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14 Intriguing Ways We Could Detect Signs Of An Alien Civilization

For the past 50 years, our efforts to detect extraterrestrial civilizations have largely focused on the search for radio emissions. But this is hardly the only strategy at our disposal. Here are 14 intriguing ways we could prove that aliens really exist. Top image: Christian Lorenz Scheurer. If we’re going to find an extraterrestrial intelligence…

Tracking an Ebola Outbreak in a City Without Maps

If you Google Map Guéckédou, the Guinean city smack dab in the Ebola virus’s deadly domain right now, you’d see just an abstract blotch of beige and yellow. Zoom all the way in on satellite view, and you can barely make out the outlines of buildings. Don’t even think about trying Street View. Google Maps…

Sony’s A7s Low Light Test Shows Off Crazy Ability to See in the Dark

Sony’s recently announced A7s boasts some pretty mind-boggling light sensitivity. Even though the camera hasn’t reached the hands of the masses yet, Sony posted this low-light test to give you an idea of its ability to laugh at darkness. The A7s has an IS0 range hitting 409,600 at the top, which is pretty remarkable. You…

Watch an Incredible Interactive Table Morph To a Person’s Movements

Just five months ago, MIT’s Tangible Media Group was showing off a physical interface that mimics you in real time. This week in Milan, the team unveiled the next iteration of the system that’s much larger and even more sophisticated. You’re going to want to click through for the videos. If you haven’t heard of…

Divergent’s Final Book Allegiant Will Be Split Into Two Movies

There is no need for this. Deadline is reporting that Lionsgate will be slicing the final book in Veronica Roth’s Divergent series in half, and making it into two separate films. And if you’ve read the books, you know that’s a pretty big stretch. One can only assume that this is all about the dollar…

A do-it-yourself robot battle is being waged over the skies of Syria. The always-informative blog War is Boring reports that both sides of the civil war are now carrying out surveillance missions with the same off-the-shelf drones that consumers can buy for just a couple of thousand dollars.

Handheld Jet Thrusters Make Any Sport Instantly Extreme

If you’re wondering how this snowboarder is moving so fast on flat ground, the answer is simple. He’s holding powerful jet thrusters in his hands. Yes, jet thrusters. This is awesome. Now that rechargeable battery technologies have developed past the point of being abysmal, they’ve allowed a company called Dreamscience to create this set of…

There’s Less To Oculus Than Meets The Eye

The new horror movie Oculus has a lot going for it. There’s a neat concept: a cursed mirror destroyed a family years ago, and the kids want revenge. There are strong performances by genre stalwarts Karen Gillan and Katee Sackhoff, and arresting visuals. Unfortunately, as with any trick mirror, much of this depth is illusory.…

Six Women Who Paved the Way for Female Engineers and Architects

The Brooklyn Bridge was an awesome feat of engineering that required not just scientific prowess, but political strength. For 14 years, the construction of the bridge was overseen and managed by a woman named Emily Warren Roebling, who took over the role as chief engineer after her husband fell ill. Roebling is one of the…

Gear Fit Teardown: A Tiny Little Marvel

Whatever you can say about the Gear Fit, or wearables in general, it’s an attractive little piece of hardware. As this teardown from iFixit shows, that beauty’s not just skin deep. The Fit’s got tidy little touches to make its curves possible, including a slightly arched battery that snuggles right up against the plastic casing.…

NASA Is Planting A Veggie Garden In Space

It’s spring planting season and NASA is getting in on the action with a vegetable garden bound for the International Space Station. The experimental garden will be grown in a sealed, expandable chamber which researchers are calling Veggie. Their first crop will be Outredgeous lettuce, a red romaine variety that we can confirm tastes pretty…

A Hilarious And Whimsical Short About A Taxidermist And His Dead Father

In this blackly comic short film, a taxidermist and his father are the best of friends—at least until dad dies. The taxidermist figures life can go on as always if he just keeps his father’s body in good shape. Written and directed by Charlotte Carden, The Taxidermist is quite sweet, a heartfelt take on its…

Help Find The Kid (Now Adult) Who Inspired Virgin Galactic [UPDATE]

Back in 1988, Richard Branson appeared on the BBC show “Going Live!” and fielded a call from a kid named Shihan Musafer. Shihan’s question: “Have you ever thought about going into space?” 26 years later, the commercial spaceline Shihan inspired is poised to launch its first flight – and Branson wants help tracking Shihan down.…

This Wooden Table Is Actually Made of Glass

At first glance, this appears to be a fairly plain old wooden table—but wait, I can you see the leg through the table top? That’ll be because this wooden table is actually made from glass. Designer Ron Gilad‘s latest creation uses a special printing process to create glass panels with a strong wooden texture and…

The Many Creepy Experiments That Involved Staring At People

Do you like being stared at? Neither does anyone else. We know that for sure, because psychologists have done many experiments on the subject — many, many creepy experiments. When Psychologists Stare Science is meant to test what we take for granted, but some tests are more glorious than others. While some interns get to…

This Is A Llama Dressed Up As Batman. Your Move, Affleck.

Over at the Indiana State Fair there is a Bat-Llama. Which is already better than any future Batman movie, now and forever. That’ll do, Llama. That’ll do.

Do Cow Farts Actually Contribute to Global Warming?

There are currently approximately 1.3 to 1.5 billion cows grazing, sleeping, and chewing their cud at any given time on planet Earth. And these 1,300 pound (average weight for both a beef and dairy cow) animals eat a lot. Much like humans, when they eat, gas builds up inside of their guts and has to…

It’s GIF Party Time, And We’re All Invited!

There’s no time to waste, GIFs — this party begins now! How has your week been? Did you start something new, finish something you’ve been working on, or add to your collection of party GIFs? Whatever you’ve been up to, tell us — and show us — all about it! GIF: h/t commenter Thayder.

This Insane Anime Is A Japanese Take On An American Take On Ninjas

Supposedly, the new anime series Ninja Slayer is based on the novels of American writers Bradley Bond and Philip Ninj@ Morzez. Instead, the books were actually written by Japanese “translators” Honda Yu and Sugi Leika. Either way, this first trailer is delightfully insane. Basically, as far as I can tell, a bunch of evil ninjas…

If you have a Sony VAIO Fit 11A, you should stop using it and get it checked over, because it seems battery issues can cause it to overheat and catch fire.