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The convenience of never having to recharge a manually-powered wheelchair is often outweighed by the fact that riders must use both arms to steer it. Carrying something like a smartphone at the same time is a big challenge, so a Swiss design student was inspired to design a better wheelchair that allows riders to steer…
Inspired by bugs, Harvard’s Ambulatory Microrobot, or HAMR, can run, climb, make sharp turns, and carry small payloads. In the latest upgrade to the system, HAMR has been endowed with the ability to swim, dive down from the surface, and walk underwater—no small task for an object as light as a paperclip. Roboticists at Harvard…
Gizmodo’s podcast The Gateway follows our reporting on controversial internet spiritual guru Teal Swan, and the influence she has over her thousands of followers. In the final episode, released today, we have one final interview with Swan. In that conversation Swan discusses whether or not she is a cult leader and why she feels she…
It’s a crucial compound when it comes to supporting life, but water has so many amazing properties that there’s a lifetime of experiments to try with what comes pouring out of your faucets. It’s common knowledge that water is an effective tool for dousing a flame, but did you know that you can use water…
I rarely turn down the chance to try something new or strange. Reptile expo with live demos? Sounds great. Monster truck rally? Yea, why the hell not. Vape show in town? Sure, I’ll check it out. Indoor virtual reality skydiving? I AM THERE. Who cares that “indoor virtual reality skydiving” as a concept doesn’t make…
We all want our tech to stay secure, but we also want a life that’s easy and convenient—and sometimes the two don’t fit together all that well. These are some of the ways you’re putting your devices at risk, perhaps without even realizing it, and what you can do to stop it. 1) Watching TV…
Retail giant Walmart yanked shirts saying “Impeach 45,” which just so happens to be the number President Donald Trump has embroidered on his shirt sleeves, from its online store on Tuesday after getting rolled by spurious threats of a boycott on Twitter. Per the Washington Post, the incident transpired mostly after Students for Trump chairman…
Ride-hailing giant Uber is planning to merge with its competition in the Middle East, though unlike prior deals in Southeast Asia, China, and Russia, it says it will remain in control of the merged entity. Bloomberg reports that Uber is in “preliminary talks” with local competitor Careem to strike a deal that would see the…
Chinese smartphone and networking equipment manufacturer ZTE scored another concession from the White House on Tuesday, with Reuters reporting that the Department of Commerce had decided to grant it a “temporary reprieve” from a ban on purchasing components from US companies that recently led to ZTE shutting down its operations. ZTE is the company the…
Photographers who still shoot on film claim they like the lo-fi, grainy aesthetics of the medium. But by that logic, they should be throwing hundreds of dollars at Dan Macnish who created a custom instant camera that converts what the camera’s lens sees into crude, stick figure doodles. Remember Google’s Quick, Draw! online game that…
Spend too much time in extreme summer heat and you’ll find yourself doing strange things. A week ago the idea of a gigantic umbrella for my car would have seemed laughable, but after a weekend of climbing in and out of unbearably hot vehicles, the Lanmodo seems like it should be a standard feature on…
For modern smartphone owners, it’s a common enough of an occurrence. You’re just sitting there, talking about whatever, when suddenly you say something that triggers the digital assistant on your phone. Now normally, you’d probably get annoyed for a second, tap a button to dismiss the interruption, and then continue with whatever you were doing.…
It doesn’t matter what ludicrous conspiracy theory is stopping you from storing your money in a bank, you’ll be happy to know that the US Department of the Treasury has an entire division dedicated to the task of trying to rebuild and recover currency should your cash-stuffed mattress get destroyed in a fire or flood.…
If you’re still trying to figure out your Fourth of July plans, consider taking a cue from this calm snuggle beast who recently took a dip in a Jacuzzi in Altadena, California shortly after scaring off the owner. Mark Hough was relaxing in his hot tub with a margarita last Friday when a bear started…
Zainali Jaffer, the founder and former CEO of video advertising platform Vungle, was arrested in October on a number of charges, including child abuse and “oral copulation of a person under 14.” On Monday, a judge granted the district attorney’s motion to dismiss all the charges against him citing a lack of convincing evidence. Jaffer…
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday debunked a long-running conspiracy theory promoted by President Trump and right-wing blog The Daily Caller, firmly declaring a former congressional IT staffer of Pakistani birth innocent of a slew of trumped up espionage and computer related crimes. Imran Awan, a former IT specialist for Democratic lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman…
A few weeks ago, I was enjoying one of my favorite activities: reading an enthralling piece of fiction before bed. This time it was Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Just as I was being transported to 20th-century Japan, I heard a loud, fluttering sound near my window. I saw some movement and assumed a moth…
Software updates are exciting. I keep telling my friends this, and when they get behind on their updates, I’m all, “Hey, you’re missing out on good stuff!” This is part of the reason why I’m sometimes the guy who downloads beta versions of software. The bugs are annoying, but hey, the features are better. This…
It’s the smartphone conspiracy theory that just won’t go away: Many, many people are convinced that their phones are listening to their conversations to target them with ads. Vice recently fueled the paranoia with an article that declared “Your phone is listening and it’s not paranoia,” a conclusion the author reached based on a 5-day…
If you own a phone or a computer (and we’re assuming you do) there are bugs and annoyances that you just have to learn to live with. On the flip side, there are also problems that hint at something much more serious going on with your device—issues you shouldn’t learn to live with, but should…
