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Taiwanese singing robot head is a melodious abomination

Professor Chyi-Yeu Lin of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology has experimented with robot heads before (here’s a few of them), and now his team has built a robot that can read music and emote according to the song’s lyrics. Too bad this head looks like the Bride of Johnny Cab. From the…

An iPhone 4 Backing That Magically Changes Colors When You Touch It

Ordinary fingerprints on your iPhone 4? Passé. Fingerprints that can morph your iPhone 4 into a color changing chameleon!? Psychedelic. These heat sensitive backings, made by RF Laserworks, magically turn a variety of gnarly colors depending on the temperature (aka your finger). It’s made by the same guy behind the Grip Tape iPhone 4 backing.…

10 Vestigial Traits You Didn’t Know You Had

Humans have an amazing knack for clinging to the past. We all have traits or behaviors that suited our ancestors just fine, but no longer make any sense — but we just can’t seem to get rid of them. Over time, these traits and behaviors become what are known as “vestigial” — as in, they…

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13% of Cell Owners Pretend to Talk to Avoid Human Contact. That’s It?

The stat diggers at Pew dug up a new gem: in their nationally representative survey, “13% of cell owners pretended to be using their phone in order to avoid interacting with the people around them.” This seems very, very low. Part of the beauty of the ubiquitous phone is the ubiquitous excuse. See someone walking…

What ancient secrets are hidden in this Martian crater?

For the last three years, NASA’s Opportunity Rover has been slowly making its way to Mars’s Endeavour Crater, and now it’s finally made it. Here’s one of the first photographs from this alien crater…but the real work is just beginning. As we discussed last week, there’s a chance that Opportunity could discover signs of ancient…

Win backstage passes to New York’s American Museum of Natural History, plus cocktails with scientists!

Going to one of the largest and most dazzling collections devoted to the history and diversity of life on our planet is exciting enough. But going behind closed doors for a private lab tour with brilliant scientists? How about an open bar? Join us backstage at New York’s incredible American Museum of Natural History. What…

I Can’t Listen to This Creepy Robot Head Sing Her Head Off

Floating singing lips are creepy but seeing a robotic head with dark soul sucking eyes (that double as cameras) try to sing might be just as bad. Especially when she’s horribly shrieky and a little too realistic. https://gizmodo.com/this-gross-robotic-mouth-is-like-a-singing-fleshlight-5820842 Developed by Chyi-Yeu Lin, the robot head can look at a sheet of music with her eye-cameras…

This Week’s TV: Why has Futurama‘s Fry been Simpsonized?

Why does Fry suddenly look like a member of the Simpson family? You’ll have to watch our new Futurama clip to find out. Meanwhile, the Warehouse 13 gang go inside a video game to save Eureka’s Fargo…and Claudia’s an elf! Also on television this week: Adventure Time sends Finn and Jake on a mission for…

The Only Particle Physics-Based Phone You Need

If your top three greatest passions on life are, in no particular order, movies, television and photography, but you still have a flip phone, it’s time to chuck it out the window and consider a smartphone named after the very basis of all that awesome visual entertainment—the Sprint Motorola Photon™ 4G. In fact, you can…

Where the Next Nexus Phone Is Coming From

After Google bought Motorola Mobility this morning, Google naturally had a conference call with their investors. We listened in and got a little rare insight into how the Nexus program works. https://gizmodo.com/google-is-buying-motorola-5830842 When your kid asks you, “Mommy, where do Nexuses come from?” now you’ll have an answer. The Nexus program is what Google uses…

Scientists discover an answer to stem cell therapy’s lethal side effects

In the emerging field of regenerative medicine, some of the most promising developments revolve around so called “pluripotent cells” — cells like embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) that can develop into just about any type of cell in your body. Unfortunately, the differentiating potential that makes pluripotent cells like these…

The Air Force’s AC130U Spooky Is More Like Terrifying

Seeing this plane in the skies above you generally means you’re about to have a really shitty day. It’s the Spooky, a close air support variant of the Lockheed AC-130 Hercules aircraft. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-not-a-lost-scene-from-aliens-5761946 It’s armed with a single side-mounted 25 mm GAU-12 Equalizer Gatling gun capable of unloading 1800 rounds a minute. It also employs…

Meet Swarmanoid, a cuddly gang of robots who use grappling hooks to rob you

The Swarmanoid is an autonomous group of approximately 60 robots who work together like a SWAT team to accomplish the most mundane tasks. This machine swarm is made up of flying eye-bots, gripping hand-bots, and wheeled foot-bots. Watch this ridiculously nifty demo reel of the Swarmanoid conspiring to steal a book. If Skynet turns out…

Every Single Gadget Should Be Waterproof Like the Motorola Defy+ Android Phone

You know what makes sense? Putting the things we need and love (photos, music, email, talking) into one small handheld thing. What doesn’t make sense? Leaving these objects vulnerable to something that covers 3/4 of our planet. The Defy+ isn’t. And guess what? It doesn’t resemble a hideous bulging tank, as do most pieces of…

Take a Nap on the Moon for $2000

Contrary to popular belief, the moon is not made of cheese. But I have trouble believing it’s made of rocks and dust either. My theory is that the moon is a soft, billowy mass to catch a few ZZZs on. Maybe it’s kinda like this giant pillow, which is five-feet-wide, made of memory foam and…

Amazon Student Lets College Kids Trade In Their Hated Textbooks

Summer’s ending, and it’s time to start packing and preparing for school. That means finding some money for those uber-expensive textbooks you’ll only need for 9 months. The Amazon Student app will let you trade in the old ones for new swag. While the app won’t give you cash for your old copy of Introduction…

BGR Claims 4G LTE iPhone 5 Is Being Tested on Carriers

BGR is reporting that carriers are testing a 4G LTE model of Apple’s next iPhone. According to BGR, an internal test build of iOS contains code that betrays 4G LTE trials. Being in carrier testing doesn’t mean that the next iPhone definitely ship with LTE, but it’s at least on the table. We’re always inundated…

Wearable Flexible Solar Panels for Soldiers Are a Stupid Idea

Some boffins at the Australian National University have developed wearable flexible solar panels for soldiers. You know, so they can charge their gadgets easily and be spotted by snipers from a mile away. The panels, called SLIVER cells, are the result of a $2.3 million contract with the Australian Department of Defense. Professor Andrew Blakers,…

A Science Fiction Anthology Published by Intel

Why would chipmaker Intel want to commission science fiction authors to write stories? So that the technology-focused company can start thinking more in terms of user applications. The Tomorrow Project, a new anthology that Intel published online a few months back, aims to help Intel’s engineers imagine how people will actually want to use technology…