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This morning, House Democrats, led by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), staged a sit-in to force a vote on gun control. Almost immediately after, the cameras and microphones of C-SPAN—which typically broadcasts the action happening on the Senate and House floors—went off. But the network found a workaround: Periscope. After viewers noticed that C-SPAN’s cameras went…
There’s never been a better time to start encrypting your texts and phone calls. Hackers are breaking into more personal devices than ever before, and massive government surveillance dragnets are indiscriminately sweeping up people’s digital communications. Encryption can protect you. By encrypting your messages, you can make sure only you and the intended recipient are…
If you’ve ever built your own potato gun, you probably don’t think twice about the explosions that launch the projectile—mostly because they’re hidden within it. But SmarterEveryDay’s Destin built his potato cannon out of clear plastic so when filmed with a high-speed camera at 20,000 frames per second, the explosions are revealed. And they’re terrifying.…
No matter how much we secretly still want to believe it, we’re not snowflakes. We all walk on the same sidewalks and drive on the same roads. Conner Griffith’s short, Auto, shows us how easy it is to merge different people and different cars together to make it look like we’re all on the same…
Kevin Trudeau spent the past decade publishing books that promise to tell you the health secrets that mainstream science won’t. But he peddles bullshit. And the courts have repeatedly said as much, ordering him to pay over $37 million for misrepresenting what’s in his books. Now some consumers who got ripped off by his “weight…
Described as “energetic, lively, and ready to work,” the Hungarian Pumi has just become the 190th breed recognized by the American Kennel Club. It’s been a long road for the Pumi to get to this point—a showcase for how hard it is for dogs to enter into this exclusive club. Pumis may be headed to…
We’ve seen everything from Jell-O to raw eggs get completely destroyed after being frozen with liquid nitrogen. But nothing comes close to being as cringeworthy to watch as Brent Rose taking a baseball bat to a 15-inch silicone dildo turned into a frozen rock. Despite some interesting science at work here, some of you might…
Is this a look at the future of war, or an attempt to set a new world record? These 61 wingsuiters flying in formation, led by Matthew Barrientos, are a little bit of both if Tony Stark and Elon Musk have their way. We don’t have Iron Man suits in real life just yet, but…
Last week the Helsinki District Court decided that Peter Sunde, one of the co-founders of file-sharing portal The Pirate Bay, owes quite a bit of money to the music industry. Specifically, he owes a coalition of Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, Universal Music, and Warner Music $400,000, as reported by Torrent Freak. His response? No, fuck…
Last week a Chinese company named Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services Co successfully sued Apple for infringing on its smartphone design with the iPhone 6. But according to a new report by the Wall Street Journal, that company suing Apple barely even exists. The evidence is undeniable. Baili’s parent company, Diogene, hasn’t been in business for…
I was flipping through my deadtree archive of magazines recently when I came across an ad for an ingenious little door alarm in 1906. Granted, it’s not fancy. But it probably did the trick. As you can see from the full ad below, which appeared in the February 17, 1906 issue of the Literary Digest,…
A team of pilots and a medical worker are in the midst of evacuating a sick staff member from a science base near the South Pole. The rescue attempt is considered treacherous given the extreme midwinter temperatures and distances involved. An unnamed staff worker at the National Science Foundation’s Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has become…
Michigan’s Attorney General Bill Schuette filed charges against two companies over the public health disaster that has unfolded in Flint’s water supply over the last few years. The charges include negligence, public nuisance, and fraud. Flint’s water has been in trouble since 2014 when the state switched the city’s source to the Flint River. The…
After five summers of researching and testing air conditioners, including six new ones this spring, we think the LG LW8016ER is best for most rooms. But those with sensitive ears might want to upgrade to the more expensive, but quieter Haier Serenity Series ESAQ408P. Or if you don’t have a suitable place for a window…
If you’ve got years of camping experience under your belt, you’re probably able to just tune out those things that go bump in the night. But if you only head out into the great outdoors once a year for a weekend camping trip, you’ll appreciate the CampGuard lantern which will stand guard and automatically sound…
Now on Tap was launched as an extra on top of Google Now last year, and frankly, it was kind of a dud. The feature was slow, unhelpful, and generally pretty annoying. But since its release, Google has been quietly pushing out dozens of new features and tweaks. If you haven’t checked it out in…
Hasselblad just made a very exciting announcement for very rich, very enthusiastic photography nerds. And I have to admit, that even a not-so-wealthy nerd like me is aching at the site of the new X1D mirrorless camera. The selling point (if something this expensive can be said to have selling points) is that it’s got…
Amazon has just announced some nice improvements to the cheapest Kindle. The price is still crazy good at $80, and the battery still lasts for weeks. (It also still has a middling 167 ppi display.) But it’s also thinner, lighter, and now comes in black and white. But wait there’s more. Amazon has also doubled…
Here we go again: A jaguar that was brought out during an Olympic torch event earlier this week was shot and killed shortly afterward when it escaped its handlers. The local Games organizing committee is now investigating the incident, but animal welfare advocates say the big cat should never have been there in the first…
Brace yourself for GATTACA comparisons. A powerful gene-editing tool that could pave the way for genetic engineering has been approved for use in humans to fight cancer. Scientists will use the tool, called CRISPR cas-9, to change immune-system cells. That way, when they’re put back into the patient, the cells attack the tumor cells responsible…
