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What’s the worst example of a badass who got wimpified?

This happens all the time. A character, or an entire civilization, are built up as being unstoppable and crushingly awesome. And then… the enwimpening. The most unstoppable force in the universe has a really simple weakness. Or the greatest fighter turns out to crumble under pressure. What’s your least favorite example of a powerhouse being…

The Origins Of Pacific Rim’s Giant Robots Explained

Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming Pacific Rim is the robot versus monsters mashup we’ve all been waiting for. But the origins of the giant mechas hasn’t been explained until now, which are obviously influenced heavily by anime. The above featurette takes a look at the Jaegers—German for hunter and a nickname of the bots—in the upcoming…

The Post-WWII Planes of the Future Had Legroom to Spare

It looks like American Airlines will soon be cramming even more seats into their already over-crowded planes. If this is the future, then where’s my legroom? Last week we looked at promises for futuristic homes during World War II and the attempt to dial back expectations for these “miracle houses” by the end of the…

U.S. Supreme Court Says Human Genes Can’t Be Patented. Sort of.

In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States has declared that isolated chunks of human DNA cannot be patented. And thank goodness for that. But it’s a ruling that comes with a compromise: Moving forward, companies can still patent synthetic genetic material. The court concluded today that human DNA is a product…

A Collection of Terrible Kitchen Accidents That You Don’t Want to See

One of the nice things about Kinja—Gawker Media’s new discussion platform—is how easily readers can create together the ultimate image collection about anything imaginable. Most compilations are truly beautiful, others surprising, some even insanely awesome. This one makes me queasy—but I can’t stop watching. https://deadspin.com/you-guys-got-nothing-ive-worked-in-restaurants-forever-513208411

An Office For Two That Transmogrifies Into a 6-Person Dining Table

Having enough room for separate working and dining tables is a luxury that most urban dwellers don’t have. But thanks to Daniel Liss’ transforming Table For Two, if you live in a small apartment you can now work on your cake and have a place to eat it too. The surface of the table splits…

Massive Floods Are Coming. We Are Not Prepared.

The risk of flood is on the rise, and experts agree: society isn’t ready for what lies ahead. Yesterday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published a landmark investigation on the connections between climate change, population growth and sea-level rise. The study concludes that the amount of the U.S. at risk for floods could increase…

Shooting Challenge: Primary Colors

Red, yellow and blue. They’re the most famous set of primary colors. And for this week’s Shooting Challenge, you’re going to capture them—all three of them—in one photo. The Challenge Photograph a scene with red, yellow and blue as its primary (no pun intended) focus. The Technique This is a tough challenge in that, while…

Hispanic Kid Destroys Twitter Racists With Exquisite Elegance

11-year-old mariachi singer Sebastien De La Cruz got viciously attacked by online racists after his National Anthem performance at Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The bigots accused him of being unfit to sing it because, they said, ‘he looks Mexican.’ But he’s not—and his dad is a US Navy vet. Watch his perfect reply…

The Surest Sign Yet That Apple TV Will Be a Gaming Console

This week, Apple released its first-ever instructions for designing and developing a game controller for use with Apple products. The evidence suggests that Apple is gearing up take gaming beyond the confines of its products. It’s going to condone console-style game development. And today’s game controller for iOS 7 could mean that tomorrow’s Apple TV…

Large Ladies Angrily Demand Cute Clothes

Why shouldn’t “plus size” ladies have the same cute clothes as non-plus-size ladies? There is no reason, that’s why. “According to the CDC, the average American woman is 5 foot 4, 167 pounds, and has a 37-inch waist—roughly a size 14. Yet most designer styles top out around size 12,” Laura Beck writes on Jezebel.…

A Tour of the New Makerbot Factory, Where 3D Printers Are Born

MakerBot is building an empire selling printers that make things—but have you ever wondered where the printers themselves are made? On June 7th, the company opened a huge new factory to accommodate the booming demand for Replicators, and we got a first-hand look inside. At the 50,00-square-foot operation, which is located on the waterfront deep…

Edward Snowden Used a Thumb Drive to Smuggle Thousands of PRISM Files

The highly-classified, confidential documents that revealed the NSA’s massive data-mining operation, PRISM, were leaked from the NSA’s facilities on none other than a simple, innocuous thumb drive. https://gizmodo.com/what-is-prism-511875267 Any sort of portable digital device is understandably barred by the highly secretive branch of government, but whistleblower Edward Snowden somehow managed to download thousands of files—of…

Are You Tired All the Time? Here Is Why and How You Can Solve It

If you feel dead tired even while you sleep well and exercise regularly, that could be the symptom of something bad happening of your body. Thankfully, that’s the exception and it’s usually caused by problems that are temporary, like high levels of stress or a bad diet. Here’s how to identify trouble and some ideas…

Why the Sunset Looks the Same on Mars as it Does in Beijing

On the left is the sunset as seen from Mars. On the right is the same view from Beijing. Were it not for the latter’s urban setting, you might not be able to tell the difference. Crazy, right? Fortunately, science can explain why. Joe Hanson is Ph.D biologist brain behind PBS’s It’s Okay to be…

What We Still Don’t Know About PRISM

A lot remains uncertain about the number of users affected by the NSA PRISM surveillance program that is taking place, the extent to which companies are involved, and how the NSA handles this sensitive data. Here are some of the biggest unresolved questions. Does the NSA regularly collect and examine a huge swath of the…

Everybody is trying to kill Bill in three new True Blood clips!

Everybody is trying to arrange a True Death for dear old Bill Compton on True Blood, it seems. Meanwhile, Bill has found time to wash his face, put on a clean henley, and walk around with a brand new shit eating grin. Welcome, Bill Compton The Worst 2.0. And two other clips show some quality…

This Bluetooth-Enabled Meat Thermometer Is Your Deal of the Day

Most people cook meat by feel with a timer, but sometimes you’ve got to step away from the grill. Or you need to know exactly how hot your meat is. There are lots of meat thermometers that can take a temperature, but wouldn’t you rather have one that you can monitor on your phone? The…

Daenerys’ whole storyline on Game of Thrones is messed up

Last week’s Game of Thrones season finale ended with a scene full of racial imagery that seemed kind of messed up. But actually, argues comedian Aamer Rahman, Daenerys’ whole storyline has been problematic from the very beginning. Here’s why. I’m late to Game of Thrones — but I caught up. And I couldn’t help photoshopping…

Sharing a link from Dropbox just got a little easier and faster. Now, when you right-click to share, you’ll see a “Share Dropbox Link” that will generate and automatically save said link to your clipboard. Neat. [Dropbox]