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Make Stars Fall With These Five-Pointed Dominoes

Vegas is going wild this week in an all-out consumer electronics bacchanal, but sometimes it’s nice to tool around with an old-timey, offline distraction. Like these Japanese dominoes, which are are about as no-tech as toys come. The set contains 100 beech wood pieces in eight different colors, all wrapped up in a pretty gold…

Internet Commenter Syndrome: This Woman Can Write But Can’t Read

One fateful Thursday morning, a kindergarten teacher and reading specialist—known only as M.P. for the sake of anonymity—found that the same attendance sheet she’d been using for years suddenly appeared to be covered in hieroglyphs. Not only that, she quickly realized that everything she logically knew to be covered in writing was entirely incomprehensible to…

This is truly the future of gaming and the key to alternate realities

One day, in three or four decades, we will have holodecks like those in Star Trek. But, until then, it looks like the Oculus Rift will be the place in which we will be able to realize all our fantasies, from space sims to alternate lives.

Hands On Bang & Olufsen’s BeoSound Essence: A Light-Switch For Music

We can all be a little OCD about our music sometimes. We want to listen to just the right thing, and we’re happy to go search through our phones or computers to find it, then connect it to our stereo, and play it. Other times, we simply want to put some music on. Something we…

1981: A small, battery-powered self-protection device developed by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is worn on the wrist and can be easily activated to drive off an attacker with an electric shock. [Getty Images]

This Interactive Chandelier Shines With Data From All Over the World

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) recently opened the doors of a brand new HQ in Washington DC. But it might be tough for visitors to tear themselves away from the foyer, which is home to the Global Data Chandelier—a pixelated fixture composed of 425 LED pendants arranged in the shape of a…

Scientists May Have Finally Found a Practical Test for String Theory

String theory a beautiful, elegant piece of science which claims to unify all the forces in the Universe by representing tiny point-like particles as one-dimensional vibrating strings. It’s as clever as it is wacky but is—conveniently—untestable. Until, perhaps, now. The problem is that string theory, sometimes referred to as the “theory of everything,” uses such…

Eileen Gunn’s strange thought experiments will unravel your mind

Plenty of science fiction and fantasy authors do “thought experiments” — but few of them disregard experimental safety protocols with quite as much gleeful abandon as Eileen Gunn. And now, at long last, Gunn is publishing a second book of demented tales. Gunn’s new book Questionable Practices comes out in March from Small Beer Press,…

Toshiba Crammed 5 Computers in Its Shape-Shifting Concept 5-in-1 PC

It’s a concept but it’s a super fun one. Toshiba’s shape-shifting concept 5-in-1 PC somehow manages to be a laptop, a tablet, a convertible tablet, a canvas, and a presentation TV-type device. A few of those five might be redundant (and/or useless), but it’s pretty freaking sweet to see one computer try to be everything…

Astronomers: Super-Earths have oceans and continents, just like Earth

A pair of Chicago-based astronomers have some good news for you alien-hunters out there. Despite previous assumptions, geophysics tell us that large Earth-like exoplanets (a.k.a. super-Earths) likely have both oceans and exposed continents. That means more Earth-like climates, too. Northwestern’s Nicolas B. Cowan and University of Chicago’s Dorian Abbot just presented a new theoretical model…

How Pacific Rim Made Us Think Giant Robots Were Fighting Sea Monsters

Last year’s box office hit Pacific Rim pitted humanity’s last hope—gargantuan co-piloted mechas, known as Jägers—against a seemingly unstoppable race of city-sized sea monsters bent on destroying our world in two hours of special-effects laden mayhem. Here’s how ILM managed to make these monsters—both good and bad—so terrifyingly realistic.

This Is Panasonic’s Future 4K Video Micro Four Thirds Camera

Panasonic is showing off a prototype of a 4K micro four thirds format interchangeable lens camera. It looks just like Panasonic’s video-chomping GH3. We don’t know much about the forthcoming protoype, but we’re told that it’s more than wankery and that we’ll see a product in the near future. Panasonic is showing a prototype of…

The city at level 10 was nothing like level 2

Rising up through the glowing levels of the city, you could see the grime slowly peeling away. As the windows became cleaner, it was easier to see how much more expensive the furniture and machines were in the upper level apartments too. Cat-meff is an artist in Germany. You can see more of her amazing…

I Wore the New Oculus Rift and I Never Want to Look at Real Life Again

So the Oculus Rift is fantastic. If you’ve used it in its original incarnation, you know that it’s incredible. It’s virtual reality done better than you’ve ever seen it before. It’s revolutionary. And it’s nothing compared to what’s coming next. I mean Oh. My. God. Dubbed Crystal Cove, the newest model of Oculus isn’t meant…

Yahoo’s News Digest Offers Bite-Sized News for Short Attention Spans

Yahoo has finally revealed what a certain newly purchased, industrious young entrepreneur has been working. Say hello to News Digest, a Summly-inspired app that offers bite-sized bits of news stories “blended” from a variety of sources. The individual stories, called “atoms,” are pulled together from a variety of news sites and even provide background info…

Jumping on a frozen trampoline looks like a lot of fun

Digg found this video of a guy jumping on a frozen trampoline. Here’s the money shot in slow motion, but check out the full video to hear the noise: It’s a nice change from all the people recording themselves throwing pots of boiling water in the air. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff.…

Will Sansa Stark end up a villain or a victim?

Today, we read some hints for George R.R. Martin’s The Winds of Winterand this sparked a flurry of speculation about Sansa Stark and her ultimate fate. Here are a few theories as to Sansa’s future position in the Game of Thrones. A Song of Ice and Fire spoilers below. GoLikeHellMachine wonders if Martin is setting…

David Pogue Won’t Stop Yelling at This Yahoo Keynote

Here we are at the Yahoo CES keynote—hosted by Marissa Mayer—and David Pogue has taken the stage to show off Yahoo’s new tech vertical. Mostly he is VERY ENTHUSIASTIC and YELLING a WHOLE LOT. He’s making bad jokes at Gizmodo’s expense (he called us Gizmoody), even though we helped him find his iPhone that one…

Panasonic 4K Life+Screen Television Eyes-On: Life After Plasma

Yesterday, Panasonic told us that its new 4K LED Life+Screen TVs has picture quality that’s just as good as its recently murdered plasma line. I spent some time with the 85-incher. Plasma was wonderful, but everything’s gonna be OK. There can still be beauty. A/V nerds breathed a sigh of achy nostalgia when Panasonic told…

China Finally Suspends Its Ban on Foreign Game Consoles

After 14 years of prohibition, the Chinese government has lifted a ban on the sale of foreign consoles inside the country’s border. This opens the door for Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony to tap in the multi-billion market—though the companies have already admitted it won’t be easy. It’s so far unclear exactly how far the suspension…