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Physicists Use Lasers to Chill the World’s Coldest Molecules

If you thought last winter was cold, you should stay as far away from magneto-optical trapping as possible. Yale physicists recently used this technique to cool a molecule of strontium monoflouride down to 2.5 thousandths of a degree above absolute zero. That makes them the world’s coldest molecules. It’s also really cold! Absolute zero is…

Physics & Chemistry Adam Clark Estes Aug 25 '14

Check Out An Exclusive Clip From The Hit Anime Movie Patema Inverted

Patema has a problem. Like her people, the princess lives deep in the caverns of the earth, but she accidentally fell into a deep pit… a pit that led to the surface world, where she discovered a race of people for whom gravity is reversed. Which means now she’s in danger of falling off the…

Movies Rob Bricken Aug 25 '14

China says new supersonic sub would reach San Francisco in 100 minutes

China claims it has found a way to create a supersonic underwater vessel that could travel from China to San Francisco in less than two hours using new developments in supercavitation. This could be extremely useful for travel—but also for the development of underwater weapons. In fact, this is a military project. This technique was…

Sploid Omar Kardoudi Aug 25 '14

Why FireChat’s Latest Update Is a Big Deal

FireChat, the clever app that lets people talk to each other without using cell reception, just got an update that gives its users fixed handles. That might not mean a damn thing to you, which is understandable. FireChat doesn’t have the name recognition of Snapchat. It’s not a popular messaging app. But it should be,…

Tech News Kate Knibbs Aug 25 '14

The Curveball Illusion Makes You Sure Your Computer is Pranking You

Look directly at the spinning disk and it will appear to fly straight. Look at the purple “fixation point” at the right, and the disk will keep sliding to the side. It is probably the eeriest thing you’ve seen today, and this paper will tell you why you haven’t really seen it. Like something coming…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 25 '14

Watch a Dad’s Righteous Special Effects Turn His Kid Into an Action Hero

It’s great to have a good imagination, sure. But do you know what’s even better? Having a dad who can use special effects to put you inside all of your favorite movies and games. Awwww heck yes. James Hashimoto is among the luckier kids on Earth, because his dad—Dreamworks animator Daniel Hashimoto—like to do exactly…

Movies Eric Limer Aug 25 '14

Fitness Tracker Data Shows Who the Bay Area Earthquake Woke Up

Well, here’s one cool, unexpected use for all that data your fitness tracker is culling: Jawbone has released a chart showing the spike in wide-awake UP users in the wee hours of Sunday morning, when a 6.0 earthquake shook up the Bay Area from San Francisco to Napa. Jawbone tracks your sleeping patterns as well…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Aug 25 '14

Watch The ISS Fly Through An Aurora

The ESA has just released a stunning timelapse video of the International Space Station flying through an aurora, which was created when a giant cloud of gas from the sun — a “coronal mass ejection” — collided with Earth’s magnetic fields last week. The footage was taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst. A few days…

io9 Mark Strauss Aug 25 '14

Gorgeous renders look like alien planets or Minecraft worlds

Lee Griggs is an expert in Maya and Arnold, a 3D rendering engine that produces amazing images in the right hands. Like his topographical experiments. He uses millions of tiny geometric elements combined with beautiful color palettes to create exquisite abstract visualizations. Some could be alien planets, others could be microscopic photos of minerals or…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Aug 25 '14

Teens go bananas and take scariest selfie ever atop 1135-foot skyscraper

I’ve seen many coldblooded daredevils climbing skyscrapers and towers, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone having a picnic up there—The Centre skyscraper in Hong Kong, 1,135 feet (346 meters) above the ground. I couldn’t avoid gasping when photographer Daniel Lau lifted his camera above him and his friends. SPLOID is a new…

Sploid Omar Kardoudi Aug 25 '14

7 New Materials That Could Change How Our Buildings Act

The gap between material science and actual construction is very far and very wide. It can take decades to move a breakthrough in engineering from a lab to a building site. But as architects and engineers face bigger challenges—from earthquakes to dwindling resources to sheer cost—a new generation of smart materials is emerging. Over the…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Aug 25 '14

Another Crazy Star Wars Rumor! Plus Did The Stand Movie Find Its Star?

