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Even Sine Waves Have Terroir

Dave Seidel has released an album composed of sine waves, those near and about the ~60 Hz range. That’s the title of his album, ~60 Hz, and I was honored to be asked by him to write a liner note for the record’s release. The digital version went live today at irritablehedgehog.com, and CDs are…

Tech News Marc Weidenbaum

What are you reading right now?

What are you reading right now? What would you like to be reading next? Tell us what kind of recommendations you’re looking for next on your own reading list, and maybe recommend a few books to each other, too! Image: Tower of books / Loozrboy.

io9 Ria Misra

The Simple Metal Mechanism That Changed the Global Economy Forever

Have you ever heard of a twistlock? Unless you’re a stevedore, probably not. Yet this little mechanism is what makes it possible to stack shipping containers onto cargo ships larger than city blocks—enabling a global trade network that brought most of your belongings to your doorstep. And we have a relatively little-known Californian mechanical engineer…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

Watch These Bendy Sculptures Morph and Mutate in GIF Form

We’ve seen the amazing paper sculptures by artist Li Hongbo, but now there is a really cool video showing these slinky-esque creations at their finest. Such stretchy delight! https://gizmodo.com/you-can-actually-stretch-these-fake-marble-sculptures-l-1517189833

Tech News Michael Hession

Statistics professor challenges midwives’ math on home birth safety

Recently a group of midwives published a paper about birth outcomes for home births, which seemed to indicate home birth is as safe as hospital birth. A skeptic blog got a statistics professor to analyze the paper, and came up with very different results. Check them both out! Midwives Alliance of North America, or MANA,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Colored Lights Let This Tiny Ikea Billboard Display Three Messages

Let’s be honest with ourselves here for a moment. If you’re heading to Ikea to furnish your home, you probably don’t live in a sprawling million dollar mansion. Instead, you’re probably furnishing a tiny dorm room or a cozy apartment. And not only is Ikea aware of this, it’s also taken it to heart with…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Is Dredd 2 in the works? Plus find out how Captain America 2 begins!

Check out striking new Game of Thrones posters, focusing on the Lannisters. Did Jennifer Morrison finally reveal Chris Gorham’s mystery Once Upon a Time character? Plus casting news from Teen Wolf, The Flash, iZombie, and The Visitors. Spoilers now! Captain America: The Winter Soldier At an event in Hollywood, Marvel showed the first ten minutes…

Television Katharine Trendacosta

12 Stunning Data Visualizations That Put Boring Spreadsheets to Shame

We’re living smack dab in the middle of a golden age of data viz—or peak data viz, depending on your point of view. Beautiful Science, a new exhibition at the British Library, offers a glimpse at how complex info was presented before technology made infographics so inescapably ubiquitous. The show covers facts and figures from…

Tech News Jordan Kushins

Eat Mushrooms That Grow Off the Top of This Living Lampshade

The most I can harvest from my lampshades is a thick layer of dust, so I am simultaneously impressed and completely grossed out by these MYX fixtures made from mycelium. They’re grown into form, and edible mushrooms can actually be reaped from the top before they’re hung in place. Weird as it may seem, mycelium…

Tech News Jordan Kushins

The FDA Is Considering Creating Three-Person Embryos

The Food and Drug Administration has this week embarked on discussions on a topic sure to prove controversial: the idea of creating embryos from the DNA of three people. The Associated Press reports reports that the FDA is investigating whether or not it should allow the new procedure. Current research in animals suggests that the…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

The Time Everywhere, Right Now, Beautifully Visualized

Today’s XKCD really is wonderful: called Now, it’s a simple clock which shows you what time it is in the world right… now, and changes each time you check back on it. It’s created in such a way that it’s super simple to read. Noon and midnight always sit in the same place, and each…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

WSJ: Obama Weighing Four Alternatives to NSA Phone Surveillance

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Obama administration has been presented with “four options for revamping NSA phone surveillance”—including one which would scrap it for good. The report from the Wall Street Journal cites officials “close to the matter,” explaining that the four suggestions for NSA reform have all been submitted ahead of…

