Latest

NASA Satellites Can Even Make a Devastating Drought Look Incredible

Watching the animation above, it’s hard not to get goosebumps when the the clock hits 2012 and the whole United States goes red. That’s what it looks like from space when the Earth is parched. The visualization above combines data from NASA’s twin GRACE satellites with other satellite data to figure out how much water…

The best of D23: Singing “Let’s Go Fly A Kite” with Richard Sherman

Behold the Disney legend behind the music of “It’s a Small World,” “The Tiki Room,” Winnie The Pooh, The Aristocats and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in action. Watch as Richard Sherman joins Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak for a rousing singalong of “Let’s Go Fly A Kite.” Richard Sherman and his equally musical brother Robert…

Brave the Amazon With a Stand Up Paddleboard That Turns Into a Tent

As paddleboarding surges in popularity, it looks like it could soon replace the canoe as the defacto mode of transport for weekend camping excursions. A company called Coreban has teamed up with celebrity outdoorsmen Bear Grylls to create the Ultimate Adventure Tent: an inflatable paddleboard that gets you to your campsite and gives you a…

New York City may get cool beaches to protect itself against hurricanes

After Sandy struck in 2012, New York City has been looking for ways to protect itself against the next hurricane flood. One of them is the East River Blueway, a plan to line part of Manhattan with beaches and marshes—and hopefully make the river clean again (doubtful!) Crazy? There are two other plans that are…

For the automation-crazy out there, The New York Times has just been added to the list of channels available through the IFTTT. So now you can instantly Instapaper, Pocket, etc. the latest scree from your favorite columnist.

This Week’s TV: How well does the science of Breaking Bad hold up?

This week’s TV shows include Syfy’s brand new reality show about cosplayers. Mythbusters takes on Breaking Bad. Plus a Phineas & Ferb/Avengers crossover. And the season finale of True Blood. Futurama’s Fry is reunited with his dog Seymour! Being Human ends. Here are clips and details for this week’s TV! Top image: Heroes of Cosplay/Chloe…

LG Made a Retro Wood-Panelled LED TV with Knobs and Everything

As companies like Apple and Samsung are heralding the end of the button, LG is taking its design in a different direction. This new “Classic TV” features a wood-panelled front complete with tuning knobs and buttons to create what LG describes as a “classic Scandanavian-style design that emphasizes simplicity, modernity.” The 32-inch LED TV is…

A Rare Behind the Scenes Look at How Dyson Torture Tests Its Vacuums

Did you know the polycarbonate plastic material that Dyson uses for the dirt collecting bins on its vacuums is the same material used to make police riot shields? We all know that Dyson makes some of the best vacuums on the market, but the company is now giving us an inside look at its R&D…

Dozens of dead and disoriented birds ‘fall like rain’ over Winnipeg

In what is being described as a scene straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, hundreds of black birds, possibly grackles, began flocking in a “bizarre manner” atop trees, rooftops, and vehicles in Winnipeg’s north end. And then they just started to drop one by one “like raindrops.” Animal experts are baffled. Conservation officers have…

These Timber Transports Were Built from the Wood They Shipped

Almost all early sawmills utilized water power to drive their sawblades, and were therefore located on riverbanks. This made delivering wood a breeze—just chop down a patch of timber upriver, push the felled logs into the water, and float them down to the mill. In narrow stretches of water, the logs could be pushed down…

Cowboy Bebop is finally coming to Blu-ray in North America

Dear anime fans who have been waiting for a truly HD version of the Cowboy Bebop: Your wait is almost over. At Otakon this past weekend, Funimation announced they “rescued” over a dozen Bandai Entertainment titles, and will finally be releasing a Blu-ray version of Bebop in America next year. Here’s everything else Funimation announced:…

Beautiful Tapestries Woven From Your Computer’s Raw Data

In medieval times tapestries were used to commemorate epic battles, document family histories, and even immortalize heroes. These days, artists like Phillip Stearns use them as a physical representations of the digital bits and bytes flowing through our electronic hardware. The last time we checked in with Stearns he had created a series of Glitch…

This Could Be Our First Look at a Colorful Budget iPhone

Just the other day we saw a beautiful budget iPhone backing that we’re hoping is real, and now we’re catching a glimpse of its colorful twin. Same sweet design, same heap of skepticism, but we just love imagining an incoming family of these colored bad boys. https://gizmodo.com/oh-man-i-want-these-budget-iphone-photos-to-be-real-1054208244 Just like last time, the photos come from…

Minimalist Periodic Table Brings Simplicity to the Elements

One of the latest in a long tradition of beautifully unconventional periodic tables, this minimalist design from graphic artist Alison Haigh may be the most elementary take on elements we’ve seen yet. https://gizmodo.com/damn-this-periodic-table-is-beautiful-510648468 You’ll find no elemental names on the London-based designer’s periodic table. You won’t encounter any numerals, either – Arabic or Roman. Atomic…

Things don’t get much better than dogs listening to headphones

To be a dog and do nothing all day but eat, sleep, pee and poop anywhere you want to, get scratched, and listen to music. The next best thing: Enjoying these photographs of old school dogs rocking at Paleofuture. https://gizmodo.com/dogs-listening-to-the-radio-will-cure-your-case-of-the-1107119470

Three Major Ways NYC Is Already Preparing For the Next Big Storm

In June, Mayor Bloomberg presented a 438-page proposal that laid out hundreds of ways in which New York needs to adapt to survive storms like Sandy, which hit the city almost a year ago. Some of his recommendations were sensible, others were intriguing. Most of them seeemed like long-term investments. But the city is actually…

This is what they do to smoldering trucks in Canada

Using a normal hose connected to a firetruck to put out a small fire is too boring. In Newfoundland, Canada, they know how to have fun—which is why they drop a ton of water from a giant firefighting airplane instead. https://jalopnik.com/watch-a-water-bomber-dump-hundreds-of-gallons-on-a-fl-1107626415

Finding Nemo 2 was changed thanks to the Blackfish documentary

There may be something darker brewing under the surface of the Finding Nemo sequel Finding Dory. Turns out the absolutely devastating orca documentary about the killer whale Tilikum (who killed three trainers) has altered the movie’s ending. At D23 Pixar announced their plans for the fishy sequel, without a hint of a darker SeaWorld-slamming story.…

North Korea Says It’s Manufacturing Smartphones with “High Pixels”

North Korea is known for a lot of things: propaganda, prison camps, starving citizens. Manufacturing high-end electronics is not one of them. But who says a scrappy little country Dennis Rodman-loving totalitarian dictator can’t dream? https://gizmodo.com/the-most-insane-north-korean-propaganda-5821434 North Korea is apparently busy “manufacturing” its very own smartphone, the “Arirang.” Kim Jong-Un visited the Pyongyang factory, where…

45 Seconds Is All This Kettle Needs To Boil Water

When the craving for Ramen noodles hits, no one wants to have to wait for minutes on end before they can enjoy a bowl of salty goodness. So Tiger, maker of some of the most advanced rice cookers on the planet, has used its expertise in heating things up to create a steam-free kettle that…