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This High Speed Camera Tracks Light Bouncing Off a Mirror at 100bn FPS

Slow-motion photography is cool and all, but now a team of scientists has decided to use high-speed photography to track light as it travels through space. In this GIF, you’re looking at a pulse of light hitting and bouncing off of a mirror. Really. The researchers, based in Washington University in St. Louis, have used…

A New Bill Seeks to Ban FBI Backdoors in Hardware

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is trying to pass a lawthat would make it impossible for state agencies to force electronics manufacturers into including backdoors in their products. While the FBI head James Comey wants to force hardware manufacturers tomake their products easier to spy on, Ron Wyden thinks otherwise. “Strong encryption and sound computer security…

The James Bond Movies Had to Go Darker Because “Mike Myers f—ed us”

With the announcement of the title and cast of the 24th James Bond movie this week, MI6 Confidential found a quote from Daniel Craig that explains why Austin Powers forced them to go a darker direction. From an interview aboutSkyfall, Craig explains that wasn’t just a general trend toward gritty reboots that caused the massive…

Birds Have Arms In this Truly Weird Commercial

I need help. This commercial for ASUS seems to have completely normal content, except that the images are of birds with arms, human arms, instead of wings. I think it’s supposed to be funny, but I am mostly kind of terrified. Please help. [Tastefully Offensive]

Follow Every Step Of Orion’s First Test Flight [LIVE COVERAGE]

After a one-day delay, Orion blasted off early this morning for its first-ever test flight. Follow the live-stream here along with our updates of photographs, videos, flight details, and tips on when to tune in to catch the most dramatic moments of this historic flight. Thursday’s launch attempt for the Orion prototype spacecraft was delayed…

Field Notes: The Nikon D750 Is a Delightful Full-Frame Video DSLR

Back in September, Nikon announced yet another full-frame DSLR to add to its broad lineup— the upper-mid-level D750. Equipped with a pivoting LCD and a handful of video specific features, this new guy is chasing the hearts of filmmakers in particular. At first glance it’s a welcome addition to an already proven camera lineup. Regardless,…

Great mashup of the best movie trailers of 2014

I don’t know if 2014 was a good year for movies but I do know that 2014 was a damn good year for movie trailers (this could be said for most years, actually). And here are clips of all those movie trailers mashed up into one awesome sequence. I mean, when you put a good…

Watch The Simpsons make fun of Frozen in their holiday episode couch gag

Though parodying Frozen doesn’t exactly pack the same punch as it would have, I don’t know, months and months ago, it’s still makes me giggle to see Homer as a snowman. The other bits of ‘The Couch Gag Before Christmas’ is basically the same run as last year’s. But who wouldn’t want a candy cane…

When Police Wear Military Uniforms, It Changes Their Psychology

Over the past decade, many police forces have taken to wearing paramilitary uniforms on the job. Over atThe New Yorker, psychologist Maria Konnikova describes how this change affects citizens and police alike. Police in Ferguson, MO, via Washington Post Konnikova begins by exploring studies that show people have a strong psychological response when police change…

The Twilight Zone’s ‘To Serve Man’ Has The Greatest Twist of All Time

If you’ve never seen it, you really should watch the classic 1962 Twilight Zone episode To Serve Man. Spoiler alert… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .…

Zaha Hadid Has Designed the World’s Worst Billboard

Well, here it is: the world’s worst billboard. Not that billboards are ever, like, especially great. And that’s why for the most part, cities don’t put up new ones. Or commission one by an architect known for her tone-deaf hubris. It’s like Zaha Hadid swept up some of the trash from her vagina stadium in…

How a New DNA Test Can Distinguish Between Identical Twins 

Ever since police started using DNA tests, one particular loophole has captivated our imagination: How do you distinguish between identical twins who share DNA? But it turns out even identical twins have tiny differences in their DNA, and prosecutors in Massachusetts want to use a new test for identical twins in court for the very…

Why Earth isn’t flat and why you wouldn’t fall off of it even if it was

Some people seriously think that the Earth is flat. No one can save them. But the always thinking Vsauce explores the possibility and tries to figure out if the Earth actually could be flat in his latest video and details some rather interesting things about a flat Earth: that life would suck on it and…

Bat for Lashes: What’s a Girl To Do 

Donnie Darko fans, nursers of broken hearts, and nighttime bikers, Bat For Lashes’ “What’s a Girl To Do” is a perfectly weird and haunting video for you. “What’s a Girl To Do” is a single off the first album of Bat for Lashes (aka Natasha Khan) back in 2007. As someone whose interest in being…

The predatory strike of an electric eel is shockingly sophisticated. Newly published observations reveal that the electrical pulses deployed by eels bear a striking resemblance to the immobilizing mechanism of a Taser, Carl Zimmer reports at The New York Times.

The Feds Are Finally Going to Help Companies Avoid Getting Hacked

On the heels of a painful-to-watch volley of insane revelations about the recent Sony Pictures hack, the Department of Justice has announced that it’s creating a dedicated cybersecurity unit. The new unit will be part of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property section. And—here’s the kicker—it will help the private sector avoid cyberattacks. Details about…

Yes, you can actually buy this Lego strip club

Though not official Lego set by any stretch of the imagination, this set is a custom Lego build for a strip joint called the Foxy Blox. Filled with glint and glam, hologram foil bricks and working lighting, your half naked Lego figs will be paying their way through medical school in no time. From the…

Here’s One Genre That Could Replace Post-Apocalyptic Stories

We’re in the middle of a huge boom in post-apocalyptic storytelling, including some of the most acclaimed novels and some of the biggest media properties. Will the apocalypse ever stop? What could replace it? Here’s one idea: Instead of the apocalypse, maybe we can start writing about colonizing other worlds, which is much the same…

Ingenious Gifts for People Who Love Science

For the people on your list who love doing science projects — or just contemplating the wonders of human knowledge — these gifts are sure to delight, educate … and be seriously badass. Hydrophobic Aerogel Of course you want to own a little piece of the wonder substance that’s 90% air, waterproof, and is also…

Power-up with these Mario Brothers Lego blocks

Doing nostalgic Nintendo builds will always get my attention. The brightness of Lego bricks really lend themselves to creating awesome stuff in this genre. These blocks by madoruk are really great and his perfect background really makes them come alive. We need a coin or mushroom to make this complete! You’re reading Leg Godt, the…