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This Is What It Would Be Like To Dig To The Center Of The Earth

If you’ve ever encountered a sinkhole, dug a hole, or even just picked up an old Jules Verne novel, you’ve probably wondered idly what it might be like to travel to the earth’s core. This interactive visualization lets you get a sense of the scale, without ever having to pick up a shovel. The BBC…

The Next Wave Of Animated Batman Figures Comes With An Awesome Nightwing

We’ve known it’s been coming for a while after DC announced delays to try and fix the problems with the toyline, but at last, here’s some good news for the toyline based on Batman: The Animated Series and The New Adventures Of Batman: Nightwing is on the way, and he looks rather lovely. The fifth…

Sherlock Goes Old-School For Its Christmas Special

You’ve seen the pictures of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman dressed as the 1800s version of Sherlock Homes and Dr. Watson from the upcoming Christmas special. But now showrunner Steven Moffat has confirmed that the special will take place entirely in the character’s original era. Once the pics of the two actors in period garb…

16 Gorgeous Green St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations

Gizmodo reader-photographers assembled to photograph the color green in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, and what would you know, there’s not a toxic Miller Light in sight. Enjoy! Winner: Leprechaun Hallway No caption given. Steffen Ross Aurora Borealis This is a picture of the Aurora Borealis from my trip to Kiruna, Sweden. I used a…

Who Is The Most Fascinating Figure In Your Area’s Local History?

History is filled with great stories and unique characters, but sometimes the best stories never spread much beyond their own region. Today we want to know about the fascinating characters that people don’t hear enough about outside of your immediate locale. Tell us in the comments about a local historical figure from your region. Maybe…

All those iconic space pictures are really black and white 

Most of the gorgeous images of distant galaxies we all keep in our minds were captured by the lens of The Hubble Space Telescope. But those lens can only take black and white images. The color is added afterwards according to “the wavelengths of light that different elements emit in space.” This is how they…

The Secret Service Wants to Build a Replica White House

The Secret Service hasn’t been doing an awesome job guarding the White House lately, so Joseph Clancy, its director, plans to ask the House Appropriations Committee for $8 million so that president’s guard can build a replica White House on the Secret Service training grounds in southern Maryland. Not the whole house, of course. The…

9 simple photography tips that will make your pictures look better

Here are 9 rules about basic photography composition from famed photographer Steve McCurry that will instantly make your pictures look better. You know some of them already—rule of thirds, etc.—but it’s nice to see them illustrated with great pictures and be reminded of the most important rule of all: that you can—and should—break them. Here…

MESSENGER’s Latest Shots Of Mercury Are Some Of The Best We’ve Seen

After four years in orbit around Mercury, NASA’s MESSENGER mission is sadly coming to an end. But before it plunges to its doom, mission controllers are taking full advantage of the spacecraft’s close proximity to the surface. Here are some of the most detailed and vivid images ever taken of the Solar System’s innermost planet.…

This Guy Is The Reason Why Mental Asylums Aren’t Torture Chambers

Mental asylums will probably never have a good reputation. Bad as they are now, in the 1700s they were worse — deliberately worse. The person to really change the theory governing mental asylums was Philippe Pinel. Pinel was born in 1745, into a family of country physicians. He was better able than most to see…

Major Scoops For Supergirl, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Flash And Arrow

Just what could Batman’s role in Suicide Squad be? Gotham’s Cameron Monaghan talks about finding the voice of the Joker for the show. Bruce Campbell talks Ash vs. Evil Dead. Plus, teasers for what’s in store on Person of Interest, The Walking Dead, Agents of SHIELD and more. Rejoice, Spoilers are here! Top image: The…

Internet Explorer Is Dead, And Everything Else You Missed Yesterday

The end is nigh for IE, eBay goes high society, a man watches his wife give birth via VR. You know, a typical Tuesday. Welcome to BitStream, all the news and rumors you missed in the last 24 hours. The death rattle of Internet Explorer has been a long drawn-out one, but as soon as…

Hot Toys Returns To Steal Scarlett Johansson’s Soul For Avengers 2 Toys

The last time Hot Toys released a Black Widow figure, we were understandably amazed/petrified at the company’s ability to practice the dark arts presumably required to create their exquisite toys. But now they’re back with Johansson’s soul in tow for a second outing, and she looks great. https://gizmodo.com/this-black-widow-figure-may-have-stolen-scarlett-johans-1541291961 The 1:6 scale Widow, based on her…

There’s a Slice of 70s Pop Music in This Photo From the ISS

If you look closely at this photo of U.S. Astronaut Terry Virts, you can discover a neat little phenomenon that looks like a slice of 70s pop in space. We see the flight engineer of Expedition 42 on the International Space Station in the multi-windowed Cupola on December 2nd 2014, with the sun rising over…

Each letter of this alphabet moves like an appendage of an animal

This alphabet—by Boston-based graphic designer Ari Weinkle—is quite unique. First because its texture feels realistic, organic, and alive. And second because its creepy moves: The letters twist and turn as if they were actual animal appendages. In my work, I look to break apart and re-appropriate different forms such as the human figure, geometric and…

A New Synthetic Compound Can Neutralize Chemical Weapons in Minutes

Chemical weapons are a dangerous and all-to-real threat. Now, a team of scientists has developed a new compound that can deactivate chemical weapons—including nerve agents like sarin—in just minutes. A team from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, have found inspiration for the new compound in enzymes called phosphotriesterases. Usually produced by bacteria, these proteins deactivate…

Buying A Child-Sized Range Rover Is Definitely Spoiling Your Kids

If you were wondering if buying your kid a miniature version of a Range Rover would have a detrimental affect on their sense of entitlement, you’re absolutely right. Because kids who spend their childhood driving miniature Range Rovers grow up to become teenagers who expect the real thing when they turn sixteen. So just be…

Wondering about the different shapes of icicles? Visit the Icicle Atlas. Created by Dr. Stephen Morris and including the work of Antony Chen, the Icicle Atlas contains academic studies,”images, time-lapse movies and time-series data on 237 distinct laboratory-grown icicles.” [via theNew York Times]

This Oscar nominated film about a couple growing apart melted my heart

Sometimes life—and love—seems to pass before your eyes at the speed of light. One day, you wake up and realize that the person you’ve been living with for years has changed so much that they’ve almost become a stranger. Head Over Heels is an Oscar nominated stop-motion film by Timothy Reckart that perfectly depicts that…

What It’s Like to Quit Drugs By Blocking the Highs

If you could take the high out of drugs, what would be the point in taking them? Sujata Gupta meets the unorthodox doctor who thinks he can block some of the world’s most addictive pills. Toru had always been anxious as a child, but the problem worsened when he was 19 and attending college in…