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Create an Ancient Soundscape, Free a “Creative Commoner”

Disquiet Junto Project 0108: Free Bassel Each Thursday at the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.com a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have just over four days to upload a track in response to the assignment. Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. Tracks by participants will…

A frozen Niagara Falls light show looks like a magical wonderland

Niagara Falls is always powerfully beautiful. A frozen Niagara Falls is even more impressive, like pressing pause on nature to hear the silence. A frozen Niagara Falls filled with colors from a light show? Just look. Photographer Michael Muraz showed us these amazing images of Niagara Falls and the frozen colors make it look like…

This image reveals the extreme power of a single black hole

You’re looking at a black hole so massive and powerful that it destroys the stars around it before they can even form. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford/J.Hlavacek-Larrondo et al, Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/M.Postman & CLASH team According to a release from the Chandra Observatory: The black hole is in a galaxy cluster named RX J1532.9+3021 (RX J1532 for…

What if all the spam mail you got was actually hilariously true?

You’re an Internet veteran, you know what’s real and what’s not. Anything with Western Union automatically raises your eyebrow. An e-mail promising more length and/or hot girls gets vaporized without a thought. You’re too seasoned for these tricks. But what if all that email spam was actually true? How different would your life look? Would…

Revolution gives good plague

It is with great relief that I would like to report that last night’s Revolution was actually kind of awesome. With family drama at a minimum, we got a taste of creepy high-tech, post-tech fascist terrorism. With Gramps and Charlie sucked into taking care of the typhus victims, we actually get a “solve that medical…

You can finally buy World War Z’s ultimate zombie-killing weapon

Or as near enough as makes no difference. ThinkGeek is now offering the new “Crovel Extreme II”, a super-utility weapon that bears more than a passing similarity to the Lobo that helped our boys defeat the undead in the original World War Z novel. Obviously, the Lobo didn’t make it into the World War Z…

She’s trapped in a barbaric past, and she just wants to help people

I’ve written a lot about what it takes to create a new adventure hero from scratch — and now you can read a story where I tried to do just that. My story “The Cartography of Sudden Death” just appeared at Tor.com story “The Cartography of Sudden Death” just appeared at Tor.com, and it introduces…

On The Tomorrow People, it’s Cara’s life with the Thrill Kill Kult

For the second week in a row, Stephen didn’t quite feel like the main character of The Tomorrow People — which is a very good thing, since the more we see of the other stars doing their thing, the more fun this show seems to become. And this week, it was all about a gang…

This house has a freaking train you can ride all around the property

What would you like in a house? A roof. Central air is nice. Some insulation probably. Maybe a fireplace if you like that. A yard for the kids with a white picket fence for your dreams. What about a freaking rideable scale train that goes completely around the entire property? Yeah, you know you want…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: Stormy Ride on the Back of a Cyborg Insect

In a future where people can ride upon giant cyborg insects, do they race them like horses? Or are we watching an ordinary commute on an extraordinary vehicle? It’s up to you to create a story inspired by this low-flying bug. This digital painting by Abe Taraky is titled “Race,” and these bugs are certainly…

Did a Victorian-era penny dreadful inspire the creation of Batman?

Batman is one of the most watched and portrayed fictional characters we have. Earlier today, we looked the tangled history of his creation in comics. But is it possible his origins are even older? https://gizmodo.com/heres-how-awful-batman-would-be-without-the-existence-1507373880 Commenter Michael Munro suggests that we should take a look at an old penny-dreadful as an inspiration to Batman: IMHO…

The monstrous Sky Whale could be the future of air travel

This concept plane is called the AWWA Sky Whale and it’s the brainchild of Spanish designer Oscar Viñals. Should it ever leave the ground, the three-floor aircraft would hold 755 passengers and be powered by four large hybrid engines. The concept plane was designed with current and future technologies in mind, including micro-solar panels that…

Watch These GIFs With Music (As They Were Intended)

GIFs are beautiful and pure. But sometimes they need sound. Here’s a neat site that will let you listen to music over your GIFs. All you have to do is press the top play button. Many of the animated loops are recognizable from 90s commercials. Dream Phone? Oh, you better believe I had one of…

Digitally inclined DIY-ers rejoice! MAKE Magazine is now available for iPad. Not only is it cheaper than the print edition ($20 vs. $35), it’s also upped its distribution frequency from quarterly to bi-monthly! (via BoingBoing)

Psycho human dragged his head on the ground on a motorcycle turn

Christ. An awesome lunatic wasn’t happy with just dragging his knee while making a high speed motorcycle turn so he decided to lay his head and drag that on the gravel too. Because, well, there’s nothing cooler (or more out there) than scraping your noggin’ on the street while going well past the reasonable speed…

The Most Beautiful Art Based on William Gibson’s Neuromancer

William Gibson’s Neuromancer has inspired generations of writers, with its visions of artificial intelligence and the rough edges of cyberspace. But it’s also inspired a ton of artists — especially in recent years. Here’s our absolute favorite art inspired by Gibson’s masterpiece. Top image: The Sprawl by IgnisFerroque on Deviant Art. Actually, even just a…

3D-Printed Nails Are Way Crazier Than Your Typical Press-Ons

Man, I really love nail art. You might not share the same kind of enthusiasm for crazy custom manicures, but we can all agree that the Laser Girls’ 3D-printed nails are decidedly cooler than your average press-on acrylics. The Laser Girls is a collaboration by designers Sarah C. Awad and Dhemerae Ford. You can see…

Whoa, this leech survived after being in liquid nitrogen for 24 hours

Scientists have learned that a common parasite of sea turtles is capable of surviving ridiculously cold temperatures — a finding that could lead to the development of advanced cryopreservation techniques. Okay, gotta say, this thing’s really weird. Most organisms cannot survive exposure to temperatures below 0°C, let alone temperatures as low as liquid nitrogen. Once…

This watercolor comic brings Middle Earth’s creation story to life

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion opens with the Ainulindalë, the story of how the universe of Middle Earth came into existence. Artist Evan Palmer has painted his own adaptation of tale, imagining the radiant forms of Tolkien’s universe taking shape. Palmer has given himself an unusual challenge for this endeavor, depicting more abstract concepts until his…

A Guitar Amp That’s Going to Piss Analog Purists Off

Line 6, the well-regarded guitar gear manufacturer that just sold to Yamaha, has a new guitar amp that’s going to give tube traditionalists—like me!—a migraine. Bluetooth?! iOS app? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. OK, but let’s not be luddites for the hell of it. What’s Line 6’s new Amplifi got to offer? Line 6 isn’t exactly new to making…