Could Superman actually face the music for his actions in Man of Steel? The members of Amazing Spider-Man’s Secret Six may not be whom you’re expecting. A Doctor Who rumor gets an intriguing non-denial. See tons of clips and promos for Gotham, Doctor Who, Defiance and Star Wars: Rebels. Spoilers right now! Top image: Batman…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Aug 25 '14

You’d Never Spot This Razor-Thin ATM Skimmer

The constant drive for miniaturization doesn’t just apply to consumer electronics: the crooks are at it, too. And when it comes to card skimmers, this tiny thing is pretty much impossible to spot. https://gizmodo.com/the-latest-long-life-super-thin-atm-skimmers-are-virtu-1601076751 Krebs on Security has pictures of this new breed of card skimmer—the devices that lurk in a card slot to read…

Privacy & Security Jamie Condliffe Aug 25 '14

Terrifying video shows the lung capacity of smokers vs nonsmokers

I’ve seen many photos and videos of smokers’ lungs—all of them disgusting—but I’ve never seen a better case against cigarettes than this Vine showing the differences in lung capacity between a smoker and a nonsmoker. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Sploid Jesus Diaz Aug 25 '14

Amazing video shows hundreds of pelicans diving into a feeding frenzy

Birds are awesome creatures, but seeing huge flocks of them—like these pelicans diving into a feeding frenzy—both amaze and scare the bejesus out of me. Maybe is Hitchcock’s fault. Or maybe it’s because I know these sons of dinosaurs are really waiting for their opportunity to eat us all one day. SPLOID is a new…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Aug 25 '14

There Are Huge Plumes of Methane Leaking From the Atlantic Floor

Methane can come from all kinds of places. But now a team of researchers has discovered over 500 bubbling methane vents just off the east coast of the U.S. that are releasing the gas, too, https://gizmodo.com/do-cow-farts-actually-contribute-to-global-warming-1562144730 The team of scientists has been studying the continental margin—part of the ocean floor that divides the coast and…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Aug 25 '14

Short film shows the dangers of a computer that makes wishes come true

What would you do with a magic computer that could make anything you want to appear in front of you. No payments, no three-day Amazon Prime shipping—just type something and boom, it’s yours. It sounds awesome until you see what happens in this short directed by Spencer Susser. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome…

Sploid Omar Kardoudi Aug 25 '14

Scientists Just Grew a Whole Organ Inside an Animal For the First Time

We’ve been able to grow organs in labs for some time now. But what if you could grow them directly inside a living body just by injecting a few cells? It looks like now we can, at least in a limited way. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have grown thymus glands directly inside lab…

Health Pranav Dixit Aug 25 '14

These Lamps Are a Sleek Modern Take on Industrial Lighting

Look around hip London or Manhattan coffee shops and restaurants, and you’ll know that big, heavy lampshades of industrial light fittings are in right now. But these stripped-back lights provide a nod to that style—with a lighter, modern feel. The Slims Collection of lamps by Tel-Aviv-based Studio Beam is a contemporary take on the industrial…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Aug 25 '14

A sneak peek into the guts of the new European Space Shuttle

Photographer Enrico Sacchetti got a peek of Europe’s new experimental space shuttle, the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, and sent us this cool photo of its guts. The IXV will be launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on October 2014. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Sploid Jesus Diaz Aug 25 '14

Physicists Use Lasers to Chill the World’s Coldest Molecules

Check Out An Exclusive Clip From The Hit Anime Movie Patema Inverted

China says new supersonic sub would reach San Francisco in 100 minutes

Why FireChat’s Latest Update Is a Big Deal

The Curveball Illusion Makes You Sure Your Computer is Pranking You

Watch a Dad’s Righteous Special Effects Turn His Kid Into an Action Hero

Fitness Tracker Data Shows Who the Bay Area Earthquake Woke Up

Watch The ISS Fly Through An Aurora

Gorgeous renders look like alien planets or Minecraft worlds

Teens go bananas and take scariest selfie ever atop 1135-foot skyscraper

7 New Materials That Could Change How Our Buildings Act

Another Crazy Star Wars Rumor! Plus Did The Stand Movie Find Its Star?

You’d Never Spot This Razor-Thin ATM Skimmer

Terrifying video shows the lung capacity of smokers vs nonsmokers

Amazing video shows hundreds of pelicans diving into a feeding frenzy

There Are Huge Plumes of Methane Leaking From the Atlantic Floor

Short film shows the dangers of a computer that makes wishes come true

Scientists Just Grew a Whole Organ Inside an Animal For the First Time

These Lamps Are a Sleek Modern Take on Industrial Lighting

A sneak peek into the guts of the new European Space Shuttle

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