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DNA Evidence Debunks a Longstanding Myth About Louis XVI’s Blood

When King Louis XVI was beheaded in the early days of the French Revolution, it is said that a handkerchief soaked in his blood was placed in this gourd (pictured). Now a group of Spanish geneticists have sequenced DNA in the blood, to find out whether it’s truly from the king. First, the researchers sequenced…

io9 Annalee Newitz Apr 24 '14

A Hovering Vacuum That Protects Your Floors And Looks Good Doing It

You can pretend a broom is a useful way to clean wood and tile floors, but in reality, it just moves the dirt elsewhere. A vacuum is still your best option—but even better than that is a vacuum that floats across scratch-prone hard floors like a hovercraft. Say hello to the aiRider. In order to…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Apr 24 '14

Wow, It’s Possible to Make Jenga Even More Fun

Jenga is amazingly fun and in need of no innovation. However, as this video shows, it is possible to make Jenga even more fun. Just add a chess clock into the mix. The truth about Jenga is that if you’re given enough time to remove a piece from the tower and place it back on…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Apr 24 '14

12 Beloved Movies That Were Originally About Something Very Different

Our favorite science fiction and fantasy films seem to have burst into existence fully formed, already perfect. So it’s weird when you realize that a lot of the best movies had the biggest false starts and dead ends. Here are 12 much-loved movies that had very different storylines early on in their creation. Top image:…

Movies Madeleine Monson-Rosen and Charlie Jane Anders Apr 24 '14

Ridley Scott To Make A Show That’s Basically Stargate Without Stargates

HBO is teaming with director Ridley Scott to make Pharaoh, a show about aliens hanging out in ancient Egypt, making pyramids, and presumably getting worshipped as animal-headed gods by the local populace. The show was created by David Shulner, a.k.a.the guy who made the modern Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde medical drama Do No Harm, which was…

Television Rob Bricken Apr 24 '14

The Best GoPro and Matching Drone, Espresso At Home, Game of Thrones

Today, you can pick up the best model of the best action cam for one of the best prices we’ve ever seen. If you want to take things to the next level, the DJI Phantom Drone with built-in GoPro mount is marked down to just $420 today as well, from a typical price of around…

Tech News Shep McAllister Apr 24 '14

Build Your Favorite Space Gadgets With LittleBits’ Awesome NASA Kit

The Mars Rover. The ISS grappling arm. An infrared light meter. You can build working models of all of those and more with LittleBits‘ new space-themed electronics kit, which is NASA scientist-approved and here to let kids experience simpler versions of the challenges that space scientists and engineers face every day. By following the kit’s…

Space & Spaceflight PJ Smith Apr 24 '14

WWII Propaganda Billboards From The United States’ Secret Atomic City

During the 1940s, the denizens of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, worked for the Manhattan Project, developing atomic weapons in their government-owned city. They went about their daily lives in the shadows of billboards exhorting them not only to support the war effort, but also to keep quiet about their jobs. After Oak Ridge was acquired by…

io9 Lauren Davis Apr 24 '14

Looks Like Honeywell Is Cooking Up Its Own Nest Thermostat Clone

What’s this we have here? We just got a tip from a reader that this is Honeywell’s answer to Nest. It looks like a Nest, it smells like a Nest, and the only difference is that Honeywell branding. We’re thin on details, but this screenshot reportedly came from the Facebook page of a (maybe soon-to-be-former)…

Tech News Leslie Horn Apr 24 '14

A Complete Guide to Cooking in Space

Space is full of mysteries, but one in particular has been weighing on our minds lately: How’s the food up there? Here’s how space meals get made, the best astronaut food hacks, and the experiment that showed just where the best french fries in the galaxy would really be found. The Astronaut Diet Over the…

io9 Ria Misra Apr 24 '14

The World’s Longest Conveyor Belt System Can Be Seen From Space

There isn’t much in the Western Sahara, but there is this giant conveyor belt running over 60 miles from a Moroccan phosphate mine to the edge of the ocean. Look closely—this could be the future of our global food supply. If you haven’t heard of Western Sahara, it’s because the “non-self-governing territory,” to use U.N.…

Tech News Sarah Zhang Apr 24 '14

Ballooning in Antarctica

The Balloon Array for Radiation belt Relativistic Electron Losses, or BARREL, launched 20 instrument-laden balloons in the endless day of Antarctic summer. Now the team is home, and the photos of their flying plastic jellyfish exploring the sky for science are fantastic. BARREL is contributing data to understanding the Van Allen belts, two gigantic donuts…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Apr 24 '14

First Footage From The Simpsons All-Lego Episode

It looks good! Everything is really awesome in the first-ever clip from all Lego-ized Simpsons episode (wait a few minutes into the video; the clip is at the end).

