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8 Objects That Signal a New Industrial Revolution

Are we on the verge of a third industrial revolution? The editors at The Economist certainly think so. But while rapid prototyping and the open source movement have been around for decades now, we had yet to see anyone take a truly comprehensive look at the transformation in manufacturing. That is, until the New Museum’s…

The Kepler space telescope is spinning out of control

After four years of service, NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler telescope has suffered a second serious malfunction — one that threatens to permanently end the mission. Controllers on the ground can no longer control its orientation. It looks bad, but NASA isn’t giving up hope. This story actually began last July when one of Kepler’s four reaction…

The Tranquil, Tron-Like Beauty of a Plane Refueling in Mid-Air

You’re looking at a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft being refueled by the 151st Air Refueling Wing over southern Idaho last week. But those are just details. What you’re really looking at is a shock of beautiful, caught at a moment of technological awesomeness. [Flickr]

Magic: the Gathering’s Summer Set Preview — Megantic Sliver

The weird hive-mind creatures known as slivers are returning for Magic: the Gathering’s summer core set, M14. But they seem… different. Slivers first appeared in 1997’s Tempest set, reappearing every few years (in the Legions and Time Spiral sets). They haven’t been around since 2006. Although slivers have gone through some complicated storylines over the…

Apple Patent Would Turn Your Friend’s iPhones Into a Lighting Kit

If you’ve ever been on the set of a professional photography shoot, you’ll notice the photographer doesn’t just rely on a single camera-mounted flash. Instead, they use a series of strategically positioned flashes, all tethered together so they function as one, to precisely control where and how much light is hitting the subject. And that…

An Italian Design Firm is Creating High Fashion Mutants

Italian design firm Do the Mutation is creating high-fashion (and high concept) “mutants,” using individualized 3-D-printed masks. This blend of a science fiction aesthetic with cutting-edge design is creating something new and unique. Their current project called Collagene is inspired by the protein collagen, which their website defines thusly: Collagen is the main component of…

The surprise guest star on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t who you think!

Plus, Agent Coulson himself explains why S.H.I.E.L.D. represents the Marvel universe’s human side. Simon Pegg says Scotty isn’t comic relief in Star Trek Into Darkness. Dredd 2 might still happen. Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar will soon be ready to film. Plus looks at the futures of Arrow and The Vampire Diaries! Spoilers! Top image from Star…

Google and NASA Are Building the Future of AI With a Quantum Supercomputer

Google and NASA have just announced that they’re teaming up to create a laboratory focussed on developing the future of artificial intelligence—using quantum supercomputers. The Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, basesd at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California, will be home to a quantum computer from D-Wave Systems. Researchers will work to, in Google’s words, “study…

The Ebook Pricing Email That Steve Jobs Sent to James Murdoch

As part of the ongoing Apple e-book price fixing investigation by the Department of Justice, a new email sent from Steve Jobs to James Murdoch has come to light. Murdoch, ultimately in control of what happens at Harper Collins, was approached by Steve Jobs to undermine Amazon’s $9.99 e-book pricing model, reports All Things D.…

New Gmail Action Buttons Let You Perform Tasks From Your Inbox

One of the smaller—but nonetheless incredibly useful—new updates from Google is a series of actions buttons in Gmail which will help you handle tasks without having to send more messages or leave your inbox. The new system will allow you to RSVP to events, review submissions, one-click reply to registration emails and quickly jump out…

You can now upload your own ebooks—up to 1,000 EPUB or PDF files—for free to Google Play Books. Useful.

The Android Hangouts Video Chat App Doesn’t Work on AT&T Cellular

If you try and use Google’s new Hangouts app for Android on AT&T’s cellular network, don’t expect to video chat—because you can’t. Slashgear reports that the video chat capability in the new Hangouts app doesn’t work on AT&T’s cellular networks, throwing up a message that reads “you must be on a Wi-Fi network to join…

Here Are What the Google Glass Prototypes Looked Like

Wearing Google Glass might make you look weird but it’s certainly a lot better than any of the prototypes that Google first tried out. Google Project Glass Staff Hardware Engineer Jean Wang showed off a slide revealing the earliest prototypes of Glass and they’re a lot bulkier with open ribbons, chips, gigantic cameras and more.…

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: kaleidoscopes #008

It’s like home movie night at my grandparents’ house without the confusing tirades about why everything was better before the pictures moved.

Seeing Google Glass from a Toddler’s Perspective Is So Adorable

The best thing about Google Glass might be its ability to give anyone a perspective they never see anymore. Whether it’s the intensity of playing hockey or uh, the weirdness of being someone else in the shower, it’s like a less obtrusive GoPro camera seeing what people’s eyes see. This might be the best perspective…

All the Fake Websites from Doctor Who Make Me Wish They Were Real

TV show websites are notoriously bad and comically unreal yet I can’t help but be charmed by their hilarious simplicity (and god awful horribleness). Can you imagine if there were giant flashing RED ALERT messages popping up at you? Or if hacking was as simple as just slapping the keys on the keyboard a few…

A Mom Tried to Sell Her Three-Year-Old Son on Craigslist

A bicycle. An old jailbroken iPhone. Maybe used furniture. Some free dirt. Those are the type of things you expect to buy off Craigslist. You definitely don’t expect a Mom to offer up her three-year-old son on the seedy but useful classifieds website. But that’s just what Stephanie Redus did. She used Craiglist to get…

Watch Liquid Water Instantly Turn into Ice

Turning water into ice usually takes a lot of time. Not for this guy though, he magically turns liquid water into frozen ice. It’s instantaneous! Seriously, just watch water get poured from the bottle and then freeze immediately. What kind of sorcery is this? The trick is getting the water to just about freezing in…

Yuko Shimizu’s art is like a cooler version of your wildest dreams

You’ve probably admired the work of award-winning artist Yuko Shimizu before — her art has adorned some covers of Vertigo Comics’ The Unwritten as well as some great book covers and illustrations at Tor.com. But when you see a bunch of her gorgeous work all in one place, it’s pretty mind-blowing. Shimizu posted a new…

Iron Man 3 VFX reels make the Air Force One scene twice as impressive

One of the amazing things about The Avengers was just how seamless a lot of the CG cityscapes and creations felt. And it looks like Iron Man 3 had a similar amount of heavy CG. Check out some mind-blowing new VFX reels. https://gizmodo.com/weird-secrets-of-the-avengers-that-youd-never-have-gues-5940888 https://gizmodo.com/the-avengers-fx-reel-will-blow-you-away-5974971 Produced by Digital Domain, these reels show off how they put…