Latest

Antarctic Ice Sheets Are Collapsing — But When Will Sea Levels Rise?

Yesterday, newly-published scientific evidence revealed that the west Antarctic ice sheet is “collapsing.” In fact, this ice melt is pretty much inevitable, and will mean up to 4 inches of sea level rise. What most news stories left out, though, was the timeline for this change to our shorelines. Writing at DotEarth, environmental journalist Andrew…

2001 Inspired This Table Supported By Toppling Monolith Dominos

How’s your furniture budget for 2014 looking? Obscenely well-funded? If that’s the case, you might want to seriously consider this eye-catching Megalith Table. Inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s iconic science fiction series, the table’s glass top appears to be supported by a series of domino-like monoliths frozen in a perpetual topple. But why the budgetary…

Will Batman’s New Suit Also Include A New Palette?

We’ve gotten our first look at just what Ben Affleck will be wearing when he assumes Batman’s cowl, but what color should that costume be? The picture gives us a pretty good idea of the outlines of the costume, but the greyscale still leaves the palette a bit of a mystery. While a dark, monochromatic…

Guys playing guitar and/or having orgasms in slow motion

Think watching women trying to sing while having an orgasm is fun? Well, get a load of these dudes giving serious guitar-face while fondling their instruments. Rawr. The rousing tune—Godiva—comes courtesy of London rocker Eugene McGuiness, with delightful direction by the folks at ThirtyTwo. The video is a damn good time but if watching others…

15 Years of Virgin Galactic’s Failed Space Age Promises

Back in 2012, I saw a sign outside of a travel agency in Western Australia that filled my cold, black heart with glee. It was an ad for Virgin Galactic, with the implied promise that if I stepped inside that door, I could buy a flight to space from an “accredited space agent.” I knew…

Deep Sea Probe Accidentally Uncovers Unique ‘Graveyard’ Ecology

The unexpected discovery of four unique deep sea fish-falls off the coast of Angola has revealed a feeding ecosystem considerably different than those typically associated with large animal carcasses. Without sunlight, most creatures in the deep ocean are dependant on detritus from the surface as their primary source of food, such as dead plankton and…

Feel Flux Review: A Scientific Toy That Feels Like Magic

Juggling is hard. Keeping those balls aloft against the relentless forces of gravity takes skill. But what if you could just make gravity work a little bit differently? With the Feel Flux, you can. What Is It? The Feel Flux is the toy of your high school physics teacher’s dreams. This IndieGoGo-funded project doesn’t look…

Last year, we told you about Bartkira, a project to remake Ōtomo Katsuhiro’s manga Akira using characters from The Simpsons. Part of the project is now available as a limited edition book from Floating World Comics featuring 80 pages from 19 of the artists.

Why Mysterious UFO-Like Lights Glow in this Norwegian Valley

As a name, Hessdalen may be more familiar to UFO watchers than scientists. The valley in Norway is prone to “strange, hovering, flashing balls of lights” best attributed, as some believe, to alien origins. Now scientists say they’re on the verge of an explanation: The valley is a giant natural battery. But first, let’s set…

Google search for iOS just got updated with Siri-style voice searching—including follow-up questions like “what’s the weather like?” followed by “how about this weekend?”. It also features custom alerts to keep you updated on your favorite sites, blogs, and more. Download it here for free. [iTunes via 9to5mac]

Star-Crossed‘s Final Episode Ended With A Nearly Perfect Cliffhanger

Gotta hand it to Star-Crossed — this doomed CW show left us wanting more, with a final sequence that pulls back the focus and raises the stakes, while leaving a ton of characters in jeopardy. Too late to save the show, unfortunately. See for yourself, above. Spoilers ahead… Seriously, that is a great cliffhanger. Reminds…

This Bluetooth Buckle Adds Smart Functionality To Mechanical Watches

Ask any serious watch aficionado why they’re hesitant to switch to a smartwatch, and their reasons will have nothing to do with functionality—but everything to do with how ugly the current crop of smartwatches are. The Modillian, a replacement strap buckle that adds Bluetooth, hopes to fix that by adding basic smartwatch capabilities to more…

What Actors Do You Want To See More In Genre Movies?

Normally my response would be Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep, but they are both starring in huge new genre films (Ant-Man and Into the Woods, respectively). And that fills our heart with happiness. So who else would you like to see jump into scifi and fantasy film? Go big or go home: we choose you,…

Please Stop Calling Everything a “Hack”

We have a problem. Be you blogger, journalist, tech writer, or commenter (both racist and otherwise), it’s time to stop with the gratuitous overuse of “hacking.” Existence itself is not a hack. It’s one thing to use “hack” to refer to anything crafty or resourceful. Appropriate even. You broke into the NSA’s database. You tweeted…

Warehouse 13 Finally Proves That Love Is Stronger Than Artifact Magic

Warehouse 13 wrapped up most of the arc of its final mini-season last night, with the frenetic “Shisi Cangku.” Claudia’s sister and the evil alternate Benedict Valda collide in a frenetic story in which a record player nearly kills people but a capella singing saves everyone. Spoilers ahead… Warehouse 13 has always been a show…

Demon’s Souls, Logitech Peripherals, Xbox One Sans Kinect

Playstation 3 owners can grab the digital version of the game that started the Souls series, and my favorite of the three, for just $11 today. Umbasa. [Demon’s Souls digital, $11] Ready to cut the cord? If you live in a city, the Mohu Leaf is a perfect, discrete antenna for picking up local broadcasts.…

The Most Common Languages Spoken in the U.S. After English and Spanish

What’s the language that the most Americans speak after English? As you’d probably guess, the second-most common language spoken in the U.S. is Spanish. But if you look at the most common languages after English and Spanish, the results get a little more surprising, especially when you parse them by state. Using data from the…

Gareth Edwards Explains The Most Important Thing Godzilla MUST Have

Godzilla director Gareth Edwards took on quite a big legacy when he decided to update the classic monster movie — and instead of sexing up our beloved Kaiju, he changed the the story of Godzilla forever. He explains the real events that inspired his monster saga. Spoilers ahead… What do you need to make a…

This Is What Comic Books Looked Like in the Middle Ages

Curators at the British Library have compiled a list of the manuscripts in their collection which they believe are among the best examples of Ye Olde Comick Bookes, rife with superheroes, supervillains, origin stories, drama and, of course, blood and gore. Among the top candidates: Saint and Superhero: The Guthlac Roll (12th or 13th Century)…

The Most Common Language In Each US State—Besides English And Spanish

In 43 of the 50 United States, Spanish is the most commonly spoken language after English. But if we remove Spanish from the mix, which language turns up most in each state? Using data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, Ben Blatt at Slate has created several language maps of the US that go…