Television Meredith Woerner Apr 24 '14

Anyone Can Buy Google Glass Now

Anyone with $1500 dollars can head over to this page and buy Google Glass right now. Though Google hasn’t made a formal announcement about a public launch for the augmented reality specs, the shopping page is live. It’s worth noting, that though the page is live, we haven’t actually completed a transaction because, uh, $1500.…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Apr 24 '14

Every Trunk Needs a Backup Phone Battery That Can Jumpstart Your Car

By now there are countless backup batteries on the market that promise to revive a dead smartphone when there’s no power outlet in sight. But the JUMPR promises to be there for another thing you probably never leave home without—your car. With 6,000 mAh of power, you can actually recharge a couple of smartphones or…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Apr 24 '14

This Huge Camera Rig Was the Howitzer of Early Action Photography

Photojournalism has come a long way in the last 65 years. Back in the first half of the 20th century, photographers looking to capture the fast action of car races and baseball games were forced to shoot with enormous camera contraptions like this Graflex “Big Bertha” large format press camera. But the pictures it captured…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Apr 24 '14

The Plot To The Goosebumps Movie Is Insane

We had assumed that Rob Letterman’s (Gulliver’s Travels) Goosebumps movie would contain a few monsters. Instead, it will feature ALL of the classic Goosebumps monsters. We also did not expect horror author R.L. Stine to play a major character in the movie! In a recent press release it was revealed that Jack Black has been…

Movies Meredith Woerner Apr 24 '14

Package concept changes its design as it approaches its expiration date

Here’s a cool concept created by Ko Yang: a carton that morphs its design overtime using color-changing ink. It can be done but, most probably, it will never be used in real life—most companies don’t want people to skip their older merchandise at the supermarket. Or perhaps some companies would end up doing it, to…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Apr 24 '14

A Disturbing Visualization of Global Small Arms Trade

Countries in Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa are witnessing a surge in violence. But as this astonishing interactive infographic reveals, many of the countries trying to curb this violence are also the ones making it possible by selling small arms and light weapons to the aggressors. While overall rates of gun violence are…

io9 Mark Strauss Apr 24 '14

The Hamper Chair Is Your New Best Excuse For Never Doing Laundry

It’s hard not to feel guilty when your underwear is on its third tour of duty because you haven’t done laundry for weeks. But Brandon Washington has managed to find a plus side to procrastinating on a trip to the laundromat with his Martino Hamper chair that’s all but useless without a mountain of soiled…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Apr 24 '14

DNA Evidence Debunks a Longstanding Myth About Louis XVI’s Blood

A Hovering Vacuum That Protects Your Floors And Looks Good Doing It

Wow, It’s Possible to Make Jenga Even More Fun

12 Beloved Movies That Were Originally About Something Very Different

Ridley Scott To Make A Show That’s Basically Stargate Without Stargates

The Best GoPro and Matching Drone, Espresso At Home, Game of Thrones

Build Your Favorite Space Gadgets With LittleBits’ Awesome NASA Kit

WWII Propaganda Billboards From The United States’ Secret Atomic City

Looks Like Honeywell Is Cooking Up Its Own Nest Thermostat Clone

A Complete Guide to Cooking in Space

The World’s Longest Conveyor Belt System Can Be Seen From Space

Ballooning in Antarctica

First Footage From The Simpsons All-Lego Episode

Anyone Can Buy Google Glass Now

Every Trunk Needs a Backup Phone Battery That Can Jumpstart Your Car

This Huge Camera Rig Was the Howitzer of Early Action Photography

The Plot To The Goosebumps Movie Is Insane

Package concept changes its design as it approaches its expiration date

A Disturbing Visualization of Global Small Arms Trade

The Hamper Chair Is Your New Best Excuse For Never Doing Laundry

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