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Samsung’s Gear Fit Is a Tiny Smartwatch and a Hot Fitness Tracker in One

In addition to the two new Samsung Gear smartwatches we got saw a few days ago, Samsung is actually showing us something new in its wearable line: The Gear Fit, a combination smartwatch and fitness tracker. It’s svelte and slick—and potentially the gorgeous functional wearable we’ve been waiting for. Updated with hands on below https://gizmodo.com/samsung-gear-2-smartwatch-ditches-android-keeps-the-re-1528888087…

Gadgets Mario Aguilar and Leslie Horn

Samsung Galaxy S5: New Design and a Fingerprint Scanner

Samsung’s Galaxy S5 is here, and it’s real, boasting a fingerprint scanner, a new design, better camera, and more. Here’s everything you need to know. The design is the most notable difference between the S5 and the rest of the Galaxy fam. The device now has a pebbled silver back that looks like it’s metal…

Tech News Leslie Horn

What will life be like when digital brains outnumber humans?

These days, people worry about robots stealing our jobs. But maybe we should be more concerned about massive populations of computerized human brains. Called “ems,” these infinitely-reproducible brains could change the world. Here’s what will happen when digital brains vastly outnumber biological ones. To learn more about this prospect, I spoke to economist and futurist…

io9 George Dvorsky

RIP Harold Ramis, The Man Who Gave us Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day

Harold Ramis — director and co-writer of Groundhog Day and the brains behind the Ghostbusters operation, died today from complications related to auto-immune inflammatory vasculitis. He was 69. Chicago Tribune reports that the North Shore resident passed away at 12:53 a.m. from the rare disease he had been battling for over four years. We are…

Movies Meredith Woerner

The Privacy-Pimping Blackphone Is Here to Lock Up Your Data

Paranoid? Privacy conscious? Somewhere in between? Well there’s now an unlocked (forked) Android phone for you. Blackphone is on the scene and it looks as discrete as it keeps all your juicy info. We heard about Blackphone a while ago, but now SilentCircle and Geeksphone have officially unveiled it at Mobile World Congress with a…

Tech News Eric Limer

Every iPad Air on Sale, Roku 3 for $70, Titanfall Bundle [Deals]

For most people, the iPad Air is probably the best tablet you can buy, and Best Buy today has some of the best deals we’ve seen on Apple’s flagship, with discounts ranging from $50 off a 16GB Wi-Fi model to $105 off higher capacity LTE models. Typically, iPad deals only apply the cheapest SKU, so…

Tech News Shep McAllister

A short animation about the world’s first intentional LSD trip

On April 19, 1943, chemist Albert Hofmann intentionally ingested LSD, and felt the drug’s hallucinogenic effects while riding his bicycle home. This short animation imagines what that journey home might have looked like from inside Hofmann’s mind. Lorenzo Veracini, Nandini Nambiar, and Marco Avoletta made their 2007 short film A Bicycle Trip as a way…

io9 Lauren Davis

Hydrogen explosion vs. oxygen explosion — which one wins for biggest?

What’s the difference between a hydrogen explosion and an oxygen explosion? Quite a lot. Take a look at this succession of exploded balloons, and compare the booms. Oxygen, being present at many explosions, has gained a rather bad reputation. Some people think that oxygen is explosive. As we can see in this experiment, oxygen, while…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

I can’t believe this awesome wire bending machine is real

Seriously. Watching this awesome machine bend wires in different shapes puts my brain into deep hipnotoad mode. The manufacturer claims it is the fastest wire bending machine in the world. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it’s unreal. How the hell does this thing work? SPLOID is a new blog about awesome…

