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Concept Art Writing Prompt: A Late-Night Alien Stick-Up

It appears that this fellow has found himself some trouble on a dark and stormy night. What hot water has he landed in? And who is on the other end of that phone call? This is a digital painting by concept artist Craig Sellars, via reddit. See if you can come up with a short…

An Olympic Torch just went on a spacewalk

The Olympic flame famously travels around the world, but this year an Olympic torch left Earth for a very special lap. This morning, Russian cosmonauts took the torch on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy began their six-hour spacewalk by posing with the (obviously unlit) torch outside the…

1 World Trade Center Lit Up For The First Time Last Night

One World Trade Center’s towering spire was light-tested last night. Wow is it pretty — and bright. https://gizmodo.com/watch-the-world-trade-centers-spire-rise-104-stories-i-487249511 New York Port Authority says the 300 red, white and blue LEDs illuminating the spire are visible up to 50 miles away. While it’s yet to be determined if One World Trade is, in fact, the tallest…

Dance Your PhD finalists have been announced, and they are GLORIOUS

Every year, Science’s Dance your PhD competition challenges grad students past and present to convey their dissertations with interpretive dance. Finalists for this year’s competition were just announced, and yes, they are amazing. https://gizmodo.com/ph-d-students-explain-their-research-using-interpretiv-5951989 https://gizmodo.com/check-out-the-winners-of-this-years-dance-your-phd-comp-5851521 Featured up top is one of the finalists in the Biology category: “Sperm competition between brothers & female choice,” by…

Superhero-inspired dresses for more formal cosplay wear

Looking for a dress that will make you feel like a superhero? Etsy seller Danielle Ward sells convertible dresses in colors and patterns inspired by comic books. Many of the dresses in the LittlePetalNYC shop don’t actually come off as cosplay; rather they’re versatile dresses—which can be worn in a number of different styles—that call…

Mass Graves, Jar Jar’s Demise, Coffee Science and More

Death was heavy on our minds this week — we explored the US’s largest mass grave and watched Jar Jar’s life end in a never-before-seen twist. Oh, and there’s a Pandora for pornography now. Thanks, internet! iPad Air Review: Bigger Gets So Much Better It’s hard to imagine that it’s been only three years since…

Absinthe hallucinations are the least weird part of this week’s Dracula

Dracula slowed down a lot this week, and when I say slowed down, I mean there was a goddamn 1960s hippie drug party freak-out right in the middle of it. We learn more about the origin of this insane interpretation of Dracula, it’s hammer time for Van Helsing, and Grayson gets busted. That’s slow for…

Watch two grumpy National Zoo tiger cubs take their swim tests

Before they can become part of National Zoo’s exhibit, Sumatran tiger cubs have to show that they can swim in the exhibits moat. Watch two unhappy cubs get their feet—and the rest of their bodies—wet. The male and female cubs, named Bandar and Sukacita, were born on August 5th and took their swimming reliability tests…

How to Protect Your Phone From the Police

Police forces around the country have developed the nasty habit of confiscating the phones of citizens who choose to film them, unilaterally deleting images and video of their actions. Whether that’s a Fourth Amendment violation is still being decided by the courts; until that happens, here’s how to protect your phone from the prying eyes…

Logan’s classic yellow costume unveiled in deleted Wolverine scene

The 2000 X-Men movie may have joked about putting Logan in yellow spandex, but The Wolverine nearly went one step better, showing off the yellow and black Wolverine outfit in a deleted scene. This is an extended version of the film’s final scene: [via /Film]

Daenerys Targaryen as Sarah Connor? Casting is underway for Alan Taylor’s Terminator reboot, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Pilgrim’s Brie Larson and Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke are both testing for the role of young Sarah Connor. [via The Mary Sue]

What happens when technology comes to kick fantasy’s ass?

The webcomic Black Rose is a tale of two nations. Ishtakar is a realm of the magic-using handwavers, while Athelica is a growing industrialized country, feeling the power of its guns and trains. But as tensions between the nations grow more violent, two siblings—a soldier and a high-class lady—find themselves caught in the middle. Arion…

I just got myself this awesome instant water purifier

If it works as advertised, the Whirlpool Every Drop is going to be one of my favorite gadgets ever. It purifies water as fast as it flows out of the faucet, making bottles of purified or spring water completely pointless. I’ve been looking for this all my adult life—and I just got one for $20.…

A bizarre stop-motion short film starring puppets made of meat

Wolfgang Matzl’s shot M is for Meat is a wonderfully weird bit of horror, starring people made of prosciutto and one appetite-ruining chicken wing. Matzl created the short as part of the competition for The ABCs of Death 2. Each ABCs of Death film consists of 26 shorts, one for each letter of the alphabet.…

Make Matches Into Mini Missiles Using Common Household Junk

Wile E. Coyote always used matches to light his ACME rockets. He wasted a lot of money. Turns out, you can cut out the middleman and use matches to make your own tiny rockets. Just don’t try to ride them. YouTube madman mist8k brings us this fun little trick that turns match heads into motors…

Watch all 30 minutes of recovered Return of the Jedi footage

A few weeks ago, drips of lost footage filled with cut takes from Return of the Jedi began appearing online. Now you can see all 30 minutes of the recovered footage, compiled into a single video. https://gizmodo.com/yoda-hams-up-his-death-scene-in-more-new-return-of-the-1454219822 These 30 minutes of film, containing scenes between Luke and Yoda on Dagobah, come from the Return of…

The Kitchen Gadgets Worth Your Money

In case you haven’t noticed, we love gadgets around here. In fact, our list of our favorite kitchen gear quickly became far too long for a single article, so we’re splitting it in half. We present to you our favorite Kitchen Gadgets, and stay tuned in the near future for our favorite Cooking Gear. As…

Watch the Olympic Torch On Its First Spacewalk, Live Right Now

The Olympic Torch has embarked on its longest trip yet, and right now it’s on a pretty scenic stop: a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Watch live on NASA’s stream right here.

Casey Jones returns to TMNT plus the Ultimate Spider-Man season finale

This week in the world of cartoons, Casey Jones stars on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the season finale of Ultimate Spider-Man airs, and we welcome the newest show from an Adventure Time alum, Steven Universe. Avengers Assemble is currently slated to return next week. As always – minor spoilers ahead! Adventure Time – “Play Date”…

5 Retrofuturistic Designs That Helped J Mays Reshape the Automobile

Ford Motor Company announced this week that top designer J Mays is retiring. In his 33-year career and 16-year tenure at Ford, Mays ushered in the era of retrofuturistic styling that other car companies scrambled to follow. Here, we look back at five of his vehicles that steered the shape of automotive design. Audi Avus…