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Buy some John Scalzi books, support breast cancer screenings!

John Scalzi is the master of making us offers we can’t refuse. And this time, he’s letting you take money from his pocket and put it into the hands of Planned Parenthood. Recently, the Susan G. Komen Foundation bowed to pro-life bullying and withdrew support for Planned Parenthood’s breast-cancer screenings. So for the next week,…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Feb 1 '12

How Kids of the 1950s Got The Idea That They Could Hunt Dinosaurs on Venus

In 1950, the Hayden Planetarium promoted its new exhibit, “Conquest of Space,” by soliciting letters for the public to reserve a seat on the first trip into space. The letters all make for an entertaining read, but one in particular stuck out for me. A letter from a person named Arthur described how he’d like…

Tech News Matt Novak Feb 1 '12

It’s Change Your Password Day

Hey, so, it’s Change Your Password Day. Which means you should like, change your password. Why are we asking people to do this? I probably have twice as many stupid accounts on a multitude of sites, services and forums than I did two years ago. And there’s a new thing to sign up for everyday.…

Privacy & Security Matt Buchanan Feb 1 '12

Spiders who chop off their penises to save their heads

Sexual cannibalism is a remarkably common mating habit among insects and arachnids — perhaps most famously, black widow spiders and preying mantises devour males after mating with them. There are a number of competing theories about why such a seemingly harmful trait would evolve. And now we’ve discovered one spider who evolved a way to…

io9 Tim Barribeau Feb 1 '12

Men Remember Bad—and Arousing—Times Better Than Women

Do you remember your first break-up in great detail? Maybe sex from the other month? Or, most vividly, the really bad sex from last year? Turns out, men remember unpleasant and sexual experiences far more accurately than women. A study conducted at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Montreal investigated the links between…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Feb 1 '12

Foster’s Fitness Gallery

Return to Foster’s Fitness article. https://gizmodo.com/fosters-fitness-i-finally-figured-out-what-a-burpee-is-5880952

Tech News Roberto Baldwin Feb 1 '12

The Ultimate Test of Siri’s Accent-Deciphering Skills: Scotland

Siri has been tested in the interpretation of accents across the country, but she meets her match with the utterly amazing dialect of the proud Scottish people. To be fair, how many actual humans would know how to respond to a request for a “jammy dodger like a f*ckin jam sandwich”? [YouTube/thegavin2000]

Tech News Michael Hession Feb 1 '12

10 Of Scifi And Fantasy’s Most Aesthetically Significant Bathroom Death Scenes

You may remember that we recently counted down ten of science fiction’s most undignified demises. One of the most ignominious deaths was the passing of Donald Gennaro, the lawyer who is consumed whilst sitting on the toilet by a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex. https://gizmodo.com/10-most-undignified-deaths-in-science-fiction-and-fanta-5878731 Still, Gennaro’s fate only scratches the surface of mortal moments to occur…

Movies Cyriaque Lamar Feb 1 '12

Future Earbuds Won’t Care If You Mix Up Left and Right

One day you might not have to worry about sticking your left and right earbuds in the correct ears. Because researchers have created a clever system that automatically adjusts the stereo mix depending on what side each bud is inserted. The solution, created by researchers at the Igarashi Design Interfaces Project in Tokyo, is actually…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Feb 1 '12

Your Ultimate Survival Guide to February’s Science Fiction and Fantasy!

This year, February has an extra day, and it’s packed with more excitement than you can possibly handle. There’s a new Anne Rice book. Our favorite new TV show, The River, debuts. John Scalzi and Dan Dos Santos are at Boskone. The fantastic superhero movie Chronicle comes out, plus there are inexplicable sequels to Ghost…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Feb 1 '12

Why we evolved two nostrils (hint: it’s all about domination)

There are sound evolutionary reasons why we have two eyes and two ears. By why do we have two nostrils? Researchers at Stanford University have the answer – after doing a study that revealed the weird reason why we don’t have one big hole in our nose. Face holes tend to come in pairs. We…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 1 '12

Longform App Collects the Internet’s Best Writing on Your iPad

Longform has long been an invaluable resource to everyone who’s overwhelmed by all the good stuff there is to read. Longform’s new iPad app packages the website’s curated blend of old and new non-fiction writing into a mobile-ready interface. The Longform app will be familiar to anyone who uses Instapaper to manage their addiction to…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Feb 1 '12

Make an Autonomous Robot from Recycled Parts for Under $500, and More from TreeHugger

