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What the hell? [ValleyWag]

What does the Star Trek game reveal about the destiny of the Vulcans?

We’ve waited four long years for our next installment in J.J. Abrams’ movie series, and Star Trek Into Darkness is almost here. But meanwhile, you can catch up with the rebooted Trek with Star Trek: The Video Game, which comes out today. We’ve got tons of concept art, and an exclusive interview with Paramount’s Brian…

Set Up Your Own Personal Storage Cloud With BitTorrent Sync

One of BitTorrent’s latest little tricks, a sorta-kinda-but-not-really cloud storage service, just grew up into a real app today. BitTorrent Sync and all of its shared folder goodness just launched into Alpha today, and you can go check it out for yourself. https://gizmodo.com/bittorrents-new-cloud-service-could-out-mega-mega-5978944 Though not a cloud service, BitTorrent’s Sync aims to provide you with…

Particle Accelerators 101: If Only Every College Course Was Animated

Are you still scratching your head over what a particle accelerator like the Large Hadron Collider actually does? Don’t feel bad, the LHC is the most complicated piece of scientific equipment mankind has ever built. And unless you’re a physicist, you’ll probably never understand its intricacies. But if you’re curious, take a few minutes to…

Looks like some of Apple’s systems are having a little case of the morning crankies. Only some users should be affected.

If Batman took over Disney’s Haunted Mansion, it would be awesome

There is nothing more spookily spectacular than Disney Mansion’s Hall of Portraits. The stretchy art that reveals terrible horrors under their subjects feet as guests descend into the ride get us every time. But what if this horror was set in Wayne Manor? Check out this bit of truly brilliant mash-up art created by DeviantArtist…

The Only Thing Apple Really Sells

A recent Wall Street Journal article posits an interesting question: Is Apple a hardware company or a software company? Does it sell iPhones or iClouds? The answer has deep meaning for the analysts who evaluate the company’s worth. It’s framed as an identity crisis, one with dangerous implications for the most dominant consumer electronics company…

This chemical can turn you into Poison Ivy

One simple molecule, two carbon atoms, each attended by two hydrogen atoms, can make you all-powerful in the plant world. Apply it and flowers shrivel up fast, leaves yellow, and the entire plant dies off quickly — or grows even more enthusiastically. How can you get the power of life and death over plants? Although…

Put an Entire Galaxy Under Your Office Chair

A floor mat is unfortunately a must-have accessory if you don’t want your office chair trampling down carpet, or tearing up a wooden floor. But thankfully you no longer have to just opt for a boring sheet of plastic. Underfoot Media creates chair mats printed with stunning images of the universe, so rolling over to…

Defiance‘s second episode is better than the pilot

I can’t think of how many TV shows I’ve seen where a promising pilot is followed by a crappy second episode. It’s like people get burned out trying to make the pilot as awesome as it can be, and so the second episode suffers. But I’m happy to report that Defiance has no sophomore slump.…

Whoa, Computer Graphics Can Make Water Look Real Now

Now here’s something impressive. PhysXInfo seems to have solved one of the tougher problems in computer graphics: realistic fluid dynamics. In other words, making water look like actual water, and not a tub full of triangles. The software you see running here is called Position Based Fluids, using PhysXInfo’s Position Based Dynamics. It’s pretty gorgeous,…

Watch SpaceX’s Grasshopper vehicle “hop” 820 feet into the air

In its latest trial run, SpaceX’s Grasshopper spacecraft soared to a height of 820 feet, hovered, then lowered itself back to Earth, alighting gracefully on the landing pad from whence it launched. The Grasshopper is a 10-story tall Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) rocket; it lifts things up, and it sets things back on the…

Watch SpaceX’s Grasshopper Break Its Record For Taking Off and Landing Vertically

Another day, another Johnny Cash-accompanied test of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Grasshopper rocket—which is not to say this isn’t exciting, because consistency is the name of the game for a commercial reusable rocket. Especially the Grasshopper, which can take off and land vertically. In this most recent test, the Grasshopper takes off, hovers at about 820…

Aereo’s cloud-based DVR for broadcast TV launches in Boston on May 15th—Even though nobody’s sure it’s legal.

Watch this meteor tear a hole in the Argentinian sky

This past Sunday, an audience attending a rock concert near Santiago del Estero in Argentina were treated to an unexpected pyrotechnics display. The meteor, which measured about a half-meter across, flashed across the sky around 3:30 AM on April 21 and could be seen in central and northern Argentina. It blazed through the atmosphere at…

HP’s New Multi-Touch Graphing Calculator Has Smartphone Aspirations

These are exciting times for anyone who’s refused to replace their trusty standalone graphing calculator with a similarly capable smartphone or tablet app. Your stubbornness is finally paying off as HP is teasing what appears to be one of the most advanced color touchscreen calculators the scientific world has ever seen. That, or a lame…

Five Simple Ways to Keep Your Android Malware-Free

While it’s true that Android is a little more susceptible to malware attacks than iOS, the situation isn’t nearly as bad as Apple would have you believe. With a little knowledge and a sprinkling of common sense, you can make your device impervious to even the most dastardly of digital assaults. Here’s how. 1. Set…

Voice Control Is Coming to DirecTV’s Smartphone App

DirecTV released their (long overdue) Android tablet app just over a month ago, and it looks like that low-key entrance was paving the way something bigger: a voice control rollout over both its iPhone and Android mobile apps. https://gizmodo.com/directv-ipad-app-updated-to-let-you-stream-video-anywhe-5895343 Prosaically dubbed “Voice,” the app’s addition is powered by a combination of Nuance software and DirecTV’s…

Just how complex are Man of Steel and Nolan’s Interstellar?

Matthew McConaughey’s wonderfully crazy ramblings hint at the scale of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. Orson Scott Card discusses the Ender’s Game movie. Guardians of the Galaxy casts a very British actress. Plus spoilers for Game of Thrones, Revolution, and Arrow! Spoilers… Top image from Star Trek Into Darkness. Man of Steel Michael Shannon discusses filming his…

Brain Scans Reveal That Humans Definitely Feel Empathy For Robots

While creating an empathetic robot is a long-held dream, understanding whether humans genuinely empathize with robots should—in theory—be easier. Now, a team of scientists have analyzed fMRI brain scans to reveal that humans have similar brain function when shown affection and violence being inflicted on both humans and robots. https://gizmodo.com/robots-of-the-future-will-show-empathy-be-good-listene-5026973 The experiments, conducted at the…