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A huge reservoir of meltwater has been discovered beneath Greenland

Scientists working in Greenland have discovered an extensive aquifer of meltwater that sits under the Greenland ice sheet all year round — but it’s not known if this reservoir, which is about the size of Ireland, will ever make its way to the ocean. Meltwater pouring off from Greenland’s extensive ice sheets is a known…

Airships and Automobiles Were Going To Put Santa’s Reindeer Out of Work

Every generation changes Santa Claus to fit with their times. But at the turn of the 20th century, ol’ Father Christmas wasn’t just getting an update to his stature (in the original “Night Before Christmas” poem he used to be a tiny elf), his ride was also getting modernized. With all the new innovations in…

A Guy Recreated Home Alone Starring Himself As Every Single Character

Well, Merry Christmas. Some beautiful weirdo named Paul Little recreated Home Alone for his Christmas card starring none other than himself. As everyone. Now that is a Christmas card anyone would feel lucky to receive. Expect to see Kevin? Nope that’s Little. Looking for Buzz? Also Little. Wait and aren’t those the Wet Bandits? Nope,…

When Alfred Loomis Created the Death Ray

Imagine Lex Luthor as a really nice guy and you’ll be pretty close to understanding Alfred Loomis. He was a scientist and inventor, a businessman and investor, a wealthy and prominent man. And he also invented the “Death Ray.” The Business World Alfred Loomis was a millionaire, a philanthropist, and a guy you wouldn’t want…

Parts of New York City Are Built on the Ruins of English Cathedrals

Last week, Jalopnik’s Michael Ballaban posted about what is easily one of my favorite urban stories of all time, which is that parts of Manhattan are actually built on the wartime ruins of English towns—churches, homes, pubs, libraries, shops, and businesses—all shipped to the U.S. as ballast during World War II. https://jalopnik.com/how-the-ruins-of-europe-built-a-major-road-in-america-1487127149 I had first…

A US Army Base Is Running a Bunch of Illegal Windows 7 Copies

Given the United States’ intolerance for copyright infringement and the piraters that propagate it, you’d think Uncle Sam would be a little more keen on making sure that his men were playing by the book themselves. As it turns out, a whole mess of computers running unlicensed, illegal copies of Windows 7 belong to none…

Probably the Most Racist Rocket Trip Ever

Back in the late 40s, Bozo the Clown was hot stuff. He was the star of a lot of kids’ books, including one about an amazing rocket. Unfortunately, this futuristic story was also amazingly racist. The Bozo character was originally created by Alan Livingston for a series of children’s books that combined words and pictures…

Scientific discoveries are way more fun when they rhyme

Break out your rhyming dictionaries, people. It’s time to play a game. Today, we’re re-writing some of our favorite scientific facts in the form of rhyming couplets. You could write a few lines on on the grudge-holding capabilities of the crow, compose a quick couplet on Voyager exiting the solar system, or follow the example…

The 100 Most Astonishing Images of 2013

We post tons of great images on Gizmodo, from space to science to art to design. Here’s a treasure trove of our very favorites that proves that 2013 was, if nothing else, eye-catching. The Most Spectacular New Year’s Eve Fireworks Are Definitely In Dubai Photo: Gerald Donovan The USS Zumwalt Deck Looks Like a Part…

Nature’s 2013 Quiz challenges you to recall as much as you can about the year in science. I scored 7 out of 9. How did you fare? [365 days: Nature’s 2013 quiz]

How Mythic Adventures Massively Raises the Stakes for Pathfinder

Lots of fantasy RPGs have toyed with the idea of “epic levels,” where your characters become extremely powerful and face epically dangerous foes — but this concept has been hard to pull off. Until now. Mythic Adventures for the Pathfinder RPG lets your character take on unbelievably huge challenges. In Dungeons & Dragons, and games…

Berkeley Researchers Create Robo-Muscles 1,000 Times Stronger Than Ours

The world may be oohing and awing over all the wonderful uses we’re finding for graphene, but there’s another super-material vying for the spotlight. Vanadium dioxide might eventually become a household name because in addition to revolutionizing electronics, researchers have now discovered it can be used as an artificial muscle 1,000 times stronger than our…

Dinosaurs could be brought back by ‘de-evolving’ birds

It’s looking extremely unlikely that we’ll ever be able to revive dinosaurs using their fossilized DNA, but if a British biochemist is right, we may be able to recreate these ancient animals by rewinding the DNA of birds. https://gizmodo.com/new-study-proves-jurassic-park-could-never-happen-5950612 https://gizmodo.com/dinosaur-dna-cannot-be-extracted-from-amber-1309607565 In a recent Telegraph article, Oxford University’s Dr. Alison Woollard explained that, by identifying and…

Rumor: Is there another major villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron?

Batman Vs. Superman’s new Batsuit is almost perfected, while there’s a hint about The Flash’s TV costume. A super-secret guest-star is rumored to be joining Matt Smith in his final moments as the Doctor. And is Age of Ultron adding yet another villain to its lineup? Spoilers now! Avengers: Age of Ultron Rumor has it…

12 Maps of America From Before We Knew What It Looked Like

The island of California. A huge triangle of land called Florida. A great ocean that cut down from the Arctic into the Midwest. As the New World came into focus beginning in the 17th century, explorers and cartographers struggled to measure a massive expanse of land that would take centuries to accurately map. Take the…

The World’s Smallest Laptop Adapter Saves You From Carrying a Brick

Laptops are supposed to be highly portable, right? But even with a built-in battery you’re never leaving home without its power adapter—and that’s usually a long cable with a hefty brick somewhere along its length. They’re hardly compact, but this laptop adapter from FINsix is. It looks like an elongated version of the tiny charger…

Reddit’s Earliest Days Were a NSFW Wonderland

Reddit’s come a long way since it first appeared online in 2006—but how has it changed over time? This visualization shows how the relative sizes of its subreddits have changed. Put together by Randal Olson from Michigan State University—whose viz of how subreddits overlap we saw last week—this chart plots “subreddit growth over time measured…

Science Proves That Rudolph’s Nose Really Does Glow

It might not be bright red, but Rudolph’s nose really does go glow. These thermal images of reindeer acquired by scientists show that Santa’s flying friends have incredibly warm noses. Because they live in cold climates, the noses of reindeer have adapted to have an increased blood to prevent them from freezing. In turn, that…

To address the problem that 80 percent of new contributions to Wikipedia are abandoned before they’re submitted, the online encyclopaedia now offers a drafting feature to help ease a little of the pressure.

How the Domino Effect Has Shaped History

When younger generations hear the word ‘dominoes,’ they usually associate it with the famous board game, while others–especially food lovers–might connect it with a delicious pizza. For those who are more politically aware, the word probably brings thoughts of the Cold War and the threat of the spread of communism. In addition, most economists today…