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Twitter, at one time more resistant to shut down accounts due to free speech concerns, seems to be turning around. Watchdog groups say that the social network was unusually fast in erasing extremist material on the site after the Nice attack in France this past weekend. This is a change from the social network’s actions…
Trompe l’oeil (literally “to deceive the eye”) is an ancient technique whereby a painter creates a visual illusion via a trick of perspective. French street artist Patrick Commecy is a modern master of this art form, working with his team of artists at A-Fresco to create huge, hyper-realistic murals on otherwise drab building facades. Per…
Inside the NES was a specially-designed chip, and games licensed through Nintendo contained the appropriate key to keep hack publishers from making low-quality games for the console. Wisdom Tree was one of the first companies to circumvent this security measure, and it used its unprecedented edge for one purpose: to create janky Bible-themed games. Decades…
Scientists have been studying the origins of musical taste for years. There’s certainly evidence for biological influences, such as the idea that our taste in music changes with age. Now a new study in Nature has found that your taste in music could also be due to the makeup of the songs predominant in your…
SpaceX’s work in reusable rockets will get another push as scientists prepare Sunday for a launch and subsequent landing of the Falcon 9 rocket tonight. Attached is the Dragon spacecraft, which is set to deliver supplies to the International Space Station. The uncrewed spacecraft will launch early Monday morning, at 12:45 a.m. EDT, from Cape…
We’ve seen enough science fiction (and soap operas I suppose) over the years to know that your evil twin is just around the corner. But what if they’ve already taken over your life? What if you’re the evil twin?? There is certainly a possibility that one day you’ll meet someone who looks just like you,…
Ever wonder why your highlighters glow in the dark? How about glow sticks at a rave? Our world is full of glowing objects that awe us even into adulthood, and their existence is easily explained. At least, it’s easy to understand thanks to the American Chemical Society, which released a video to explain why some…
Scientists have long theorized that the immune system has a more neurological connection than previously thought, and research has risen up to validate them. Recent studies, for example, have found that there is a physical connection between the immune system and the brain’s blood supply, and now there seems to be a more psychological connection.…
The Pokémon Go craze is still going strong, as players scamper about the great outdoors trying desperately to catch ‘em all. And amid all the accompanying media frenzy, there’s one burning question on everyone’s mind: where’s the science? Yes, there is a science of Pokémon—specifically, a 2012 satirical study that appeared in the humorous journal,…
A few years ago, a burrito joint near my college campus installed computers so that customers could place their orders without ever having to make eye contact with a cashier. It was meant as a convenience, but my friends and I felt oddly detached ordering food through a computer. And we wondered: Did this signal…
If you had trouble logging into Pokémon Go on Saturday, you might’ve blamed it on server issues that have been common since the game’s launch. However, a hacking collective is claiming responsibility for this particular slowdown, saying that it brought the servers down with a DDoS attack. The collective, known as PoodleCorp, took credit over…
Flamingos are regal, but kind of dopey creatures that are known for standing on one leg for reasons that not even scientists can fully explain. If you’ve ever wanted to see them look sillier, check out these chicks, which hatched at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio recently. The two babies hatched on June…
CNN Türk was forced to halt its coverage of the coup in Turkey after soldiers entered the studio. But its Facebook live feed was still running and viewers could see some of what transpired. According to The Guardian, a group of soldiers landed at the Dogan Media Center, where the studios of CNN Türk are…
There have been reports of malicious Pokémon Go apps out in the wild since the game was released over a week ago, but more of them are popping out of the brush than Caterpies just out of Pallet Town. According to security firm ESET, apps have been masquerading under similar Pokémon titles, attracting people looking…
The iconic buses in London are red, big-ass double-deckers that use roller blinds to show the destination stop rather than the typical LED display. I think the blinds look a lot better than the digital displays. Here’s how McKenna Brothers makes them, from the cutting of the letters, to the making of the negative, to…
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan just gave an interview via FaceTime. The country is in chaos following a military coup that’s still ongoing. The military has declared martial law and is censoring the media networks but Erdogan was on CNN Turkey remotely with a broadcaster holding up her phone facing the cameras. Welcome to the…
Don’t think for a second that what you’re seeing here in New York’s Central Park is a contained incident. Pokémon Go is drawing tremendous crowds to the parks and piers of cities across this once-great nation as smartphone-wielding adults venture into the concrete wilderness under the cover of darkness to capture rare collections of pixels.…
The kind marketing executives of Coca-Cola blessed the Earth with the return of Hi-C Ecto Cooler for a limited time this summer. Gizmodo obtained a couple boxes of the precious potion, and guess what we did. We added booze. Welcome to Gizmodo’s Happy Hour. Substance abuse for nerds. Elaborately described as a “citrus drink”, Ecto…
STUART, FLORIDA—The smell hit me as soon as I opened my car door—like rancid milk mixed with dog shit. I gasped for breath as humid air descended, filling my pores with the putrid odor. “It’s been like this for three weeks,” Mary, the unhappy attendant at the deserted Central Marine boat dealer told me. “Last…
The once forgotten mixtape is back, with a new name: Flixtapes. https://gizmodo.com/14-netflix-hacks-to-help-you-binge-like-a-pro-1768177238 Netflix just rolled out a pretty nifty feature that will allow you to make customizable ‘Flixtapes’ with some movies and TV shows of your choosing Of course, they only include titles currently on Netflix, and anyone you send your Flixtape to has to…