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This 18-year-old invented an exoskeleton glove for the disabled

Teen inventor Charalampos Ioannou from Greece has developed an exoskeleton glove that helps disabled users pick up everyday objects. The achievement earned him one of 15 spots on the International Google Science Fair competition. The exoskeleton glove also made him the youngest speaker to date at the Athens TEDx conference. Ioannou got the idea after…

Jamie Lee Curtis is building a TV team of Horror Movie Survivors

Titled The Final Girls, this new ABC Family TV pilot pitch is about a badass Charlie’s Angels-style collection of all the surviving ladies from past horror movies. The horror trope the “Final Girl” is that the last one standing after a horror movie slaughter is almost always a white, virginal, sober lady. Jamie Lee Curtis…

BBM will be hitting Android and iOS this Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The app will allow you to message your BlackBerry (or BBM app)-toting friends and will run on Android 4.0 and higher, as well as iOS 6 and 7. [BlackBerry via Verge]

Breaking Bad inspires George R.R.Martin to make an even worse villain

A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin is an avid viewer of Breaking Bad, but couldn’t help but note on his blog after last weekend’s episode “Ozymandias” that “Walter White is a bigger monster than anyone in Westeros.” His next thought? “(I need to do something about that).” https://gizmodo.com/in-breaking-bad-blood-doesn-t-always-run-thicker-than-1324863782 Holy hell. Given…

Watch the Whole History of iOS Homescreens in One GIF

Today’s the big day. iOS 7 is here to change your phone, homescreen, apps and beyond. It’s a big transition, but the iOS homescreen has come a long way in its six years. Here’s exactly how far, in one glorious GIF. https://gizmodo.com/go-download-ios-7-right-now-1340946172 The clever animation was put together by the Czech Apple blog LetemSvetemApplem, and…

How to Turn Real Science Into Great Science Fiction

Science fiction is the literature of discovery — and there are tons of great ways to come up with stories worth telling. But a lot of the most compelling stories are based on actual cutting-edge science. But how do you turn real science into science fiction? To find out, we asked hard SF writers and…

Shooting Challenge: Beer

It’s Oktoberfest time, or what some may call a far longer, far more lederhosened St. Patrick’s Day. And for this week’s Shooting Challenge, let’s celebrate it by celebrating the lifeblood of Oktoberfest itself: Beer. The Challenge Take a photo that features beer in some way. Oktoberfests optional. The Method Step one: crack a beer. (You’ve…

This graph of Boulder’s year-to-date rainfall is just staggering

In Colorado, rainfall characterized by the National Weather Service as “biblical” has left thousands homeless, hundreds missing and at least eight people dead. Among the hardest-hit cities has been Boulder, which last week catapulted from a dry spell into its wettest year on record in the span of just five days. http://gawker.com/more-than-2000-people-missing-as-flooding-continues-in-1313413960/1314940238@MaxRivlinNadler http://gawker.com/1-200-people-missing-as-devastating-floods-continue-in-1324051670 Via Climate…

How Different Your Favorite Apps Look in iOS 7 (Updating)

All that chatter about the death of skeuomorphism and the rise of flat design, iOS 7 is finally here. It’s got a new look, which means your apps do, too. We’re compiling all of your favorite apps in both their old and updated forms so you can see exactly what’s changed and what’s pretty much…

The First 3D Scan of the Tower of Pisa Will Help Preserve It Forever

A team of Australian researchers recently climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa with a 3D scanner and came back with the most detailed map of the building ever. At first you might think that the beautiful results were meant for a museum, but this detailed scan will help scientists protect it from ruin. This first-of-its-kind…

To write this heartfelt emotional story, I had to do trigonometry

My story “The Time Travel Club” is out in the new issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. It’s the story of a group of people who get together to share their made-up time travel experiences. And then someone turns up who’s built an actual working time machine. To write this tale, I needed to delve into…

The complete Apple iOS 7 guide: Everything you need for a happy upgrade

You can upgrade your iPhone and iPad now with iOS 7. You probably have a lot of questions about it—here are all the answers you need. Should I upgrade to iOS 7? If your device can support it, the answer is probably yes. Read Gizmodo’s review to get a better idea about what to expect.…

9 Philosophical Thought Experiments That Will Keep You Up at Night

Sometimes, the best way to illustrate a complicated philosophical concept is by framing it as a story or situation. Here are nine such thought experiments with downright disturbing implications. Top image: Isaac Gutiérrez Pascual; published with permission. 1. Prisoner’s Dilemma This is the classic game theory problem in which a suspect is confronted with a…

Go Download iOS 7 Right Now (Updated)

It’s here, Apple users! The brand-new iOS 7 has officially been released in the wild. Backup all your stuff, then go download it right now. https://gizmodo.com/ios-7-review-pretty-is-as-pretty-does-1327221981 As always, the new iOS is available as an over-the-air update (go to theSettings menu on your iPhone (4, 4S, 5), iPad (iPad 2 and newer), and iPod touch…

Facebook Likes Are Officially Free Speech, Says US Appeals Court

Good news for you indiscriminate Facebookers. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Facebook likes are protected speech under the First Amendment. Like away. This particular ordeal started back in 2009, when Sheriff BJ Roberts was running for reelection in Hampton, Virginia and was more than a little miffed to find that six…

First Left Behind images, fingers crossed for Nic Cage as God

Here it is, the first-ever pictures from the Christian Rapture movie adaptation of Kirk Cameron’s favorite book (besides the Bible) Left Behind. Soooo… which one of these characters is playing God? Is it Nic Cage? We hope it’s Nic Cage. Penned by authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, the apocalypse book sold a whopping 65…

An Experimental Cargo Ship Launched For the ISS Today

The first flight of the Cygnus, a new experimental spacecraft, lit off at 10:58AM today from NASA’s newly popular Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia. The Cygnus is an unmanned cargo vessel, and for this test mission it’s carrying about 1,300 pounds of supplies to the three astronauts currently orbiting in the ISS. https://gizmodo.com/east-coasters-watch-tonights-nasa-launch-from-your-ya-1259914226 The…

Calico: Google’s Ambitious New Project to Stop Illness and Aging

Google just announced its most recent plan in a long list of crazy moonshots. This one isn’t self-driving cars or internet in the sky, instead it’s a company called Calico that’s going to try and put an end to aging and disease. There aren’t too many details about exactly how Calico will go about its…

Celebrate the first embarrassing public technical glitch

So you have this thing you call the “iron horse” that can draw cargo along rails at incredible speeds! What better way to advertise it than to make it race an actual team of horses? What could possibly go wrong? At the dawn of the 1830s, the people of Baltimore wanted to establish themselves as…

News Anchor Mistakes Stack of Paper for iPad During Entire Broadcast

Have you had the sneaking suspicious recently that your iPad has quadrupled in size? Do you find yourself frustrated by a perpetually-frozen screen? Good news! It’s because you’re holding printer paper. But no need to be embarrassed; it happens to the best of us—just ask our avant-garde newscaster friend from the other side of the…