Sploid Jesus Diaz

Listen to Godzilla’s brand-new roar

The Godzilla movie has revealed a first official listen to the official roar of their newly rebooted Kaiju. And we have a lot of feelings about the roar. Empire released this cover (only to subscribers) which showcases the new face of Godzilla. He looks… well, like Godzilla. Moving on, check out the monstrous new roar…

io9 Meredith Woerner

The dystopia of 1984 is no longer relevant

In our era of ubiquitous surveillance and data-gathering online, pundits often use the scifi icon Big Brother to explain what’s happening. But journalist and academic Zeynep Tufekci, who participated in Turkey’s recent protests, says we need a new dystopian story to explain our lives. Illustration by Steve Squall Tufekci writes about how social media is…

io9 Annalee Newitz

12 Aliens Who Came to Earth to Save Humanity

What with wars, destroying the environment, and general imbecility, humanity is constantly getting itself into trouble. More than a few kindly aliens have come to Earth trying to help us change our ways, and for the most part, we’ve tried to kill them. Here are a dozen aliens that, directly or indirectly, tried to save…

io9 Rob Bricken

From the Playboy Mansion to YOLO Estate: The Lure of Backyard Grottos

Welcome to the YOLO Estate, the $7.7 million residence in L.A.’s Hidden Hills that was recently purchased by Drake. But it wasn’t necessarily the home itself that caught the eye of the rapper/songwriter/Degrassi alum, according to a recent interview with Rolling Stone. It was the grotto. A hundred feet from the patio, across his enormous…

Tech News Alissa Walker

Get lost in these fascinating spacecraft cutaway illustrations

Cross section, cutaway, or x-ray illustrations, call it whatever you want, but they’re the best way to understand how things work. They are fascinating. In this new Sploid series we will present some of the best cutaway drawings from around the world. The first collection includes 32 awesome spacecrafts. Do you have any spacecraft cutaway…

Sploid Attila Nagy

Watch the Metrodome Implode and Crumble to the Ground

After being voted the number one worst stadium in the United States by Time in 2012, Minnesota’s iconic Metrodome has received its just reward: complete and utter destruction. The dearly departed stadium is survived by Target Field, which has played home to the Minnesota Twins since 2010. As The Star Tribune describes, it was a…

Tech News Ashley Feinberg

We Can Now Pave Roads With Used Cooking Oil

You might not realize it, but quitting our addiction to oil means more than just finding something besides gasoline to put in our cars. If we really want to stop using fossil fuels, we have to change the way we make roads—and cooking oil might just be the answer. Over the past few months, Washington…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

Surveillance through Architecture: Cuba’s Abandoned Panopticon Prison

In 1926, Cuba saw the construction of the Presidio Modelo, a prison based on the Panopticon building design. The idea was that a guard could stand in the central tower and watch all of the prisoners in the surrounding cells. Top image by Friman via Wikimedia Commons. Presidio Modelo was built under the administration of…

io9 Lauren Davis

A Simple Trick to Keep Your GoPro Footage Steady

GoPro is the bestselling camera in the world because like a good date, you can take the tough sucker anywhere. Just mount it on your surfboard/snowboard/bicycle and it’ll snag back dope fisheye footage for your bragging video. Handholding a GoPro, however, yields shaky results. https://gizmodo.com/how-the-gopro-became-the-best-selling-camera-in-the-wor-1462288770 The above video from professional wakeboarder and video producer MicBergsma…

Tech News Mario Aguilar

These GIFs Hide Secret Codes Revealed By A Lenticular Sheet

For all the time we’ve spent staring blankly at GIFs, it’s crazy to think that those looping animations could have been hiding coded messages all along. Prosthetic Knowledge put together this “Lenticular Encryption” project to show how illicit info can be snuck into everyone’s favorite image format. Staring at these with eyes alone won’t reveal…

Tech News Jordan Kushins

Ask a volcanologist anything you want to know about volcanoes!

Volcanoes! Whether we’re talking about Pompeii, why some volcanoes in Indonesia are erupting with blue lava, or the mechanics of supervolcanoes, they’re totally fascinating. Today, we have a volcanologist in to answer your questions about volcanoes, eruptions, and their aftereffects. https://gizmodo.com/actually-it-was-not-a-surprise-when-the-pompeii-volcan-1528203959 https://gizmodo.com/why-is-this-volcanic-eruption-blue-1516644906 https://gizmodo.com/a-major-step-to-predicting-when-supervolcanoes-will-exp-1495554422 Charlie Mandeville is a volcanologist at USGS. His research has ranged from…

io9 Ria Misra

Samsung’s Gear Fit Is a Tiny Smartwatch and a Hot Fitness Tracker in One

Samsung Galaxy S5: New Design and a Fingerprint Scanner

What will life be like when digital brains outnumber humans?

