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Will philosophy unlock the puzzle that is artificial intelligence?

Quantum physicist David Deutsch has penned a provocative and must-read article for Aeon Magazine in which he argues that artificial intelligence might someday be possible — but only if a major breakthrough is made in our fundamental understanding of how human cognition and consciousness works. And to get there, he says, we’ll need to listen…

How Did You Watch the Presidential Debate?

There were more options for watching the debate last night than ever—YouTube, the Obama 2012 homepage, Xbox Live, etc.—and it also happened to be the most tweeted about political event in US history. I started off watching on my Xbox, which had served me well during the Democratic convention (the interactivity being a nice touch),…

South Park shows how James Cameron saved us all from Honey Boo Boo

Convinced that the aggressive success of Honey Boo Boo and her family has brainwashed America, South Park sends out the “greatest pioneer” James Cameron to dive deep into the abyss and raise the actual taste bar back up, thus saving America from sketti-wrestling. Personally, the best part isn’t the current jabs at Honey Boo Boo…

Spray-On Sweatbands Provide Instant, Silly Relief From the Heat

You can already buy shirts and other garments specifically designed to keep you cool while battling the heat, but they’re no where near as revolutionary as this refreshing Cold Foam. It comes ready-to-spray like a can of silly string, and once released the foam immediately chills to just over 1 degree Fahrenheit, and stays that…

What comes next after the Noosphere?

We’re living in the era of the noosphere: a term that describes how humans fundamentally change the world around them. Just like the atmosphere or the biosphere, the term “noosphere” describes a feature of our entire planet — except that this feature is us. But it won’t stop there. What other “spheres” will we discover…

How do you end racism? Transform black people into white people!

Science fiction pioneer and futurist Hugo Gernsback was a man who dared to dream big. And making big predictions meant that he was going to whiff huge every now and again. So for every one of his technological divinations that actually came to pass, there were some stray oddball ideas, like the oxygen-tank-requiring face prison…

Snake Venom Might Actually Be a Better Painkiller Than Morphine

Morphine—glorious, glorious morphine—is among the world’s most potent painkillers, able to make you forget about that broken leg or split open skull. But what if something that generally causes death could be transformed into something that aided the body in recovery? Scientists believe they’ve discovered the element in Black Mamba venom that does just that.…

Predictions From The Father of Science Fiction

Hugo “Awards” Gernsback was many different things to different people. To his fans, he was a visionary who started some of the most influential (not to mention the first) science fiction magazines of the early 20th century. Ray Bradbury was quoted as saying, “Gernsback made us fall in love with the future.” To his detractors,…

Could a Pair Of Kinect Sensors Replace Your Mouse?

When you think about it, pushing a mouse across a table or poking a flat screen with your finger is a pretty limited way to interact with a computer. After all, our hands are capable of far more intricate motions, which a company called 3Gear Systems hopes to translate into complex gestures that could revolutionize…

I Want to Climb Every Page of This Book Mountain

The final plans for Spijkenisse’s—a small town in the Netherlands—stunning new library were revealed back in 2009 when construction began. But now that the Book Mountain + Library Quarter is complete and open to the public, we’re finally getting our first actual glimpses of its pyramid-like facade and gorgeous mountain of books inside. Designed by…

Watch a deleted scene from Lilo & Stitch about racist tourists

Here’s a nixed, incomplete scene from the 2002 Disney cartoon Lilo & Stitch that took a break from the film’s main “alien experiment on the loose” storyline. This sequence showed how filmmakers were willing to confront those rude tourists who treat Hawaii’s residents like the denizens of one big exotic playground. This cute scene would’ve…

Facebook Is Reading Your Messages and Liking Things For You (Updated: Not as Bad as We Thought)

You might think clicking “Like” is the only way to stamp that public FB affirmation on something—you’re wrong. Facebook is checking your private messages and automatically liking things you talk about. Update: Sort of. The scanning which is either an oversight on Facebook’s part of a deliberate effort—we’re waiting to hear back from FB increases…

Watch a Grown Man Steal an iPhone From a Baby (Yes, Really)

This is the best worst video you’ll see for a while. That’s a 20-month-old baby in the carriage, watching Barney on her mom’s iPhone. And then the guy who sort of looks like Jim’s dad from American Pie bends over and steals it. Again, from a baby. He stole an iPhone from a baby and…

Science fiction travel posters help you pick your next off-planet vacation

We love these simple but stylish interplanetary tourism posters by Dean Walton. Who wants a vintage poster of New York when they can have an ad for Mars, Vulcan, Pandora, or even the less popular retreat of LV-426? [Via Slashfilm]

The iPad Mini Could Look Absolutely Stunning

After the iPhone 5 leak mega-saga—at this point you can call these renders sneak previews—the black anodized aluminum iPad mini seems like a done deal. https://gizmodo.com/leaked-ipad-mini-photos-show-first-look-at-black-model-5948258 Which is why Gizmodo reader Martin Hajek—who made those awesome iPhone 5 renders that looked just like the real thing—has rendered these images. The more I look at the…

Dying medium distributer Redbox is exploring new life as a ticket broker. The best part? A measly $1 surcharge. [WSJ]

Nokia’s Lumia 920 Will Be an AT&T Exclusive Because Verizon Hates You and Everything You Love

AT&T just confirmed it will have the Lumia 920 some time in November, and it’ll be an AT&T exclusive. Great. Ugh. https://gizmodo.com/nokia-lumia-920-hands-on-you-really-want-this-thing-bu-5940654 In summary: Verizon misses out on the coolest phone coming out this year. Nokia (CDMA concerns aside) hitches its wagon to the crappier major LTE carrier. And Microsoft’s best foot forward is on…

This newly discovered tiny dinosaur is adorably terrifying

It’s hard to live up to the title “terrible lizard” when you’re only two feet long and weigh less than a house cat, but the newly discovered Pegomastax africanus does its best. With a name that translates to “thick jaw from Africa,” P. africanus lived 200 million years ago or so. Its fossil was first…

Backing Up Is a Lot Easier When Your Car’s Back Seat Is Invisible

The last time Keio University was in the news it was for a prototype wearable cloaking device developed by a team of researchers at the school. A decade later you still can’t go out and buy one, but the research has inspired another brilliant use for the technology—invisible car interiors that let you see everything…

Facebook’s First Ad Is Facebook’s Worst Ad

Facebook just hit 1,000,000,000 users. That’s a lot of people tagging and poking and posting GIFs of puppies kissing geese. So, to celebrate, Facebook released the dumbest video we’ve seen in a while. Facebook (and The Zuck) prides itself on how much it connects us. So of course the spot shows lots of people connecting…