Science

5 Real Life Mouth Weapons More Terrifying Than Godzilla’s Atomic Breath

Godzilla is known for his atomic breath, a weaponized nuclear exhalation that forms deep inside the beast’s belly. There aren’t any animals who turn their mouths into radioactive heat rays, but there are lots who throw, spit, project, or heave things from their mouths. Here are five amazing real life mouth weapons. Spitballs Made of…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

The Best Way To Transport A Rhino? Upside Down, Tied to a Helicopter

Animals often have to be relocated by conservation organizations. Sometimes it’s to move them to safety, farther away from poachers, and sometimes it’s to introduce new genes into a population. NatGeo photographer Emma Gatland joined a group from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife for a white rhino relocation effort in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. While the…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

This Cold War Test Bed Irradiated Satellites Before the Soviets Could

How do you ensure that fancy new military satellite is tough enough to withstand an orbital EMP attack by the Soviets? By shooting it with your own nuclear bomb using this massive, movable test chamber, obviously. During the Cold War, players on both sides of the Iron Curtain worked just as hard devising ways to…

Space & Spaceflight Andrew Tarantola

The World’s Heaviest-Drinking Nations, Ranked

The World Health Organisation has released a new report which reveals the heaviest drinkers in the world—and the U.S. really doesn’t get a look in. The average U.S. resident drinks 9.2 liters of pure alcohol a year, according to the Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2014. Compare that to the 17.5 litres drunk…

Health Gerald Lynch - Gizmodo UK

Raccoon or Dog? US Government Decides the Fate of Animal Fur

Is this animal, Nyctereutes procyonoides, best referred to as an Asiatic raccoon or as a raccoon dog? The answer to that question is actually more complicated than you might think — and could determine whether this animal will be killed for its fur or not. Earlier this week, the US government announced its answer: These…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Russia Will Shut Down All U.S. GPS Stations Within Its Borders (Update)

Russia Today has unconfirmed reports that Russia announced today a plan to shut down all 11 American-run GPS stations within Russian territory starting June 1st. Russia has also threatened to stop supplying the rocket engines the U.S. uses to launch military satellites into orbit. Allegedly, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced the move in response…

Space & Spaceflight Bob Sorokanich

Virgin Galactic Might Not Technically Get You Into Space (Updated)

A new report about Virgin Galactic has taken a look at the small print in the customer contract that Virgin Galactic will give to those who choose to fly in the most ridiculous commercial aircraft ever—and it seems that they can’t promise you’ll make it into space. Even if it had the FAA permission that…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

Handy Charts Show How To Pet Your Animal Friends Safely

For some reason, we humans have an intense desire to touch animals. Lucky for you, we found a handy, graphical guide to the safest ways to pet, poke, and prod them. Here’s the thing. If the animal isn’t a domesticate – a horse, a cat, a dog – just don’t touch it, okay? Take this…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Did Exploding Whales Just Go Mainstream?

There was a short science lesson in this weekend’s SNL, but if you blinked you might have missed it. Also a pair of methane-filled marine mammals sent their bloody viscera flying onto Taran Killam and Charlize Theron. In case you haven’t heard, the internet spent some time wondering whether a decomposing blue whale that had…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Mango the Brown Bear Makes Veterinary History at an Israeli Zoo

Mango is a 19 year old male Syrian brown bear who lives at Israel’s Ramat Gan Safari Park, a zoo not far from Tel Aviv. Earlier this week, he made veterinary history after undergoing a complex spinal surgery. Mango had been suffering from a condition most commonly known as a “slipped disc.” The formal term…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Watch Astronauts Practice Drilling an Asteroid Underwater

Training for the imminent mission to an asteroid has begun in Houston, and it looks like fun. On Friday, astronauts Stan Love and Steve Bowen jumped in NASA’s 40-foot-deep pool to try out a new suit design and several tools that could be used on the asteroid mission slated for the 2020s. Thank God they…

Space & Spaceflight Adam Clark Estes

Ready For Some Croc-on-Croc Violence? Cretaceous Crocs Ate Each Other

We’ve previously brought you impressive images of crocodylians – that’s the group of reptiles that includes alligators, crocodiles, and caimans – being eaten by river otters and by snakes. Now we bring you some intense croc-on-croc violence. We share because we love. Yesterday, paleontologist Pedro L. Godoy and colleagues reported a new fossil found in…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Meet The Lizard That Looks Just Like Spiderman

Meet the Red-headed rock agama, Agama mwanzae. The lizard, native to East Africa is a fascinating critter, and not just because it likes to cosplay as Peter Parker’s alter-ego. These lizards are unique among agamids – there are more than 350 species in the Family – because they cluster in groups. They may group together…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

You Could Own This Joystick That Landed Astronauts on the Moon

Want to make your sci-fi video games feel more authentic? Or maybe just need a new ornament for beside the fireplace? Then how about buying this joystick, which was used by astronaut Dave Scott to land the Falcon lunar module during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971. The joystick forms part of a sale of…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

AAAAAAH! Dinosaur Throws Opening Pitch At Baseball Game

Also the baseball-throwing theropod has feathers, making it more scientifically accurate than what’s been announced for the fourth in the Jurassic Park franchise.