Privacy & Security Jamie Condliffe

The Science of Why You Loved Flappy Bird So Much

Long live Flappy Bird, the game we loved to hate. But why oh why was that simple little game so awfully compelling? https://gizmodo.com/flappy-bird-is-officially-gone-from-the-app-store-1519308800 In this video, Sci Show explains how our love of Flappy Bird—and other video games for that matter—are fuelled by a deep-seated human desire for achievement, however trivial. Successful achievement releases dopamine…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

The Hijacked $50,000 @N Twitter Username Is Back In Its Owners Hands

Remember how Naoki Hiroshima lost his amazing $50,000 @N Twitter username? Well, for once some good news: he got it back! https://gizmodo.com/how-i-lost-my-50-000-twitter-username-1511578384 While the username was hijacked last month, Naoki Hiroshima has once again regained control of the account. Last night he tweeted: It’s not clear yet exactly how he regained full control of @N,…

Privacy & Security Jamie Condliffe

This Network-in-a-Backpack Will Connect People in Disaster Areas

This backpack may not look much, but it has impressive hidden depths: it contains all the kit you need to establish an ad hoc mobile network in just ten minutes—perfect for those working in disaster areas. Put together by Vodafone, the Instant Network Mini weighs 24 pounds and is small enough to be carried as…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Super Mario World is the key to parallel universes

This has to be the best example of the Many Worlds hypothesis by Hugh Everett, a theory that postulates that an infinite number of parallel universes exist thanks to quantum mechanics, with infinite versions of you doing infinite number of actions with infinite number of outcomes. Just like Mario here: The video shows a superimposition…

Sploid Jesus Diaz

The US Navy is finally deploying giant lasers

Oh baby. The US Navy is saying a prototype of the solid state Laser Weapons System (LaWS) is ready for deployment. This summer in the Persian Sea, the USS Ponce will be outfitted with lasers that can shoot down aerial drones, speedboats and swarm boats that are miles away. It’s going to be Star Wars…

Sploid Casey Chan

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Battlecock

Equal parts Kumite, Fight Club, and Summer Olympics, the underground badminton circuit is a deadly way to spend an afternoon. But for two brothers, the dangers of disembowelment are a necessary risk—and the only way they can prove themselves to the ladies. Get ready to rock out with your (shuttle)cocks out in Battlecock.

Tech News Andrew Tarantola

This is the last season of Syfy’s Being Human, and that’s okay

Alas, this will be the very last season of the Americanized Being Human. We will deeply miss the cast’s witty banter. But on the brighter side, here’s a super-sweet video of the cast saying goodbye to fans. Here’s the official note from Syfy: With the second half of “Being Human’s” 4th season set to kick…

io9 Meredith Woerner

Daybreak arrived at the frozen fortress, and so had the refugees

Mikaela shivered as Fort Fryst came into view. From a distance, the glow of yellow light through the door looked inviting, but Mikaela knew that the magic that powered the structure protected visitors from the cold, but it also ensured that they never felt warm. Icy Outpost v2 [Jose Borges on CG Hub via r/ImaginaryInteriors]

io9 Lauren Davis

Even Sine Waves Have Terroir

What are you reading right now?

The Simple Metal Mechanism That Changed the Global Economy Forever

Watch These Bendy Sculptures Morph and Mutate in GIF Form

Statistics professor challenges midwives’ math on home birth safety

Colored Lights Let This Tiny Ikea Billboard Display Three Messages

Is Dredd 2 in the works? Plus find out how Captain America 2 begins!

12 Stunning Data Visualizations That Put Boring Spreadsheets to Shame

Eat Mushrooms That Grow Off the Top of This Living Lampshade

The FDA Is Considering Creating Three-Person Embryos

The Time Everywhere, Right Now, Beautifully Visualized

WSJ: Obama Weighing Four Alternatives to NSA Phone Surveillance

The Science of Why You Loved Flappy Bird So Much

The Hijacked $50,000 @N Twitter Username Is Back In Its Owners Hands

This Network-in-a-Backpack Will Connect People in Disaster Areas

Super Mario World is the key to parallel universes

The US Navy is finally deploying giant lasers

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Battlecock

This is the last season of Syfy’s Being Human, and that’s okay

Daybreak arrived at the frozen fortress, and so had the refugees

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