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Why it took forever to allow public input on naming planets

Last week, the International Astronomical Union – the sanctioning body that oversees the naming of planets, among other things – reversed its official stance on 1) whether to bother naming extrasolar planets and 2) whether the public should be included in the naming process. XKCD’s take on the announcement is easily our favorite so far.…

This week’s DVDs are simply full of boobs

Sorry, but it’s true. There are countless series and movies and so forth being released this week that are essentially boob delivery devices. Hell, I didn’t even list them all (go check out The Big Bust Theory on your own time). Still, boobs notwithstanding, there are some gems to be found in this week’s DVD…

This F-35B’s Vertical Night Landing Makes It Look Like a Badass UFO

On August 14th, the amazing, hovering F-35B made its first, vertical, at-sea night landing on the USS WASP. We’ve seen it hover before, and even do a vertical take off, but man, nothing quite compares to the sheer night-vision, sci-fi awesomeness of this clip. https://gizmodo.com/watch-a-supersonic-jet-hover-with-breathtaking-stillnes-5496766 This successful test is just one of many stepping stones…

The military seeks help in developing an artificial human brain

The US military’s research wing, DARPA, is seeking help with a new project that would allow computers to imitate the human neocortex, the region of the brain we use for language, reasoning, and perception. What could go wrong? Though we already have machine learning algorithms that allow computers to make decisions based on constantly-shifting data,…

Four Fun Food Hacks to Teach Your Kids Science

With the fall term gearing up, you’ve got precious little time left to hang out with your kids before they’re trundled off to school. Entertain the ankle-biters and get their brains primed for learning with these amazing scientific food hacks. Hot Dogs Fresh Off the Electrode Who needs a grill when you can cook a…

A Retro Dock For the Public Radio Lover’s Smartphone

It’s by no means the first wooden dock designed to serve as a home base for your smartphone, but few are as charming as this faux radio by Areaware, which combines beech wood and brass to create the perfect bedside spot to rest your handset over night. Available in November, the dock features a hidden…

This map reveals how natural disasters affect the internet

If you want to know the internet is affected by natural disasters, here’s an amazing visualization. It shows all the places where internet service went down after Hurricane Sandy. In the future, disasters don’t just rob you of power and water — they rob you of information, too. Using a new internet research tool called…

Why shouldn’t Arrow cross over with the big-screen Justice League?

Warner Bros. is building on the success of Man of Steel by making a Batman/Superman movie. But how will Warners build the rest of its cinematic Justice League? One possible approach is to incorporate the successful universe that DC has already been building on the small(er) screen, with Arrow. https://gizmodo.com/theyre-doing-a-superman-batman-movie-but-thats-not-851711013 Whatever DC does after the…

Fukushima’s Now Surrounded by Extremely Radioactive Puddles

A water tank at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan apparently sprung a leak recently. The latest reports from the northern prefecture say that puddles have collected all around the plant, and the implication is clear. Fukushima has a whole new radioactive water problem. The amount of radiation detected in the puddles is not…

Explore London’s Tube In 3D With This Hypnotic Real-Time Map

Back in June, London’s transit corporation decided to release all of its information about bus and train departures to the public. That way, administrators probably figured, eager developers could use that data to build better transit apps. But the move has also resulted in some pretty interesting creative projects, too—like this one, which lets users…

Who the hell would buy a gold iPhone but a Russian street crook?

Like a terrible winter, the gold iPhone is coming. Multiple sources have confirmed that Apple’s next toy will be available in gold. Not real gold, but fake gold-colored aluminum. They will look like 1980s cigarette cases! Would you buy one of these garish things? Unless you’re someone pretending to be rich in Russia, China or…

In the first trailer for How I Live Now, the Apocalypse is a turn-on

Like a more romantic version of Red Dawn, behold the trailer for How I Live Now. This sexy young-adult apocalypse novel is translated onto the big screen with nuclear fall-out, and lots of cuddling in big comfy sweaters. Based on Meg Rosoff’s novel, this film stars Saoirse Ronan, who plays Daisy. She’s an angry girl…

Seoul’s Government Installed a Giant Ear to Collect Citizen Complaints

There’s something unsatisfying about making a traditional complaint. As you’re filling out the form, you can almost see the government bureaucrat crumpling it up and throwing it away a few days later. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just yell at the pencil pushers directly? In Seoul, you can. Outside Seoul’s City Hall sits…

These Trippy Spirals Are an Island’s Atmospheric Exhaust

The Earth’s atmosphere is actually a churning sea of fluid, though it’s easy to forget when you’re just hanging out, breathing it all in. This satellite shot of a tiny island in the Pacific shows the spiral trails it leaves as an ocean of air swirls by. These strange spiral eddies are called von Kármán…

This Fall’s Must-Read Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

If you want to read your eyeballs out this fall, you are in luck. Here are some of the science fiction and fantasy books we’re most excited about this season. Top image: Beyond the Rift by Peter Watts Remember, these are only a fraction of the books arriving this fall to fill your bookshelves with…

Remember the Year 2000, When We All Wore Radio Antenna Hats? 1939 Does

Mental Floss recently wrote a short post about a cool British Pathe video showing off what fashion designers of the year 1939 imagined we’d be wearing in the year 2000. And though the film largely focuses on designs for women, it didn’t leave out the men! Though the film doesn’t mention it, the short movie…

Amazon Just Went Down (Update: It’s Back!)

Looks like Amazon’s having a bit of trouble. The site went down several minutes ago, but has since been cycling through a fun little mix of the various “we’re down” banners. The above image is what you’ll currently get, and this was the first: https://gizmodo.com/amazon-com-is-down-update-it-wasnt-hacked-5980618 Amazon’s web services still claim to be mostly in working…

What’s happening to your brain right before you develop Alzheimer’s? Now we have a better idea. In a new paper, researchers describe how connectivity between brain networks begins to decay before Alzheimer’s symptoms appear. The regions most affected by the decay are associated with memory.

Presidential Hair and Plymouth Pebbles: The Illicit Souvenirs of Yore

Stealthily pocketing an actual, physical piece of a national monument is a modern-day no-no. But back in the day, it was pretty common to sneak a little something special to remember your trip by. The bizarre souvenirs that remain give us a glimpse at how tourists of the past memorialized their experiences. Souvenir Nation: Relics,…

Dealzmodo: Logitech Remotes, Mice, Keyboards, Pioneer Speakers, Vita

It’s definitely a Logitech kind of day here is Dealsland. The Logitech G700s Rechargeable Gaming Mouse is currently at its lowest price ever of $75, and is also winning the popular vote over at Kotaku. The Logitech Marathon Mouse is sitting within pennies of its historical low at $30, and the Logitech Wireless Keyboard K400…