Planes

Boeing Swears Dreamliner Will Fly This Year, Really

Do you know that sinking feeling when people tell you they are going to do something again and again and again—and then once more—but they never, ever do it? That’s what I’m feeling right now with the Dreamliner: https://gizmodo.com/seriously-is-the-boeing-dreamliner-ever-going-to-fly-5326774 The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) today announced that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner is…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Aug 27

Jetpod Flying Taxi Creator Falls to His Death Testing Prototype

We’ve been all about the air lately, but sometimes we just forget what some do to give us our future areo technology. The inventor of the Jetpod flying taxi, Michael Robert Dacre, died yesterday while testing his latest twin-engine aircraft. https://gizmodo.com/the-boeing-dreamliner-787-could-be-the-next-spruce-goos-5338674 Crashing in Taiping, Dacre died on his fourth run. According to a witness, the…

Tech News Joanna Stern Aug 17

How Budget Airlines Undercut the Majors (Spoiler: Infographics)

Personal theory: Man has a natural propensity to question what he reads but believe anything he sees in neat infographic form. And this is one heck of an infographic, comparing budget airlines (like Southwest) to traditional companies like Delta. (Click on the image to see it bigger.) I have no idea whether or not all…

Tech News Mark Wilson Aug 17

The Boeing Dreamliner 787 Could Be the Next Spruce Goose

The headline takes certain exaggerated liberties, sure, I admit that, but nevertheless today marks the second time in two months that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been delayed due to structural failures during the testing process. https://gizmodo.com/seriously-is-the-boeing-dreamliner-ever-going-to-fly-5326774 I’ll let Boeing tell you about the latest snafu, with snarky blogger filter uncharacteristically removed: “In two areas…

Tech News Jack Loftus Aug 16

10 Machines So Huge They’ll Destroy Your Sense of Scale

With consumer technology companies locked in an endless race to to make the smallest, sleekest gadgets they can, it’s easy to forget the primal joy of seeing mindblowingly huge hardware. Here are ten machines that are so enormous that they’ll screw with your sense of what’s large, what’s small, and what is truly gigantic—each handily…

Tech News John Herrman Aug 10

Massive Machines Gallery

The Overburden Conveyor Bridge F60, used in open mines. It looks pretty huge here, sure, but how big is it? A fair bit longer than the Eiffel Tower laid flat, is how big. [DarkRoasted Blend] The Komatsu 9xx Series mining trucks look a bit like Tonka toys. No, they look exactly like Tonka toys. [MiningTopNews]…

Tech News John Herrman Aug 10

Seriously, Is the Boeing Dreamliner EVER Going to Fly?

We’ve been following the progress of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for a long, loooooooooong time, so we’re excited that it’s finally ready to—oh, wait is that wing coming apart? https://gizmodo.com/first-photos-of-complete-boeing-787-dreamliner-273028 Last week the Seattle Times reported that the damage observed during a ground test of the Dreamliner happened very late in the test, more specifically:…

Tech News Rosa Golijan Jul 30

Airplanes Getting Stronger Seats and Better Pillows Airbags

Starting this fall, all new planes will be required to have heartier seats that can withstand 16x gravity without popping out of place. Plus, they’ll be getting airbags in select areas. As of now, plane designs that were certified before 1988 are permitted to have seats that can withstand just 9x gravity. And airbags are…

Tech News Mark Wilson Jun 30

R/C Gliders Cruise the Mountainside at 392MPH

An R/C glider with no engine can reach speeds of 392MPH in the right conditions by using a principle called dynamic soaring, as you can see in this clip. Anyone who’s ever rafted or kayaked will probably recognize the fundamentals at play. Air moving along a mountainside causes an eddy right below the ridge on…

Tech News Mark Wilson Jun 24

F-4 Ejection Seat Sticks It to Work in Style, Overkill

Maybe you fantasize about leaving that shitty office job for something else like, I dunno, opening a charming B&B on the coast or being Maverick from Top Gun. Well this is how you quit. https://gizmodo.com/real-pilot-seat-for-real-combat-flight-simulator-pilots-371284 OK, the F-4 Ejection Seat will not actually eject you from the next corporate board meeting, but your boss doesn’t…

Tech News Mark Wilson Jun 24

Synthetic Tree Will Hopefully Capture Tons of Carbon Dioxide, Save the Planet

Scientists at Columbia University are working on a sort of synthetic tree that aims to capture about 1,000 times as much carbon dioxide as more organic versions. They’re hoping to extend the technology even to heavy-emitting cars and planes. The units, demo versions of which already exist (this is assuredly not a concept), take CO2…

Tech News Dan Nosowitz Jun 23

In-Flight Entertainment Could Go Wireless, But You’ll Have to Bring Your Own Screen

Personal in-flight entertainment systems are getting pretty close to ubiquitous, at least on long-haul planes. According to the NYT, in-flight wi-fi will soon be just as common. Now airlines are wondering: why not just combine the two? In practice, that would mean a media server, mostly full of video and music content, would be added…

