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Amputee duck gets a high-tech 3D-printed foot, waddles into our hearts

Buttercup the duck was born last November in a high school bio lab with his left foot facing backwards. The foot was later amputated, but Buttercup has a new, 3D-printed foot now, and watching him put it to use is making us kind of misty-eyed. The prosthesis was produced by engineers at Novacopy, some months…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

15 Tools That Helped Pioneers Survive on the American Frontier

American culture unapologetically romanticizes the lives of the first pioneers. Through rose-colored glasses, we see Manifest Destiny as fate, leading our heroic ancestors across a perfectly manicured landscape. In reality, the frontier was a terrifying, dangerous wilderness. And you were only as good as the tools you carried. Pioneers were responsible for clearing their own…

Tech News Attila Nagy

Bone Marrow Transplants Remove All Sign of HIV in Two Men

It’s turning into quite a year for HIV treatment. First a baby girl was functionally cured of the HIV virus, then 14 adults were successfully treated with early-stage ARV drugs. Now, two men with longstanding HIV infections have been freed from HIV drugs thanks to bone marrow transplants. We’re really getting there. The two men—one…

Health Jamie Condliffe

Lone Ranger is Johnny Depp’s tribute to shitty superhero origin films

Lone Ranger appears to be many things, including: 1) A mistaken attempt to revamp a 1950s cowboy show for 21st-century audiences. 2) A Pirates of the Caribbean film where Captain Jack has a bird on his head. But really, it’s a celebration of craptastic origin stories, that takes them to their ultimate level of crap.…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Final Pacific Rim Trailer: A Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Slugfest For the Ages

Next week the giant monsters versus giant robots eyeball party that is Pacific Rim will be hitting theaters, and today we’re getting our final look at the film before you have to go out and buy a movie ticket to see the rest. The last trailer is more of the towering rock’ em sock’ em…

Movies Andrew Liszewski

Google wants to send you searching for answers in a Kafkaesque world

Today’s Google Doodle pays tribute to Franz Kafka on his 130th birthday. Specifically, Kafka’s famous story in which Gregor Samsa turns into a bug. And if you need more Kafka in your life, consider buying a lovely, strange new book, My First Kafka by Matthue Roth and Rohan Daniel Eason. Yep, it’s Kafka for kids.

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

If you can’t taste sugary foods, you could be at risk for sterility

Genetics can get really weird sometimes, particularly when two seemingly unrelated traits are connected by a common thread. In a recent and completely unexpected finding, scientists linked male sterility to a genetic inability to taste sweet and savory foods. It’s actually quite rare for cells to use just one signalling pathway. Evolution doesn’t like to…

io9 George Dvorsky

Why do post-apocalyptic people dress like morons?

One note before I open up this week’s mailbag: As last week’s “PA” revealed, I am not infallible. I don’t know why you would think so, given that I’m a fictional fake postman. I know a lot of junk, but I think I know more than I do, so I rely on you attractive readers…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken

The Invisible Electronic Fields That Surround Your MacBook

You might view your laptop as a nice, neatly contained unit—but there’s more bursting out of it than meets the eye. In fact, all of its electrical components create complex magnetic and electric fields that spread far and wide, and this video shows you their reach. A project by Luke Sturgeon and Shamik Ray from…

Physics & Chemistry Jamie Condliffe

How (and why) to make a diamond burn

If diamonds are just lumps of precisely-structured carbon, why don’t they burn? Actually, they do. And proving that they do is one of the things that cost a famous scientist his life. I wrote last week about Antoine Lavoisier, who died, in part, because he had mocked the scientific discoveries of someone who became one…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 trailer has more puns than people

Can the sequel of the surprisingly heartfelt and adorable CG movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs live up to its predecessor? We’re not sure, but one thing it can to is win the Oscar for most puns in a film. Good lord, there a ton of puns in this trailer. The new film returns…

Trailers Meredith Woerner

Beautiful bird sculptures made entirely of typewriter parts

Oakland-based artist Jeremy Mayer has an impressive knack for recycling typewriters into marvelous anatomical sculptures. Perhaps best known for his full-scale, anatomically correct human figures, he also dabbles in deer, damselflies and, in one of his more recent projects, birds. As with all of Mayer’s projects, these swallows were not soldered, welded or glued together…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Is It OK to Talk on Your Phone When You’re at the Checkout?

The UK media is weirdly ablaze this morning over a story about a store attendant who flipped out when a customer refused to stop talking on her phone while at the checkout. But is that rude, or is it now socially acceptable? According to the customer, a 26-year-old Jo Clarke, the store assistant barked “I…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Why is Batman so red in the Beware the Batman opening?

Yes, red. That’s… that’s all I got from the upcoming Batman cartoon’s opening credits, other than Katana wants to attack the viewer with a sword and Alfred wants to punch us in the face. Is Batman a Soviet Communist in this? Is this an Elseworlds tale starring Red Son Batman? I’m skeptical, but man he’s…

io9 Rob Bricken

A guy in a Darth Vader suit may have run the hottest mile EVER

This past June 30th, as part of the Darth Valley Challenge — an insane annual event where people run through Death Valley in their favorite Star Wars costume — Jonathan Rice ran a mile in 6 minutes and 36 seconds. It was 129 degrees at the time, so that might actually be a world record!…

io9 George Dvorsky

Hints and Revelations for The Crow, The Giver, Maze Runner and TMNT!

