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Earth’s Mysterious Third Radiation Ring Driven By ‘Different Physics’

Earlier this year, NASA scientists discovered a “previously unknown surprise circling Earth” — an ephemeral third ring of radiation surrounding our planet. Now, some eight months later, UCLA scientists say they know what’s going on — and it’s unlike anything physicists have ever seen before. https://gizmodo.com/nasa-weve-discovered-a-previously-unknown-surprise-c-5986821 Top image: The third ring between the two belts.…

Tesla gets a monument in New York, one of many recognitions to come

Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic unveiled a monument to Nikola Tesla yesterday at the Serbian-born scientist’s former Wardenclyffe laboratory in Long Island. The ceremony comes not long after Matthew Innman, creator of webcomic The Oatmeal, succeeded in raising the funds required to buy back Tesla’s old laboratory. https://gizmodo.com/the-oatmeals-tesla-museum-campaign-has-totally-oblitera-5937950 With the help of an $850,000 matching grant…

The Intricate Makeshift Money Germans Relied On Between World Wars

State-issued currency is the scaffolding upon which capitalism was built, but it’s always been prone to mayhem. For instance in 1920s Germany, extreme inflation forced German businesses to actually print millions of their own customized paper bills. Now largely forgotten, this notgeld, or “emergency money,” was once ubiquitous—amounting to an ornately-decorated I.O.U. in Weimar Germany.…

How to run like a champ without hurting yourself

If you like to run to keep yourself in shape, you need to read this guide by running coach Jason Fitzgerald. Patience, other kinds of exercise, and even napping—among other things—are all necessary to run effectively and not get hurt. https://lifehacker.com/seven-things-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-started-running-1370937569

Remote Lock Comes to Android

A new remote locking feature just appeared in the Android Device Manager. Users running Android 2.2 or better can now lock a lost or stolen phone, even if it’s in use. The new functionality asks you to enter a PIN that will unlock your phone once it’s found — Google recommends you use something different…

The future of Firefly will finally be revealed in a new Serenity comic

There have been plenty of Firefly/Serenity comics, but only now will you get to see the rest of the story. Dark Horse has announced the first-ever continuation of the Firefly series, with a new Serenity comic set after the events of the beloved (if somewhat devastating) movie. Here’s the summary: As the series begins, Mal…

Apple briefly had an option yesterday to order an iPhone 5S online and pick it up at your local store, but it seems to have disappeared. Looks like you’ll either have to wait til October for shipping, or just make your purchase at the store. [9to5Mac]

Chewbacca may return to the next Star Wars movie

A casting call shows that JJ Abrams may be planning to bring the legendary wookie Chewbacca back to the new Star Wars movie. Peter Mayhew—the actor who played Han Solo’s buddy in the original trilogy—may have too many health problems to reprise his role, but nobody will notice. http://gawker.com/tsa-attempts-to-confiscate-chewbacca-actors-light-sabe-512212752 Luke, Han and Leia, on the…

What Will Our Monument to History Be?

The ancient Egyptians left behind the pyramids and the Romans, the Colosseum. What will our monument to history be? It could be a stadium or a mall. It could be one of our actual monuments. It could be the swirling vortex of trash, leftover plastic tabs, and bits of shopping bags that make up the…

How to Get Rid of That Annoying Blue Gmail Favicon

Over the course of the last several days or weeks, your beloved Gmail icon—that red envelope sitting comfortably in your left-most Chrome tab—may have been replaced by a hideous blue gear and equally off-putting gold wrench. It is gross. Here’s how to fix it. One industrious mind at DevBlog has shared a mostly perfect solution…

People have been addicted to this stupid game for seventeen years now

Pokemon. I remember playing it a couple times and it was more boring than C-SPAN. But it’s one of the most popular games in history. People have been playing this video game—which started as a card game—for seventeen years now. Insane. https://kotaku.com/seventeen-years-of-pokemon-in-a-single-image-1376377672

Watch This Lounger Free Up Floor Space When You Climb Off

When living in a small apartment there are compromises you learn to live with for the cheaper rent—mainly the lack of space. But SplinterWorks, the same folks responsible for that stunning carbon fiber hammock tub, have created the clever Bodice lounger that automatically stands up and out of the way when not in use, saving…

The most astonishing timelapse of Burning Man you will ever see

Burning Man 2013 may have come to a close, but now’s the time when all the cool videos start to come out. Case in point is this stunning timelapse of Blackrock City as seen from the peak of Old Razorback, a height of 1,888 feet. The week-long countercultural festival, which is held every year at…

Are some of Star Wars‘s most beloved aliens returning for Episode VII?

Tom Hiddleston explains why Loki is slightly different from King Henry V. Duncan Jones has some more intriguing names in mind for World of Warcraft. Alex Winter offers a Bill & Ted 3 update, while director Francis Lawrence talks Catching Fire. And a classic dystopian novel gets adapted. Spoilers ahoy! Top image from Catching Fire.…

31 Photos From the Golden Age of Airships, When Zeppelins Ruled the Sky

It’s been nearly a century since airships floated by the Empire State Building. But now that the aluminum airship of the future is here and almost ready to carry passengers, it’s high time that we took a look back to those few decades when majestic zeppelins seemed like the future of travel. https://gizmodo.com/the-aluminum-airship-of-the-future-has-finally-flown-1301320903 Below is…

This Robo-Fishmonger Fillets With Laser Precision

If you don’t know a gill from a dorsal fin, don’t worry: this robot, developed by Harry Westavik’s team at SINTEF Fisheries and Agriculture in Trondheim, Norway, uses 3D laser scanning to fillet your fish with precision. Using a heap of algorithms, the robot can work out the best place to cut the fish, even…

Apple has quietly updated its iMacs to include fourth-gen Intel quad-core processors, new graphics, next-gen Wi-Fi, and faster flash storage. The new computers are available today starting at $1,300 for the 21.5-inch model and $1,800 for the 27-incher.

iPhone A7 Chip Teardown: Power-Dense Samsung Silicon

We’ve already seen inside the iPhone 5S and found out that its guts are blisteringly fast—but now iFixit has taken a very close look indeed at the A7 silicon that powers the new phone. https://gizmodo.com/the-iphone-5s-teardown-everything-new-is-on-the-inside-1352885479 By using an Ion Beam Etcher, it’s possible to take layers off a semiconductor and analyze how it’s made. So…

You Need to Hit 1.2 Million MPH to Exit the Milky Way

If this entire planet, solar system and galaxy just doesn’t hold enough excitement for you, be prepared to pick up some speed—because scientists have worked out that you need to be travelling at a staggering 1.2 million mph to exit the Milky Way. A team of researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics in Potsdam,…

Samsung Plans Bendable Plastic OLED Display for a New Galaxy Note III

Samsung may well be the first company to actually deliver on the endless promise that flexible displays are on the way, with a limited edition Galaxy Note III with a plastic OLED screen said to be in production. Obviously the fact that this screen will (almost certainly) have to be stuck inside the usual rigid…