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The Psychological Test That Explains Why You’re Bad at Communicating

It’s not everyday that you come across a childhood game in a psychology experiment — particularly one that you thought that you had made up. But the “finger tapping” game gives us some insights into our past, and explains why people can’t understand you when you think you’re being clear as day. A few days…

Watch This Annular Eclipse Send a Stunning Halo of Fire Across the Sky

There’s nothing quite like a total eclipse (of the heart), but an annular eclipse is a close second. Especially if you’re into rings of fire. And after you watch this incredible video from one that took place in Pilbara, Australia last weekend, you’ll be a fan. Put together by Photographer Colin Legg with help from…

An Interactive Map of Regional American Accents, With Audio

This is the culmination of Rick Aschmann’s years-long “hobby” of collecting dialects. It’s a comprehensive and detailed map of the dialects (and sub-dialects!) of English-speakers in Canada and the United States. While the work of many years, the map was updated on April 17, 2003, and surged in popularity shortly thereafter. This map is cropped…

Google Play Music All Access is officially live; if you head over to music.google.com you’ll be given the option of signing up. It’s a free 30-day trial, but if you sign up early you get an $8/month subscription instead of the eventual $10/month. Go give it a whirl!

Did Google Just Try to Totally Change How Search Works?

Google might have just added a huge feature to Search. It’s trying to make it conversational. The first big search move that Google announced today at I/O was to make it more personal, so you can search for things like “my flight to london” and get information for your upcoming flight to London. Naturally. Like…

The Science of Insomnia

We’ve all experienced a sleepless night or two, and for some people that’s actually the norm. But why do we experience insomnia at all? What is going on in our minds and bodies, to cause this awful condition? Here’s what scientists know so far. The prevalence of insomnia in adults varies widely, depending on how…

This Low-Tech Office Furniture Doubles as a Gym

We lead such sedentary lives, parked all day at a desk. But what if your desk furniture could double as workout equipment? Meet No Sweat, an awesome three-piece set designed by Darryl Agawin, you instantly offset the negative affects of eight hours’ worth of sitting on your butt. No Sweat is an ingeniously simple concept.…

Google+ Does Some Amazing Things with Your Pictures Now

Google+ is making a big push to be where you store your photos, and it’s got some pretty nice new features to make its case. Storage, editing, and even automatic curation, this actually sounds pretty great. First, there’s storage. It’s upped your max to 15GB storage (from 5GB) for your full size photos on Google+.…

Google Hangouts: Unified Chat, Unlimited Reach

After taking some major steps forward earlier this week with the announcement that Google Talk support would finally be hitting Outlook, the long-anticipated Babel all-in-one chat service has finally been revealed as… Hangouts. Which yes, we already have sort of—but not like this. https://gizmodo.com/hell-yes-you-can-gchat-in-outlook-soon-505541342 Google Talk, Hangouts, Voice, Google+ messenger: all of it is finally…

Idiot Construction Crew Demolishes 2,300-year-old Maya Pyramid

An investigation is now underway after one of the largest Maya pyramids in Belize was bulldozed to extract materials for a road project. Stuff like this drives me batty: The Ministry of Tourism and Culture in Belize is freaking out after the the Nohmul Complex was destroyed by construction workers to extract crushed rock for…

Completely Redesigned Google+ Adds a Whopping 41 New Features

Google is overhauling Google+ with 41—yes, forty-one—new features. They’re based around three areas of the Chrome experience: Stream, Hangouts, and Photos. The new design is rolling out today, and it looks beautiful enough to actually use. Your Stream is getting a beautiful-looking redesign based on cards. There’s a three column view that looks as though…

Google Play for Education: You Know, For Kids

The Google Play Store has many merits, but it’s also rife with stranger danger. Which is what makes the new Google Play for Education so valuable; it’s a kid- and teacher-friendly app store that keeps out the ick. Google Play for Education, announced today at Google I/O, sorts apps by grade level and subject matter,…

Check out this cool (and detailed) geological map of Skyrim

A scientist has set out to create a geological map of Skyrim. It’s kind of rough at this point, she admits, but it’s still pretty awesome. One of the big time sucks — one of MANY — in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is upgrading your equipment. To do this, you need to acquire the raw…

9 Biggest Myths About the Apocalypse

We’ve all spent a little time obsessing about the end of the world (or maybe a lot of time). But are your apocalyptic thoughts based in reality, or fed by pop culture fantasies? Here are nine myths about how the apocalypse will happen. Top image: Dino Riders. 1. A large asteroid hit would turn Earth…

Creative’s Airwave HD Adds NFC So You Just Tap To Tether Your Tunes

No one has yet to unseat Jawbone’s Jambox from the Bluetooth speaker throne, but the king of the heap is starting to show its age, leaving room for feature-packed competitors to challenge its reign. Creative hopes its updated Airwave HD might be in line for the throne by offering the citizens NFC capabilities so it’s…

Whoa! Google’s Selling a Pure Android Samsung Galaxy S 4 on Google Play

YOU GUYS! Google just announced at I/O that it’s going to be selling a Samsung Galaxy S 4, unlocked, with stock Android, on Google Play starting June 26. Just to pick out the important words for you: “STOCK” “ANDROID” “GALAXY S 4.” The phone will be unlocked GSM, so it’ll run on AT&T or T-Mobile…

Recon Instruments’ Jet: Google Glass For the Sporty Type

Three years ago Recon Instruments came out with one of the first goggles with a HUD to be used by you and me for leisure activity. It was a novel idea—who wouldn’t want to see how fast they’re flying down the mountain? And today at I/O, Recon is debuting the Jet, a Google Glass-like set…

Google Play Music All Access Is a Subscription Like Spotify Only Better

You can now buy a music subscription from Google. Here’s everything you need to know about Google’s crack at rocketing to the top of the charts. Get ready for Google Play Access. Google Play All Access launches in the US today. It costs $10 per month. Everybody gets a 30-day free trial, and if you…

Artificial Skin That’s Way More Sensitive to Touch Than The Real Thing

Scientists have created a paper-thin flexible “skin” that can detect pressure that’s a few hundred times lighter than a gentle touch. This new material could eventually make its way into artificial or robotic limbs — but for now researchers have found that it is absolutely amazing at reading a pulse. We recently told you about…

Grimm beats The Walking Dead at its own game

It seems like the last few episodes of Grimm I’ve been pointing out the least interesting plotlines. It may have taken until the end of the episode to confirm, but I’m not sure there’s a bad moment in “The Waking Dead.” This was the penultimate episode of the season, so unlike most Grimm episodes, there…