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Subway is making official Hunger Games sandwiches like it’s not insane

So I was all set to joke about how Subway would tie their crappy sandwiches into a movie where kids compete in a brutal contest for the amusement of the rich, and where a brutal revolution might be the only solution, and then I saw the above commercial where they actually fucking did it. Madness.…

The Western Black Rhino is extinct (again), and it’s okay to be angry

Yesterday, thanks to an updated CNN article, the Western Black Rhino was declared extinct. Again. The first time was in 2011. But then, says Boxplot’s Maki Naro, “in this fast-paced world, it’s easy to forget when an animal quietly sulks off into the night. Only that wasn’t the case here at all.” https://gizmodo.com/africas-western-black-rhino-has-been-declared-extinct-5858564 Above: The…

These Tea Bags Filter Your Water Instead of Flavoring It

Re-usable water bottles are great for the environment, but are they so awesome for your taste buds? When you’re out and about you’re usually left filling them up from sketchy-looking drinking fountains or other questionable sources. But with these easy-to-use Shake Filters that work kind of like tea bags, you’re guaranteed clean tasting water no…

Just when you least expect it, Tomorrow People reaches for greatness

Holy cow. Where has this show been for the past month or so? The Tomorrow People has been sort of stumbling along, having the occasional cute moment along with a lot of really dreary melodrama. But last night’s episode packed a decent punch, and I suddenly don’t hate any of these characters. What’s up? Spoilers…

The First Sled With a (Much Needed) Shock Absorber

When you’ve got a foot of freshly fallen snow to absorb any impact, there’s no sledding stunt that seems too dangerous. It’s only when you’re careening down a hill towards a jump that the gravity of the situation hits you, and that’s when you realize a sled with a built-in shock absorbing spring like the…

Which alien civilization would you most like to rule over?

One thing we know about alien civilizations: they sure love having humans (and half humans) in charge. Star Trek’s Romulans followed Tasha Yar’s daughter and Picard’s clone at various times. A few of Doctor Who’s companions wound up ruling alien worlds. But which alien civilization would you like to become the leader of? Please include…

Star Wars Episode VII is coming out on December 18, 2015

Get ready. Or well, get ready to get ready. The new Star Wars Episode VII finally has an official release date which means we can all plan our lives accordingly. The JJ Abrams-ified version of Star Wars will hit movie theaters on December 18th 2015. That’s the third friday in December and a week before…

Trans Fats: What They Are, and Why the FDA Is Finally Banning Them

Today, just over 100 years after the advent of trans fats, the FDA has announced that it’s taking the first steps toward banning them outright, removing them from the “Generally Recognized As Safe” list and out of the American food supply. It’s about time. Trans fats seemed like such a good idea at the time.…

Massive trailer for Studio Ghibli’s hauntingly beautiful new movie

Do you have three minutes? Do you like beauty? Then I highly recommend to take some time to watch this new, lengthy trailer for Studio Ghibli’s new film The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies) directed this gorgeous movie based on the classic Japanese legend The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.…

Astronomers Discover an Extraordinary Comet With Six Tails

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have detected a multi-tailed main-belt comet the likes of which has never been seen before. A main-belt comet is a special class of celestial objects that orbit inside our asteroid belt and exhibit comet-like activity at some point during their orbits (like shedding some of its mass and having…

Shocked astronomers discover strange new type of space object

The object in these photographs captured by Hubble is not a comet. It’s something that no astronomer has ever seen before, according to NASA: An asteroid with six comet-like tails that isn’t moving like a comet and it’s not made of ice. It’s just hanging up there, rotating like a crazy space spider. According to…

In the 1920s, Mobile Traffic Court Brought the Judge to You

Remember the last time you got pulled over for speeding? The cop slowly walked up behind your car, gave you a lecture about how the rules keep us all safe, and then handed you a ticket for a gajillion dollars. Well, just be thankful there wasn’t a judge and bailiff there. Because in 1926, traffic…

Scientists Found the Wolverine Healing Gene

Deep within our bodies are all kinds of genes that turn on and off over the years, including the very genes that make you grow a body in the first place. This is where scientists are looking for the magical code that could enable us to regrow organs and regenerate limbs. A Harvard researcher thinks…

What created such enormous craters on the Moon’s nearside?

Earth’s moon has been blasted by a lot of space rocks in its 4.5-billion-year history. While these impacts have left a near-uniform distribution of craters across our satellite’s surface, planetary scientists have shown that one of its sides – the side that faces Earth – bears significantly larger scars than the other. How can this…

Scientists are getting better at engineering monkeys to have human health problems, like autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease. As SciAm’s Hellen Shen writes, precision gene editing is paving the way for transgenic monkeys — and they could become better disease models than mice. But given what we know about animal cognition, we’re prompted to ask:…

First Clip from Stephen King and John Mellencamp’s Ghostly Musical

When John Cougar Mellencamp (sorry, can’t leave out the Cougar) told Stephen King about a cabin on his Indiana property where two brothers fought and one killed the other — only to die himself — it only took King a few days to come up with an outline for a stage play. Now witness the…

Power-Ups and Crash Damage Make These RC Cars a Real-Life Mario Kart

Griffin isn’t the first out the door with an RC toy that uses your iPhone as a remote control. But it is the first company to come up with some compelling ways to use the iPhone’s touchscreen for more than just steering. Its new Moto TC Rally car is packed with sensors that detect crashes…

Are our ideas of cities in space realistic?

Architect Daniel Carrapa offers an interesting view of how humans envision the space cities of the future and what these ideas tell about us today, but I’ve to confess I’m here for the concept porn. https://architizer.kinja.com/the-architect-s-guide-to-life-in-outer-space-1460198019

3D-Print Your Own 20-Million-Year-Old Fossils

What do you do if you don’t have a breathtaking room full of ancient bones and fossils? You get yourself a 3D printer and start downloading files from African Fossils, an online archive of prehistoric East African artifacts. No pith helmet required. https://gizmodo.com/inside-the-bone-room-where-dinosaurs-live-at-amnh-1179620156 With over 40 digitized fossils in their collection, you can explore 3D…

The Mysterious Tool-Making Culture Shared by Crows and Humans

Many animal species use tools, from insects, elephants and sea urchins to apes, badgers and octopuses, but there are only two animals who make hooks to catch food: humans and crows. Why we both do this is a mystery — and unraveling it could explain the reasons why tool use evolved in the first place.…