Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
A fertility clinic in Newcastle was just granted permission to start performing what’s known as the ‘three-parent baby’ technique, a controversial in vitro fertilization procedure that prevents genetic diseases from being passed on to children by giving them three genetic ‘parents.’ The technique relies on DNA from a mother, father, and a female donor in…
Today, a Brooklyn-based Secret Service agent learned what those of us without security clearance have known for years: Don’t leave a laptop in your car if you don’t want it to be stolen. Law enforcement sources told both ABC and The New York Daily News on Friday that a laptop containing private information—including the floor…
We all like to admire ourselves in the mirror from time to time, but there’s a bird in Australia that seems to have developed a rather unhealthy fixation, gazing upon its reflection for hours on end while seemingly oblivious to its surroundings. It’s pretty funny, but should we be worried about this fine feathered fellow?…
As a company, Reddit has shown itself to be either ambivalent or complicit in abuse on the site, but users are fed up. Two new but rapidly-growing subreddits—r/esist and r/fuckthealtright—want to do something about it, and they’ve already claimed credit for getting hate speech community r/altright banned for harassment. Yesterday, they set their sights on…
1600 Daily is an official newsletter from the White House. It includes important information about the goings-on of the president, including his meeting schedule for the day and upcoming policy initiatives. And, at the very bottom, it includes positive coverage from the media. Under President Trump, previous issues of 1600 Daily have included predictable write-ups…
On Friday, the Dallas FBI confirmed to Gizmodo that it has made an arrest in a case involving Newsweek journalist Kurt Eichenwald, who claims a man sent him a GIF over Twitter that triggered his epilepsy, causing him to have a seizure. A Dallas FBI spokesperson told Gizmodo that a press release with more details…
Think long and hard about going with a minimalist security setup and practicing safe browsing techniques
For years, Google has been trying to reduce how much space images take up on the web. Most of those efforts have been based around its proprietary (and largely ignored by non-Google entities) WebP format, but a new project out of the company’s research and open source divisions could help make JPEG images—one of the…
With legalization sweeping the country, the number of trademark filings for marijuana-related products are through the roof. But when a shop recently tried to register Marijuanaville, Jimmy Buffett contested the trademark, claiming that it was too close to his own Margaritaville. And the US Patent and Trademark Office agreed. On its face, denying a trademark…
A pastor and independent miner in Sierra Leone has unearthed an uncut 706-carat diamond estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars. The pastor turned the diamond over to the government in hopes that the proceeds from its sale will help the impoverished country. But given the history of this former “blood-diamond” nation, what…
Imagine a future in which humans can produce a vast variety of foods with all sorts of textures and shapes at the flick of a switch. Just throw a mix into your 3D printer, and, presto, gooey gorgonzola globules! Crunchy candy cubes! Incredible! That future is not quiiiite here yet. But it could be close.…
For the second time in the past few months, Americans went to the polls and voted in a way that will have half the country scratching its heads. Kicking the classic boot, wheelbarrow, and thimble tokens to the curb, the nation has chosen to replace those classic Monopoly tokens with a rubber ducky, a penguin,…
Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary and occasional Easter Bunny, went on national TV yesterday and said that President Obama used British intelligence sources to spy on Donald Trump. GCHQ, the British equivalent of the NSA, responded with a rare public statement flatly denying the charge. And now Spicer has reportedly apologized personally to the…
Folks in the Western Hemisphere who are just waking up might be wondering what the hell is going on with North Korea and Japan. The short answer: Everybody is preparing for war. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said that the US won’t rule out a preemptive strike against North Korea; the North Koreans have…
Pretty much everything that’s great about technology today is thanks to the microprocessor. Billions of them are manufactured every year and they are one of the many reasons you can read this fine website. But few people understand what’s going on inside that little integrated circuit. Here’s a crash course. The fine folks at the…
Employees at a petting zoo in Moscow are livid over the treatment it says its raccoon received during a video shoot. The zoo’s representatives claim that Tomas the raccoon was rented to a production company for a commercial shoot that turned out to be an “erotic video” and now Tomas is “traumatized.” Animals Aren’t Toys…
Users shouldn’t rely on the horde of unwashed masses to make their movie and TV viewing decisions for them. But still, rating systems are useful. Netflix five star system has been in place for years and it can be handy, especially if you just want to look at the top-rated picks for users like you.…
There’s no need to be coy, cute, or caustic: Sean Spicer isn’t doing well. After the heads of both the Senate and House Intelligence Committees said they found no evidence former President Obama secretly wiretapped Trump Tower during last year’s election, the White House press secretary was asked on Thursday to respond to President Trump’s…
As expected, President Trump’s proposed budget is a nightmare for science, the environment, and parts of the technology industry. Welcome to the future, where our long national nightmare may not even have the funds to keep chugging along. While we’ll focus on the the aforementioned areas, it’s important to note that the much of the…
Google Home might not be the most popular voice assistant to offer convenient information in exchange for reams of personal data, but it appears to be the first to serve ads directly into users’ living rooms. Bryson Meunier, a Chicago-based SEO marketing professional, filmed a bizarre interaction with one the search giant’s friendly robot obelisks…
