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The science that discredited the “sons” of Marie Antoinette

For most modern people, the story of Marie Antoinette ends with her death. For some, though, it didn’t end until 1998, when one of the most credible pretenders to the throne of France was, posthumously, discredited. See how genetics solved a 200-year-old mystery. Marie Antoinette’s story has become a sort of legend. Whether it’s imagined…

How Lasers May Have Revealed a Legendary Lost City of Gold

One year ago, a team of researchers traveled deep into the Honduran rainforest in search of Ciudad Blanca, the legendary lost city of treasures. Yesterday, they revealed images—uncovered by lasers—of structures that they believe to be the White City itself. The legend of the White City has captured explorers’ imaginations for centuries; Hernán Cortés detailed…

How To Add a Glowing Star To Your Chuck Taylor All-Stars

Converse’s Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers may never go out of style, but just in case you can future-proof them with this fun hack from Adafruit that swaps out the standard star crest with a glowing logo. Presumably, just like Elroy Jetson used to wear. Unless you work in an electronics laboratory, the hack does require…

Lifting weights with Wax Wolverine is a totally normal thing to do

Every once in a while a gem of a photo crosses our paths. This time, it’s a photo of a collection of personal trainers pounding the gym with a questionably sweaty, wax figure of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. What do you think they’re saying here? Photo by WENN.com

A Tropical Storm Making Ripples in the Ocean Like a Pebble in a Pond

Normally, we see storms as clouds and rain, but there’s invisible power lurking inside. This amazing satellite shot shows that hidden chaos in the form of gravity waves, blasting out from a storm’s center like ripples in a pond. Tropical Cyclone Mahasen, which you can see off to the right there, is heading through the…

8 Objects That Signal a New Industrial Revolution

Are we on the verge of a third industrial revolution? The editors at The Economist certainly think so. But while rapid prototyping and the open source movement have been around for decades now, we had yet to see anyone take a truly comprehensive look at the transformation in manufacturing. That is, until the New Museum’s…

The Kepler space telescope is spinning out of control

After four years of service, NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler telescope has suffered a second serious malfunction — one that threatens to permanently end the mission. Controllers on the ground can no longer control its orientation. It looks bad, but NASA isn’t giving up hope. This story actually began last July when one of Kepler’s four reaction…

The Tranquil, Tron-Like Beauty of a Plane Refueling in Mid-Air

You’re looking at a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft being refueled by the 151st Air Refueling Wing over southern Idaho last week. But those are just details. What you’re really looking at is a shock of beautiful, caught at a moment of technological awesomeness. [Flickr]

Magic: the Gathering’s Summer Set Preview — Megantic Sliver

The weird hive-mind creatures known as slivers are returning for Magic: the Gathering’s summer core set, M14. But they seem… different. Slivers first appeared in 1997’s Tempest set, reappearing every few years (in the Legions and Time Spiral sets). They haven’t been around since 2006. Although slivers have gone through some complicated storylines over the…

Apple Patent Would Turn Your Friend’s iPhones Into a Lighting Kit

If you’ve ever been on the set of a professional photography shoot, you’ll notice the photographer doesn’t just rely on a single camera-mounted flash. Instead, they use a series of strategically positioned flashes, all tethered together so they function as one, to precisely control where and how much light is hitting the subject. And that…

An Italian Design Firm is Creating High Fashion Mutants

Italian design firm Do the Mutation is creating high-fashion (and high concept) “mutants,” using individualized 3-D-printed masks. This blend of a science fiction aesthetic with cutting-edge design is creating something new and unique. Their current project called Collagene is inspired by the protein collagen, which their website defines thusly: Collagen is the main component of…

The surprise guest star on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t who you think!

Plus, Agent Coulson himself explains why S.H.I.E.L.D. represents the Marvel universe’s human side. Simon Pegg says Scotty isn’t comic relief in Star Trek Into Darkness. Dredd 2 might still happen. Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar will soon be ready to film. Plus looks at the futures of Arrow and The Vampire Diaries! Spoilers! Top image from Star…

Google and NASA Are Building the Future of AI With a Quantum Supercomputer

Google and NASA have just announced that they’re teaming up to create a laboratory focussed on developing the future of artificial intelligence—using quantum supercomputers. The Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, basesd at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California, will be home to a quantum computer from D-Wave Systems. Researchers will work to, in Google’s words, “study…

The Ebook Pricing Email That Steve Jobs Sent to James Murdoch

As part of the ongoing Apple e-book price fixing investigation by the Department of Justice, a new email sent from Steve Jobs to James Murdoch has come to light. Murdoch, ultimately in control of what happens at Harper Collins, was approached by Steve Jobs to undermine Amazon’s $9.99 e-book pricing model, reports All Things D.…

New Gmail Action Buttons Let You Perform Tasks From Your Inbox

One of the smaller—but nonetheless incredibly useful—new updates from Google is a series of actions buttons in Gmail which will help you handle tasks without having to send more messages or leave your inbox. The new system will allow you to RSVP to events, review submissions, one-click reply to registration emails and quickly jump out…

You can now upload your own ebooks—up to 1,000 EPUB or PDF files—for free to Google Play Books. Useful.

The Android Hangouts Video Chat App Doesn’t Work on AT&T Cellular

If you try and use Google’s new Hangouts app for Android on AT&T’s cellular network, don’t expect to video chat—because you can’t. Slashgear reports that the video chat capability in the new Hangouts app doesn’t work on AT&T’s cellular networks, throwing up a message that reads “you must be on a Wi-Fi network to join…

Here Are What the Google Glass Prototypes Looked Like

Wearing Google Glass might make you look weird but it’s certainly a lot better than any of the prototypes that Google first tried out. Google Project Glass Staff Hardware Engineer Jean Wang showed off a slide revealing the earliest prototypes of Glass and they’re a lot bulkier with open ribbons, chips, gigantic cameras and more.…

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: kaleidoscopes #008

It’s like home movie night at my grandparents’ house without the confusing tirades about why everything was better before the pictures moved.

Seeing Google Glass from a Toddler’s Perspective Is So Adorable

The best thing about Google Glass might be its ability to give anyone a perspective they never see anymore. Whether it’s the intensity of playing hockey or uh, the weirdness of being someone else in the shower, it’s like a less obtrusive GoPro camera seeing what people’s eyes see. This might be the best perspective…