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Love after Death: The Beautiful, Macabre World of Mourning Jewelry

For hundreds of years, people wore mourning jewelry to commemorate their dead loved ones. But what secrets about the past can you learn from these dark baubles made of diamonds, skeletons and bits of loved ones’ hair. We stumbled upon Erica Weiner’s wondrous collection of mourning jewelry while window browsing through New York, and the…

How Vanderbilt’s Secret Software Lab Is Saving America

On a quiet street just off of Nashville’s historic Music Row, a dedicated team of more than 100 researchers are developing software systems that may very well revolutionize the modern world. From cutting edge cyber-security tech designed to defend America’s most critical networks to computer-learning algorithms that could all but eliminate airline crashes, Vanderbilt’s Institute…

A map that shows the most popular movie set in each U.S. state

What’s the most popular movie set in your home state? This map has the answer. Created by reddit user Jakubisko, the map uses ratings culled from IMDb to pick the most popular movie set in each state. It’s an interesting look at where the movies we love make their fictional homes — and also highlights…

Large cockroach burrows into man’s ear — in Australia, of course

Hendrik Helmer awoke a few nights ago to find that his ear canal had been invaded by a rather large insect. The Australian man first tried to suck it out with a vacuum cleaner, then to flush it out with water. But nothing worked. Art by Pahko Moreno He was finally in so much pain…

Tour the CES Show Floor in 90 Frenetic Seconds

Until you’ve been to CES, it’s hard to appreciate how immense the exhibition space is. To convey the experience, we fired up a GoPro as we toured the show floor. Here is a a minute and a half of the chaos. CES is comprised of three separate halls laid out in a row. They are…

The Supreme Court announcedit will hear ABC V. Aereo, which holds important implications for copyright in the world of streaming video. The network sued the cloud DVR service for copyright infringement, arguing that it’s retransmitting broadcast signals without permission. Aereo says that because it’s using thousands of antennas, the service is legit. Aereo won the…

700-year-old animals, found in lake sediment, are revived in Oklahoma

Aquatic species like shrimp can survive for decades in a state of suspended animation, only to revive under the right conditions. Now scientists have discovered, to their amazement, that tiny hatchlings have been born from 700-year-0ld water flea eggs in a Minnesota lake. Photo of water flea courtesy of Paul D.N. Hebert/UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH These…

President Obama Will Announce NSA Reforms on January 17

It’s really happening, folks. On January 17, President Obama will remark on “the outcomes of the work that has been done in the review process” for reforming the country’s intelligence practices, Press Secretary Jay Carney said Friday. It’ll be interesting to see exactly how the president will come down on the NSA, in particular, since…

All the Essential Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Coming in 2014

There’s a ton of ambition on display in this year’s science fiction and fantasy books. Bestselling authors are stretching out of their comfort zones, and our favorite authors are pushing the boundaries. Plus David Cronenberg has written a book about sex and weird diseases. Here’s the ultimate guide to this year’s can’t-miss books. Want even…

This video was shot from a camera attached to a cheerleader’s hula hoop

Ever wondered how it would feel if they magically turned you into a hula hoop and some Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders played with your new hula hooped body during a swimsuit calendar shoot? Wonder no more. Jump to the 46 seconds mark for the money shot. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us…

There’s a “Deep Cold Storage” Vault for Bitcoin

Some enterprising minds and one of the world’s biggest insurance markets is opening a pretty futuristic bank vault in London. But it’s not futuristic for having fancy locks or laser trip wires. It’s futuristic because of what’s inside: Bitcoin. The idea of a bitcoin bank vault seems a little silly at first. Bitcoin is a…

This alphabet models each letter on a particular architect’s designs

If you know your ABCs but are a bit shakier on your knowledge of modern architecture, Federico Babina’s Archibet City could help you learn you architects. Babina pays tribute to 26 architects by rendering his letters of the alphabet in the style of their famous designs. Babina sells posters of his letters—as well as the…

Only 25 seconds of new Game of Thrones footage! Still awesome.

In anticipation of the new trailer coming out this Sunday night, HBO has released five new Vine videos from the upcoming fourth season of Game of Thrones. Obviously, they’re short — six seconds each, with one second to tell you when the real trailer is coming — but 25 seconds of footage has never felt…

NASA has released a new high-energy X-ray image that bears an uncanny resemblance to a human hand. Nicknamed the “Hand of God,” it’s a pulsar wind nebula powered by the leftover, dense core of a star that blew up in a supernova explosion.

Cannibal Buildings! Why MoMA Is Eating Its Next Door Neighbor

This week, MoMA confirmed its plans to raze a neighboring museum, creating a continuous connection to the luxury supertall going up next door. The smaller museum is called the American Folk Art Museum, and it’s only been around since 2001—it’s not even a tween. When MoMA announced it would take over the Folk Museum’s considerable…

LIKE ♥ HORSES (just put on your headphones and watch, ok?)

Sploid reader Julien Guntz sent me this, a short video called Love Horses. At first I was like, “hhhmmm, what?” but I put on my headphones, cranked up the volume, and watched it. Halfway through it I was mesmerized by the sounds of these everyday scenes of horses. I love it. Now I just want…

A Pilgrimage to the Buried Electrical Network Outside Los Angeles

On our way back from CES, Gizmodo took a detour into the desert to explore a particularly bizarre aspect of the region’s electrical infrastructure, the so-called Coyote Dry Lake Return Electrode. The electrode seems to exist more in the realm of the not-entirely-confirmed. According to the Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI), the electrode “is…

Watch a tigerfish snatch a bird in mid-flight for the first time

So you’re a swallow just flying along and *BAM* a fish jumps out and snatches you from the air. Scientists have been hearing rumors about this bird-eating-tigerfish for years but never put much stock in the rumors. At a lake in South Africa’s Mapungubwe National Park, however, they saw this happen twenty times. “[T]he first…

Everything is better in slow motion, especially Wes Anderson’s films

Set to The Shins’ New Slang, this super cut of slow motion sequences masterfully directed by Wes Anderson is delicious. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us in Facebook.

How 3D Printing Supercharged Nike’s New Super Bowl Cleat

Almost a full year ago, Nike introduced its first shoe ever built with the help of 3D printing technology. The thing was, that cleat, the Vapor Laser Talon (seen below), was built for an absurdly specific purpose and market—just the 40 yard dash, just for NFL players. Now, though, Nike is bringing what it’s learned…