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Inside Google Japan’s Lovely, Bizarre, Hair-Covered Offices

Google’s company policy requires that each office reflect some of the local color of the city around it: Google Zurich has ski gondolas, Google Pittsburgh has steel mill photos, and so on. That policy results in designs that sometimes border on twee (see: Google London’s gratuitous Union Jacks), but sometimes, it ends up being brilliant…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

One of the Most Underrated Features of iOS 7

In previous versions of iOS, you had to slide to unlock in one very specific location. Now? Oh man. You can slide to unlock here: or here… even here… but surely not… here? Okay what about… here? Yes. As long as your gesture is vaguely left-to-right, you can unlock from anywhere on the display. It…

Tech News Michael Hession

Why it might be possible to go snowboarding on Mars

NASA scientists think that sliding chunks of frozen carbon dioxide — dry ice — may be responsible for creating track marks on some Martian sand dunes. Which brings up a totally awesome idea: Snowboarding down a Martian sand dune on a block of dry ice. NASA calls these strange formations linear gullies, and they measure…

io9 George Dvorsky

What Would Happen If Every Satellite Suddenly Died?

Imagine totally disconnecting from the world at large: internet, cell service, television—all totally gone, leaving you free from virtual distractions and the accompanying stress. It’s a fantasy most people have had at some point even if they never plan on following through. But what would happen if everyone was suddenly cut off—and it wasn’t by…

Space & Spaceflight Ashley Feinberg

How to freeze water in about half a second

Consider this your first class in ice wizardy 101. In the video up top, Grant Thompson of The King of Random demonstrates to transform water to ice in seconds flat, using bottled water, a freezer and some glassware. This is an example of supercooling – the process by which a very pure liquid is chilled…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Why Pandora Just Bought an FM Radio Station in South Dakota

Late in the day on Tuesday, news emerged that Pandora had acquired an FM radio station in South Dakota for an undisclosed sum. Yes, you read that right. The world’s largest internet radio station is getting into the terrestrial radio business, and it’s not because Pandora’s trying to build out its antique antenna collection. Either…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

This Video of a Snuggling Baby Sea Lion Will Break Your Heart Today

According to marine mammal rescue centers, many malnourished sea lion babies are appearing on Southern California beaches. The one in this sweet video, who jumped into a boat to snuggle with a complete stranger, seems to be one of them. Heart. Crushed.

Sploid Jesus Diaz

A better look at the Smaug the Terrible and other Hobbit 2 secrets

Yesterday you saw the very first trailer for Peter Jackson’s second Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug. Today we bring you screencaps of little details you may have missed, closer looks at new characters and Hobbit gifs! Behold a better look at the Lord Smaug, the Impenetrable! https://gizmodo.com/first-real-trailer-for-the-hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-512631106 Up top we have the dark version…

Movies Meredith Woerner

ESPN Is Killing 3D Broadcasts By the End of the Year

ESPN will kill ESPN 3D by the end of the year. The ill-fated 3D sports channel that started as an experiment in 2010 won’t be broadcast in any dimensions soon. This is huge news considering the significant investment that TV manufacturers and broadcasters have put forth in an effort to bolster the struggling tech. We…

Television Mario Aguilar

Why the hell didn’t the Green Lanterns pick Superman?

So last night I had a dream where I was watching TV, and in the background there was a very subtle joke I didn’t notice. I know this because 45 minutes later, I had another dream where someone explained the joke to me. This is completely blowing my mind. Anyways, on with your mail! Star…

io9 Rob Bricken

Experience Rome’s Coliseum Like It Just Opened Through This AR App

Even experiencing the ruins of a once great piece of architecture can be an amazing experience. But a company called AR-Media—the folks behind this instant mechanic app—have come up with another brilliant use for augmented reality that gives tourists a glimpse of a structure in all its original glory https://gizmodo.com/anyone-can-be-a-mechanic-with-this-brilliant-augmented-509999571 Thankfully, since everyone’s foolishly using…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

How the Automobile Became a Suicide Machine

New technologies can offer fantastic opportunities for humanity. They can help us become more mobile, more connected, and more safe from life’s everyday dangers. But along with all of the benefits, technology often also provides new, more accessible ways for us to off ourselves. And in the 1920s, the automobile offered that in spades. The…

