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DSLR “Rolling Shutter” Distortion Makes This Speaker Wobble Like Jello

“Rolling shutter” is a distortion peculiar to digital video. You read about it all the time in reviews, but it can hard to visualize what exactly the “Jello-like” distortion actual does. Here it is, perfectly illustrated in a short video posted by PetaPixel There’s nothing wrong with the speaker in the video above. The video…

The Weird but True History of Sin Eaters

In 18th and 19th Century Scotland, families placed a piece of bread on the breasts of their dying loved ones. That’s not the strange part — the families then hired someone to eat the bread, believing that the practice would somehow absolve the sins of the deceased. Where did this strange ritual come from? And…

Airbnb Is Just Now Verifying Hosts and Guests

Airbnb is starting to offer something called Verified ID—meaning, it’s finally making user’s prove that they’re real human beings and not a robot or scam artist. Here’s how it works: You can earn a verified badge by showing Airbnb a piece of your online identity—Facebook profile, Twitter account, or even Yelp reviews you’ve written—as well…

Tracking Tremors: A Brief History of the Richter Scale

In the study of natural disasters—be they tornadoes, hurricanes, snowpacolyses, or Florida on a weekday—the event’s magnitude is just as vital to our understanding as its duration and frequency. Hurricanes and tornadoes are measured by class, blizzards along the Winter Wonderland-Killstorm demarcation. Earthquakes, of course, are measured by how much energy they release—a system better…

How the hell is this photo of the Moon even possible?

Can we all just sit and marvel at this ridiculous shot of the Moon for a second? Because that would be great. Seriously, people. Just look at it. The image is by Switzerland-based photographer Philipp Schmidli, and came to our attention by way of Camilla Corona SDO (the intrepid mission mascot of NASA’s Solar Dynamics…

Jawbone’s Acquisition of BodyMedia Is (Sadly) All About Patents

Like the smartphone patent wars of yesterday, there’s a new arms race happening and it’s all about wearables. Similar to the spats going on between Google, Apple, Microsoft and smartphone makers, it won’t matter to me or you. At least not anytime soon. Earlier today Jawbone announced that it was acquiring BodyMedia, a 14-year-old health…

Time for an upgrade, AT&T users! Beginning May 1, you’ll be able to trade in your current smartphone for at least $100 off a new one (as long as you re-up for another 2 year contract). That means you can get an iPhone or a Galaxy S4 for a bill less than usual, even if…

Astounding Summer Books That You Won’t Want to Miss

Get ready for a summer of great reading! Some of these books are pretty emotionally intense, but we’ve packed the list with plenty of fun, sudsy beach reads for you, too. Photo is a detail from the cover of The Ocean at the End of the Lane. May Mur Lafferty, The Shambling Guide to NYC…

This Long Range Nerf Gun Is Your Deal of the Day

It’s no suprise that we love toys at Gizmodo, especially Nerf guns. Shooting a friend with soft foam is an absolute pleasure. When you think Nerf, you’re thinking dinky foam darts, but the Vortex line combines the classic Nerf gun with miniature discs, which fly a lot farther and and quite a bit faster. In…

YouTube is the new CSPAN. Well not really, but they just announced they’re giving members of the U.S. Congress access to enhanced features like live streaming. Whether congress members choose to reach out to constituents is their prerogative, but at least they’ve got another tool now.

None of These Screengrabs in This Trippy Video Are Computer-Generated

Warning: this video by filmmaker Will Witte is probably going to break your brain. It’s an MC Escher-esque loop of screengrabs, and amazingly enough, none of the shots were achieved with the help of a computer. Watch it once. Watch it twice. Watch it as many times as you can handle before your mind collapses…

Mark Sheppard really should play Avon in Syfy’s Blake’s 7 reboot

Syfy is apparently racing ahead at speed Standard by Six with its remake of Blake’s 7, the classic British show about criminals who join a political prisoner to fight an evil space empire. This show will live and die based on the character of Avon, and there’s one actor who’s uniquely qualified to play him.…

The Jayne’s Hat-inspired bra is pretty cunning, don’t you think?

A woman walks down the street in that bra, people know she’s not afraid of anything. Or at least Fox’s legal department. [Via Geeks Are Sexy]

The World’s First Tablet Projector Promises a 100-Inch Display

A built-in projector isn’t quite at the top of anyone’s wish list for tablet improvements. But that didn’t stop Promate from putting one into its new LumiTab and declaring it the world’s first tablet projector. The average consumer might not be interested yet, but corporate honchos who live and die by PowerPoint presentations are surely…

Watch a Bowl of Cereal Go Snap, Crackle, Boom In Glorious Slo-Mo

Even though this bowl of breakfast cereal meets its demise at the hands of what looks to be a tiny firecracker, through the eye of a high-speed camera the resulting explosion makes it look like a small island being wiped out by an atomic bomb. Whoever first said that you shouldn’t play with your food…

Short film Abe is 7 minutes of sheer robot horror

Now this is how you make a terrifying horror short without showing any real gore at all. Writer and director Rob McLellan is the brains behind Abe, this short film about a misguided robot. Which will be added as reason #5,677 why we shouldn’t program robots to have emotions. [via First Showing]

What percentage of philosophers believe in God?

What percentage of philosophers are theists? How many of them believe in free will? More importantly: how many of them think zombies are actually possible? Finally, a study has provided an answer to all these questions, and more. Philosophers David Bourget and David Chalmers have conducted a worldwide survey to gauge where members of their…

10 Photos Of Things Splashed With Paint And Other Stuff

Paint in the face? Powder up the nose? We’re not playing around. This is fine freaking art. https://gizmodo.com/shooting-challenge-color-splash-5995326 WINNER: Bathroom Splash So, I set up the camera in our bathroom on a tripod and used a remote to snap multiple photos while also being the subject. No fancy lighting, just the one light in the…

How virtual reality will reshape your life, according to Google

Check out this fascinating book trailer for the new book The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations, and Business by Google’s Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen. Created by the Draw Shop, it outlines just how Schmidt and Cohen see your world changing soon. As a press release from the Draw Shop explains:…

This Amazing Lego Instant Camera Even Pops Out Lego Polaroids

We couldn’t be happier that Lego master Chris McVeigh—aka Power Pig—is continuing to use his formidable skills to create brick versions of iconic cameras. Following up on his Leica M9-P he brings us this gorgeous Lego version of the Polaroid Land Camera 1000. https://gizmodo.com/build-this-lego-leica-m9-p-hermes-and-save-yourself-49-5990400 And going above and beyond the call of duty, McVeigh even…