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Antarctica Looks Like a Mystical Land Shrouded in Lenticular Cloud

This might look like result of some pro-level CGI, or perhaps even a glimpse into your imagination, but in fact it’s a photograph taken in Antarctica just this last week. As part of Operation Ice Bridge—a multi-year mission to monitor conditions in Antarctica and the Arctic—NASA researchers have just been on a week-long ice-surveying mission.…

The First Drones, Used in World War I

Unmanned remote-controlled aircraft have been around longer than most people think. The Kettering “Bug,” for instance, was developed during World War I. It was a bomb-carrying unpiloted biplane that flew on a pre-set course to its target. Once its autopilot was set, the plane was on its own. Prototypes were built and successfully tested, but…

Report: Apple’s iBeacon Location-Aware Shopping in Its Stores Today

The Associated Press is reporting that Apple will switch on its new iBeacons service— which will provide location-aware services to your phone—across its 254 US stores today. iBeacons, which uses low-power Bluetooth transmitters dotted around stores, was announced with the arrival of iOS 7. But while it’s been possible for a while, Apple will, unsurprisingly,…

How to make your neighbors’ Christmas lights flicker inside your head

Feeling Scrooge-y? Here’s a basic way to be judgmental about your local Christmas decorations. Not only are you up in other people’s business, even the act of scrutiny is as obnoxious as it is possible to be — it literally involves sticking your tongue out at people. These days, some people use LED (light emitting…

This Is What Deforestation Looks Like From Space

The city of Boca do Acre is a beautiful place to live, almost completely covered by the Amazon Rainforest—for now. Because you shouldn’t be fooled by the pretty colors in this image: it actually reveals the rapid rate of deforestationin the area. It’s not the first example of deforestation visualization we’ve seen, but it is…

It’s a Photoshop Party and We’re Fixing All the Movies!

GET YOUR PHOTOSHOP READY, PEOPLE. It’s time to play a game. Have you ever been watching a movie and thought, “This would be better with robots/Muppets/sharks/animation/lasers/space ships/Tom Hiddleston/zombies/as an 18th-century period drama miniseries”? Truth bomb: You were totally right. Today, we’re taking those imaginary movies in our heads — whether it’s a mashup of a…

Google Glass Is So Helpful It Could Reveal How Awful Your Life Is

Google Glass has the potential to be the ultimate personal assistant: a little helper, always in the corner of your eye, keeping you abreast of your day-to-day life. Your humdrum, mediocre, monotonous, depressing life. It might tell you where you can get take-out when it realizes you don’t much like cooking for one; remind you…

This is why advertising works — even when you think it doesn’t

Are you unfazed by ads? Annoyed by them? Do you simply “edit them out”? It doesn’t matter what the answer is, because they probably work anyway. Advertising doesn’t have to be good, it has to rely on the “mere-exposure effect.” Does something have to be good for you to like it? No. It just has…

Verizon’s LTE Just Got Three Times Faster in a Bunch of Big Cities

Last year, Verizon bought $3.6 billion worth of spectrum, and now it’s finally making use of it: its LTE coverage just got three times faster in some big cities. While the Big Red began the roll-out last month in New York, it’s now quietly switched on its new Band 4 frequencies in cities including Chicago,…

We already know the title of the next X-Men movie, coming in 2016!

Have they cast the not-Lex Luthor villain for Man of Steel 2? Katee Sackhoff is insistent about not being in Star Wars. Go behind the scenes of The Hobbit with three new videos. There’s Warcraft casting, and Orphan Black hints. Plus, the Amazing Spider-Man 2 cast breaks down the trailer. Spoilers now! X-Men: Apocalypse We…

Dream home: a floating glass house—or superhero headquarters

Otto reports that “Dutch firm Paul de Ruiter Architects has won the ARC13 architecture prize for their project Villa Kogelhof,” which is a great excuse to feature this awesome floating house, masterfully photographed by Jeroen Musch. The house is not only simply beautiful. It’s also carbon neutral, according to DesignBoom: Protected 25 hectare plot, a…

These Lamps Make Use of Your Camera Kit While It’s Idle

You love your camera kit. Of course you do, it’s beautiful! But wouldn’t it be great if you could make use of it—by which we mean, well, look at it—while it wasn’t in use? That’s where Phlite might just come in. The idea is that Phlite transforms your camera gear into a desk, table or…

23andMe Has Stopped Performing Health-Related Genetic Testing

Following demands issued by the Food and Drug Administration late last month, 23andMe has ceased all health-related genetic testing until further notice. In a November 22 letter to 23andMe, the FDA explained that it was “concerned about the public health consequences of inaccurate results from the [23andMe] device,” adding that “the main purpose of compliance…

Twitter is teaming up with Singaporean start-up U2opia Mobile to make its feeds available to entry-level mobile phones without the Internet: you’ll dial and listen to what people are saying.No, really.

WSJ: Spotify Is Planning to Introduce Free Mobile Music

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Spotify is planning to launch a free, ad-supported version of its streaming music service for mobile devices Citing “people familiar with the matter”, the rumor suggests that Spotify is planning to end its policy of insisting that all its mobile users pay a monthly fee. The sources explained…

Drums can sound completely different depending on where they’re played

Wow, this is really cool. Audio Zéro recently made a video called Wikidrummer that shows how the same song on drums can sound completely different depending on where the drums are played. Out in the field, on a road, underneath a highway, inside a garage, in the park and so on can change the overall…

Disquiet Junto Project 0101: Analog Binary

The project: Make a phase composition based on the sounds of three switches. Each Thursday at the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.com a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have just over four days to upload a track in response to the assignment. Membership in the Junto is open: just…

World’s most powerful electric motorcycle looks like the future

This brawny futuristic mini tank on two wheels is supposedly the world’s most powerful electric motorcycle. The battery-powered beast can re-charge its 12.8kWh juice pack in 30 minutes and has the power of a 1000cc motorcycle. Called the Voxan Wattman, the bike can hit 0-60mph in less than 3.4 seconds and reach a top speed…

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: When Science Fails

God, what I wouldn’t give to be smeared out of a cannon right about now.

Real life Mario Kart is ridiculously fast and even more fun

Mario Kart just might be the funnest video game in the entire world. Only the soulless can’t find enjoyment in go kart racing with super fast Mushroom speed, red shells and Nintendo characters. So you can imagine the even more ridiculous levels of fun you can have if you turned Mario Kart into a real…