Tech News Matt Novak

Here’s What Liking Stuff on Facebook Really Looks Like (It’s Beautiful)

The Facebook Like and Share are so ingrained into our day to day internet lives that they’re more than just verbs, they’re almost instinctual. But what does an inherently digital, formless thing like a Like actually look like? Well, a lot like this, actually. Facebook Data Science collected data about the likes and shares of…

Social Media Kyle Wagner

You can be allergic to water

Think you have it tough? At least when you’re feeling miserable you can cry. Some people break out in hives when they cry, because they’re allergic to the water in their own tears. On stressful days, I enjoy going for walks in the rain. Either they cheer me up, or I can tuck away my…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

These Six Adorable Animations Are Like Cheat Sheets For Design History

Ever wish you had a set of CliffsNotes for design? Now, thanks to online education company Open University, you do. This series of short videos covers the basics of six different major schools of design. They’re a fun, animated way to learn a little bit about the movements that took us from late 19th century’s…

Tech News Leslie Horn

Can Life Evolve from Wires and Plastic?

In a laboratory tucked away in a corner of the Cornell University campus, Hod Lipson’s robots are evolving. He has already produced a self-aware robot that is able to gather information about itself as it learns to walk. Like a Toy Story character, it sits in a cubby surrounded by other former laboratory stars. There’s…

Tech News Emily Monosson - Aeon Magazine

The Webcomic Guide to Quantum Physics

Last year, Jorge Cham of the webcomic Piled Higher and Deeper (a.k.a. PhD comics) combined animation with expert interviews to explain the Higgs Boson and black body radiation. Now, he’s trying his hand at quantum physics – a subject, he admits, he is somewhat mystified by. https://gizmodo.com/the-webcomic-guide-to-the-higgs-boson-5905897 https://gizmodo.com/the-webcomic-guide-to-black-body-radiation-and-the-colo-5968656 But then, says Cham, the mystifying nature…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

How Google Gives Your Information to the NSA

Ever since news of PRISM broke, there’s been a lot of confusion and denial about exactly how the NSA is getting your information from the companies that have been collecting it. Now Google’s fessed up to the details, and it’s unsurprisingly simple: by FTP or even by hand. https://gizmodo.com/the-tech-companies-in-prism-arent-telling-the-complete-512052926 Google spokesman Chris Gaither revealed the…

Tech News Eric Limer

An Itty Bitty Card Reader That Doesn’t Care Which USB End Is Up

If you’re rocking a classic laptop that hails from the time before SD card readers were a standard feature, Buffalo’s got you covered with an incredibly petite flash card reader that promises to handle up to 45 different formats. Of coure, that’s taking into account the endless varieties of SD, miniSD, and microSD cards on…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

Here’s what Electro will sound like in Amazing Spider-Man 2

I’m sorry to subject you all to a clip of Jay Leno, but Jamie Foxx was on last night and revealed what his evil Electro will talk like in The Amazing Spider-Man sequel. In a word: quiet. You can fast-forward the clip to 1:35 to get to the voice, but then you’ll miss him talking…

Movies Rob Bricken

Inside Google Japan’s Lovely, Bizarre, Hair-Covered Offices

One of the Most Underrated Features of iOS 7

Why it might be possible to go snowboarding on Mars

What Would Happen If Every Satellite Suddenly Died?

How to freeze water in about half a second

Why Pandora Just Bought an FM Radio Station in South Dakota

This Video of a Snuggling Baby Sea Lion Will Break Your Heart Today

A better look at the Smaug the Terrible and other Hobbit 2 secrets

ESPN Is Killing 3D Broadcasts By the End of the Year

Why the hell didn’t the Green Lanterns pick Superman?

Experience Rome’s Coliseum Like It Just Opened Through This AR App

How the Automobile Became a Suicide Machine

Here’s What Liking Stuff on Facebook Really Looks Like (It’s Beautiful)

You can be allergic to water

These Six Adorable Animations Are Like Cheat Sheets For Design History

Can Life Evolve from Wires and Plastic?

The Webcomic Guide to Quantum Physics

How Google Gives Your Information to the NSA

An Itty Bitty Card Reader That Doesn’t Care Which USB End Is Up

Here’s what Electro will sound like in Amazing Spider-Man 2

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