The Crow comic creator joins the movie remake. The Giver gets a lead. Shredder gets a new backstory in the TMNT movie. Go behind the scenes at The World’s End. Get a sneak peek at The Maze Runner and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Plus find out what’s ahead in Teen Wolf, Arrow and…

io9 Amanda Yesilbas

Will.i.am Wants to Sell You a Cuddly Gadget That Does Everything

Will.i.am has been describing a mad plan to launch a… thing that combines cuddly toy, Wi-Fi hotspot, mobile phone and speaker system in one unit. No, really. Mr I.am described the dawn of the tech creative process like this: “Last November I was walking throughHarrods and I picked up a little stuffed animal. Right next…

Gadgets Gary Cutlack - Gizmodo UK

Photographs From Hurricane Sandy, Visualized

This might look like your car’s speedometer, but it is in fact a clever visualization of photographs taken during Hurricane Sandy last year. Part of a Digital Humanities project called Phototrails, the radial plot shows23,581 photos uploaded to Instagram in Brooklyn area during Hurricane Sandy between November 29th and 30th of last year. The team…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Travelling at the Speed of Light Could Make Your Ass Look Great

Next time you’re trying to squeeze into your skinny jeans, it might pay to give physics a thought—because depending on how fast you’re travelling, you fat frame could look a little different. Randall Munroe explains in the mouse-over text of today’s XKCD: “It’s commonly believed that Lorentz contraction makes objects appear flatter along the direction…

Physics & Chemistry Jamie Condliffe

A State Department Bureau Spent $630,000 Buying Facebook Likes

Officials from the Bureau of International Information Programs inexplicably spent a whopping $630,000 to secure Facebook likes in recent years. Stumping up the cash between 2011 and March 2013, the Bureau—which is part of the US Department of State—grew its number of likes from 100,000 to more than 2 million. Understandably, that’s not gone down…

Social Media Jamie Condliffe

Amputee duck gets a high-tech 3D-printed foot, waddles into our hearts

15 Tools That Helped Pioneers Survive on the American Frontier

Bone Marrow Transplants Remove All Sign of HIV in Two Men

Lone Ranger is Johnny Depp’s tribute to shitty superhero origin films

Final Pacific Rim Trailer: A Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Slugfest For the Ages

Google wants to send you searching for answers in a Kafkaesque world

If you can’t taste sugary foods, you could be at risk for sterility

Why do post-apocalyptic people dress like morons?

The Invisible Electronic Fields That Surround Your MacBook

How (and why) to make a diamond burn

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 trailer has more puns than people

Beautiful bird sculptures made entirely of typewriter parts

Is It OK to Talk on Your Phone When You’re at the Checkout?

Why is Batman so red in the Beware the Batman opening?

A guy in a Darth Vader suit may have run the hottest mile EVER

Hints and Revelations for The Crow, The Giver, Maze Runner and TMNT!

Will.i.am Wants to Sell You a Cuddly Gadget That Does Everything

Photographs From Hurricane Sandy, Visualized

Travelling at the Speed of Light Could Make Your Ass Look Great

A State Department Bureau Spent $630,000 Buying Facebook Likes

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Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

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Let us help find what you are looking for...

Latest

Amputee duck gets a high-tech 3D-printed foot, waddles into our hearts

15 Tools That Helped Pioneers Survive on the American Frontier

Bone Marrow Transplants Remove All Sign of HIV in Two Men

Lone Ranger is Johnny Depp’s tribute to shitty superhero origin films

Final Pacific Rim Trailer: A Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Slugfest For the Ages

Google wants to send you searching for answers in a Kafkaesque world

If you can’t taste sugary foods, you could be at risk for sterility

Why do post-apocalyptic people dress like morons?

The Invisible Electronic Fields That Surround Your MacBook

How (and why) to make a diamond burn

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 trailer has more puns than people

Beautiful bird sculptures made entirely of typewriter parts

Is It OK to Talk on Your Phone When You’re at the Checkout?

Why is Batman so red in the Beware the Batman opening?

A guy in a Darth Vader suit may have run the hottest mile EVER

Hints and Revelations for The Crow, The Giver, Maze Runner and TMNT!

Will.i.am Wants to Sell You a Cuddly Gadget That Does Everything

Photographs From Hurricane Sandy, Visualized

Travelling at the Speed of Light Could Make Your Ass Look Great

A State Department Bureau Spent $630,000 Buying Facebook Likes

Even the ‘Avatar’ Fighting Game Is Disrespecting ‘Legend of Korra’

Bluesky Has a New App, and It’s All About AI

Dammit, Jim, He’s a Doctor *And* an Action Figure!

Whatever Just Happened with ‘Fruit Love Island,’ Nobody Won

AMC Puts a Stake in ‘Talamasca’ After One Season

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

2027 Is Shaping Up to Be a Great Year for Big Sci-Fi RPGs

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Let us help find what you are looking for...

Dammit, Jim, He’s a Doctor And an Action Figure!