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Facebook Ads Are Going to Tell You When They’re Tracking You

We know Facebook ads are tracking us, we just don’t always know which ones. But that process is about to get more transparent because Facebook is going to start labeling the ads you see based on past behavior. This new feature is the result of an agreement between the social network and the Council of…

This gif of the Joker putting on lipstick is utterly terrifying

This animated gif created from an illustration out of Greg Capullo’s art in Batman’s”Death of the Family” arc will stay with you for days. It’s fantastically creepy. If you need us, we’ll be spending the rest of the day staring down this gif, hoping it won’t crawl out of the computer and try and make…

Overkill, Thy Name Is This Tiny, Tablet-Cleaning, Roomba-Like Robot

We all hate using a smartphone or tablet when the screen’s covered in greasy fingerprints. But it’s a situation that’s easy to solve with nothing but a shirt sleeve, or if you’re particularly anal, a microfiber cloth. What the world doesn’t need is a tiny Roomba-like cleaning device designed specifically for cleaning fingerprints, but apparently…

This Is What Richard III Looked Like Before Being Buried Beneath a Parking Lot

Yesterday, archaeologists confirmed that they has discovered the remains of English King Richard III beneath a parking lot. Now, based on medical scans of his skull, a team of experts has created a facial reconstruction of the deceased monarch and it’s… terrifying? The reconstruction was produced using a variety of techniques. At its core lies…

How liquid nitrogen can make things explode

We know that by heating things up can make them explode. How about by cooling them down? For those of you who doubt that you can make something explode by cooling it, just grab some white erasers and liquid nitrogen. Then stand back. Things explode because the contents inside them suddenly expand to be a…

Safely Explore an Erupting Volcano With This Stunning 360 Degree Interactive Video

A few days ago we posted a behind the scenes look at how the Moscow-based Airpano managed to capture some spectacular footage and imagery of the Tolbachick volcano using a flying drone. But it turns out they also had a 360 degree video camera mounted to one of their helicopters. And the footage of their…

Astronomers Say Super-Earths Are Actually Mini-Neptunes

Among the 860 exoplanets documented so far, a good portion of them are so-called super-Earths — planets that feature a mass greater than Earth’s, but lower than our solar system’s smaller gas giants, namely Uranus and Neptune (both of which are about 15 Earth masses). And as the name implies, some of these super-Earths have…

The Hidden Fractals in Jurassic Park

If you’ve ever read the Jurassic Park novel and wondered what those crazy sets of spirals were between chapters, you need to watch this video. Also: if you’ve never read the Jurassic Park novel, you need to watch this video. Tucked away in the Jurassic Park novel are a set of fractals that can be…

The first stand-alone Star Wars movie could center on Yoda

A big, fat Star Wars rumor is circling the internet about the batch of Star Wars movies Disney is cooking up. We all know that J.J. Abrams is going to direct Episode VII, but the mouse house isn’t just going to make Star Wars movies that continue on the Skywalker story. Disney has plans to…

Jon Snow explains exactly how cold it is beyond the wall (Hint: It’s freakin’ cold

Game of Thrones season 2 doesn’t come out in Blu-ray and DVD until February 19th, but here’s another quick look at one of the set’s extras: A roundtable discussion, starring at least actor Kit Harrington and producer/director David Benioff, who discuss what it was like filming the scenes in Iceland that serve as the lands…

The 128GB iPad has now hit the online Apple Store. Go get it (if you really need that storage).

Ahmadinejad wants to be the first Iranian in space

Should all go according to plan, Iran will send its first astronaut into space by 2020 and put a man on the Moon by 2025. The country certainly appears to be serious; last week they launched a monkey into low orbit and successfully retrieved it (though some now suspect that it was an elaborate hoax…

Can You Identify Kim Jong-un’s Phone?

This picture was recently released by North Korea’s state media, and it shows Kim Jong-un holding a meeting with his security advisers just last week. It also shows Kim’s phone close at hand—but can you help us work out exactly what it is? So far, a spokesman for South-Korean Samsung has distanced his company from…

In the future everything will hover and YOU WILL LOVE IT

You will be especially fond of hover Robert-Downey-Jr.-clad-in-nothing-but-an-Iron-Man-mask. Because what’s not to love about RDJ in nothing but an Iron Man mask? This short (suitably titled “The Future”) was created by London-based filmmaker and animator Alex Goddard. We like where this guy’s head’s at. More of his work here. H/T Jason Bittle

Another reason why nothing beats an astronaut

While I struggle with the moral implications of having laughed out loud at Axe Body Spray’s Super Bowl commercial, I can’t deny its essential truth: Nothing beats an astronaut. And here’s yet another reason why — because as ISS Commander Chris Hadfield demonstrates, astronauts even wash their hands in a completely badass way.

HTC Is Promising a New Smartphone Camera Experience—But What Is It?

On its website, HTC is teasing the fact that it plans to offer up a new “camera experience” when it rolls out its—as yet unannounced—new flagship handset later this month. But while that’s all HTC is saying, rumors suggest that a new three-sensor camera may be in the offing. HTC cites one of our articles…

Benedict Cumberbatch reveals why his Star Trek Into Darkness character is a frighteningly modern villain!

The Transformers 4 producer discusses Michael Bay’s future with the franchise… and, just for fun, Shia LeBeouf’s as well. Warwick Davis drops hints about Neil Gaiman’s next Doctor Who episode. Real Steel 2 might go international, while Wreck-It Ralph 2 could enlist Disney’s most famous video game character. Plus the latest Walking Dead and Supernatural…

How FedEx Has More Bandwidth Than the Internet—and When That’ll Change

If you’re looking to trasnfer hundreds of gigabytes of data, it’s still—weirdly—faster to ship hard drives via FedEx than it is to transfer the files over the internet. But why is that, and when will it change? Fortunately, Randall Munroe has tackled the question in his latest What If? post. The first part is easy…

The FAA May Let Boeing Run Dreamliner Test Flights This Week

Since Boeing’s operational 787 Dreamliners were grounded, engineers have been trying hard to solve the problem. Now, the Seattle Times is reporting that Dreamliner test flights could start as early as this week. Boeing seeks to gain additional information about the battery system during the test flights—and apparently also has a possible fix it wants…

Leaked DOJ Memo Justifies Drone Strikes on US Citizens

A leaked Justice Department white paper reveals a draft legal framework which describes in detail the targeting of American citizens by drones without due process or proof of specific intent to harm. That’s terrifying. The document, obtained by NBC News, explains that targets believed to be “senior operational leader[s] of al-Qa’ida” or an “associated force”…