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An Alphabet of Alien Sounds

From “Aarg” to “Zzz” the sounds of monsters, robots, aliens, and more accompany the end of this Halloween week. A limited edition print by Tom Gauld.

1,250 LEDs Shimmer On the Surface of This Abandoned Oil Tank

The shift in season reminded me of this cool old project in cold Helsinki, where a team of designers turned an abandoned oil tank into a lovely, year-round public art project. The silo is located outside of Helsinki in Kruunuvuorenranta, a residential area across the water from the city. The neighborhood’s old harbor and terminal…

People are building enormous farms in the ruins of Detroit

Detroit isn’t a decaying city anymore — it’s a city in transition. Though its population dropped by 50 percent in the past half-century, and roughly a third of its buildings are abandoned, the place is coming to life again. Farmers are taking over the industrial wastes. According to Next Nature: Local businessman John Hantz just…

Now Available: iPad Air, Nest Protect, Lenovo Yoga Tablet

Another week done, another bunch of gadgets to ogle. Today’s big news was the iPad Air, but that’s not the only gizmo game in town. Here’s what you can get your grubby, sticky-from-Halloween-candy hands on. iPad Air It might not look a whole hell of a lot different from last year’s iPad, but the Air…

Comment of the Day: Theoretical Materials Edition

In today’s comments, we looked at some behavioral glitches in the animal kingdom, read physics journals with the hope of seeing the TARDIS in there (and it was!), and learned some fascinating new details about the world of theoretical materials science. We were joined for a Q&A today by Craig J. Fennie, a theoretical materials…

A Mountain Range of Shelves Turns This Kids’ Library Into a Playground

Learning to read is a massive adventure in itself, but discovering the library—a magical place where the stories are plentiful and the books are free—is downright mind-blowing. In an effort to match the fun between the pages, the Mexican branding studio Anagrama transformed the interior of a local heritage site into Niños Conarte, a geometric…

The physics of a popping bubble were never so gorgeous

Watch this bubble as it dissolves into drops. If you notice, the thinning portion loses it colors just before it bursts. Here’s why time, and decay, sap bubbles of their colors. These amazing photos of a breaking bubble show us the way color swirls on the bubble’s surface. Experienced bubblers know that colors change on…

Future Fashion From the 1939 World’s Fair Looked Really Uncomfortable

The Atlantic just published a gorgeous collection of images from the 1939 New York World’s Fair, including the photo above, which is brand new to this retro-future bloggist. It all looks pretty standard — except for the outfits. https://gizmodo.com/official-guide-book-1939-worlds-fair-512627265 The photo is cropped to show the Railroads on Parade stage show, which featured trains of…

Microgravity adds authenticity to ISS astronaut’s Superman costume

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano wore a very simple Superman costume in honor of Halloween, but he gets extra points for floating around the International Space Station in a Superman pose. Well, with the shaved head, Parmitano’s costume isn’t quite Superman: But he’s certainly succeeded in making anyone who wore a similar outfit back on Earth…

South African designers Warren Lewis and (the somewhat extraordinarily named) Porky Hefer have come up with Birdwatcher, a bird house in the form of a CCTV camera that will feed the local birds and help you scare burglars away. Birdwatcher “acts as a deterrent for uninvited visitors as it can be mounted outside, either on…

Watch a building get blown up in destructive slow motion

Sure slow motion is great for a lot of things but the effect is probably at its dramatic best when it captures explosions. Preferably building explosions. Preferably building explosions with a guy running away from said exploding building. The slow motion experts of the Slow Mo Guys laced a building with explosives and blew the…

The terrifying syndrome that takes away your ability to speak

Most of us take speech for granted. This is why Landau-Kleffner Syndrome is so terrifying. It can take away a person’s ability to make or understand speech – again and again. Landau-Kleffner Syndrome was first discovered in 1957, when William Landau and Frank Kleffner outlined the disease, and identified six different cases. Generally, the cases…

Everything you need to know to catch Sunday’s rare hybrid solar eclipse

The last solar eclipse of the year is happening on Sunday, and it’s a weird one. Here’s where, when, and how to catch Sunday’s rare hybrid solar eclipse. Top photo by Abel Pardo López What is a Hybrid Solar Eclipse? A hybrid solar eclipse is really two kinds of solar eclipse in one. Over the…

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

Long week, huh? Probably because of all the Halloween hoopla, which seems to have started last weekend and probably won’t let up til Sunday. If you’re a grown-ass adult sick of all this pumpkin pandemonium, check out these apps while you pointedly opt out of yet another dumb Halloween party. Ya big grump. Multi-Platform Updates…

Bizarre and vulgar illustrations from illuminated medieval manuscripts

How do you spice up the dull task of copying line after line of a medieval manuscript? Some monks added lighthearted touches to the marginalia of their manuscripts by doodling murderous beasts, penis monsters, and lots and lots of butts. Some images below are NSFW. Walking Fish from a 13th-century English Bible (via Discarding Images)…

The Latest Weapon Against Terrorists: Sewage-Sniffing Bomb Sensors

Bad guys can’t just close their window shades to hide from the law anymore. A European research group has developed a high-tech way to detect bomb makers and illegal drug labs—by sniffing what they flush down the toilet. The Emphasis project, led by an analytical chemist with Sweden’s Defense Research Agency and presented at last…

The Complete Guide to November’s Must-See Science Fiction and Fantasy!

November is exploding with science fiction and fantasy goodness. There are new books by Gene Wolfe and Cherie Priest. The TV debuts of Steven Universe and Almost Human. J.J. Abrams is doing a book event. Plus the Hunger Games! Here’s everything you need to know about this month. Top image: Starhawk by Jack McDevitt. As…

This is what happens when you try to scan a brain with a bullet in it

What you’re looking at is a CT scan from an 8-year-old girl who was accidentally hit by a bullet fired into the air during a marriage celebration. So why the distinctive pattern? Vaughan Bell from Mind Hacks explains: This pattern is an unintended consequence. It’s called a ‘streak’ or ‘star’ artefact and is caused by…

Possibly the Comfiest Nutcracker You’ll Ever Use

Halloween’s come and gone, and as we move towards the holidays, those dwindling bowls of candy will soon be replaced with overflowing mountains of nuts—necessitating some way to bust open those hard shells. A hammer’s a little brutish, and using your teeth is just a terrible idea. What you need is this lovely purpose-built nutcracker…

Tom Hiddleston is a vampire in the Only Lovers Left Alive trailer

Jim Jarmusch’s vampire love song Only Lovers Left Alive has a PERFECT cast. Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston play a pair of vampire lovers/rock and rollers who take on their wild little vampire sister Mia Wasikowska. Here is the very first trailer. The reviews have so far called this film fantastic, and we cannot wait…