Tech News John Herrman May 26

The Weird State of In-Flight Wi-Fi in the US

Airlines don’t officially compete on being the most efficient at stripping away your remaining tatters of dignity. No, the new battleground is in-flight Wi-Fi. I’m somehow unsurprised the worst airline in the country is winning. https://gizmodo.com/live-in-air-10-things-you-need-to-know-about-in-flight-5096868 That’s right, AirTran is winning on two fronts. AirTran will be the first carrier to offer Wi-Fi on every…

Tech News Matt Buchanan May 19

Video: Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo in Action

We all know the Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo can actually fly. Now, Wired has an exclusive video of the plane in action, further squashing any skepticism of the plane. https://gizmodo.com/first-virgin-galactic-white-knight-ii-photos-5029950 This video is from an April 20 test flight over the Mojave desert. According to Wired, the plane suffered a tail strike and some rudder control…

Space & Spaceflight Adrian Covert May 1

American Airlines Installing Wi-Fi on 318 Planes

As of right now, American Airlines has Gogo Wi-Fi on all of 15 planes. Today they’ve announced that 318 more planes will be getting this $100,000 upgrade…but it will take a few years for the project to be complete. By the time it actually happens, I plan on having internet beamed straight to my soul.…

Tech News Mark Wilson Mar 31

A Look at the Mysterious ‘Black Box’

Any time a plane goes down, the black box recorder, once again, becomes a mythical machine whispered about in the back alleys of news broadcasts. So Wired assembled a technological rundown on the device. https://gizmodo.com/black-box-case-mod-scoffs-at-server-crashes-5015772 As many of you know, the steel or titanium black box is actually painted orange or red so it’s easy…

Tech News Mark Wilson Mar 6

Plane Crash Kills 49 in Upstate New York

Flight 3407, a commuter plane crashed into a home in upstate New York and erupted in flames earlier tonight. Authorities say the death toll is currently at 49 people. Update The airplane was a Q400 Bombardier aircraft that was flying from Newark to Buffalo Niagra. It crashed into a suburban home at around 10pm, just…

Tech News Elaine Chow Feb 13

Seattle-Tacoma Airport Using Radar and Pyrotechnics to Keep Birds off the Runway

In the wake of the airplane crash landing in NYC’s Hudson River, CNN has an interesting article about the Seattle-Tacoma Airport spending $250,000 yearly to prevent the same bird strikes that caused last month’s incident. https://gizmodo.com/us-airways-waterlanding-close-up-image-of-inflatable-r-5132435 Seattle-Tacoma airport has a wildlife biologist on staff (and has for the last 30 years) and a team of…

Tech News Adrian Covert Feb 12

In the Shadow of Technology, Super Powers Turn Meaningless

Sorry Superman, but at least you still have X-ray vision. See the wonders of flight and other meaningless super powers (like 99% Opacity Man) over at the Superuseless Superpowers blog. [SS via about:blank]

Tech News Mark Wilson Jan 19

Flight Simulation of the Hudson River Waterlanding

The BBC commissioned a flight-sim reproduction of the last week’s near-miraculous US Airways incident. So, in case you were wondering, this is what it looks like to pilot a commercial jet onto a river. This digitl reenactment drives home just how quickly the events transpired, and how quickly the crew managed to respond. Another point…

Tech News John Herrman Jan 19

Boeing Swears Dreamliner Will Fly This Year, Really

Jetpod Flying Taxi Creator Falls to His Death Testing Prototype

How Budget Airlines Undercut the Majors (Spoiler: Infographics)

The Boeing Dreamliner 787 Could Be the Next Spruce Goose

10 Machines So Huge They’ll Destroy Your Sense of Scale

Massive Machines Gallery

Seriously, Is the Boeing Dreamliner EVER Going to Fly?

Airplanes Getting Stronger Seats and Better Pillows Airbags

R/C Gliders Cruise the Mountainside at 392MPH

F-4 Ejection Seat Sticks It to Work in Style, Overkill

Synthetic Tree Will Hopefully Capture Tons of Carbon Dioxide, Save the Planet

In-Flight Entertainment Could Go Wireless, But You’ll Have to Bring Your Own Screen

The Weird State of In-Flight Wi-Fi in the US

Video: Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo in Action

American Airlines Installing Wi-Fi on 318 Planes

A Look at the Mysterious ‘Black Box’

Plane Crash Kills 49 in Upstate New York

Seattle-Tacoma Airport Using Radar and Pyrotechnics to Keep Birds off the Runway

In the Shadow of Technology, Super Powers Turn Meaningless

Flight Simulation of the Hudson River Waterlanding

Scientists Are Recycling Centuries-Old Bullets for a Badly Needed Toxic Compound

Amazon Drops Kasa Smart Light LED Bulbs (4-Pack) to Around $6 Each as Stock Clears Out

You Can Buy ‘Dune: Part Three’ IMAX Tickets Right Now

LA Has a Big Flea Problem. Typhus Cases Reached Record High Last Year

Samsung’s Tablet Deals Just Got Bigger, Galaxy Tab S10 Lite Hits Its Lowest Price With S-Pen on Amazon

Beats Solo 4 Headphones Are Back at Black Friday Pricing and Over 4x Cheaper Than AirPods Max

‘The Testaments’ Cast on How Their Show Mirrors Our Real-Life Dystopia

Meta to Smart Glasses Owners: Stop Hitting Yourself

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

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