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We Could Have Evolved the Placebo Effect to Save Energy

The placebo effect seems to make no sense: get mildly ill, take a dummy pill without knowing it’s ineffective, and you’ll recover in much the same way as someone taking real drugs. But new evidence suggests that we might have evolved the placebo effect to save energy. New Scientist reports that new computer simulations seem…

A sneak preview of next week’s issue of Suicide Squad

Courtesy of DC Comics, here’s an exclusive first look at next week’s issue of Suicide Squad. This #0 issue is a prequel to the comic’s current run, and it showcases the early days of Suicide Squad handler Amanda Waller. This issue hits stores next Wednesday, September 12 — here’s the synopsis: SUICIDE SQUAD #0 What…

What will happen to humanity after we upload our brains?

Some futurists and science fiction writers predict that centuries from now, humans will be able to upload their minds into computers. These “uploads” could exist in a virtual reality world created by software, or be downloaded back into other bodies — biological or robotic. But what will we do after we’ve become uploads? That’s a…

Angry doll returns for sixth movie in Curse of Chucky

Last time we dealt with the murderous child’s plaything Chucky, he was having sex with another doll and making androgynous babies. And now he’s back, sans strange doll family and Jennifer Tilly, in the sixth Child’s Play movie, Curse of Chucky. The direct-to-DVD flick reunites the voice of Chucky (Brad Dourif) with the creepy redheaded…

This Amazing Optical Illusion Will Make You Hate Your Brain

Your mind is not playing tricks on you. These amazing animations were done on transparencies. A pair of images were printed on separate plastic sheets your high school math teacher used and one was slowly dragged over the other, resulting in crazy moving pictures, like PacMan eating bullets, or a cat running. And you can…

The Most Amazing Solar Eruption Ever Recorded Is Even More Terrifying In Video

Holy Jesuspants. The image was already astonishing but this video made my head spin. Watching this magnificent violence from every angle is a good way to realize how lucky we are to be alive, precisely because of that titanic ball of fire in the sky. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-the-most-astonishing-solar-eruption-ive-ever-se-5940625 The video of this “magnificent CME”—as NASA calls it—was…

My Passport Edge: A Half Terabyte of Storage Not Much Bigger Than a Deck of Cards

If your MP3 collection has maxed out your ultrabook’s SSD right out of the box, Western Digital’s got a pair of new slim external drives designed to complement your laptop’s sleek profile—whether you’re a Windows or OS X user. Available in Mac and PC specific models, the drives pack 500 gigabytes of storage and a…

Super Jello Can Stretch To Extreme Lengths Without Breaking

If you wear contact lenses you’re already familiar with hydrogels—a jelly-like material made from polymers soaked with water. But a new type of hydrogel developed at Harvard University promises to be far more robust than your corrective lenses, stretching up to twenty times its original length without breaking. In fact, the new hydrogel’s creator, a…

Just which villains are in Iron Man 3? Plus set photos for The Wolverine and Thor: The Dark World!

Jose Padilha responds to all the Robocop scuttlebutt. Clark Gregg considers whether Agent Coulson might still have a future in the Marvel universe. Plus a sneak peek at Saturday’s Doctor Who, and Game of Thrones hints, direct from George R.R. Martin! Spoilers from here on out! Top image from Game of Thrones. Iron Man 3…

Amazon Kindle Rumor Roundup: Everything We Think We Know (Updated)

Today, Amazon lifts the veil on its all-new Kindle lineup. We’re anticipating new Kindle Fires in a bunch of different flavors, Kindle Touches that light up the night, and maybe even our very first glimpse at an Amazon phone. So what’s the full rundown on today’s goodies? How Many Kindles? Staples’ U.S. retail chief Demos…

Shortest-Ever Laser Pulses Can Image Electrons Orbiting Atoms

A team of scientists has smashed the record for the shortest-ever laser pulse, producing one that lasts just 67 billionths of a billionth of a second—which is short enough to use it to image individual electrons orbiting the nuclei of atoms. The team of researchers, from the University of Central Florida, has built on technology…

Lady Gaga’s next album, Artpop, will be released as an iOS app to include extra features. Umm, yay? [Little Monsters]

Alleged Unibody iPhone 5 Looks Mighty Slim

Straight from the same guy who leaked images of the next iPhone’s rumored bigger, better battery is a side-by-side comparison of the new device with the 4S. If it’s real, the new phone sure looks mighty slim. https://gizmodo.com/the-iphone-5s-leaked-battery-is-bigger-taller-and-fits-5940459 Obviously, we’re not entirely sure what to expect from next week’s announcement, but if the two-tone unibody…

The Human Genome Is Far More Complex Than Scientists Thought

For the past decade, scientists have been working on the assumption that 20,000 genes, less than 2 percent of the total genome, underpin human biology. But a massive international project called ENCODE has just revealed that plenty of the remaining 98 percent, once tossed aside as “junk DNA”, is in fact incredibly important. In fact,…

The Science of Orgasms

A whistle-stop tour of the science of orgasms, from the physical phenomena to what happens deep inside your brain at the point of climax, all in cartoon form. You’re welcome. [YouTube]

Report: Worker Abuse and Underage Employment at Six More Samsung Factories

Another report from a Chinese labor watchdog suggests that reports of Samsung’s underage and abused workforce weren’t a one-off. https://gizmodo.com/report-underage-children-abused-in-samsung-factories-5932504 A four-month investigation by China Labor Watch has revealed “severe labor abuses” at six Samsung-owned factories and two of its suppliers. A press release details abuses including unpaid labor, forced and excessive overtime hours, and…

Google Drive for iOS is to be updated to allow in-app editing of documents. Finally. [TechCrunch]

Bloomberg: No New Apple TV This Year

We heard in August that Apple had been struggling to square up the future of its TV service with the big bad cable companies over. Now, a Bloomberg source is admitting that it means no new Apple TV product will launch this year. https://gizmodo.com/apple-tv-may-not-become-the-streaming-utopia-we-and-app-5935205 Last month’s Wall Street Journal report hinted that a new Apple…

Kobo Arc and Kobo Glo: Can a Tablet and eReader From an Underdog Upstage Amazon?

Despite its relative success, the Nook eReader and tablet from Barnes and Noble have often been viewed as underdog devices trying to go up against the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire. So imagine the position that Kobo is in with its 6-inch Kobo Glo eReader and 7-inch Kobo Arc Android tablet. Yep. Once aligned with…

Fujifilm X-E1: Exactly Like the X-Pro1, but Smaller

Remember the Fujifilm X-Pro 1? Remember its mirrorless, 16.3-megapixel APS-C sensor and range of XF lenses? Yep, well look closely at the X-E1, because it’s virtually the same camera in a smaller package. https://gizmodo.com/fujifilm-x-pro1-review-serious-style-serious-price-u-5934188 Miraculously, all the same controls are intact. As is the hotshoe. And the EXR Processor Pro. Yes, the 2.8-inch screen is…