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Let’s write some six-word science fiction!

Sometimes six words is all you need to tell a story. Last time, we fell in love with your six-word science fiction, ranging from the tale of a search engine that has had quite enough (“Answer it yourself,” Google sighed finally.” — denverhed) to the time-traveling device we’re already coveting (“iTime’s on Help! shuffle. stuck…

The Science of Chocolate

OK, so you’ve spent the last week stuffing your face with the stuff, so now how about learning about it, too? In this video, the Science Show explains everything you need to know about chocolate. From where it comes from, though what its active ingredient is, to how it works, he explains it all. Including…

All 52 passengers from the Akademik Shokalskiy have now been rescued. The ship had been trapped in Antarctic ice for nearly 10 days. The passengers were flown to the Aurora Australis in groups by a helicopter from a Chinese ice-breaker; the remaining crew of 22 are expected to stay on board the Shokalskiy until the…

How one man’s willinginess to eat anything got him a career in science

There was a time when being willing to eat anything got people a career at a carnival. And then there was a time when being willing to eat anything got a very special person a career in science. Fortunately, both those times are over. As a teenager Frederick Hoelzel was, concerned about his weight. He…

Is This LG’s webOS TV?

Rumors have circulated for some time now about LG working on an open, webOS-powered smart TV. Now, a leaked image provides a glimpse at what that might actually look like. Evleaks has published this photo of the rumored LG webOS TV, which shows what the the webOS Cards interface might look like on-screen. It’s not…

Could the Governor really be returning to The Walking Dead?

There’s speculation that Dwayne Johnson’s playing a role in Batman Vs. Superman, with one guess being pretty logical and another being pretty out there. And why does an Arrow EP think that more comic book adaptations are good for everyone? Plus, new Captain America photos. Spoilers now! Batman Vs. Superman Since Dwayne Johnson’s tweetabout meeting…

The US Postal Service Is Testing Mobile Point-of-Sale Technology

Door-to-door mail delivery might be on its last legs, but that isn’t stopping the US Postal Service from flogging the horse. Now, it’s testing a mobile point-of-sale system to reduce waiting times in its customer lines. The new technology, reports Postal News, is called Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS), and uses a modified iPod Touch…

Samsung’s Shape M5 Speaker: A Smaller Sonos Clone

Just a couple of months back Samsung launched the M7 streaming speaker, a device which was strikingly similar to a Sonos. Now, it has a smaller version called the M5, which is… also strikingly similar to a Sonos. With just three drivers inside rather than five, the speaker is somewhat more portable, and certainly easier…

A new year, and new sales taxes on Amazon purchases made in Indiana, Nevada and Tennessee. Sorry, folks!

How the Circumference of Earth Was Accurately Estimated 2000 Years Ago

Born around 276 B.C. in Cyrene, Libya, Eratosthenes soon became one of the most famous mathematicians of his time. He is best known for making the first recorded measurement of the Earth’s circumference, which was also remarkably accurate. (And, yes, people at that point had known for some time that the world wasn’t flat, contrary…

New Year Dub

One of the beauties of SoundCloud.com is the casual nature of much of its content. Musicians upload not only finished recordings but works-in-progress, which serve as windows into their creative process, arguably providing a more intimate, fluid, and digitally natural listening experience that do sites whose structure is more clearly modeled on the brick’n’mortar system…

Jedi scientists make things fly around in space using sound waves

Looking at this video, it seems like scientists at the University of Tokyo have mastered the Force and they’re now able to make things levitate and move in space. But magic this is not, young Skywalker—it’s the first time that anyone has achieved such a feat using sound waves. Given enough energy, they can move…

All Together Now: Chris Ware Nails It With This New Yorker Cover

“All Together Now” is Chris Ware’s latest cover for The New Yorker and it offers, yet again, a pretty pitch-perfect perspective on our collective obsession with handheld tech; four years on, and we’re still seeing the world through our screens. You can read more from Ware about the latest cover here. [The New Yorker]

This Animatronic Wall Of Books Moves In Time With Library Visitors

One of the great joys offered by an old library is stepping through the doors and being greeted by an overwhelming sense of stillness. Endless stories exist between the covers resting on the shelves but, until you crack open a title and start to read, it’s blissfully oh so quiet. England’s Bristol Central Library is…

Who Needs Fireworks When You’ve Got a Psychedelic LED Rave Plane?

Sure, light painting is awesome when you’re doing long exposure shots with a PixelStick or something, but that’s only one way to cover your world in glowing graffiti. Take, for instance, this LED-powered rainbow plane. Whipped up by Instructables user roballoba, the rainbow plane (planebow?) is a pretty involved process, but the results are worth…

Strange Historic Photos From Antarctica and Other Kingdoms of Ice

Right now, a science expedition to Antarctica is trapped in ice, waiting to be freed so they can continue exploring. They’re just the latest group of humans to venture into the unpredictable, frozen world of the South Pole and beyond. Here are some of the most incredible and awe-inspiring images from over a century of…

Our Trash Has Become A New Ocean Ecosystem Called “The Plastisphere”

Sure, we all know pollution destroys ecosystems, but, for better or for worse, pollution can create ecosystems, too. The billions of tiny pieces of plastic that are now floating in our oceans are exactly that: a novel ecosystem humans have unwittingly made by throwing away too much plastic. Microbes and insects that might have no…

A Tiny Controller That’s Always On Hand To Improve Touchscreen Gaming

We’ve been promised that touchscreen smartphones and tablets are the future of mobile gaming, but those of us who grew up with Game Boys and Game Gears know that physical buttons and joysticks are still the way to go. That’s not to say touchscreen devices don’t make for wonderful portable consoles, they just need a…

Who’s your favorite character that risked everything for love?

Some people roll the dice for power, others for honor. And some people never throw the dice at all. But the characters who risk all for love are often the most captivating. Who’s your favorite character that cast their fate to the wind for the sake of love? Please include a clip or picture of…

Sex toys are getting smarter

The new movie Her imagines the future of sex with its romance between a man and his operating system. We may not be falling in love with artificial intelligences any time soon, but a new crop of twenty-first century sex toys could turn your next hookup into something like a videogame. The Sydney Morning Herald…