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How Astronomers Turned This White Dwarf Into A Magnifying Glass

Typically, astronomers observe the dimming of a star whenever an exoplanet passes in front of it. But what could possibly cause a star to periodically increase its illumination when an object passes in front? The answer, say scientists, is a newly confirmed phenomenon known as “self-lensing.” There’s a binary system about 2,600 light-years from here…

The Supreme Court Will Consider What Defines “Pregnancy”

Can a corporation claim to have religious beliefs? The Supreme Court will rule on that contentious question later this year. To answer, the justices may also have to address whether human life begins when an egg is fertilized, or when that egg is implanted in a womb. The case, Sebelius vs. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.,…

Photographs Of Meat Stuffed In Plastic Bottles Evoke Fleshy Horrors

Per Johansen’s photographs of meat and vegetables stuffed into clear bottles are at once fascinating and grotesque, showing foods in arrangements that may make you lose your appetite. Over on Johansen’s website, Charlotte Kim Boed explains that the series Mæt (“Full”) is meant to examine issues related to artificial overconsumption by trapping familiar foods in…

Netflix Is Going to Raise Prices for New Users

Bad news: Netflix will be hiking its prices for new subscribers. Per a first quarter letter to shareholders, CEO Reed Hastings says: Our current view is to do a one or two dollar increase, depending on the country, later this quarter for new members only. Hastings added that the $8 rate for existing customers will…

Hippos Are The Most Underappreciated of African Megafauna

There’s the “big 5” of African game animals: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino. Most people area also obsessed with giraffes and zebras, and occasionally crocodiles and meerkats and hyenas. But for such a large charismatic critter, folks tend to forget the noble hippo. One reason why hippos are the coolest? The chompers on a…

AT&T Is Considering Rolling Out Gigabit Fiber To a Ton of Cities

Move over, Google Fiber. There’s (maybe) a new gigabit internet game in town, and it’s (maybe) coming to 100 cities and municipalities by way through AT&T, at some point in the future. Maybe. Today AT&T announced that it has its fiber internet sights set on 100 U.S. cities and municipalities, 21 of which are major…

The newest version of Google Hangouts for Android now merges SMS and non-SMS messages into a single stream in the same hangout. Yesssssssssss. The update is rolling out to the Google Play store this week, but there’s an APK floating around already. Woooooo

Captain Kirk is Right When it Comes to Diplomacy

Many people have made light of Captain James “Alien Banger” Kirk, and his crotch-first approach to diplomacy. It turns out that he might have the right idea. Attraction very often helps us come to a peaceful solution during conflicts. Driving the Other Guy Out The early Star Trek series has occasionally been made the object…

Batman Battles The Suicide Squad In The New Assault On Arkham Movie

Batman’s next straight-to-DVD animated adventure is set in the Arkham Asylum videogame universe, although you’d be hard-pressed to tell from this trailer. Still, watching the Suicide Squad get caught between Batman and the Joker seems like a good time no matter what. Obviously, it has a hard time living up to the amazing 75th anniversary…

This beautiful music video should be turned into a video game asap

I didn’t know French band Equateur until I saw their Another-World-ish video for their EP Lava, which should be turned in to a video game ASAP. The video was created by Kadavre Exquis. Beautiful. The song reminds me of the most atmospheric Depeche Mode—and that’s a high compliment. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome…

A Pair Of Batteries Keep This Cordless Vac Running For Almost An Hour

No one likes having to deal with cords, and they’re a particular pain when connected to a device that’s able to suck them up and destroy them. So Hoover’s new Air Cordless vacuum manages to finally make a cordless vac that’s actually useful with a pair of rechargeable batteries that keep it running for almost…

Lost Treasure Hunt Wants To Make Learning History Fun

Not everyone was a big fan of history class growing up, and frankly most grade-school classrooms teach the material rather dryly. But history has shown that if there’s one thing that captures a kid’s attention, it’s cartoons. And that’s why the animators behind Lost Treasure Hunt want you to help them make their ambitious and…

No, Tech Adoption Is Not Speeding Up

Yesterday the folks over at Vox published an article arguing that generations should be defined by the technology they use, rather than by age. They included a graph that purported to show how American society is “adopting new technology more quickly than ever before.” The graph is garbage. And here’s why. [Update: It looks like…

HBO has renewed Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley comedy series for a second season. If you aren’t already watching this show, you definitely should be.

Grave of the Fireflies, Game of Thrones, Avatar, David Attenborough

Grave of the Fireflies is among the best anime and best war movies ever made. Powerful and essential. Get the Blu-ray today for $13. [Best Buy] We had a great deal on the Avatar graphic novels recently, and today you can complete your collection with great prices on the show. I finally got around to…

9 Transportation-Related Jobs That Only Exist In Certain Cultures

Would you get paid to act as a third passenger in a vehicle so the car could drive into a congestion-restricted area? How about signing up to pack people into crowded subway cars? Dress up as a zebra and walk the streets, preventing cars from running red lights? These are actual gigs which you could…

Hundreds Of Fans Are Re-Animating An Entire Episode Of Sailor Moon

We’ve seen fan filmmaker remakes of Star Wars and RoboCop, and now a huge group of animators are doing the same thing for Sailor Moon. They are pooling their talents to remake every shot of a single episode of the show in a variety of styles. Moon Animate, Make Up! is a fan project helmed…

New Video Goes Inside the Painstaking Design of Apple’s HQ

New details about architect Norman Foster’s design for Apple’s Cupertino HQ have been slow to leak, but this video gives us the most detailed look so far. This building is going to have everything: Native trees! Solar panels! Crazy circular desk spaces! The video contains plenty of awesome footage of the models being made by…

That Time Scientists Tested Sulfuric Acid on Prisoners for No Reason

In 1907, food manufacturers used sulfuric acid to control the pH of molasses and fermented drinks derived from molasses. As food regulation got tougher, these manufacturers had to prove that their additives were not dangerous. In order to test whether or not the food additive was harmless, the state of Louisiana decided to feed some…

Crazy people change two wheels while driving the car

Why stop to change your tires when you can keep driving on two wheels and have your passengers go out the car to change them as you keep driving? Sploid reader Officer Mike posted a video similar to this on the comments. Apparently, this is something common in arab countries: It’s called hagwalah. SPLOID is…