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What a DDoS Attack Looks Like

When hackers do cyber-battle, there isn’t much to see. Maybe you’ll wind up on a crashed website, but the real carnage is happening behind the scenes, perpetrated by a diffuse army of computers a world away. This is what it looks like. What you see here is a record of a April 23rd DDoS attack…

Of the 418.6M cellphones shipped last quarter, more than half were smartphones at 216.2M, a first, according to IDC.

TWC plans to recuperate losses by making basic Internet and cable packages crappier and more expensive. Awesome!

Hard to Believe This Super Sharp Footage Was Shot with a Palm-Sized Camera

The BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera is exactly what it sounds like. It was announced earlier this month and promised to deliver super-sharp image quality in a tiny $1000 device. By the looks of the first bits of footage to hit the web, it won’t underwhelm. https://gizmodo.com/blackmagic-pocket-cinema-camera-raw-video-in-the-palm-5994043 Blackmagic’s chosen camera tester, John Brawley, posted an edit…

This smart foam chair self-assembles by sproinging into shape

Finally, flat-pack furniture that builds its own damn self. The armchair up top was created Belgian designer Carl de Smet. The furniture is made of a smart polymer that “remembers” its shape, even after being compressed down into a tiny little box. The trick to the polymer’s shape-memory is heat, which de Smet demonstrates in…

Korte’s law governs both your brain and flashing neon signs

If you think that the psychology of flashing electric neon signs that say, “Live Nude Girls! ——->” is purely prurient, you are wrong. These signs are designed to take advantage of the way your brain perceives movement, and they do it using Korte’s Law. You’ve probably noticed, roaming at night through a city, that there…

Your Child Will Never Be Safer In a Car Than In the Arms of Batman

Despite his gruff mannerisms, deep down Batman is a tender, loving superhero. And had he kids of his own, he would embrace and protect them just like this Batman carseat will do for yours. If he can protect Gotham from evil super-villains, surely he can protect your kids during a fender bender. A built-in five-point…

What Hurts More: Child Birth or a Kick in the Balls? Science Answers.

In response to that one debate you had in 8th grade health class that ended abruptly because there wasn’t nearly enough coffee or cigarettes in the teacher’s lounge to put up with that crap, and really, Jesus Christ, ASAP Science has attempted to answer who has it worse: women in child birth, or men who…

Earth’s inner core is as hot as the surface of the sun

A new X-ray analysis of molten iron has revealed that the Earth’s inner core is 1,000 degrees hotter than previously thought. The new measurements, which were made by Agnes Dewaele from the French research agency CEA, along with members of the French National Center for Scientific Research CNRS and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility ESRF…

An Introduction To Complications: The 21st Century Watch

Editor’s note: This is the last in a series of introductory pieces on mechanical watches from our friends at Hodinkee. You can read the rest here. Against all odds, it seems the wristwatch has found a place all its own in the 21st century. In fact, watches are experiencing a surge in popularity. Not only…

“Chief Porn Identification Officer:” The Best Job You’ll Never Have

If you could do anything—anything—for a living what would it be? Well that’s dumb; it would be “looking at porn.” And though you may not be so lucky, someone working for China will be, boasting the prestigious title of Chief Porn Identification Officer. China’s rampant censorship policy has an upside, it seems. While adult content…

Silk: Nature’s Homespun Supermaterial

Most of your exposure to silk probably comes in the form of uncomfortably sensual linens or cobwebs in a dusty old closet. In reality, though, silk is an incredible and overlooked material. While it may have roots in the ancient past, it could also form the building blocks of the future. Spinning a Good Yarn…

So this is a robot that can steal things out of vending machines

Using it is a little like playing one of those claw games, only way more satisfying. Also, it’s illegal. Unlawfulness aside, you’ve really gotta hand it to YouTuber Ioduremetallique for his sheer mechanical ingenuity. This is one cleverly designed little robot, a fact this video demonstration makes perfectly clear (even if it’s narrated in French).…

A Self-Propelled Snowboard Makes Going Uphill Just as Fun

When Archimedes thought up his revolutionary water-pumping screw, little did he know that one day a group of high school students in Lyon, France would find a better use for his design. Their Propul-Surf uses a pair of horizontally-mounted screws to push a snowboard through the snow when gravity doesn’t provide enough momentum. The rig,…

Can Zack Snyder make Superman cool? Can SHIELD stand on its own?

Zack Snyder talks Man of Steel, while Joss Whedon previews S.H.I.E.L.D. Hayley Atwell says Peggy Carter has plenty to do in Captain America 2. Shane Black answers fans’ questions about Iron Man 3. There are new details about Neil Gaiman’s new Doctor Who episode. Plus spoilers for R.I.P.D., Transformers 4 and True Blood! Top image…

Watch This Bread City Fall Into Actual Decay

People talk about cities falling into decay all the time, but it’s usually metaphoric. Not so with this cityscape made of bread—which moulds and crumbles before your eyes. Theater set designer Johanna Mårtensson created this doughy dystopia after reading an article about how the world could cope quite easily without humans littering its surface. He…

What Is This?

Looking at this image, you might be forgiven for thinking that it showed a table full of knitted bobbles, a sack full of Christmas decorations or maybe even some kind of new candy—but you’d be wrong. In fact you’re looking at crystals of zinc oxide growing on the surface of spherical nanoparticles. The image, acquired…

The Center of the Earth Is 1,000°C Hotter Than We Thought

A new series of measurements have revealed that the Earth’s core is actually 1,000°C hotter than we previously thought—meaning the center of our planet is actually as hot as the surface of the Sun. We’ve long known that the very core of the planet—despite being exceedingly hot—is made of solid, crystalline iron because of the…

The Unboxing Of The Year

Okay, actually just unwrapping — but hey, this would be the best present you could ever get for Christmas. Workers started carefully removing the protective shrink wrap over space shuttle Atlantis today at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as the historic spacecraft is prepared for its role as the centerpiece of the center’s new…

Why Is Amazon Packaging So Dumb Sometimes?

We’ve all had it happen to us: order a small item from Amazon, only to have it arrive in what seems to be the world’s biggest box. What gives, Bezos? Redditor V_for_VinceVega posted this picture of the packaging that surrounded a battery. A single battery. Of course, the warehouse could have run out of appropriate…