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This Is What an Undersea Data Cable Actually Looks Like

The internet doesn’t just happen; it’s served up to us by thousands of miles of physical cabling, and much of it, naturally, has to stretch under the sea in order to make it truly international. In case you’ve ever wondered, this is what one of those cables actually looks like. https://gizmodo.com/these-are-all-the-cables-that-carry-the-internet-under-5980965 When they’re not being…

What if OS X Looked Like iOS 7?

iOS 7 hasn’t even been shipped to the public yet, but we’ve seen almost everything about it already, and it’s radically different in design aesthetic from anything Apple’s done before. It’s Jony Ive’s creation, and it’s certainly colourful—but what if Apple applied the same aesthetic to OS X as well? These stunning design concepts are…

This Beautiful Hubble Image Solves a 40-Year Scientific Mystery

This image, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, depicts the Magellanic Stream: a long ribbon of gas which stretches nearly halfway around our galaxy. But it also solves a 40-year mystery of where the damn thing came from, too. The image shows how the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds—two dwarf galaxies which orbit our very…

What It Means to Be an NSA ‘Target’

An important New York Times investigation from today reporting that the NSA “is searching the contents of vast amounts of Americans’ e-mail and text communications into and out of the country,” coupled with leaked documents published by the Guardian, seriously calls into question the accuracy of crucial statements made by government officials about NSA surveillance.…

How Different Countries See Each Other, According to Google

Google search suggestions are a mixed blessing—but sometimes they can prove hilarious. Like this series of locality based suggestions, which show what different countries really think of each other. Put together by Noah Veltman, this graphic relies on the variation of search suggestions by location. And it really works. Here, you can see suggestions for…

A Size Comparison of (Almost) Everything

If you’ve always wondered how big, say, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is relative to the Sydney Opera House, then this is the visualization for you: a size comparison of (almost) everything. Put together by sixteen-year-old deviantART user Lexinator117, this HUGE visualization compares a mixture of fictional characters and real-life objects. Lexinator117 explains his research:…

Another Secure Email Service, Silent Circle, Is Shutting Down

Silent Circle, an email provider which guarantees end-to-end secure email, has announced that it’s going the same way as Edward Snowden’s beloved Lavabit and shuttering over concerns of external pressures. https://gizmodo.com/somebody-read-government-goons-shut-down-edward-snow-1070103469 In a blog post, Silent Circle’s CTO Jon Callas explained that the move is a result of *cough* outside *cough* pressures that prompted Lavabit…

Roku’s updated iOS app now lets you stream video directly from your iPhone to its set-top boxes. Which is neat.

This incredible intergalactic game is a sci-fi fan dream

Some scientists think our reality may be a computer simulation programmed by aliens. After you watch X Rebirth—a beautiful universe simulator set in a faraway future in which interstellar travel is possible—you’ll think the theory may not be that crazy. This is so ridiculously amazing that it may end up being as addictive as crack.…

This Leaked iPad Display Shows What the Next iPad Might Look Like

It’s that time of the year again! When next iPhones and next iPads magically manifest themselves through supply chain leaks and third party dealers. This time, the leak shows what could be the display for the next iPad. If real, it shows that the next full-sized iPad will have a super thin bezel just like…

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Emotions

Ron Burgundy may have said it best, but he never said it with torn paper and red paint standing in for his own conflicting emotional states of rage towards Steve Graff for throwing his beloved Baxter from a bridge and his smoldering desire for the awesome-heine’d Veronica Corningstone.

Who Is Exactly Who on a Movie Set and What Do They Do?

Movies, we love them. Actors, we celebrate them. Directors, we lionize them. But what about all the other joes and janes of the movie world? This animation video breaks down who does what and who is who and who is why in a film crew on a typical movie set. I’d say the understanding of…

16 People Who Got Screwed When Snowden’s Email Provider Shut Down

The unfortunate side effect of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s email provider Lavabit pulling the plug rather than complying with the feds is that a bunch of terribly unlucky Lavabit users are now left without an email account. It’s not every day you expect your email service to go all harakiri on itself because the government…

DEFCON: A Documentary About the World’s Largest Hacking Conference

One thing that sort of irks me is when people mistake DEFCON 5 as worse and crazier and insane and severe than DEFCON 1. I know more always sounds better but it’s not. That has nothing to do with the world’s largest hacking conference, DEFCON, but I just wanted to put it out there. DEFCON:…

According to Taylor Wimberly, who was correct on a few Moto X leaks, Motorola will be making the next Nexus device and it’ll be completely different from the Moto X. We’ll see.

Some of the Nicest Vintage Science Fiction Covers We’ve Seen in Ages

Holy cow, these are some really stunning science fiction book and magazine covers. Flickr user Pelz just scanned in some classic magazine art, plus some book art, and it’s really lovely to behold. Check out more nifty artwork over at Pelz’s Flickr stream — here are a few more of our favorites:

We’re Getting Closer to Finding Mona Lisa’s Skeleton

Researchers who’ve been hunting for Mona Lisa’s skeleton are now opening up a family tomb in hopes of confirming Mona Lisa’s existence. They want to confirm that bones they found last year under a convent are the remains of Lisa Gherardini. The family tomb they’re cracking open is the resting place for Gherardini’s two sons…

This Avatar-themed aquarium somehow includes underwater waterfalls

I know, it sounds completely ridiculous. Who the hell would make an Avatar-themed aquarium? Well, this guy did, and he also included two beautiful waterfalls that cascade down their rock walls — despite both being completely underwater. Sadly, this feat wasn’t achieved by copious praying to the Home Tree or through the use of Unobtanium.…

Michael J. Fox is nearly as old as he was in Back to the Future

At left, you see Michael J. Fox’s aged character from the 1980s movie Back to the Future. At right, you see the actual Michael J. Fox as he really appears in 2013. How did the movie makers do with young M.J.’s old makeup? Not so bad, but rich actors can afford to age better than…

Tarsem Singh’s next movie sounds insane, in a good way

The Cell and Mirror Mirror director Tarsem Singh has found a new project to put his unique stamp on. And it sounds a little nutty, but maybe this could pull him out of his recent rut. Titled The Panopticon, the thriller follows a character who receives a message from his future self, urging him to…