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8 Urban Stories You Might Have Missed in 2013

Rob Ford, CitiBike, Bay Area tech woes, China’s crippling smog: You’ve seen all the big headlines for cities this year. But here are a few of the urbanism stories that might have flown under your radar. You read about New York City’s glitzy new CitiBike system. But you might not know about Barcelona’s Bicing, which…

Tech News Alissa Walker Dec 31 '13

Happiness is seeing happy dogs happily stick their heads out of cars

Let’s end the year on a happy note. And happiness is this photo series by photographer Lara Jo Regan. Called Dogs in Cars, it’s photo after photo of well, dogs sticking their heads out of moving cars. Is there anything in the world more joyful than seeing that? I don’t think so. PetaPixel says that…

Sploid Casey Chan Dec 31 '13

TLDR: 9 Paleofuture Stories From 2013 You Swore You’d Finish Later

From the story of Upton Sinclair’s failed utopian community in New Jersey to that post about DARPA actually trying to build Skynet in the 1980s — these were the longform stories that you swore you’d finish one day but never got around to. Well, here’s your second chance. Nobody Walks in L.A.: The Rise of…

Tech News Matt Novak Dec 31 '13

What’s the greatest put-down in science fiction history?

Science fiction and fantasy require a lot of imagination and cleverness — so it’s not surprising there are some epic insults in the genre. But what’s the most cunning insult in all of science fiction and fantasy? https://gizmodo.com/20-great-insults-from-science-fiction-and-fantasy-books-826828044 Please include a picture, clip or book cover for your chosen insult. And please mention the name…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 31 '13

Track The Exact Location Where These Wood Fixtures Were Felled

Ninebyfour is a limited edition of 79 light fixtures, each made from a single piece of Stadshout, or “city wood”: timber felled around Amsterdam’s public spaces and destined for the chipper, but saved here to be transformed into something new. The Waarmakers design duo crafted every one by hand, then outfitted them with a sleek…

Tech News Jordan Kushins Dec 31 '13

This Year, Canada Spent $14,000 Asking People If Superheroes Can Fly

Can superheroes leap over tall buildings? Can they become invisible? Can they walk through walls? Can they fly? These are the types of cutting-edge questions asked in a recent study commissioned by Canada’s armed forces. Weird, huh? According to the Ottawa Citizen, the survey of astonishingly obvious questions was just one way of learning how…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Dec 31 '13

Have we been dramatically underestimating elephant intelligence?

We’ve long known that elephants are intelligent animals, who remember migration routes for decades and appear to mourn their dead. But a new study suggests we may have been underestimating them — because our methods of testing intelligence in animals are biased. In a fascinating National Geographic article, Karl Gruber describes new intelligence experiments on…

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 31 '13

You’ve just crossed over into the return of The Twilight Zone

J. Michael Straczynski’s first full-time job writing in TV was on the 1980s Twilight Zone reboot. Now his newest comic job is writing the Twilight Zone comic reboot. Wacky! Plus, dead kids solving crimes, a very unique vampire hunter and the Defenders of the Earth go steampunk in the last comics of 2013! New Issues…

io9 Rob Bricken Dec 31 '13

This camera stabilizer seems to defy the laws of physics

Though it may look fake and unreal and impossible and not allowed on Earth, the camera stabilizer in the video is completely real. You can’t make it shake. It’s like magic decided to defy physics and ignore gravity. All I want to do is park myself in front of a mirror and do as many…

Sploid Casey Chan Dec 31 '13

The Best Gizmodo Stories of 2013

We’ve posted thousands of pieces in 2013, so to pluck out a few dozen and to call them our favorite is in some ways impossibly arbitrary. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t try. If you’d rather see our most popular stories, there’s a list for that, too. But below are the posts that stood out…

Tech News Gizmodo Staff Dec 31 '13

A Startling Image That Shows Why Space Junk is a Nightmare

If you saw the movie Gravity, then you know that space debris can be deadly. Some scientists warn that the crud in Earth’s orbit may have reached a dangerous “tipping point.” But to prove the point, here’s an image from artist Michael Najjar that shows every single piece of real-life junk in our orbit. https://gizmodo.com/has-the-space-junk-in-earth-orbit-really-reached-a-dang-5836962…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 31 '13

What Are Your Tech Resolutions for 2014?

We all have our standard, age-old New Years resolutions. Quit smoking. Work out more. Come to terms with ever present self hatred. But there’s more to life than just health and wellness. There are computers! And social networks! So is this the year you finally kick Facebook? (Yeah right!) Or maybe the year you stop…

Tech News Eric Limer Dec 31 '13

“Sputnik Girl” Was Ready to Blast-Off On New Year’s Eve 1958

December 31, 1958 — Five-year-old Linda Chapman of Kent stands in costume beside her toy rocket at New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Gillingham NAAFI Club. [Getty Images]

Tech News Matt Novak Dec 31 '13

NASA snaps a pic of China’s Yutu Rover from 93 miles overhead

China’s Yutu rover has been spotted by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LRO). The 60-inch wide robot can be seen as a pair of white pixels just east of a 1,500 (450 m) foot impact crater. Thanks to the image, we now know Yutu’s exact location. Chang’e 3 landed on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains)…

io9 George Dvorsky Dec 31 '13

The Number of People Killed in Covert Drone Strikes is Down 50 Percent

As another year comes to a close, another batch of sobering numbers about the United States’ semi-secret drone war is in. They’re actually not as bad as they used to be. The Council on Foreign Relations just updated its running tally of deaths caused by covert drone strikes in non-battlefield settings, dating from its first…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Dec 31 '13

This 1901 Cartoon Takes a Humorous Look at the Future of New York

The folks over at Ohio State University’s Cartoon Library and Museum have posted a fantastic cartoon from 1901 that takes a humorous look into the world of tomorrow — specifically that far off, futuristic year of 1987. Drawn by J. Campbell Cory for the New York World newspaper, this “prophetic vision of the 20th century”…

Tech News Matt Novak Dec 31 '13

It’s time for the sparkly rainbow version of Game of Thrones

What if the famous Trapper Keeper artist Lisa Frank was living in Westros, designing all the house sigils? You’d be dying at the end of a glitter sword, and slain by pink dragon fire. Artist ArterialMotive has posted these awesome Lisa Frank sigils over on Tumblr. You should check out more of ArterialMotive’s work there!…

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 31 '13

Can Radar and RFID Stop Drivers From Killing Cyclists?