This week, autonomous robots, tweeting birdhouses, steampunk iPhone speakers, and more! 1. Human-Like Autonomous Robot Made From Recycled Parts for Under $500 Talk about a garage project worth bragging about. Salvius is six feet tall, 164 lbs, and runs on Ubuntu. 2. DIY Solar-Powered Bird House Tweets When Birds Arrive Here is one recipe from…

Tech News Jaymi Heimbuch - Treehugger Feb 1 '12

New Crazy Björk Thing: Interactive iPad Album on Colbert

Bjork stopped by the Colbert Report last night to talk about her new album “Biophilia,” which has an interactive iPad component that lets listeners manipulate the music with various on-screen elements. The interview wasn’t without the obligatory technical difficulties, but thanks to some expressive gestures we all came away enlightened as to the difference between…

Tech News Michael Hession Feb 1 '12

Turn Your TomTom Into Marge or Mr. Burns—Excellent!

Homer Simpson has been available as a TomTom Voice Skin for a few years now, but other characters are finally getting their due as both Marge and Mr. Burns are now available to guide you to your destination. https://gizmodo.com/homer-simpson-is-not-the-ideal-tomtom-voice-skin-5292648 While her samples sound pleasant enough, I can’t imagine spending more than five minutes listening to…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Feb 1 '12

Technologies that we’ve lost – and the quest to find them again

Greek fire. Damascus steel. These are two technological innovations whose secrets are said to be lost to time. Even the original schematics for the Apollo missions have disappeared into the mists of history, forever hidden inside hopelessly obsolete computers. How do we lose technologies that were once so important? Some say that they aren’t really…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Feb 1 '12

The Apple Bug That Let Us Spy on a Total Stranger’s iPhone

Every single iMessage to and from this man’s iPhone—his friends call him Wiz—has been sent to us by accident. We know about his job, sex life, and address. Apple, you might want to fix this. The story is simple: a friend’s son had some trouble with his iPhone 4. Being an awesome mom, our friend…

Tech News Sam Biddle Feb 1 '12

High-speed video reveals the surprising beauty of moth flight

If asked to describe a moth’s flight, I doubt many of us would use an adjective like “graceful.” Neurotic? Yes. Flap-happy? Absolutely. But years of watching moths careen headlong into patio lights and bug lamps have left most of us with a decidedly unremarkable impression of these bugs’ flying abilities. But after watching these slow-motion…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Feb 1 '12

Exclusive: Here Are Plans For A New Professional Football League, Run By Former NFL, XFL, And USFL Executives

The document below is a November confidential summary obtained by Deadspin of something called the Spring Professional Football League, which presents itself as a non-hostile NFL alternative, to be built on the bones of the several leagues that have tried and failed before. According to its own forecasts, the SPFL, whose management includes a number…

io9 Tommy Craggs Feb 1 '12

Have You Seen This Intern?

This is our new intern Ben. He just started today. We have no idea where he’s gone. This makes us think that we’re such horrible people to work with that we ran him off before lunch on his first day. But we don’t know for sure—maybe he was raptured, or was kidnapped and is now…

Tech News Gizmodo Feb 1 '12

Buy some John Scalzi books, support breast cancer screenings!

How Kids of the 1950s Got The Idea That They Could Hunt Dinosaurs on Venus

It’s Change Your Password Day

Spiders who chop off their penises to save their heads

Men Remember Bad—and Arousing—Times Better Than Women

Foster’s Fitness Gallery

The Ultimate Test of Siri’s Accent-Deciphering Skills: Scotland

10 Of Scifi And Fantasy’s Most Aesthetically Significant Bathroom Death Scenes

Future Earbuds Won’t Care If You Mix Up Left and Right

Your Ultimate Survival Guide to February’s Science Fiction and Fantasy!

Why we evolved two nostrils (hint: it’s all about domination)

Longform App Collects the Internet’s Best Writing on Your iPad

Make an Autonomous Robot from Recycled Parts for Under $500, and More from TreeHugger

New Crazy Björk Thing: Interactive iPad Album on Colbert

Turn Your TomTom Into Marge or Mr. Burns—Excellent!

Technologies that we’ve lost – and the quest to find them again

The Apple Bug That Let Us Spy on a Total Stranger’s iPhone

High-speed video reveals the surprising beauty of moth flight

Exclusive: Here Are Plans For A New Professional Football League, Run By Former NFL, XFL, And USFL Executives

Have You Seen This Intern?

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