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These Womb-Like Cathedrals of Color Are Made From Giant Balloons

Would you believe this room was created with nothing more than plastic sheeting, natural light, and an air compressor? It’s called a luminarium, and its inventors, Architects of AIR, have just released a book that chronicles two decades of their creations. A luminarium is a human-scaled pneumatic sculpture which uses inflated sheets of PVC to…

The Oscar selfie Hollywood doesn’t want you to see

Remember the massive group selfie Ellen took while hosting the Academy Awards? Well, we have the REAL version of that image, and it is fantastic. Now if you’ll excuse us, it’s time to go watch They Live again. [Via Geeks of Doom]

This Black Widow toy may have stolen Scarlett Johansson’s soul

If you know toys at all, you know that Hong Kong-based Hot Toys makes 12-inch action figures that are uncannily realistic. But this new figure of Black Widow from Captain America: The Winter Soldier is… something else. Something beyond. None of these are photos of the actress; they are all of the toy (which will…

The Science of How Spice Affects Your Body

Eat some chili, and your mouth feels like it’s on fire—because,as far as your body is concerned, that’s what your brain actually thinks is happening. This video explains the weird, wonderful and oddly addictive effect that capsaicin has on the human body. Remember: water won’t help one little bit. [TED Ed]

New map reveals the Milky Way’s location among the “Council of Giants”

Astronomers know that the Milky Way is parked within the Local Group of galaxies, an interstellar expanse extending 3 million light years across. But we know very little about the area just outside of this. A new map corrects this oversight, showing that we live among the “Council of Giants.” Top image: This is what…

This Beautiful Blur of Color Is a Space Rainbow Over Venus

This isn’t some sort of alien test card beamed from Venus, but a rainbow-like optical phenomenon known as a glory in the atmosphere of our nearest planetary neighbour. In fact, it’s the first time a glory has ever been imaged on another planet, and it was snapped by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express. ESA…

What artifacts of today would you put into a future museum?

Today’s junk could be tomorrow’s artifact. We want to know what things from today you would choose to be preserved in a museum in the future. Post your selection in the comments (with a picture, please) for what things you would put into a future museum, and don’t forget to tell us just why it…

Visualizing How Sorting Algorithms Work Is as Good as Any Art

We don’t need to tell you that data can be beautiful—but the process of putting it in order can look pretty darn good, too. A new site called SORTING aims to make people aware of just how elegant some of computer science’s most fundamental algorithms can be. The site provides visualizations of all kinds of…

Intelligence hands out horrible plot clichés to all its characters

Last night on Intelligence, EVERYONE GETS A CLICHÉ. Riley’s is unreal. And I may never forgive them for either what they did to Lillian or the truly awful villain of the week. Spoilers ahead. . . The Mission Oh my god, the mission this week was awful. There’s a hacker who got into the Witness…

Noah has a super-awkward family meeting in this new clip

Regardless of how accurate Darren Aronofsky’s Noah movie is to the Old Testament, he’s gotten the basics right — ark, two of every animal, flood, etc. In this new clip, Noah explains to his kids why they’re about to spend 40 days on a floating zoo. They react better than I would have. Although Noah’s…

Why Toothpaste Makes Things Taste So Awful

You may think it might be the common mint flavor of toothpaste clashing with other flavors, but in the case of orange juice and many other things, this isn’t actually what’s going on. The culprit here is thought to be two compounds almost universally added to toothpastes -sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium lauryl ether sulfate,…

How will Amazing Spider-Man 2 keep from overloading on villains?

Chris Hemsworth confirms Avengers 2’s filming schedule and sings the script’s praises. Lauren Cohen previews the rest of Walking Dead’s season. Check out a set video from The Flash, and learn more about Alfonso Cuaron’s Believe. Spoilers now! The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Marc Webb is not worried that this film is suffering from too many…

Instagram’s Lux control—that little sun icon that tweaks brightness and contrast—is no longer a binary option. In the iOS app, it now has a slider, so you can vary the amount of the effect you apply.

This Is What Happens When Your Non-Coding Boss Asks You to Code

Whether you’re a PhD student, dev, data analyst or any other code-crunching machine, chances are you’ve written script for people that don’t understand what that entails. This cartoon is for you. Sometimes, people don’t quite understand that writing the code is the easy part; it’s figuring out what to write that takes up the time.…

A Little Intel Cable That Moves Data at a Staggering 800Gbps

This cute little green cable may look innocuous, but it can carry data along its core at a breathtaking 800Gbps. Based on Intel’s Silicon Photonics technology, the cables uses 64 fibers—32 for transmitting and 32 for receiving—each capable of moving data at 25Gbps. Multiply that up, and it can shift 800Gbps in each direction, an…

The first-gen Kindle Paperwhite is finally getting the second-gen software features it’s been waiting for—including Goodreads, kid-friendly FreeTime, improved cloud organization, and a handful of other little benefits.

The Lonely Astronaut Photoshoot

If I had a space suit, I’d wear it everywhere. Commuting on the bus, out to bars, hiking in the mountains, lecturing my students. I don’t even care that it’s heavy and difficult to move around in; I’ve been uncomfortable for fashion before. Photographer Ken Hermann is on the same wavelength, with the added insight…

Here are some more impressions of foreign languages that sound so real

She’s good. After nailing her first edition of doing impressions on foreign languages, Smoukahontas is back for the sequel and it’s just as impressive. It’s so fun to see her make up very believable words and get animated depending on which foreign language she’s doing. Her impressions are pretty much spot on to non-foreign language…

The Most Awesome ’70s Exploitation Flick Never Made

Betrayed by his brotherhood, imprisoned by his church, and left for dead by his faith, one pissed-off padre will have his revenge, come hell or high water. Packed with sexy assault nuns and cutting-edge special effects (from the Ford Administration at least), No Redemption with…Don Mitraglia (1975) delivers non-stop kung-fu action with holiness. And machine…

“The images most of us conjure up when we hear the words ‘virtual reality’ were drawn against the backdrop of science fiction from the 1980s and ’90s. By calling Oculus Rift a ‘virtual reality headset,’ Oculus VR has implicitly linked its product back to the Holodeck, The Lawnmower Man, and William Gibson’s descriptions of near-bodily…