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NASA’s New Mars-Landing Technology Is Almost Ready For Its Test Flight

Reporters got their first look at the rocket-powered, flying saucer-shaped vehicle that will be sent into near space this June to test the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) that will land future spacecraft on Mars. Current technology for decelerating from the high speed of atmospheric entry still uses the basic Viking parachute design that put two…

The LHC Has Found a New Particle Unlike Any Other Form of Matter

Not content with perhaps the biggest scientific discovery of the decade, scientists at the Large Hadron Collide continue to search for new particles—and now they’ve found one that seems to be an entirely new form of matter. A series of experiments at the LHC have confirmed that a new particle called Z(4430)—catchy!— actually exists, and…

What’s Quicksilver’s Role In X-Men? Plus Loads Of New Star Wars Rumors!

The first Amazing Spider-Man 2 reviews are out, and they warn that it “gets itself tangled.” Karen Gillan talks Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy. And Gwendoline Christie previews Brienne and Cersei’s upcoming confrontation on Game of Thrones. Spoilers now! Top image: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Star Wars The latest name in the unending torrent…

Amazing Tumblr Reminds Us That Particle Physics Is a Lonely Pursuit

CERN is home to some of the brightest minds in science and the origin of some of physics’ biggest findings—but this Tumblr serves as a reminder that particle physics is a very lonely pursuit indeed. Lonely Chairs at CERN is dedicated to bringing the internet the “best of lonely chairs in the largest laboratory of…

This Cartoon Is the Simplest Explanation of Heartbleed Yet

You may have read some long explainers about how Heartbleed works, but this cartoon is the simplest description you’ll see of the bug. Using just six panels, three words—potato, bird and hat—and his usual charming style, Randall Monroe perfectly explains how the Internet’s scariest security hole works. Check it out below. The only downside: knowing…

Is Math Art?

Sometimes the results of math are sure beautiful—pretty charts, say, or wonderful visualizations. But can maths itself, those long complex equations, be art too? This video explores a new study which suggests that math can be perceived as a beautiful in certain parts of the brain. Obviously it depends a little on the brain in…

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art Review: Great Glass That Punches Above Its Price

Sigma has been the darling of the lens world recently, producing high-performance products at reasonable prices. Its latest is the 50mm f/1.4 Art series lens, a long awaited addition to their line that we recently had the pleasure of trying out. You’re not going to find much more lens for the price. What Is It?…

Heartbleed Affects Routers, Too

Some more heartache from Heartbleed: it affects routers, too. Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks have announced that the security hole that is Heartbleed has been found in their networking equipment. It’s perhaps not too surprising that the bug—basically a simple flaw in OpenSSL that allows attackers to bypass the usual security protocols used by many…

Facebook’s cleaning up your News Feed a little, ripping out Like-baiting posts, repeated content, and spammy links.

The Virtuous Circle of Aphex Twin Fandom

An interview with Joyrex, whose WATMM forum rescued a lost Richard D. James album from 20 years ago. Last month, March 2014, marked the 20th anniversary of the release of the landmark 1994 Aphex Twin album Selected Ambient Works Volume II. I wrote a book, also out last month, about that album, as part of…

Paperback Beatmaker

Write music to accompany the typing of a work of fiction: Each Thursday at the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.com a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have just over four days to upload a track in response to the assignment. Membership in the Junto is open: just join and…

Every Zombie-pacalypse Should Sound This Good (NSFW)

Equal parts Gidget and The Day of the Dead (with just a hint of Debby Does Dallas), this jaw-dropping animated music video for Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer’s latest remix is sure to titilate the senses as an ever-growing army zombified Tacomans lay waste to civilization. Chosen as the Official Selection at Festival international…

Wizard juggler tricks people’s minds with a ring of illusions

French juggler Lindzee Poi is a wizard who basically turns a set of juggling rings into a mind warping finger dance. Poi is so fluid that your mind really thinks the rings are moving on their own. I love it when my brain can’t process what’s in front of it. SPLOID is a new blog…

This guy’s job pays him $94,000 to have as much fun as possible

Stuck in your cubicle? Dreading work tomorrow? Wish you could go out, have fun, spend money, not work and still get paid? Then you (and every other person in this world) want to trade places with Andrew Smith. His job is Chief Funster for New South Wales in Australia. As in his job is to…

Here’s What You Would See If You Were Kicked By A Giraffe

A giraffe came across a wildlife photographer’s camera and knocked it on its back, giving us an idea of what a giraffe hoof to the head would look like. Photographer Chris Barnard took this accidental video, which lets us see not just the kick, but also the underside of the giraffe, all without the resulting…

Colorful Map Shows L.A. as a Patchwork of Rancho-Era Land Grants

Los Angeles County commissioned this 1888 map for a mundane reason—to record property holdings—but the result was an eye-catching, colorful artifact that seems to depict a land of dueling principalities. And for a while, it was. Beginning in 1784, first Spain and then Mexico carved the Southland into vast tracts of land, or ranchos, that…

Stripped car transforms into exotic sports car with magic foam

Reddit user Geeky_ shows how a scrap car can be magically transformed into an exotic sports car with expanding foam. The car, which is pretty much just a stripped metal body, gets fattened up with luxurious curves and looks like it costs a million bucks. Slick. Painted blob never looked so good. Granted the car…

Did You Know UPS Trucks Only Make Right Turns?

Turns out left turns are not only riskier, they also waste gas. So UPS – optimization-obsessed logistics company that it is – got rid of them. Photo Credit: David Guo // CC BY 2.0 Via Priceonomics: UPS engineers found that left-hand turns were a major drag on efficiency. Turning against traffic resulted in long waits…

Doctors Can Now Grow Engineered Vaginas in Women

After decades of work, a team of doctors say they’ve successfully engineered vaginas that have been implanted and grown in women. The vaginas were grown in a lab from the female patients’ own cells and later transferred to their bodies, where they formed into normal vaginas. The breakthrough bears some huge implications, too. It sounds…

For The Elderly, Better Eating Through 3D Printing

The European Union, concerned about the special needs of its rapidly aging population, is spending more than $4 million to develop 3D printers that will produce food that is optimized for the elderly. The program is called PERFORMANCE: an over-labored acronym that stands for “PERsonalized FOod using Rapid MAnufacturing for the Nutrition of elderly ConsumErs.”…