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Marijuana Addicts Love This Stealthy USB Vaporizer

Most everybody these days smokes marijuana all the time, but they still like to keep it on the “down low” so the police won’t write a ticket or ask to see your medical cannabis ID. Now that we know the NSA and FBI are watching and recording your every communication or web search or Amazon…

A project to build a robot with the intelligence of a three year-old

Hanson Robotics has launched a new Indigogo campaign to create “the world’s smartest robot.” Named Adam Z1, the robot will eventually be able to speak, play with toys, draw pictures, and respond with emotions. And the project is no joke. Robot designer and researcher David Hanson has pooled together three other experts in this area,…

The Not-So-Long Struggle For Gay Marriage

Not so long ago, gay marriage was still so controversial that California passed an anti-gay-marriage ballot initiative. How did all of this happen so quickly? Everybody is gay now, that’s how it happened. Go back in time to the mid-2000s and relive the melodrama all over again. http://gawker.com/so-you-want-to-get-gay-married-589200633

How Our Visions of Virtual Reality Have Changed in the Past 40 Years

The other day, Second Life celebrated its 10-year anniversary. But long before that venerable virtual world came into existence, we were dreaming up images of virtual reality and cyberspace. Top image: Tron vs. Tron Legacy It seems like there are a few basic ways to represent “cyberspace” and virtual reality. You can have basic reality,…

The Grouch & Eligh – All These Lights

You can create some incredible footage using time-lapse photography but it’s not one a director has much control over. That’s why California hip-hop duo, G&E, melded it with stop motion photography to make this wild music video. Oakland’s, The Grouch and Los Angeles’, Eligh—collectively G&E—worked with Fort Collins, Colorado-based DJ Pretty Lights for the single,…

Morning for iPad: A Simple Dashboard to Start Your Day Off Right

Mornings are rough. And depending how many special adult beverages you imbibed the night before, mornings can be very, very rough. Which is exactly why we love Morning for iPad. It gives you a bright, friendly look at all the info you need to start your day, so you can be prepared even when you…

Amazing Lego SR-71 Blackbird Is Motorized, Controlled by Joystick

The Blackbird SR-71 is a legendary Cold War spy plane, faithfully recreated here with Lego. Built by Lego Technic expert Pawel “Sariel” Kimiec, it features “motorized elevons, rotating and illuminated engines, motorized control mast and custom stickers.” Clocking in at 73.6 cm long, this is one badass and beautiful build. Plus, the video gets bonus…

Ambulances Highjack Car Radios To Let Drivers Know They’re Coming

Everyone knows they should pull to the side of the road when an ambulance with its blaring siren approaches. But what if you’ve got the windows rolled up, the radio blaring, and can’t hear it coming? That’s not a problem in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where to decrease emergency response times, the ambulances actually hijack nearby AM…

How to detect massive alien spaceships powered by stars

Some visionaries speculate that extraterrestrial civilizations may be capable of using the energy extracted from their suns to power planet-sized spaceships. A professor from the University of Edinburgh says he knows how we might be able to find such objects. Top image: Julian-Faylona. In 1948, astronomer Fred Zwicky, the esteemed co-discoverer of dark matter, speculated…

Honest Trailers boldly suggests Independence Day might be flawed

I’m not sure how I feel about the Honest Trailers guys’ latest offering, which seems to suggest Roland Emmerich’s stirring docudrama of the human spirit, Independence Day, might not be the undisputed cinematic masterpiece we all know it to be. I don’t even know how that’s possible, frankly. I mean, without ID4, how else would…

Meet the Man Who Gave the World ‘Civilization’

Sid Meier’s addictive computer worlds have delighted generations of gamers since the 1980s. From Pirates! to his perennial Civilization, Meier’s games always follow his philosophy of providing a series of interesting decisions with meaningful choices.

A Pint-Sized Dialysis Machine Gets Its First Taste of Human Blood

Who needs gigantic dialysis machines? The first portable blood filter has just been approved for testing on humans, and it’s practically pocket-sized. The Hemopurifier has been in development for years now, and it finally got approval from the FDA for a extremely limited field test where it’ll try to treat Hepatitis C by filtering the…

Let’s talk about the dark side of private space programs

As government funding for space programs dwindles, our greatest hope seems to lie with space entrepreneurs like SpaceX’s Elon Musk, who wants to put a city on Mars — or Robert Bigelow, who wants to build the first space hotel. But should corporations really be controlling the future of space travel? https://gizmodo.com/spacex-founder-unveils-plan-to-send-80-000-people-to-ma-5963349 Certainly we need…

A Structural Dish Rack Makes You Forget You’re Doing Dishes

Your drying dishes look like crap sitting there on the counter waiting to be put away. Why don’t you do something about that? Too lazy? At least now you can dress them up, with Black+Blum’s lime green High & Dry dish rack. The rack’s form is certainly more inspired than your regular old dish drainer,…

Volkswagen’s New Car Makes 261 Miles Per Gallon and Drives Like a Dream

Jalopnik’s Máté Petrány has tested Volkswagen’s new prototype, the XL1. It’s an extraordinary vehicle that can travel for an outstanding 261 miles on just one gallon of gasoline. ‘It looks like a spacepod, it’s built like a supercar, and driving it feels like the future,’ he says.

A fun 30-minute look behind the scenes of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer

Looking for about 30 minutes of unadulterated happiness? Than look no further than this video posted earlier today by stunt coordinator Jeff Pruitt, which is a magnificent collection of behind-the-scenes looks at Buffy: TVS season 2, including stunts, costumes, and a great deal of goofiness. If you’d like to see werewolf Oz off-screen and Sarah…

With Facebook Ready to Go, Windows 8 Finally Gets Some App Respect

Today, Microsoft announced that Facebook, Flipboard, and NFL Fantasy Football would all soon have official apps. That may not be an earth-shaking revelation, but it’s a sign that some big names are ready to step up and give Windows 8 the old Metro try. https://gizmodo.com/official-facebook-and-flipboard-apps-are-coming-to-wind-586541741 It’s no secret that Microsoft has had trouble getting big…

Street View is now available on both iOS and Android‘s Google Earth app. Yay! There are even step-by-step transit, biking and walking directions in 3D. Double yay! [Google]

Huff Your Medicine With the Inhaler-Shaped PuFFiT Vaporizer

Yeah, no, fumbling with a small wooden box and exposed electrical connections is real subtle. If you really want want to get high on the down low, you need to conceal your vaporizer as something that doesn’t look like a vaporizer but also doesn’t look like an IED. Something like an asthma inhaler, for instance.…

“With six feet of sea-level rise, South Florida is toast.”

Throughout Earth’s history, the shape of the continents has changed dramatically. With the planet’s temperatures rising, we can expect to see some of these geological changes in our lifetimes — especially when it comes to low-lying areas like Florida. Here’s what might be in store for that state. Jeff Goodell has a fascinating article over…