Latest

Is Hollywood Addicted To Ripping Off Story Ideas From Anime?

People often say that there’s no such thing as an original story these days, but how right are they? Is it possible, maybe, that a good majority of western blockbusters are actually just homages or near re-tellings of anime? This post from The Daily Beast seems to think so. David Levesley, who wrote the post,…

Get a Rare $25 Discount on the Nest Learning Thermostat

There have been a few promo code tricks or gift card offers to get the price of the Nest Learning Thermostat down, but today we’ve got a straight $25 off. This is the best cash discount we’ve seen, and the best overall deal since Black Friday, so get it before it’s gone. [Amazon] This post…

Lab Recreates Volcanic Lightning

In 2010, the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland grounded planes and made a mess of European logistics, but also provided us with spellbindingly beautiful photographs of volcanic lightning. Now, volcanic lightning has been produced in a laboratory setting. Lightning during the Eyjafjallajökull eruption. Image credit: AP Photo/ Jon Pall Vilhelmsson While we can take photographs of…

Orphan Black Season Two Is Even Better Than We Hoped

Are you caught up on Orphan Black? If not, you might want to finish your binge watching before tomorrow night’s second season premiere—because it’s going to spiral us into a whole new level of clone-based mysteries. Here’s our spoiler-free review of Season Two’s first episode. Spoilers for Orphan Black Season One. The More Things Change,…

A Brief History of Beer

Beer brewing and drinking are activities that have been part of the human experience seemingly since the dawn of civilization. Around 10,000 years ago, mankind began to move away from living life as nomadic hunter gatherers, and began settling down in one spot to farm the land. Grain, a vital ingredient in beer making, was…

A Team of Scientists Faces the Mt. Everest Avalanche

A fatal avalanche shook Mount Everest this morning, claiming the lives of at least a dozen Sherpa guides. Right now, geoscientist and Scientific American blogger Ulyana Horodyskyj is currently on the mountain documenting her team’s ascent. Photo Credit: Stefan Perneborg // CC BY 2.0 The second installment in Horodyskyj’s ongoing series just went live a…

Godzilla, More Godzilla, The Gear You Need To Ditch Your Cable Company

Up from the depths Thirty stories high Breathing fire His head in the sky Godzilla! Godzilla! Godzilla! And Godzookie…. The Godzilla Collection includes the English and Japanese versions of 7 films | $21 If you’re ready to cut the cord, Newegg will sell you everything you need to get started today for under $100. The…

Why Is New Urbanism So Gosh Darn Creepy?

I remember looking toward the edge of town and thinking that something seemed off. We had stopped here before crossing the Continental Divide, in one of those typically charming Colorado mountain communities. Yet a few blocks away from its railroad-era Main Street lined with historic 1890s structures, there were almost cartoonish versions of those same…

Clever Crook Uses Heat Vision Drone to Hunt Down Weed and Steal It

The police have long used thermal imaging cameras to detect marijuana growing operations. Now, thanks to drones, crooks are getting into the weed-finding game too. Except in their case, they’re trying to find the weed so they can steal it. The Halesowen News in the UK reports that at least one criminal has used an…

What’s The Purpose Of The Universe? Here’s One Possible Answer

It’s tempting to think of the universe as a meaningless repository for celestial objects like planets and stars. But an intriguing theory suggests there’s much more to the cosmos than meets the eye — and that black holes play an integral role in what our universe is actually trying to achieve. It’s called the theory…

Sony a6000 Review: A Solid Mirrorless Camera That’s a Small Step Up

Pretty much all mirrorless cameras—Fujifilm X, Samsung NX, to name a couple—with APS-C size sensors can take a damn fine picture these days. The a6000 does its best to stand out with a pinch of style and updated tech, but it’s still largely the same as the camera it’s replacing, 2012’s NEX-6. What Is It?…

Everything You Need to Cut The Cord, Wearables, Nest Thermostat

If you’re ready to cut the cord, Newegg will sell you everything you need to get started today for under $100. The Mohu Leaf is the most popular indoor antenna out there, and the Roku 3 is an excellent media player without a hidden agenda. refurb Mohu Leaf | $28 refurb Roku 3 | $70…

LED Holders Upgrade Newspapers With the Latest Headlines

If you’ve ever read the newspaper in a library or a coffee shop, you’ve probably used those long wooden holders that help make them slightly easier to wrangle without tearing the pages and impossible to pilfer. But an ad agency in Switzerland found a way to make them even more useful with invisible LED news…

Watch This Table Turn Sound Into A Dancing Pattern Of Flames

The latest installment of Veritasium is all about the “Pyro-Board.” This snazzy contraption is a mesmerizing, planar take on the Rubens’ tube – a perforated tube of gas – hooked up to a gas jet and a speaker – that can turn music into beautifully patterned, leaping flicks of fire. The video demonstrates how gas…

Spot the Rover Tracks from Space

In the game of Where’s Curiosity? (hint: the tiny blue rectangle), and discussion of Curiosity’s shiny new drilling location, did we mention you can also see the rover tracks? The more we stare at this photo, the more fun it is. https://gizmodo.com/the-curiosity-rovers-tracks-across-mars-as-seen-from-s-1564620476

LADEE has (Purposely) Crashed into the Moon.

After 100 days of science, and a guessing-game for the impact-date, LADEE has finally hit the moon. https://gizmodo.com/nasas-ladee-spacecraft-just-crashed-into-the-moon-1564649339

Why Were There So Many Giant Insects in the 1950s?

Hollywood produced some 500 science fiction movies during the 1950s, and the stars of many of them were colossal mutant insects. Why were people in the mid-twentieth century obsessed with giant bugs? One economist sums up the dominant theories. In some ways, this debate echoes the current discussion over what makes the zombie genre so…

Cool photo of a guy pouring some water in an inverted plane

Which kind of sorcery is this, you ask? Nothing but the magic of physics and the g forces pulling down the water during a barrel roll. And before someone starts saying this is fake, check out this video showing exactly the same effect in motion. Skip to the 45 second mark to see it. So…

Facebook’s Paper has finally added events notifications as well as the ability to insert photos into comments. Hey—it’s almost like real Facebook. Almost.

HD Video From Space Makes the World’s Tallest Building Look Like a Toy

Static, low-res satellite imagery is so passé. Watching HD video from space satellites is the future, especially when looking down on the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. We’ve seen how footage like this makes the world look like a video game, or a Micro Machines playset! It’s sped up of course, but the airplane…