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Read George Washington Carver’s Thesis: “Man is Simply Nature’s Agent”

George Washington Carver is perhaps best known for his work on peanut cultivation, but his botanical research was far more wide-ranging than the one legume for which he’d eventually become famous. Agriculture in the Reconstruction-era American South had an over-reliance on cotton. Cultivating the same plant in the same places over and over again leads…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

How to Get a Fish To Cross a Dam

Imagine you’re a river herring, maybe about a foot long, swimming merrily upstream when you suddenly hit a giant concrete wall. How do you cross it? Engineers are now designing new fishways disguised as broad, rocky pools that help migrating fish make their way through dammed up rivers. You have probably heard of fish ladders…

Biology Sarah Zhang

Our Electronics Are Messing Up How Birds Navigate

The air is thick with electromagnetic noise these days. AM radio waves, the electromagnetic hum of computers—it’s invisible to us, but birds seem to detect them with their internal magnetic compass. A new study finds that electromagnetic noise disorients European robins, raising the intriguing and frightening possibility that our cities and their signals could be…

Biology Sarah Zhang

Science Just Made the Most Massive, In-Depth Universe Simulation Ever

Ever wanted to see what our universe looked like moments after the Big Bang? Good luck—it would take your desktop computer more than 2,000 years to complete. Luckily, researchers just published findings from the first ultra-realistic simulation of our universe’s growth. And it covers 13 billion years. Led by Mark Vogelsberger at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center…

Space & Spaceflight Bob Sorokanich

National Zoo Lion Cubs Pass Most Adorable Swim Test Ever

In March, four cubs were born to African lion (Panthera leo) Shera at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Now that they’re a little over two months old the cubs almost ready to join their relatives in the lion enclosure, but first they have to pass a swim test. There’s a moat in the lion…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

5 Real Life Mouth Weapons More Terrifying Than Godzilla’s Atomic Breath

The Best Way To Transport A Rhino? Upside Down, Tied to a Helicopter

This Cold War Test Bed Irradiated Satellites Before the Soviets Could

The World’s Heaviest-Drinking Nations, Ranked

Raccoon or Dog? US Government Decides the Fate of Animal Fur

Russia Will Shut Down All U.S. GPS Stations Within Its Borders (Update)

Virgin Galactic Might Not Technically Get You Into Space (Updated)

Handy Charts Show How To Pet Your Animal Friends Safely

Did Exploding Whales Just Go Mainstream?

Mango the Brown Bear Makes Veterinary History at an Israeli Zoo

Watch Astronauts Practice Drilling an Asteroid Underwater

Ready For Some Croc-on-Croc Violence? Cretaceous Crocs Ate Each Other

Meet The Lizard That Looks Just Like Spiderman

You Could Own This Joystick That Landed Astronauts on the Moon

AAAAAAH! Dinosaur Throws Opening Pitch At Baseball Game

Read George Washington Carver’s Thesis: “Man is Simply Nature’s Agent”

How to Get a Fish To Cross a Dam

Our Electronics Are Messing Up How Birds Navigate

Science Just Made the Most Massive, In-Depth Universe Simulation Ever

National Zoo Lion Cubs Pass Most Adorable Swim Test Ever

Elon Musk’s Lawyer Claims Jury’s 420 ‘Joke’ Proves He Didn’t Receive a Fair Trial

‘Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice’ Is a Genre Blending Delight

Leaked Anthropic Model Presents ‘Unprecedented Cybersecurity Risks,’ Much to Pentagon’s Pleasure

Don’t miss out: Bitdefender, One of the World’s Best Antiviruses, Is Now on Sale

The Secret to Better Sperm? It’s Probably Already on Your Schedule

Lego Is Leaning Into Your Marvel Memories With a New Helicarrier Set

Toshiba’s 65-inch Smart Fire TV Now Matches 43-Inch Pricing After 44% Drop on Amazon

Kash Patel’s Email Account Hacked, Iran-Linked Group Takes Credit

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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