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Some Good Things Drones Can (Actually) Do

While everyone is freaking out about Amazon’s plan to unleash an army of delivery drones on the world, it’s important to remember that these flying robots can do much more than just move packages. As the technology has improved and dramatically dropped in price, people have been coming up with all kinds of crazy and…

25 Sao Paulo firefighters were hurt over the weekend as they battled an electrical blaze at the Latin American Memorial, designed by celebrated Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who died last year at 104. The original plans for the building may have been destroyed in the fire. [Images: Andre Penner/AP]

The ever-popular photography app VSCO Cam has finally made its way to Android. Now those lush filmic styles and design-y gallery grids are available on devices running Android 4.0 and later.

Why Science Fiction Readers Shouldn’t Just Cling to the Golden Age

Author Gareth Powell recently attended a book group where nobody had read any authors who came along in the past 50 years. Ina bracing essay for SF Signal, he talks about the peril of focusing only on “golden age” science fiction, and neglecting how the genre has changed. Powell writes: Some fans will always cling…

How does your country rank in reading, math and science?

The results for PISA 2012 are in. PISA is an international survey done every three years to assess the competencies of 15-year-olds from 65 countries in key subject areas. Here’s what they found. The survey, called the Programme for International Assessment (PISA), is organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Some 510,000…

Tactical Stockings Ensure Maximum Stuffage

Ensuring a healthy bounty of presents on Christmas morning isn’t all about just being good. As any kid will tell you, there are countless strategies you can use to maximize your pile of presents—including this tactical stocking. A new addition to your festive arsenal, it’s packed with pockets, straps, clips, and an extra strong handle…

Anonymous Donor gives $200K to Oregon’s School of Comics & Cartoons

An Anonymous benefactor has donated $200,000 (over 4 years) to sustain The University of Oregon’s Comics & Cartoon Studies program. Wonderful news for the University of Oregon,- via Steve Duin.

This 3D-Printed Robot Heart Runs on Nothing But Pee

Robots may not have souls, but pretty soon they might have real, 3D-printed, fluid-pumping hearts. Except those hearts won’t be pumping blood; they’ll be pumping pee. Last month, researchers at the University of the West of England made big strides in the worlds of 3D-printing, robotics, and pee with a fully functioning artificial heart actuator…

The easiest way to understand how gravity and space-time warping works

This has been around for some time, but this simple and entertaining space-time warping demonstration by Dan Burns is a must watch, even if you’re already familiar with these concepts. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us in Facebook.

Charting the Popularity of Tech Through Hip-Hop Lyrics

Rap music is usually a pretty good marker of what’s trendy—or what’s going to be trendy in a few months. Maybe people were bragging about Sidekicks in the early aughts, but when did that drop off? RapGenius’s new RapStats feature shows you. For the uninitiated, RapGenius is a massive database of lyrics from hip hop…

The Future of News in the Dark Ages of 2003

Pull up a chair and let me tell you about a primitive era in media history: the world of 2003. People who were unfortunate enough to live—if you can call it living—through this backwards time had no YouTube, no iPhone, no tweets, and very few blogs to choose from. In fact, “blog” or “Web log”…

NASA discovers two black holes fighting each other in a “death spiral”

In an “incredible rare sighting” by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, NASA astronomers may have discovered two black holes entangled in a “death spiral.” According to Peter Eisenhardt at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena: At first we thought this galaxy’s unusual properties seen by WISE might mean it was forming new stars at a…

These Buildings Could Be The Food And Drink Of Giants

These might not be the most extreme buildings ever, but they could certainly make giants hungry and thirsty. These are some of the most bizarre food- and drink-shaped structures you’ll ever see. The 53 ft (16.1 m) tall Pineapple pavilion in Dunmore, Scotland, built in 1761 by John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore as a…

Why You Can’t Build a Smartphone

Every day or so I read another blog post (or ranting comments) about how BlackBerry could be rehabilitated, or how Nokia could restart Maemo and build the ultimate smartphone again. Things came to a head after Jolla announced their first phone for sale. Surely this phone with an amazing user interface will vindicate the N9?!…

British Think Tank Revives 40-year-old Plan to Build Space Colonies

The esteemed British Interplanetary Society is resurrecting an ambitious idea for creating giant orbiting homes in space. But to make it economically and technically feasible, it will have to rely on a plan devised by Gerard O’Neill back in the 1970s. The BIS, as some of you may know, came up with a plan back…

CanOpener Improves iPhone Sound Quality for $4 Using Actual Science

Well, we might have just found the grandaddy of all audiophile music apps, perfect for the most important music snob in your life: you. Of course, if you care about sound quality, you already have nice headphones. Canopener for iOS ($4), is about what happens right before the sound leaves your iPhone, but before it…

Four Thanksgiving Dishes, From You

Every family has their own quirky, delicious, and closely guarded recipes they make for each Thanksgiving. For this week’s Shooting Challenge, you documented (and shared) those delectable dishes…even though at least one was just off the back of the box…and one of you still won’t tell. WINNER: Friendsgiving Ingredients: 4 cups fresh cherries 1 cup…

Find Inner Peace In Your Own Private Meditation Cavern

Yoga studios are nice, but what about the pretentious people and their greasy mats—not to mention all the see-through pants and all the farts? What you really need is your own private meditation cavern in the New Mexico desert. In fact, maybe you need two! Well, lucky you. Conveniently located between Santa Fe and Taos,…

Who’s your favorite hero defined by his/her greatest setback?

Lots of heroes are known for their greatest triumphs. That time they saved the universe, or their amazing victory against overwhelming odds. But who’s your favorite hero who’s indelibly defined by his or her most punishing defeat? Please share a picture or clip of this valiant loser. And let us know the book, comic, TV…

These Growlers Are a Beautiful Sight Even Before You Put Beer in Them

Growlers are a great, reusable way to cart economy-size quantities of specialty beer to your fridge. Turns out the making of that blessed clay vessel involves the same kind of hand-crafted artistry that goes into your favorite microbrew, as demonstrated by Portland Growler Company. Beautifully filmed by Cineastas, the process is fascinating to watch. Lined…