RIP Harold Ramis, The Man Who Gave us Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day

The Privacy-Pimping Blackphone Is Here to Lock Up Your Data

Every iPad Air on Sale, Roku 3 for $70, Titanfall Bundle [Deals]

A short animation about the world’s first intentional LSD trip

Hydrogen explosion vs. oxygen explosion — which one wins for biggest?

I can’t believe this awesome wire bending machine is real

Listen to Godzilla’s brand-new roar

The dystopia of 1984 is no longer relevant

12 Aliens Who Came to Earth to Save Humanity

From the Playboy Mansion to YOLO Estate: The Lure of Backyard Grottos

Get lost in these fascinating spacecraft cutaway illustrations

Watch the Metrodome Implode and Crumble to the Ground

We Can Now Pave Roads With Used Cooking Oil

Surveillance through Architecture: Cuba’s Abandoned Panopticon Prison

A Simple Trick to Keep Your GoPro Footage Steady

These GIFs Hide Secret Codes Revealed By A Lenticular Sheet

Ask a volcanologist anything you want to know about volcanoes!

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INIU Portable Power Bank Is Small in Size and Smaller in Price for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale (45W, 10,000mAh)

Humans Were Already Dog People 16,000 Years Ago, DNA Suggests

California Regulator Says Tesla’s ‘Robotaxis’ Are More Like a Limo in the Eyes of the Law

Dyson Airwrap Falls to an All-Time Low in Amazon’s Spring Sale, Lowering the Barrier for This Premium Multi-Styler

The ‘Tales from ’85’ Trailer Wants You Back in ‘Stranger Things’ Already

Forget Ray-Ban Meta, XREAL 1S AR/XR Virtual Screen Smart Glasses Drop to Record Low on Amazon

Pixel Buds Pro 2 Hit Record Low as Google Continues Its Clearance-Like Price Cuts Following Smartphone Deals

DJI Now Has a Cheaper 360 Drone Than Insta360, but the U.S. Won’t Get It

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Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Let us help find what you are looking for...

Latest

Samsung’s Gear Fit Is a Tiny Smartwatch and a Hot Fitness Tracker in One

Samsung Galaxy S5: New Design and a Fingerprint Scanner

What will life be like when digital brains outnumber humans?

RIP Harold Ramis, The Man Who Gave us Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day

The Privacy-Pimping Blackphone Is Here to Lock Up Your Data

Every iPad Air on Sale, Roku 3 for $70, Titanfall Bundle [Deals]

A short animation about the world’s first intentional LSD trip

Hydrogen explosion vs. oxygen explosion — which one wins for biggest?

I can’t believe this awesome wire bending machine is real

Listen to Godzilla’s brand-new roar

The dystopia of 1984 is no longer relevant

​12 Aliens Who Came to Earth to Save Humanity

From the Playboy Mansion to YOLO Estate: The Lure of Backyard Grottos

Get lost in these fascinating spacecraft cutaway illustrations

Watch the Metrodome Implode and Crumble to the Ground

We Can Now Pave Roads With Used Cooking Oil

Surveillance through Architecture: Cuba’s Abandoned Panopticon Prison

A Simple Trick to Keep Your GoPro Footage Steady

These GIFs Hide Secret Codes Revealed By A Lenticular Sheet

Ask a volcanologist anything you want to know about volcanoes!

INIU Portable Power Bank Is Small in Size and Smaller in Price for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale (45W, 10,000mAh)

Humans Were Already Dog People 16,000 Years Ago, DNA Suggests

California Regulator Says Tesla’s ‘Robotaxis’ Are More Like a Limo in the Eyes of the Law

Dyson Airwrap Falls to an All-Time Low in Amazon’s Spring Sale, Lowering the Barrier for This Premium Multi-Styler

The ‘Tales from ’85’ Trailer Wants You Back in ‘Stranger Things’ Already

Forget Ray-Ban Meta, XREAL 1S AR/XR Virtual Screen Smart Glasses Drop to Record Low on Amazon

Pixel Buds Pro 2 Hit Record Low as Google Continues Its Clearance-Like Price Cuts Following Smartphone Deals

DJI Now Has a Cheaper 360 Drone Than Insta360, but the U.S. Won’t Get It

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Let us help find what you are looking for...

12 Aliens Who Came to Earth to Save Humanity