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Google’s Very First Employee Is Leaving

It’s the end of an era: Google’s very first hired employee is leaving the search giant. Craig Silverstein — the first Google employee, Page and Sergey Brin aside — is heading off to the new online learning concept, the Khan Academy. Before you ask: no, it’s not acrimonious. ” I am as passionate about Google’s…

Spaceship Concept Art (Gallery 2)

Artist unknown, via CoolVibe “Departure,” by Diston, via Deviantart Artist unkown, via CoolVibe By Finnian MacManus, via ConceptShips “Dreamscape IV,” by jamajurabaev, via Deviantart “The Irony of Small Arms Fire..” by EStreet, via Deviantart By Lance Wilkinson, via ConceptShips by Scott Robertson, via ConceptShips By Adam Burn, via ConceptShips By Rubén Pérez, via ConceptShips Vesper…

The Dog House Frank Lloyd Wright Built

Frank Lloyd Wright’s reputation for being a bit of an egotistical prick is well-documented and well-deserved. But that doesn’t mean he was all bad—the man had his soft spots. Like the time he designed a dog house for a 12-year-old admirer. In 1956, Jim Berger wrote to the acclaimed architect, requesting blueprints for a dog…

Spaceship Concept Art (Gallery 1)

By Maxim Revin, via ConceptShips By Kirk Lunsford, via ConceptShips By Angel Alonso, via ConceptShips By Angel Alonso, via ConceptShips “Hollow ship,” by masz-rum, via Deviantart Prestige class ship design, by Alex Drummond, via Art of Alti “Eagle’s Nest,” by sketchboook, via Deviantart “space battle – WIP?” by theregisteredone, via Deviantart “Zenith,” by JoeJesus, via…

What on Earth Is This?

No, this isn’t a closeup of a Cosby Sweater. Nor is it the result of those shrooms you ingested twenty minutes ago. It’s actually science’s newest means of mapping one of the Earth’s wildest and most remote regions. Mapping the Amazonian Rainforest is a daunting endeavor given the region’s huge expanse, lack of development, and…

Watch the world go mad in the trailer for Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

What would happen if everybody found out that we all only had a few weeks left to live? Director Lorene Scafaria’s apocalyptic romantic comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World starring Keira Knightley and Steve Carell captures the fall of society after it’s announced that an asteroid is going to crash into…

Google Wallet Hacked Again

That’s twice in two days. Yesterday, security firm Zvelo discovered a potential exploit against rooted phones. Today, tech blog TheSmartphoneChamp discovered how to accomplish the same feat on non-rooted phones. https://gizmodo.com/google-wallets-pin-system-has-been-cracked-but-dont-pan-5883585 While yesterday’s exploit required you to crack encrypted files, today’s requires you to simply clear the data in the app settings. Doing so forces…

The Man From Nowhere: This Is Why You Don’t Mess with the Quiet Ones

Imagine a man with Chuck Norris’ tenacity, Jason Bourne’s fighting prowess, Vlad the Impaler’s viciousness, and Bryan Mills’ motivation. That man pales compared to the single-minded destruction factory that is Tae-Sik Cha, a former CIA spook frantically searching for a missing child. The Man from Nowhere follows Tae-Sik, a special agent turned pawn broker, as…

Fringe Season 4 Set Photos

Texas Jury Smacks Down Landmark Shakedown Attempt by Infamous Patent Troll

Tim “I helped invent the Internet” Berners-Lee testified before a federal jury earlier this week, tearing into the validity of a key patent Eolas Technologies’ was exploiting to sue multiple web companies for $600 million. He must have been persuasive because the court took mere hours to reach its decision. Eolas Technologies, an infamous patent…

Extending Camper Vans Give the Modern Hippy Plenty Of Leg Room

The iconic VW camper van paved the way for the modern motorhome, but they were barely big enough for a couple of hippies. So a UK company has created the Doubleback with an extending pod that can fit a whole commune. Built on a modern Volkswagen T5 Transporter van, the Doubleback still features the soft…

R.I.P. ‘Laney,’ The Dog Who Inspired the Military’s Robot Pooches

Before there was the BigDog – the Pentagon’s remarkably lifelike four-legged robot – there was a German short-haired pointer named Laney. The brown-speckled pooch inspired one of the military’s most bizarre and captivating technology projects, its gallops and marches witnessed by millions on YouTube. This week, word spread among the small circle of Defense Department…

Get Locus Magazine delivered electronically for as little as $4 an issue

If you really want to keep up with what’s happening in the world of science fiction writing and publishing, you need to read Locus Magazine — it’s an essential resource for anyone who cares about the state of the field. So it’s great news that Locus has signed up with Weightless Books, a venture of…

A new scientific explanation for how zebras evolved their stripes

Explanations for why zebras are stripey run a wide gamut: some say camouflage, or that it makes it hard to target individual members of the herd, or even that it’s a cooling method. Well, add another one to the list, which at least has some experimentation behind it. New research published in the Journal of…

Now This Is How You Express Your Mac Love

And you call yourself an Apple fanboi? Dressing up like a mutton-chopped Steve jobs (true to life!) while your buddy tromps about in a cyborg suit comprised of vintage mac parts—that’s showing your fandom. The photo was snapped in Chongqing, China but other details have been elusive. Were they cos-playing for a con? Was this…

This Looks Like the Most Difficult Landing In the World Indeed

Flight Global’s Jon Ostrower posted videos of three different kinds of airplane approaches and landings. The first one is the most spectacular, as a Airbus A320 approaches Bhutan’s airport zooming, close to 12,000-foot mountains. Fast forward to 5:39. They plane warns “1,000 feet” but they still can’t see the damn airport strip. It’s like Top…

Space: 1999 remake will be called Space: 2099

We’ve often wondered what you would call a remake of Space: 1999, the 1970s series about a Moonbase on the loose, and now we know. The show is being remade by a team that includes the same studio that brought you the V remake, and they’re calling it Space: 2099. The real question is: How…

Why your pancreas has tastebuds

In what can only be described as the most shocking revelation since I learned that tumors can grow teeth, it turns out your pancreas has taste receptors. New research published in the PNAS indicates that there are sweet taste receptors in that organ — and their reaction to fructose may be a cause of diabetes.…

Some people are more creative when they’re drunk

Are you more creative when you’re drunk? It’s one of those soundbites that you’re liable to hear a friend spout off somewhere between their fourth and fifth beer — a little factoid that might actually sound somewhat feasible if only there were a scientific study lying around to back it up. Fortunately for you, Jonah…

Ancient Poop Science: Inside the Archaeology of Paleofeces

The invention of the toilet accomplished many good things, but it did rob us of the chance at immortality – through our poop. Ancient humans have revealed some of their greatest secrets through paleofeces, the study of the waste they left behind. Top image via Democratic Underground In studying ancient humanity, there’s no more powerful…