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Synthetic animals will save the planet

A recent project by designer Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg proposes that bioengineered creatures be released into the wild to save endangered species and clean up pollution. And she’s already designed four organisms to do it, including soil-scouring slugs and seed-dispersing porcupines. All images: Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg. Synthetic biology is not a new concept. Craig Venter proposed…

The Top 101 Science Fiction Adventures

Book editor and critic Joshua Glenn has worked to bring classic early science fiction back into print with his Radium Age Science Fiction Series. Now here’s his definitive list of the best adventure stories of all time! (Remember — these are not just scifi, but action/adventure scifi.) Top image: Sparth Below, please find a list…

Own William Gibson’s bomber jacket! Did you covet the Buzz Rickson MA-1 bomber jacket that cool hunter Cayce Pollard wore in William Gibson’s novel Pattern Recognition? Now a similar jacket can be yours, as designed by Gibson, for just $690.

This Comic Predicted the First Robot Suicide Over 40 Years Ago

The internet is abuzz with a Daily Mail report on the world’s first robot suicide. A family in Austria claims that after performing its daily duties, their Roomba robot somehow “reactivated itself” and met its demise on a hotplate. The sullen machine started a fire in their apartment and after burning for nearly an hour,…

If you have a bit of a Pocket trigger finger, the reading app’s latest update will make it easier for you to wade through all those unread articles. The new feature, called Highlights, will sort items in your list by popularity, impact and length. [Engadget]

Newly discovered optical illusion will screw up your mind

Scientists have discovered a new optical illusion that will screw up your brain big time. Focus on the red cross while the dots move. They are wriggling around, right? Wrong. All of them are moving “in straight trajectories and random directions without colliding.” In this paper, we report on a novel visual motion illusion. When…

How We Barely Beat Soviet Russia to Inventing the Laser

Russians were pioneers in the development of lasers, today a multi-billion dollar industry. Two of them, Alexander Prokhorov and Nikolai Basov, won the Nobel Prize in 1964, along with the American Charles Townes, for the invention of lasers and masers. Even much earlier, in the nineteen thirties and forties the Russian scientist Valentin Fabrikant laid…

Is nutrition research a pseudoscience?

Everyone agrees “eating right” is a good idea – what we can’t agree on is what the hell it means. (Whole wheat is now a healthy diet option or “probably killing you,” depending on who you ask.) What does science have to say about good dietary habits? According to University of South Carolina researcher Edward…

New book Fortune’s Pawn is like Firefly told by Lois McMaster Bujold

Readers are in for a ride with Rachel Bach’s entry into science fiction, Fortune’s Pawn, which has been called a Firefly-meets-Lois McMaster Bujold tale. It’s fun, rough and tumble, and has an exciting cast of characters — though the plot itself is a little uneven. Mild spoilers ahead. It’s easy to see the similarities to…

Sean Bean is playing Macbeth in a dark new reimagining

Check out our first look at Sean Bean as the Scottish lord misled by witches, Macbeth, in a brand new movie, Enemy of Man. See also some pictures of James D’Arcy as Banquo. These pictures come via Bleeding Cool, which points out that Michael Fassbender is also starring in a big-screen Macbeth film. Can either…

When the Storm Clears Up, This Raincoat Transforms Into a Backpack

The Boy Scouts advocate always being prepared, and that motto is a lot easier to put into practice with this transforming waterproof jacket from Vamoose. When it’s pouring it keeps you dry and protected from the rain, but when the storm passes the jacket transforms into a lightweight backpack so it’s easy to carry in…

Behold the majesty of the official Walking Dead zombie footie pajamas

When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth… and then they’ll sleep in comfort, thanks to these adorable pajamas from The Walking Dead! They’re adult-sized, cover the feet completely, and come with a hood you can pul down for that complete zombie look. They’re also a mere $38 over at…

Kinky Geometric Quilt Patterns Are Generated By Computer Code

Most folks have probably never thought about what it would look like if polygons started getting freaky with each other, but Libs Elliott is not most folks. The Toronto-based textile artist merges the tactile appeal of traditional quilts with the modern edge of computer processing to illustrate what happens when a free-spirited set of triangles…

Stephen Fry’s Insane Look in Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Entertainment Weekly just released a collection of new Hobbit 2 images. Including one particularly interesting shot of Stephen Fry with an epic hairstyle. Just call him Stephen Fry: Master of Laketown, and the Comb-Over. Plus look who learned how to do the fishtail braid: Legolas!

Retina ​iPad Mini First Impressions: That’s More Like It

The original iPad mini featured a flawless design undermined by an unforgivably subpar display, an antique frame wasted on fingerpaint. Good news. This year’s iPad mini is, after a short time playing with it, picture perfect. https://gizmodo.com/a-week-with-the-ipad-mini-5959068 The Look Let’s dispense first with the design, since it is the exact same as last year’s iPad…

Can self-replicating spacecraft swarms take over the galaxy one day?

io9’s George Dvorsky explains the math, tech and physics that explain “how swarms of self-replicating spacecraft could someday rule the galaxy.” https://gizmodo.com/how-self-replicating-spacecraft-could-take-over-the-gal-1463732482

10 Key Terms That Will Help You Appreciate Fantasy Literature

Fantasy novels and stories cast a spell on readers, with their vivid worlds and complex characters. But just like any other kind of spell, there are different types, and rules. You need a magical lexicon. So here are 10 commonly used terms you’ll need to know, that describe the different sorts of fantasy worlds and…

Airport Time Capsule 3TB, External Power To The Max, 1TB USB3 [Deals]

Amazon is carrying the latest-generation 3TB Airport Time Capsule for $360, which is the lowest price this 802.11ac router/external hard drive combo has hit so far, and one of the few discounts we’ve seen on it. Same price at B&H. There is also a 2TB model available for $289. [Amazon via 9to5Toys] 3TB Airport Time…

The cognitive bias that allows people to justify genocide

Why would we rather justify our bad deeds than apologize for them? Social psychologist Carol Tavris has just written a great essay on the “design flaws” in our brains that cause us to lie to ourselves about horrific mistakes we’ve made — and then make them again. Decades after Isaac Asimov imagined that psychohistory would…

Veuve Clicquot’s New Packaging Transforms Into Its Own Bottle Chiller

Champagne is for celebrating. But what sort of shoddy celebration would it be if it were warm? Veuve’s thinking ahead this holiday season with a new “Fashionably Clicquot” package that quickly transforms into a handy—and handsome!—ice bucket. The top half of the signature black and yellow box just slides off to give the origami-like bottom…