Last month, London reached a grim milestone: Six cyclists were killed within 14 days, sparking a massive “die-in” protest. London isn’t alone; 176 cyclists or pedestrians were killed in NYC last year. The rapidly rising death toll is spurring a race to build a technology to warn drivers before they hit someone on foot or…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Dec 31 '13

Advanced Imaging Reveals a Computer 1,500 Years Ahead of Its Time

X-rays and advanced photography have uncovered the true complexity of the mysterious Antikythera mechanism, a device so astonishing that its discovery is like finding a functional Buick in medieval Europe. In 1900, some divers found the wreck of a Roman vessel off the Greek island of Antikythera. Among the other treasures remanded to the Greek…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Dec 31 '13

A Map of the 124 United States of America That Could Have Been

The fact that we’ve kept the number of U.S. states relatively static is nothing short a miracle—there have been hundreds of attempts at state secession over the years. But what if they had all succeeded? This brilliant map depicts that alternative universe, where the U.S. is broken up into 124 different states that stretch from…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Dec 31 '13

8 Urban Stories You Might Have Missed in 2013

Happiness is seeing happy dogs happily stick their heads out of cars

TLDR: 9 Paleofuture Stories From 2013 You Swore You’d Finish Later

What’s the greatest put-down in science fiction history?

Track The Exact Location Where These Wood Fixtures Were Felled

This Year, Canada Spent $14,000 Asking People If Superheroes Can Fly

Have we been dramatically underestimating elephant intelligence?

You’ve just crossed over into the return of The Twilight Zone

This camera stabilizer seems to defy the laws of physics

The Best Gizmodo Stories of 2013

A Startling Image That Shows Why Space Junk is a Nightmare

What Are Your Tech Resolutions for 2014?

“Sputnik Girl” Was Ready to Blast-Off On New Year’s Eve 1958

NASA snaps a pic of China’s Yutu Rover from 93 miles overhead

The Number of People Killed in Covert Drone Strikes is Down 50 Percent

This 1901 Cartoon Takes a Humorous Look at the Future of New York

It’s time for the sparkly rainbow version of Game of Thrones

Can Radar and RFID Stop Drivers From Killing Cyclists?

Advanced Imaging Reveals a Computer 1,500 Years Ahead of Its Time

A Map of the 124 United States of America That Could Have Been

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Latest

8 Urban Stories You Might Have Missed in 2013

Happiness is seeing happy dogs happily stick their heads out of cars

TLDR: 9 Paleofuture Stories From 2013 You Swore You’d Finish Later

What’s the greatest put-down in science fiction history?

Track The Exact Location Where These Wood Fixtures Were Felled

This Year, Canada Spent $14,000 Asking People If Superheroes Can Fly

Have we been dramatically underestimating elephant intelligence?

​You’ve just crossed over into the return of The Twilight Zone

This camera stabilizer seems to defy the laws of physics

The Best Gizmodo Stories of 2013

A Startling Image That Shows Why Space Junk is a Nightmare

What Are Your Tech Resolutions for 2014?

“Sputnik Girl” Was Ready to Blast-Off On New Year’s Eve 1958

NASA snaps a pic of China’s Yutu Rover from 93 miles overhead

The Number of People Killed in Covert Drone Strikes is Down 50 Percent

This 1901 Cartoon Takes a Humorous Look at the Future of New York

It’s time for the sparkly rainbow version of Game of Thrones

Can Radar and RFID Stop Drivers From Killing Cyclists?

Advanced Imaging Reveals a Computer 1,500 Years Ahead of Its Time

A Map of the 124 United States of America That Could Have Been

Lifetime Cloud Storage for Less Than the Price of an SSD, pCloud Is Almost Giving It Away

Razer Found a New Way to Print Money: Cinnamoroll Gaming Headphones

Insta360’s Next Action Cam Could Be a Real GoPro Competitor

Sony Music to Close Punk Merch Warehouse That Just Voted to Unionize

Get 75% Off the All-in-One VPN Bundle: VPN, Antivirus, Storage, ID Protection for Only $4.49

‘Sentenced to Be a Hero’ Team Gets Real About the Pain Behind 2026’s Must-Watch Dark Fantasy Anime

StubHub Founder Has Ties to Major Scalpers on the Platform

Scientists Say Some Black Holes Are Born From Other Black Holes

X by Xreal a01+ Review: AR Glasses That Are Light on Your Face (and Wallet)

Razer Blade 16 (2026) Review: A Gaming Laptop You Can Actually Call ‘Portable’

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11 Review: Solid ARM at a Budget Price

Nothing Ear 3a Review: You Can Skip the Flagship

Razer Soma Chroma Chair Review: An Awkward Beginning to ‘Immersive’ Furniture

Aqara Camera Hub G350 Review: An Excellent Indoor Matter Camera

TP-Link Deco BE77 Review: Great Mesh Wi-Fi for the Eero-Weary

Shokz OpenDots 2 Review: A Clip Worth Considering

Let us help you find what you’re looking for...

You’ve just crossed over into the return of The Twilight Zone