Latest

New research suggests geohacking would be a catastrophically bad idea

In order to get our warming climate under control, some forward thinkers say we should deploy any number of geoengineering schemes. But as the latest computer models show, these efforts would not only be futile — they’d probably result in a complete disaster. https://gizmodo.com/10-ways-geoengineering-could-save-the-world-5959069 Geoengineering techniques include such things as reflecting sunlight from space, ocean…

How Online Ads Work

You probably think online ads are pretty annoying. But without them, the internet as we know it would not exist—and this blogger would not have a job. These are not your everyday ads, though. They’re built on an impressively complex network of technology that anyone can appreciate. CM Summit just posted a well done interactive…

​Every Scene Where They Say “We Come From Two Worlds” on Star-Crossed

Last night’s Star-Crossed was really keen to make sure you were aware of the show’s central theme: That Emery and Roman come from two separate worlds, and they can’t be together because their worlds are separate. Here’s a handy 30-second compilation of every moment where the show drove those themes home. Spoilers ahead… So Star-Crossed…

Gender-Swapped Hobbit Cosplay is an Unexpected Delight

Fun fact: Thorin Oakenshield is devastatingly handsome in both male and female form. A gaggle of gorgeous women sporting gender swapped Hobbit cosplay were photographed by Alexander Turchanin, and the results are sensational. They really captured the essence of each dwarf. Plus they all look ridiculous adorable in dwarf attire, apart from Thorin — who…

Intelligence is trying to force us to root for the bad guys

Last night, Intelligence had its first entirely-Gabriel focused episode in a while. And while this episode seemed specifically written to show how awesome Gabriel is, instead it proved, once and for all, just how useless he is. Spoilers ahead… This week’s mission was to go to Bolivia and keep an opposition presidential candidate safe, as…

The dramatic evolution and 9 obscure facts about The Simpsons

The Simpsons is the longest running sitcom in TV history. Their design, personalities and even their voices have changed dramatically through 25 years on the air. We just didn’t notice day after day, just like we forgot about many obscure and interesting factoids. So obscure that, unless you’re a truly obsessive Simpsons’ fan, you won’t…

The Climbing Walls In This Former Sugar Factory Look Like Candy Heaven

The industrial silhouette of a former sugar refinery in Montréal has gotten a pretty sweet makeover, being transformed into a fully-equipped climbing gym. Now, Allez-Up‘s sky-high ceilings house faceted white walls studded with colorful holds, like bits of candy in a saccharine mine. The whole thing has a Willy Wonka viba, with blue safety mats…

An Unusual Watch Whose Hands Point Inwards

On a traditional analog watch face, you’ll find the numbers indicating the hours encircling its outer circumference. But on Projects Watches’ Nadir, they’re all crammed onto a small disk in the middle, with the hands—which are embellished with arrow heads—pointing inwards toward the hours, minutes, and seconds. If you’re used to a more traditional watch…

Apple Is Putting Pressure on Arizona to Stop the State’s Anti-Gay Bill

Apple’s got a vested interest in Arizona’s future—its newest factory will break ground there in 2015, bringing thousands of jobs to the state. And the company is now advocating for local policy. Today, Apple publicly took a stand against the state’s highly controversial proposed anti-gay legislation. A personal call was placed by Apple to Arizona…

Make Like Magneto And Control This Responsive Wall With Only Gestures

You are not an X-Man. I am not an X-Man. None of us live in the Matrix (probably). But we could pretend we’ve got crazy superpowers in front of this faceted Hexi wall, which is covered in modules that respond to your movements in real time. The installation was created by graphic designer Thibaut Sld.…

A History of Clickbait: The First 100 Years

Clickbait is the lowest form of social media journalism, full of sensationalized headlines, grumpy cats, and awful personal confessions. Most pundits complaining about it say that it’s a new invention for the short attention spans of the internet age. But that’s not true. Clickbait’s history goes back to the nineteenth century. In this political cartoon…

Watch an artificial virus fighting to infect a cell

A new imaging technique demonstrates the highly convoluted and frenetic activity of a virus-like particle as it works to detect and enter a cell. The video shows a tiny ball as it zips around in a rapid and erratic manner until it encounters a cell. It then bounces and skids along the surface, and either…

These Cabinets Hide an Incredible Stealth Kitchen

When you live in a closet-sized city apartment, it’s no fun to cook in a teeny, tiny cramped kitchen. But a kitchen completely hidden behind lovely wood cabinets when not in use? That’s kind of ingenious. Stealth Kitchen is the latest creation of Resource Furniture, the same folks behind many of the designs in the…

A Campfire Grill That Hugs Your Spare Tire For Easy Storage

Part of the joy of preparing meals while camping is that you don’t have to worry about keeping everything neat and tidy. But the last thing you want to do is put a scorched and filthy grill in the trunk of your clean car. So Front Runner’s solution lets you simply strap it to your…

The science of audio illusions, or fooling people’s ears

Diana Deutsch is a professor of psychology at the University of San Diego, and a master at manipulating people’s ears. While researching quirks in the way humans hear things, she has invented many auditory illusions. Here are some of the weirdest, and why they work. Diana Deutsch was born in Britain, but came to the…

2013 Nebula nominees show the new face of science fiction and fantasy

The most exciting new authors of science fiction and fantasy include Ann Leckie, Sofia Samatar and Helene Wecker, according to the 2013 Nebula nominations. They join veterans like Neil Gaiman, Nicola Griffith and Karen Joy Fowler. The overall nominee list is incredibly strong and reflects the range of voices in SF in 2014. Here’s the…

Rolls-Royce Is Designing Giant Drone Ships to Sail the High Seas

Believe it or not, sailors are a big drag on shipping vessels. They weigh down the ship, take up space, cost thousands of dollars a day, and even cause most of the accidents at sea. So it’s no surprise that Rolls-Royce’s maritime division wants to replace them with robots. Rolls-Royce’s Blue Ocean development team is…

“When it comes to the things that people really want in science fiction—like space travel—the simplest things end up causing them not to happen. Humans are 100-pound bags of water, built to live on Earth.” — Lawrence Krauss, theoretical physicist and author of The Physics of Star Trek You can read the entire interview over…

Insane closeup video of the crazy Russian human torch

OK, this stupidly risky stunt seems even more idiotic and suicidal when you watch it up close and from his point of view. That snow mound didn’t seem soft at all. Just look at the painful face of his idiot when he walks away. According to local media, the teenager declared to the police that…

Physicists find a new ‘state of matter’ in the eyes of chickens

An unusual arrangement of particles has been discovered in the cells of chicken eyes. It’s the first time scientists have seen such a system in a biological system — one that allows materials to behave like both a crystal and a liquid. The unique arrangement is called “disordered hyperuniformity,” and it could help researchers design…