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The recent images of Hawaii’s erupting Kilauea volcano are as fascinating as they are disturbing, but as this new timelapse video taken from the top of nearby Mauna Kea shows, the view from above the cloud tops is just as dramatic. Normally, the wide-angle camera at the Gemini North telescope is used to monitor atmospheric…
Facebook users who want extra account security but don’t want to share their phone number with the company can now lock down their accounts with alternative two-factor authentication methods like code-generating apps, Facebook announced today. Two-factor authentication helps protect users’ accounts from unauthorized access by requiring a code in addition to a password in order…
Facebook is partnering with civil rights organizations to combat revenge porn on its platforms. The company announced Wednesday that it is rolling out a hashing system in the US, Canada, and the UK to block explicit photos from being shared on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram, including in private group chats. The catch, however, is striking:…
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which oversees telecommunications like radio, TV, and the internet in the U.S., doesn’t regulate content on online platforms like YouTube. But that hasn’t stopped people from sending complaints about the video site to the federal agency—and they’re every bit as unhinged as you’d expect. Gizmodo submitted a Freedom of Information…
For years, the FBI has claimed it needs a backdoor for encrypted devices because too much evidence is being lost in our brave new world. At the end of 2017, law enforcement began a new push, claiming there were 7,800 devices waiting to be cracked. Now it says there was a programming error and that…
You know the scenario. You need to get a message out to a lot of people—the baby’s here, bring your own beer, that sort of thing—but you don’t want to drag dozens of contacts into a spammy, reply-all messaging nightmare at the same time. No matter what your preferred communication app of choice, here’s how…
The U.S. State Department issued a health warning this morning to U.S. citizens in China after an American government worker was diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury. The unnamed worker reported “subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure.” The U.S. government employee was assigned to the American consulate in Guangzhou, China…
While other phone makers are busy trying to incorporate notches onto their latest devices, HTC is doubling down on some smartphone innovation that you can actually feel. That’s because on the new U12+, HTC is blowing out the phone’s squeeze functionality it pioneered on the U11 last year with a bunch of new features. So…
For a moment, Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before members of the European Parliament looked like it was going to be a very bad day for the Facebook CEO. Then he started answering questions, a flood of pablum spewed from his mouth, and everyone got angry. In the lead up to Zuckerberg’s first appearance before politicians in…
Across the country, law enforcement agencies are teaming up with data firms to bring facial recognition to public spaces, including airports, schools, and even protests. Most of these efforts remain clouded in secrecy, but newly released documents from Oregon officials using Amazon’s facial recognition offer our clearest look yet into how cops and their tech…
Satellite images reveal extensive mining operations not far from the site of a 2017 US airstrike in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan—an attack most Americans remember only because of the nightmarish nickname of the weapon employed: The “Mother of All Bombs.” The 20,000-pound GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, was detonated above a massive…
Neuralink, Elon Musk’s secretive startup dedicated to the development of brain-computer interfaces that could make it possible for people to communicate with computers using only their thoughts, is funding primate research at a California university, according to public records obtained by Gizmodo. This research grant marks Neuralink’s first successful foray into the arena of animal…
To the victor go the spoils, or in some cases, the bodies of a vanquished enemy, as the discovery of remnants from an Iron Age battle in Denmark demonstrates. New research published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that Alken Enge, a 185-acre archaeological site in Denmark’s Jutland peninsula, was…
For victims of sexual violence, many of whom are legally granted anonymity in the United Kingdom, all it might take is some simple Google sleuthing to dig up their protected personal information. According to a report from the Times of London, the legally protected names of people involved in sex and violent crime cases were…
Sony’s new CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida, has a three-year plan to improve the company’s profits. During a presentation to investors today, he promoted three core areas of investment—services, semiconductors, and AI/robotics. If you’re a fan of Sony, one key thing seems to be missing from that future: Gadgets. Ahead of Sony’s investor relations day, rumors spread…
While we’re still waiting to see if predictions about Apple launching three new phones in 2018 are true, another iPhone rumor has cropped up foretelling a small change that could have a pretty big impact. According to a post on Chinese social network Weibo (via MacRumors), it seems Apple is finally going to ditch its…
They’re a bit late to the party, but Instagram has finally answered our prayers by adding a mute feature to its main feed. According to an announcement made by the company this morning, users will be able to hide posts in their feed from accounts that they still want to follow but don’t want to…
Molten lava from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has entered the grounds of Puna Geothermal Venture, a geothermal power plant that provides about 25 percent of the Big Island’s power. The 38 Megawatt Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) power plant, which is located in the east rift zone of the Kilauea volcano, was shut down soon after the…
No one should ever screw around on a public alert system. But considering it’s been a bad year for warning systems—from the Hawaii false emergency alert accidentally informing the public of an incoming missile that didn’t exist to the National Weather Service’s false tsunami warning to the Department of Justice’s Amber Alert site issues that…
A pastor in Silicon Valley stepped down from his church on Monday after locals spiraled into a frenzy over some of his tweets. The truth hurts. “Palo Alto is an elitist shit den of hate,” Gregory Stevens, former pastor of the First Baptist Church of Palo Alto, wrote in a tweet, which was included in…
