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What in the sorcerous hells is this? Kokichi Sugihara’s ‘Rectangles and Circles’ illusion is a mind-bending visual trip that turns squares into circles and circles into squares right in front of your face. Different shapes are placed at a mirror and what you see in front of you is totally different from what you see…
The investigation into a death that occurred while a Tesla Model S driver was using Autopilot has filled the internet with dystopian-sounding headlines. Self-driving car driver died for the first time after crash in Florida. Self-driving Tesla was involved in fatal crash. But this was not a “self-driving car” that killed its “driver.” This was…
Even though it took place three seasons ago, the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones is still probably one of the most shocking things to ever happen on the series. And though George RR Martin is wildly imaginative in creating the world of Westeros, the inspiration for the Red Wedding actually comes from history. We…
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is in talks to acquire Tidal, also known as Jay-Z’s music streaming service that lets you listen to Kanye’s music a little bit earlier. The deal isn’t close to being done yet, according to WSJ sources. But if it is completed, Apple would presumably inherit the (supposedly) friendly…
Apple is under fire after it allegedly blocked Spotify’s new iPhone app from being released in the App Store. According to a Recode report, Spotify’s general counsel sent a letter to Apple’s legal team claiming that Apple is “causing grave harm to Spotify and its customers” by not allowing the latest version of the app…
Android tablets are mostly garbage, but the Dell Venue 8 7000 was a feat of engineering that even the most avid Apple fan would be loathe to put down. So it’s a major bummer that the Venue 8 and the rest of the Venue line up have been discontinued, effective immediately. Dell axed the rest…
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that they will investigate what role Tesla’s autopilot feature had in a fatal crash in 2015. The agency said the crash “calls for an examination of the design and performance of any driving aids in use at the time of the crash.” In a statement, Tesla said…
Baby products have always been part of a predatory industry that feasts on the paranoia of new parents. But it’s gotten worse in the last few years with the wave of baby-tracking tech. Now Nest—which makes a camera which is one of the top-rated baby monitors—is proposing a smart crib, according to patent documents filed…
In early June, Vanity Fair ran a lengthy excerpt of Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley, a purported tell-all from Antonio Garcia Martinez, a former Facebook employee who was fired after two years at the company. The book was finally released on June 28th, and there’s a fair heap of dirt…
Your lawn is a money pit that requires ungodly amounts of water and labor to keep it green and trim. We’ve known for sometime that iRobot, the Roomba company, has been on a mission to put your landscaper out of a job with a robot. Thanks to a trademark filing reported by Robotics Trends, there’s…
Being inside a sex doll factory and watching all that plastic nakedness get shaped is much more haunting than it is titillating. It gets unsettling, like if you were trapped inside a scene from a horror movie and couldn’t get out. But it’s also somewhat intriguing, just to see the mixture of products and body…
As a kid, did you ever stop to wonder what you could build with K’NEX if you just kept playing with the toy for the next three years? Here’s the answer: a massive ball machine nicknamed the Citadel that fills an entire corner of a room and is made from more K’NEX than all the…
It’s only a matter of time before robots replace all jobs, right? Well, today they’re coming for mine. The Associated Press announced today it will begin using automated software to write stories for 10,000 Minor League Baseball games not previously covered by the news organization. In order to get the stories written, the AP is…
Nearly thirty years after an international treaty banned the use of chlorofluorocarbons, the Antarctic ozone hole is finally starting to heal. By mid to late century, it should be fully recovered. “This is a reminder that when the world gets together, we really can solve environmental problems,” Susan Solomon, an atmospheric chemist at MIT, told…
Bust out your black and gold wreaths and streamers because Prime Day is nearly upon us! What. You don’t know what Prime Day is? What kind of heathen are you? Were you born in a barn? Did your sister dunk your head in the outhouse slop one too many times? How can you, an American,…
As counterfeiters get better and better at faking expensive Swiss watches, the watchmakers themselves now have a new tool to help distinguish their genuine creations from fakes: nanoscopic watermarks that are invisible to the naked human eye, and impossible to fake. A company called Nanoga has developed a new process where nanophotonic layers—10,000 times thinner…
Gross! You’d think after holding a global search for the best “N” name that Google could come up with a better one. Not only is Nougat a stupid name, nougat is disgusting. Was really holding out for Nuts and Gum. [@Android]
Beginning this year, Saudi Arabia will provide electronic identification bracelets for all pilgrims traveling to Mecca. The bracelets, which are designed to promote safety, will include personal details and medical information. According to the official Saudi Press Agency, the bracelets will allow authorities to identify people and provide care if necessary. The initiative was initially…
When prominent pilots were dying in the 1900s some people started to wonder if aviation really had a future. French daredevil Leon Delagrange died in early January of 1910, leading magazines like the Literary Digest to have doubts about whether air travel could become a serious means of transportation. “The death of Leon Delagrange, crusht…
Update 7/1/16: Facebook has confirmed there is no way to disable the Slideshow feature. If you like the sudden realization that Facebook knows more about you than some of your closest friends, you will love the new Slideshow feature. While checking the Facebook app Wednesday night, I was presented with something worse than those “Good…
