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A Flood-Powered Gate That Automatically Raises As the Waters Rise

Deploying the improved infrastructure that will hopefully help prevent future tsunamis from devastating Japan is an expensive endeavour. So researchers across the country are developing new and cheaper ways to protect Japan, like this innovative floodgate that deploys automatically when waters come rushing in—no power or human operators required. And instead of using water-powered turbines…

What’s so special about this photo of the Moon?

We’ll give you a hint: It was taken by John W. Draper in 1839. If you guessed that it’s the first photograph ever taken of the Moon, you are absolutely correct. Originally from England, Draper was a chemistry professor at New York University during the 1800s. This silver platinum plate of the moon was the…

Of Course a Musician Has a Music Box Business Card

It’s probably one of the most expensive ways to promote yourself we’ve ever seen, but there’s no doubt that experimental musician Richard Eigner’s music box business cards leave a lasting impression on whoever’s lucky enough to receive one. Created by Katharina Hölzl, the design was inspired by the musician’s live shows which involve audience members…

Clever illustrations use negative space to capture animals’ essence

These animal illustrations may be simple, but their subjects are undeniably clear. In a style of illustration evocative of the WWF’s panda logo, designer George Bokhua has used negative space to create a series of wonderful animal illustrations. We’ve included some of our favorites here, but you’ll want to check out the full collection over…

Plan X: How the Army Will Make Cyberattacks as Easy as a Video Game

If you’ve seen a movie at all in the past 20 years, the word “hackers” probably brings to mind something along the lines of sweaty nerds hunched over keyboards as they pour through Matrix-style lines of code. The Pentagon’s newest project, though, could turn that stereotype on its head—and make sending out deadly cyberattacks just…

How to make a fiery black snake rise from the sand

Ever wanted to make a glowing black snake rise up out of the sand? All you need is sand and a few kitchen ingredients — and the ability to either temporarily disable smoke detectors at home or keep a look out for the authorities in public. First mix together about four parts powdered sugar to…

Navy Wants Aircraft Carriers to Manufacture Weapons On the Go

These days, the mention of 3D-printed weapons conjures up visions of people printing AK-47s in their garages (ok, that might just be me). But a recent story in the Armed Forces Journal brings word of a more systematic implementation of 3D-printed warfare. According to one Lieutenant Commander Michael Llenza, the Navy’s future lies in converting…

The Savage Panda of the Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland Returns

Well over a year ago, we showed you the Prologue for the bizarre “Wastelander Panda” short from Epic Films; today, we’re thrilled to present Episode One, in which Arcayus the Panda is caught and forced to fight for his life alongside a fellow anthropomorphic wanderer. https://gizmodo.com/what-if-mad-max-was-played-by-a-panda-it-would-look-a-5878871 If you wanted to call it Max Max Beyond…

Even Boring Weather Is Stunning Through a Satellite’s Eyes

This dynamic GIF of the Earth was created by images captured by the GOES-14 weather satellite on May 22. There’s nothing outstanding about the weather report on this particular day, but look at how the GIF shows our blue marble moving and breathing in black and white. Lovely! Launched in 2009, GOES-14 is part of…

Can you guess what’s strange about these pine cones?

Here’s a hint: try guessing what they’re made of. This coniferous installation is the work of Floyd Elzinga, who uses three-dimensional sculpture, relief work and environmental installations to highlight “broken landscapes, portraits of trees and the aggressive nature of seeds.” Here, he’s welded together steel spade heads to create a series of massive metal pine…

What Do You Think of Arrested Development Season 4 So Far?

If you’re like us, you probably spent a good part of your weekend plowing through at least some of Arrested Development season 4 on Netflix. Were you able to restrain yourself, or did you binge and watch all 15 episodes? What do you think so far? We’re also interested to know how many folks signed…

A Drone That Follows You Around Is Way Less Messy Than Puppy

After leaving his uninspiring job at a bank, Sameer Parekh started his own company called Falkor Systems to further develop the concept of autonomous flying drones that don’t require a pilot. His first creation is a modified Parrot AR.Drone designed to follow someone around a room like an incredibly loyal—but noisy—puppy, but he also has…

An algorithm that finds face-like structures on the Earth’s surface

A new software program called GoogleFaces uses Google Maps and facial recognition software to isolate geographic structures that look like human faces. It’s far from perfect, but the program has uncovered some remarkably face-like surface features. Humans are good at picking out faces from everyday objects and structures — a characteristic known as pareidolia; we…

22 Breathtaking Views From the World’s Tallest Buildings

Skycrapers, TV towers, and observation towers are among the most emergent objects of human engineering. If you want to look around as far as possible without climbing a mountain or getting on a plane, you just have to buy a ticket to the observation deck of the nearest supertall structure. Here are the views from…

John C. Reilly could be the Agent Coulson of Guardians of the Galaxy!

And he’s not the only awesome actor who might be joining Marvel’s space opera. Check out set photos for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Gwendoline Christie discusses Brienne’s journey on Game of Thrones. Stand by for spoilers! Top image from Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians of the Galaxy…

Samsung has published a listing for the as-yet unannounced Galaxy S4 Mini on the changelog of one of its apps. That as near as dammit confirms the impending arrival of the phone, which will probably possibly be announced at Sammy’s June 20th London event. [SammyHub via Phandroid]

This Insane Homemade Lightsaber Burns Straight Through Things

OK, so this should be labelled with extreme hazard warnings or something. A crazy laser enthusiast actually built his own lightsaber capable of burning straight through things. The monster 3W laser, made from a diode taken out of a DLP projector bolted to two high-power lithium ion laptop batteries, is capable of burning straight through…

This Proximity-Sensitive Volume Adjuster Needs to Exist

Apple has just scored a patent with the the US Patent and Trademark Office that’s one of the most simple yet ingenious ideas we’ve seen in a while: a proximity-sensitive volume adjuster on a phone. The patent, “Adjustment of acoustic properties based on proximity detection”, describes how a number of phone sensors could be used…

This Is LG’s White Nexus 4–But It Won’t Make Another Google Phone

LG has finally confirmed that it’s making a white version of the Nexus 4—but it’s also admitted that it’s not interested in manufacturing another Google phone. The white Nexus 4 is in every way identical to the black version. Except it’s white. So, really quite a boring product announcement. It’s not clear yet whether or…

Would You Take a Flight Which Only Had One Pilot?

Over in Europe, a new research scheme is looking into the possibility of creating cockpits that require just a single pilot to fly airplanes—but would you take such a flight? The project, called ACROSS—Advanced Cockpit for Reduction of StreSs and workload—brings together collaborators like Thales, Airbus and Boeing to design control systems that need only…