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These stunning maps were made entirely from geotagged tweets

Twitter has compiled a series of maps showing geo-located Tweet volumes since 2009. The resulting maps are intricate, gorgeous — and even a bit revealing. According to Miguel Rios, Twitter’s Visual Insights Manager, billions of tweets were used to put these maps together. Every dot is a tweet, and the colors represent tweet volume. What’s…

When Razor Rain comes to Defiance, so too does Klingon Space Jesus

After three extremely solid episodes in a row, I was expecting a bit of a clunker. For the most part, “Goodbye Blue Sky” is a collection of not particularly subtle relationship establishers… but that doesn’t mean the episode wasn’t without some craziness, i.e., KLINGON SPACE JESUS. The forecast calls for “Razor Rain,” which is when…

These Vivid Magenta Ponds Are the World’s Largest Beta-Carotene Farm

Beta-Carotene, as far as I’ve known since I slogged through 8th grade Biology, is a pigment that gives sweet potatoes and carrots their color. But since it’s used as a food dye and plenty of doctors recommend it as a supplement, it’s also the basis for a booming synthetic farming business—one we rarely see, since…

This Clever Camera Array Will Bullet-Time Everything

Despite those two sequels, the original The Matrix is still a visual feast with its action-freezing bullet time sequences. And just like with slow motion, everything is cooler when filmed in bullet time, so Japan’s NHK has developed a multi-viewpoint robotic camera system that can be easily setup at live events. Previous systems used a…

Why does this bizarro asteroid have a million-kilometer-long tail?

Three years ago, something rather cataclysmic happened to this asteroid. Whatever it was — and it was probably a collision with a smaller asteroid — has now resulted in an exceptionally long debris tail that just keeps getting longer. Asteroids aren’t supposed to have tails. That’s comet territory. But this object, called P/2010 A2 (LINEAR),…

Acer Iconia W3 Hands On: First Mini Windows 8 Tablet Can’t Measure Up

It was one of the most anticipated devices of this year’s Computex: The Acer Iconia W3, the first full Windows 8 tablet to take on the iPad Mini. We finally got some hands-on time, and the results are bittersweet. https://es.gizmodo.com/la-nueva-generacion-de-superprocesadores-intel-ya-esta-511175109 The Iconia W3 isn’t just Acer’s first attempt to sneak Windows 8 into the small…

Go Diego, go! Amazon has locked up exclusive streaming rights to Dora the Explorer, as well as a couple other Viacom kids shows.

11 Spectacular 3D Printer Failures

Just because you have a 3D printer doesn’t mean you’re going to make anything remarkable. It doesn’t even mean you’re going to wind up with what you set out to produce. Believe it or not, 3D printing requires some skill. And when you don’t have it, things go delightfully askew. While there are plenty of…

Get ready for a truly insane Star Wars: Episode VII casting rumor!

Benicio del Toro (and Lloyd Kaufman) join the ever-expanding cast of Guardians of the Galaxy. Check out a 13-minute Man of Steel featurette while Henry Cavill and Hugh Jackman discuss their superhero futures. Joss Whedon shares some hints for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus the latest World War Z and Pacific Rim videos! Spoilers! Top image…

Surface Tension Drops In Slo-Mo: a Ballet More Graceful Than Swan Lake

Ballet is considered one of man’s most graceful artistic endeavors, but as is often the case, through the right lens, mother nature can still easily one-up us. In this case that lens happens to be pointed at the complex interactions between a falling water drop and a pool of water, capturing their intricate dance at…

This Amazing Algorithm Draws Video Game Characters Using Tetris

If you think drawing in real life is hard work, just wait until you see how tough it is to create art using Tetris. This software, created by Michael Birken, is called the Tetris Printer Algorithm, and it rotates positions and drops Tetris pieces in a calculated way to create images. Yes, that is as…

Goji: Here’s Your Semi-Perfect Camera-Equipped Smart Lock

Smart Locks are now a thing. Believe it or not. UniKey arguably kicked off the whole craze last year when they appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank, then Lockitron got some buzz with its latest iteration (though it did first pop up in early 2011) and just last week August launched its smart lock. This week…

How We Need to Legislate Drones

All but seven states have proposed or adopted legislation relating to the domestic use of drones, or unmanned aerial systems, in domestic airspace, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Now, at the invitation of the Aerospace States Association, EFF has rung in with the three crucial elements that all drone legislation must contain…

Good news, klutzes: Apple is apparently now replacing broken iPhone 5 displays in-store for the sum of $150.

Does Alien Life Really Exist?

Many people believe that we’re not alone in the Universe—but is that just wishful thinking, or is there a reasonable scientific basis for such a view? This video by the guys at Veritasium tries to shed some light on that by getting you to think about just how big the Universe is. Spoiler: it’s big.…

Report: Apple’s Got a Brand New MacBook Air or Retina For Next Week

Compounding the recent stock shortages of Apple’s MacBook Air, it seems Cupertino’s not-quite-so-air-tight seal has leaked a few new model numbers—which point to either a refreshed MacBook Air or Retina Pro waiting in the wings for WWDC. The four SKUs have been dug up by the often-reliable 9to5Mac, with two pairs of variants, probably denoting…

How a Teenager Rickrolled Vine

You’re only supposed to be able to upload a six-second clip to Vine—but somehow yesterday sixteen-year-old Will Smidlein managed to bypass that rule and post the whole of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”. Uh, well done? It didn’t go down so well with Vine engineers, who very quickly sent him a direct message…

Intel have briefly showed off a fanless tablet packing a Haswell processor: that’s a lot of power with very little cooling, and it could be a very promising sign indeed.

This Facebook Musical Song Explains Our Addiction to Facebook

Here’s the truth: you’re embarrassed by how much you use Facebook. You color your phrases about Facebook like you’re not on it that much. You pretend you didn’t see updates on Facebook when you really saw them the second they were posted. You hate saying you heard about something when really you read it on…

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke

Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell has had more than his fair share of sexy-time adventures as the the original manager and lead vocalist for 2 Live Crew. But that’s nothing compared to the shit he saw growing up. From Borscht Corp, the team that brought you Adventures of Christopher Bosh in the Multiverse!, comes a masterful…