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Six Abandoned Asylums with Genuinely Chilling Backstories

We love looking at creepy photographs of former mental institutions that have fallen into disrepair, but sometimes the true stories behind these hospitals is far more horrifying. Here are a few abandoned and partially abandoned institutions will tales more chilling than their photographs. Top photo from an abandoned building at Trenton State Hospital, by David…

T-Mobile Has Unlimited Data/Text Plus 100 Minutes For $30

It’s not a lot of gab time and T-Mobile’s data speeds still tend to lag behind other major carriers, but for $30 a month this T-Mobile prepaid plan is cheap. 4G speed isn’t unlimited, but the cap is 5GB, which is pretty generous for a budget plan. The plan is for new activations only so…

A Lego Spaceship That Proves Size Isn’t Everything

This microbuild spaceship illustrates just what you can do with a few bricks and a great eye for design – and it finally proves that size isn’t everything (in this context at least). It’s named the UNES Odyssey 21, and it has a refreshingly creative, albeit Belgian flag-looking, aesthetic. You don’t see too many ships…

Watch a Young Louis CK Talk About His Amazing Toilet Photography

Things were different in the 90s. MTV had music, for instance, and Louis CK had just slightly more hair. A clip featuring both of those things surfaced just recently, and provides a rare look into the past as the young Louis CK tears into—among other things—shitty avant garde photography. Not a bad little bit. Calling…

DC and Marvel characters combine to form the ultimate superheroes

Eric Guzman decided to combine his two favorite comic book characters—Spider-Man and Batman—into a single mutant animal-themed hero. And he just kept going, coming up with Spider-Bat’s rogues gallery and more DC/Marvel mashed-up heroes. Amalgams [Eric Guzman via The Mary Sue]

Sum 41: Makes No Difference

Chances are you’re still tired of hearing Fat Lip from way back in the early 2000s, but don’t let that ruin Sum 41 for you. Their best song came before all that. Those of you who were into Dave Mirra’s Pro BMX 2 may know where I am going with this, but the rest of…

Why the Metadata the NSA Has on You Matters

In response to the recent news reports about the National Security Agency’s surveillance program, President Barack Obama said today, “When it comes to telephone calls, nobody is listening to your telephone calls.” Instead, the government was just “sifting through this so-called metadata.” The Director of National Intelligence James Clapper made a similarcomment last night: “The…

These Miniature Spy Cameras Could Make You The Perfect James Bond

We’ve introduced you some of the oddest vintage cameras before, but what if you’re in the market for something smaller, perhaps something that could be hidden in a pocket or a cigarette box? Here are some of the great spy cams ever sneak a photograph. https://gizmodo.com/pistol-cams-the-mammoth-camera-and-other-odd-vintage-508528801 Up top is the Bakelite Coronet Midget box camera…

This Papercraft BBQ Will Make You Hungry Enough to Eat a Notebook

Summertime is upon us, and that means it’s grilling season. You could go down to the store to pick up everything you need for a tasty BBQ, or you could just make do with what you can find on your desk. That second option is remarkably nice-lookin’ but probably not the most delicious. https://gizmodo.com/everything-you-need-to-grill-everything-but-steak-484753430 This…

In Da Vinci’s Demons‘ season finale, the Pazzi conspiracy is revealed

After a fun episode that focused on the fantastical secrets within the Vatican archives, it was a bit disappointing that the Da Vinci’s Demons finale returned to Florentine history for its season finale. But it finally brings the Pazzi conspiracy into the open, with plenty of blood. Spoilers ahead. Over the last few episodes, it…

Here’s the Official Government Fact Sheet on What PRISM Is and Does

When all the PRISM news broke, it didn’t take long for the US Government to fess up. President Obama even made a (bummer of a) statement on it. Now, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has put out an official fact sheet about what PRISM is and isn’t, according to the US Government. Think of…

Everything You Should Know About PRISM, What’ll Be at WWDC, And More

It’s been a long and tumultuous week. The revelation that the NSA is and has been spying on everyone and anyone through one of the must insane, high-tech espionage systems of all time has been one hell a ride, but we’ve also got some WWDC rumors, an amazing Photoshop prank, how the government shut down…

Three 15th-century figures try to alter fate by moving the stars

When Frederick III is commanded by the pope to attack Constantinople, Frederick consults the stars and finds that fate is not in his favor. His court astrologer, Regiomontanus, proposes a solution: Why not voyage into space and move the stars themselves? Adam Duncan directed The Adjustable Cosmos, based on the short story “Space Operetta” by…

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper has put out a press release about all this PRISM stuff. In short: ‘a lot of this stuff isn’t accurate but I can’t correct you because it’s classified.’

Watch the rotation of a binary asteroid and its orbiting moon

On May 31st, the asteroid 1998 QE2 passed within six million miles of Earth. A few weeks ago, we got a peek at some of the radar images of this unusual binary asteroid, and now additional radar images let us watch its orbiting moon. https://gizmodo.com/unusual-binary-asteroid-zooms-past-earth-tomorrow-510584487 These images were obtained by the Deep Space Network antenna…

How Fallout from Nuke Tests Just Proved that Brain Cells Regenerate

Before the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 barred all aboveground, subsea, and orbital nuclear weapons testing, the world’s nations were popping off nukes like champagne bottles on New Years. Surprisingly, that sprinkling of high-energy particles was actually quite beneficial, to science at least, as it’s just helped solve a longstanding dispute in human physiology—can…

Meet Boundless Informant: The NSA Tool That Watches the Entire Planet

Does the NSA have any secrets left? First there was PRISM—the network that’s collecting real-time data on American’s everywhere—and now The Guardian has turned up “Boundless Informant” which is indexing surveillance and espionage metadata from the ENTIRE WORLD. https://gizmodo.com/what-is-prism-511875267 Where PRISM collects data, Boundless Informant is all about organizing it. The system keeps take of…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Robot Barista

This coffee jockey finds herself far from Starbucks, astride an espresso machine that doubles as transportation. What stories happen in the course of her day? This illustration is “Coffee Robot” by Amelia Vidal, via reddit. As always, come up with your own story inspired by this piece of artwork and post it in the comments.…

Amazon Has a 3D Printer Section Now

3D printers just got a little more mainstream. Amazon has now opened its own 3D Printer page for the sale of printers and filaments so you can get all that jazz shipped right to your door with the greatest of ease. Amazon is peddling the MakerBot Replicator 2, Afinia 3D Printer H-Series, 3D Systems’ Cubify…

Surprisingly beautiful photographs of decaying cans of human remains

In a warehouse at the Oregon State Hospital (originally called the Oregon State Insane Asylum) contains an unusual library, one comprised not of books, but of copper canisters of unclaimed human remains. Photographer David Maisel has photographed what is left of the deteriorating portions of the asylum, as well as the people whose cremated bodies…