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How did China move the epic boulders used to build its Forbidden City?

By what means did rocks weighing hundreds of tons find their way to the site of China’s formidable, 600-year-old Forbidden City? Scientists specializing in friction have proposed a new hypothesis. Above: The Northwest Corner Tower of the Forbidden City,as photographed by Dermot Roantree While visiting and enjoying the architecture of the Forbidden City in China,…

The newly named Lythronax argestes (aka “the king of gore”) walked the Earth 12-million years before Tyrannosaurus rex, and at much lower latitudes – yet the two bear a striking resemblance. In his latest for NatGeo, Brian Switek explores how Lythronax adds a new twist to the origin story of the famed tyrant king. Above:…

A Tiny Mobile Scanner You Don’t Need a Steady Hand To Operate

Portable document scanners have existed for years, and you can even get models as small as a business card. The catch, however, is that you need to physically move the scanner across a document yourself, which often leads to mixed results. And that’s why Doxie’s new Flip is so wonderful; it’s basically a tiny flatbed…

10 Reasons Why Le Guin’s Earthsea Books Can Still Change Your Life

We live in a time of riches, as far as fantasy book series go — tons of sprawling sagas are being told, by authors with a huge diversity of styles. But if you want a life-changing visit to a fantasy world, you can’t do any better than Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea. Here are ten…

The Business of Predicting the End of the World

Most of us only think about natural disasters when we absolutely have to (or when it’s, uh, for fun). But for scientists and analysts who work for global insurance companies, predicting the next big catastrophe is a business—and an increasingly lucrative one, at that. https://gizmodo.com/elaborate-dioramas-model-the-apocalypse-in-miniature-1458430063 Swiss Re, the second largest insurance company in the world,…

An optical illusion is making dentists drill holes that are too big

There’s an optical illusion where a small, enclosed area appears larger when surrounded by a larger area. This visual anomaly, called the Delboef illusion, is making the holes that dentists cut in preparation for fillings appear smaller than they really are. This illusion was first documented by Franz Joseph Delboeuf, a Belgian philosopher and expert…

Scientists discover flies can think ergo they’re assholes on purpose

You thought they were stupid, but it turns out that flies take decision on their own terms. They have free will, io9’s Esther Inglis-Arkell reports: they “seemed to be making spontaneous motions which indicated that somewhere, inside their little fly brains, they were deciding how to move based on their own free will.” https://gizmodo.com/the-crazy-device-that-shows-fruit-flies-have-free-will-1459261376

The Glamour of Futurism: An Interview with Author Virginia Postrel

Futurism and glamour are inextricably linked in American history. The sleek techno-utopian futures of yesteryear—the ones filled with flying cars, jetpacks, and automatic highways—couldn’t exist without the support of this concept that’s equal parts intrigue and attraction. Virginia Postrel’s new book, The Power of Glamour: Longing and the Art of Visual Persuasion, looks at glamour…

Tom Hiddleston takes us inside the complicated mind of Loki

Not only is actor Tom Hiddleston a charming impressionist, Comic-Con god, and Joss Whedon’s secret soft-spot, but he’s also an incredibly thoughtful person to chat deeply with about the inner workings of the God of Mischief, Loki, and his new mindset in Thor: the Dark World, premiering this Friday. Which we did. Swoon! https://gizmodo.com/tom-hiddleston-does-samuel-l-jackson-as-motherf-cking-1448579198 https://gizmodo.com/watch-comic-cons-marvel-cinematic-universe-panel-in-al-858257830…

The crazy device that shows fruit flies have free will

Do we have free will? If we don’t, we’re one step down the metaphysical ladder from fruit flies. Yes, people have determined that fruit flies have free will. And yes, the experimental fly chamber they created to find this out is really freaking weird. How would you devise a “free will” chamber? If you were…

It Turns Out Backup Batteries Don’t Have To Be an Eyesore

If there’s even the slightest risk you won’t have access to an outlet or a powered USB port for 24 hours, you’d better hope you’ve got a backup battery in tow to keep your phone alive. And while function usually trumps form when it comes to external power sources, Incase has decided to overthrow the…

Inside the Bone Room: Where Dinosaurs Live at AMNH

The most interesting room in the American Museum of Natural History is one you’ll never see. Its inhabitants are millions of years old, its proprietors among the brightest in their field. This is the big bone room, home to what is arguably the largest and most important collection of mammal bones in the world. And…

Stunning night images of a nuclear ice breaker in the middle of nowhere

Sergey Dolya took some incredible photos in an expedition to the North Pole on board a Russian Arktika-class nuclear ice breaker. In the words of Buzz Aldrin, “Beautiful, beautiful. Magnificent desolation.” By the way, did you know that you can get a cabin on board these and other industrial ships? There are some travel agencies…

Half of last night’s Agents of SHIELD was its best episode yet

If you turned off Agents of SHIELD halfway through “F.Z.Z.T.”, I don’t blame you. The first half was spent watching this supposedly super-important team investigate the deaths of three volunteer firefighters (a good thing to do, but not exactly the highest stakes). But if you did turn it off, you missed the good part of…

The LAPD’s Remote-Control BATCAT Forklift Is 39,000 Pounds of Kickass

What do you get when you outfit a Caterpillar forklift with a gigantic telescopic arm, remote controls, and the ability to bully both vehicles and houses smaller than itself? The LAPD’s ultimate bomb disposal tool: BATCAT. The BATCAT, or Bomb Assessment Tactical Counter Assault Tool, looks like something out of WayneTech Labs and by all…

Watch the Spectacular Fiery Death of the Albert Einstein Spacecraft

This amazing reentry fireworks was observed from the International Space Station on 2 November at 12:04 GMT. We can see European Space Agency’s fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, Albert Einstein, disintegrating and burning up in the atmosphere over an uninhabited area of the Pacific Ocean, in the most spectacular way, after it left the International Space…

First Catching Fire clip gives us hope for a better Gale in the movies

Check out the very first clip from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, showcasing the fiery love between Gale and Katniss. Suck it, Peeta. Hey, maybe this movie won’t totally throw the character of Gale Hawthorne under the bus. If you’ve read the books (spoiler alert) then you know the author makes it damn near impossible…

Australian Authorities Seize Katy Perry’s New Album, Deemed Biohazard

Katy Perry’s new album Prism is very bad. We’re not just talking about the music, though. (“Roar” is rather catchy!) It’s bad for the environment. At least, that’s what officials say in Australia where the record’s been deemed a “biosecurity concern.” Well, to be more specific, the album artwork is made of seedpaper, and comes…

The Evil Galactic Empire invades Kinkade’s famous cheesy paintings

Self-described “alien artisan” Roland Deschane recently brought the world a brilliant juxtaposition: the cozy cabins of Thomas Kinkade and the raw brutality of the imperial forces. We’re talking Stormtroopers, Star Destroyers and AT-AT Walkers. We’re talking Dark Side. The idea alone deserves a slow clap, but the execution is almost flawless. You can almost hear…

How Will The Walking Dead Finally End?

Greetings, folks! It’s your friendly neighborhood post-apocalyptic fake mailman here, and I have to tell you, my mailbag is full to bursting! It’s really heavy! It may actually get me killed, because I move really slowly while carrying it! But my imminent, easily avoidable death is worth it, as long as I get to keep…