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There’s a “polar vortex” sweeping across America, and it is NASTY

A spiraling pool of cold, dense, arctic air called a “polar vortex” began its frigid sweep of the U.S. today. “It’s just a dangerous cold,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Butch Dye this morning. The arctic chill is expected to burden some regions of the country with the coldest weather they’ve seen in close to…

Griffin’s PowerMate Knob Controller Finally Goes Wireless

When Griffin Technology revealed the original PowerMate—a hefty polished aluminum programmable knob—way back in 2001, most users were left scratching their head as to what they’d use it for. But years of software updates have resulted in a surprising useful and sleek desktop accessory that’s great for everything from controlling volume, to scrolling massive documents.…

If you’ve got fandom feels, this tumbr has a gif for it

The tagline for the tumblr Fandom: Like Fine Wine is “Best left alone in the dark for a few years,” which seems very apt. If you’ve ever tried in vain to explain something to your non-fannish friend/co-worker/parent/significant other and wished you had a visual aid, this is for you! Everything is covered. Including the aforementioned…

“Penis captivus” is a real condition, and it sounds awful

Can a penis really get stuck in a vagina? According to BBC Health Check, the answer is, unfortunately, yes. Like penile fracture, “penis captivus” (as the condition is known) is one of those things you desperately wish was a myth, but is surprisingly, frighteningly, disconcertingly real. Dr. John Dean, Clinical Director of Gender and Sexual…

Artist gives us the fairy tale ending we didn’t know we really wanted

Jim Benton used two things to make this two-panel comic work: a twist on the “expected” outcome of this situation and the fact that “It’s me you want” has two meanings. It’s simple and pitch perfect. See more of Benton’s work at his website. via Tastefully Offensive

Fine Populist Minimal Techno from the Netherlands

Dance music often arrives by accrual. Layers of rifflets, mostly derived from drum patterns as well as small tonal and melodic elements, join in as a track progresses. This is how “Spooky Version 1″ by RobinGrownTear makes its way. House-music hi-hats, dubby synth approximations of bass drums, and Tangerine Dreamy arpeggios gather together, like a…

Gyaaaah! This DC-3 Is Flying WAY Too Low

You know you’ve been watching too much Top Gun when you find yourself skimming a few feet above the ground and mere inches above your cameraman in an antiquated airplane from the 1940’s. Who exactly decided this was a good idea? Details on this low-flying stunt are pretty slim save for the assurance by the…

If You Used Yahoo This Week, You Might Have Malware (Updated)

Security researchers at Fox IT say they’ve detected a malicious exploit kit among Yahoo’s ad network active since December 30th. The malware seems to have hit Romania, Great Britain, and France the hardest, but wherever you are, if you’ve browsed a Yahoo site this week, you may want to run a scan or two. Fox…

Scientists Find a Marijuana-Blocking Compound Made by Your Brain

Marijuana may make you feel nice, but according to new research, your brain may not want to go along for the ride: turns out, when your brain senses THC, it produces a hormone that counteracts the drug’s effect. Buzzkill. The hormone, pregnenolone, is the precursor of all the naturally-occurring steroids your body produces. While it…

At Least We’re Not Alone: NSA Spies on Members of Congress, Too

The NSA responded today to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ letter asking if the agency spies on members of the U.S. Congress and other elected officials. Its response says the NSA treats Congress the same as regular citizens. Which seems like a roundabout way of saying “yes.” Here’s the exact wording of the statement, courtesy The…

The Newest Google Glass App Is a Hyundai Sedan

Hyundai just announced the newest thing for Google Glass owners: the 2015 Genesis sedan. It’s got 333 horsepower, seats five, and thanks to Blue Link cloud connectivity, you’ll be able to lock, unlock or start the car from your face computer. It seems like Hyundai may be the first automaker to bring Glass connectivity to…

MythBusters Tests Your Favorite Star Wars Stunts Tonight at 8PM ET

Crawling inside a dead tauntaun to keep warm. Smashing an AT-ST with logs. Swinging to safety while clutching a princess. The Star Wars series included tons of great scenes that made the realists of the world wonder, “can that really work?” Fortunately, the Mythbusters team is here to put them to the test, tonight at…

Aurorae ignite the skies over Fairbanks, AK

This remarkable sequence of images was photographed last month by photographer LeRoy Zimmerman. The images were captured last month over the (surprisingly long) course of thirty minutes, and depict roughly 500 kilometers of aurora unfurling across a 150-degree vertical stretch of subarctic firmament. Sez Zimmerman: “I have never seen an active aurora stay in one…

Behold the absolute mind-bogglery of a knuckleball in flight

MLB pitcher R.A. Dickey* slings an erratic knuckleball pitch, posing a challenge for batter and catcher alike. The ball has been colorized to highlight its almost total lack of spin, which usually serves to stabilize the ball’s trajectory. A baseball’s seams make it an imperfect sphere, which can lead to some screwy flight behavior when…

Does Technology Help You Weather a Monster Storm?

Have you heard? A huge winter storm plopped its ass on the East Coast this week, and another is trudging through the south and midwest. Snow and frigid temps have people semi-voluntarily holed up inside. Is that you? Are you using electrons and glowing screens to fend off the cold? Does that work? A lot…

Baby, it’s positively frigid outside. Whether you’re snowed in by a humongous storm or just being lazy out of solidarity, we’ve got the week’s best tech reads to occupy your time and ward off cabin fever. Kira Peikoff tested three consumer-market DNA tests using her own genes, with striking—and varying—results. [The New York Times] Mat…

Teen Assassin Hailee Steinfeld’s Toughest Mission: High School

This is shaping up to be the year of the lethal teenage girl, what with Vampire Academy and the third Hunger Games movie. And now add to that list Barely Lethal, a comedy in which True Grit’s Hailee Steinfeld is an assassin trying to be a normal high-school girl. Entertainment Weekly has your first images…

And this is the best way to castrate a hippo

You know what sounds difficult? Castrating an unwilling two-ton animal. You know what sounds more difficult? Castrating an unwilling two-ton animal that can hide its testes inside its body, “where they can shift around and even retract away from a vet’s grasping forceps during surgery.”p The ability to stash and reposition one’s testicles is among…

This six-second Vine will make you scream of pure horror

Kottke found this horrifying six second video by Paglo,a Vine user from Cholula, in Mexico. It looks like a bunch of hairs, some ridiculous abandoned mustache on a plastic container, but wait until he touches it with his finger and try no to recoil and/or scream with what happens next: The caption means: “Super pubic…

Hangovers, Bloomberg’s Bans, Fake Movie Computer Code, and More

Welcome to the first weekend of 2014! If you’re still hungover from ringing in the new year (you animal), we’ve got the science behind hangovers and a bunch of ways to cure them, along with creepy sea creatures, an unsettling Snapchat hack, and how Daft Punk may have stolen a trademark sample. What a year!…