…

4 Masterful Mosaics

Using dots of paint, pointillists painted entire canvases with what was essentially one pixel of pigment at a time. Now, modern photo mosaics have automated the same effect, sorting hundreds, even thousands of images into one grand daddy photograph. Here are four images filled by near infinite memories, captured by you. Winner: The Mosaic House…

Clone Wars Collector’s Edition, Hannibal Season 1, Akira, ASOIAF Set

Today at WBShop, you can pick up the collector’s edition box sets of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Blu-ray or DVD for some seriously great prices. The box comes complete with tons of special features, and a limited edition art book as well. May the deals be with you. Star Wars: The Clone Wars:…

Did a Case of Scientific Misconduct Win the Nobel Prize for Physics?

The test meant to measure the electron might be one of the world’s most perfect experiments, or it might be the most successful case of scientific misconduct in history. It all depends on how you interpret the scandal surrounding Robert Millikan and the oil-drop experiment. The Charge of the Electron Around the turn of the…

This Swarm Of Insect-Inspired Microbots Is Unsettlingly Clever

They’re incredibly fast, can run directly up the wall, and coordinate easily among themselves. This swarm of insect-inspired microbots in action is both useful, and a little bit alarming. The magnetically-activated microbots from SRI International move quickly (you can see them moving in the video at realtime speeds of up to 35 cm/ second) and…

Esquire editor Ryan D’Agostino will be taking over as Editor-in-Chief at Popular Mechanics in a few weeks. Godspeed Ryan, we can’t wait to see what you do with it!

This Insane Interactive Album Shows You Every Single Note

Electronic music duo George and Jonathan dropped their new record, III, overnight in the form of an interactive website that shows you a visualization of every single note that’s played on the record. It’s hypnotic. Most of the record plays as a 3D viz of what seems to be the entire timeline of each song…

These Eavesdropping Drone Tanks Have Something to Tell You

If you want to get an up close and personal feel for what it means to live in a surveillance society, then pay a visit to the Berlinische Galerie, where, in a cavernous gallery, German artist Nik Nowak has set loose a pair of drones to snoop on museum-goers. Nowak has made a career out…

Fan TV’s Slick Cable Box Replacement Is Coming to Time Warner Cable

It’s been nearly a year since Fan TV told us about its plan to to revolutionize the way we watch live TV with a set-top-box. Today, Time Warner customers become the first to get access to the platform. It turns out that making your cable work better comes at a hefty price. The interface your…

First-person stuntman videos make me want to jump off a crane

It’d be fun to be a stuntman if you had the stones to put your body on the line and jump off of stuff all day. Even if you don’t, these GoPro videos of real stuntman dives will give you a taste of what it’s like. (Spoilers: It’s awesome.) Each little clip features Canadian gymnast…

Withings’ New Pulse Adds an O2 Monitor So You Can Breathe Easy

Last year, Withings’ Pulse fitness monitor impressed us with the plethora of data it collects—including, as the name suggests, your pulse. This year’s update adds yet one more handy feature: a blood oxygen monitor. Mountain climbers, now you can breathe easy. The newly-released Pulse O2 uses a nifty rear-mounted lens and light to monitor your…

The now Google-owned Nest thermostat is now available for purchase in the hardware section of the Google Play Store for its regular price of $250. Now where are those Boston Dynamics robots?

A Smarter Scale, Charge Everything At Once, Titanfall Price-Fall

This five-port USB charger has enough juice to charge up a few tablets and several phones simultaneously, making it perfect for your desk at work, traveling, or any gadget-lover’s night stand. Mpow 5-Port Smart USB Wall Charger | $18 | Promo Code MPOW36UG This Qi charger is off-brand, and not particularly beautiful, but it’s only…

This Moody Fan Film Goes Inside The Mind Of Harley Quinn

When Harley Quinn finds herself comatose with guilt, she retreats into her own mind, where she must confront her original persona and a Joker-like manifestation of her subconscious. Sheridyn Fisher, who stars as Harley Quinn, co-wrote Red Queen, which is apparently just the first episode in the adventures of this symbolically liberated Harley. The film…

The Starship Enterprise Looks Great Decked Out In Midcentury Design

Subterranean captains’ chairs, rounded counters for flight monitoring, perfect pastels in the crew’s uniforms: Midcentury Herman Miller and Eames furnishings look awesome on the Starship Enterprise. Take a minute to check out these throwback posters and you’ll be daydreaming of Captain Kirk shaking you an out-of-this-world gin martini. [MattWileyArt via Retroist]

10 Science Fiction And Fantasy Stories That Editors Are Tired Of Seeing

To you, your short story is unique and perfect. To editors, it’s “the third steampunk time-travel story we’ve seen this week.” But which trends should you try to avoid? To find out, we asked some of the top editors in the field which type of science fiction and fantasy stories they’re tired of seeing. Here’s…