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Climate change is moving the North pole and affecting Earth’s rotation

I thought I knew all the dreadful effects of climate change, but this new discovery has truly surprised me: “Climate change is causing the North Pole’s location to drift, owing to subtle changes in Earth’s rotation that result from the melting of glaciers and ice sheets.” The entire Earth is tilting because this change. One…

Megaphones, Parabolic Concrete, and Waterfalls

We were confronted on the street corner by an evangelical wielding a large, battery-powered megaphone. This being a soundwalk, the appearance on this very cold day of the screaming man in the t-shirt was something akin to an act of serendipity. As he burdened us with the fear of eternal damnation, all I could think…

This Was the TV of the Future in 1933

Television was hardly a reliable broadcast medium in the early 1930s. But that didn’t stop companies from speculating about TV designs of the future. Like this Marconi-brand “radio set of 1960.” New technologies often adopt the terms and design characteristics of the tech that came before them. So this wasn’t simply the television set of…

London May Finish Its Half-Built, Five-Year-Old Skyscraper After All

There’s probably no greater symbol of the global financial collapse than London’s Bishopsgate Tower, aka the Pinnacle. The building has sat unfinished for years, a stump-shaped reminder of 2008’s presumptuous boom and flailing bust. Now, construction is set to resume—but is it a triumph or a warning? According to a report from The Independent, the…

Google Removes New Android Privacy Feature, Says It Was an Accident

Yesterday, we published a blog post lauding an extremely important app privacy feature that was added in Android 4.3. That feature allows users to install apps while preventing the app from collecting sensitive data like the user’s location or address book. https://gizmodo.com/the-awesome-privacy-tools-in-android-4-3-1481775527 After we published the post, several people contacted us to say that the…

Spider-Man battles bad guys and inquisitive aunts in new ASM2 trailer

Fresh on the heels of the expanding Spider-verse, Sony has released a new international trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and it’s caught a great deal of new footage in its web. There’s more focus on character than the first trailer, more humor, more and better looks at the villains, and some Aunt May wackiness.…

This Mortar-Hunting War Truck Just Got a Powerful New Laser Cannon

The Army’s High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD) has been under development for some years now, however until this point, it’s been little more than a proof of concept. But thanks to a new upgrade to its firing system, the HEL MD can now burn most any incoming threat clean out of the sky.…

10 TV Shows that Desperately Need Their Own Drinking Games

The best television shows can transport you to other worlds — but you may need to be sedated for the voyage. In fact, every great TV show needs a drinking game. Here are 10 television shows that deserve their own drinking games, along with some suggestions. Watching TV with your friends is one of life’s…

Why this “Disney Villains: the Next Generation” show is a problem

Disney just announced that it’s making a brand new, live-action TV movie all about the kids of your favorite Disney Villains (titled The Descendants). Sounds great, but then we read the premise, and realized some fucked up shit has been happening in Disney World. The TV movie is supposed to be created in the vein…

This Week in Time Capsules: Nikola Tesla Statue Rises in Silicon Valley

Our weekly round-up of time capsule news includes a group of kids in Ohio who sealed an Xbox into a capsule, the tragic story of a recently unearthed time capsule from 2003 that didn’t fare too well, and a new Tesla monument in Silicon Valley that includes some predictions for the world of 2043. Time…

The Best Coffemaker, Fitbit Force, All the SodaStreams [Deals]

The Bodum Bistro is our favorite electric coffeemaker, both for its futuristic good looks and its unique water distribution solution. We’ve never seen it cheaper than $166, but Bodum is selling it directly today for just $99. If you like coffee, you’d be crazy not to get this. https://theinventory.com/our-favorite-coffee-gear-1457145702 Bodum Bistro Automatic Pour-Over Electric Coffeemaker…

Surreal Exhibition Explores Half-Finished and Incomplete Products

Ever wonder what a French Horn looks like before it gets completely twisted? Or a soda can before it gets a top and a tab? In the Making, an upcoming exhibition at London’s Design Museum curated by British design golden boys Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, will present a range of familiar products in various…

Do You Buy a Real Christmas Tree Or a Fake One?

It’s that special time of year filled with wonder and whimsy when we put trees in our homes and transform our apartments into magical forests decorated with plastic tinsel and colored glass orbs. But your tree. Your tree! Is it real or fake? There are bigger issues in the world. But if you ask me,…

You’ll Make Room For This Stunning Vintage Skeeball Game

If you’re as enamored with this gorgeous vintage skeeball game as we are, finding space for it in your home won’t be a problem. Because you’ll happily ditch your dining room table, your living room sofa, even your bed to make room for this piece. It basically turns your home into your own private Chuck…

Make your own at Woofmaker. Thanks @annfriedman!

This Is Not a Speaker

The Hobbit proves you can like a movie even if it’s not good

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is considerably better than the first movie in the trilogy. It has a more coherent structure, genuinely interesting character development, and fucking awesome dragon action. I liked it a lot — yet I was painfully aware of how bad the movie was. Here’s what you’ll enjoy in The Hobbit,…

Classic Empire Strikes Back doc reveals the march of the AT-ATs

We all know the classic AT-AT attack in The Empire Strikes Back was created using stop-motion, but this old behind-the-scenes footage of the visual effects team actually creating the footage is pretty great. The voiceover is by Dennis Muren, director of effects photography on ESB, explaining how they moved the models, how they assembled the…

Putting an age on Saturn’s ring system

When, exactly, Saturn acquired its iconic ring-system is a longstanding point of debate among planetary scientists. Some maintain the structures formed relatively recently, while others argue they formed long ago. Now, newly collected data suggest the rings likely formed 4.4-billion years ago, lending strong support to the latter camp. https://gizmodo.com/if-earth-had-a-ring-like-saturn-508750253 https://gizmodo.com/this-rare-view-of-saturn-is-among-the-most-awe-inspirin-5969581 Above: Saturn, as photographed…

How the first iPhone copied everything—and the last one did too

The first iPhone was a true breakthrough that shaped the multitouch-dominated world we live in. It took its clues from everyday objects to create a familiar experience that was instantly understood (and copied.) Years later it got stuck in those successful metaphors but, instead of working in another breakthrough, Apple just copied some bits from…