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Without the pendulum clock, the Industrial Revolution doesn’t happen. Without the quartz clock, the technology in the digital revolution doesn’t happen. It’s time, weirdly enough, that advanced our world. How? The pendulum clock (conceived by Galileo, made by Christiaan Huygens) was useful for accurate timekeeping because the time it takes for a pendulum to swing…
The World Trade Center Transit Hub—aka The (other) Oculus—has already gone down in history as the most expensive train station, ever. The grand total was $4 billion, about twice what it was supposed to cost, and more than the skyscraper adjacent to it. But there might be another record-breaking figure associated with this project. I…
Magician Patrick Kun isn’t breaking the wheel when it comes to these magic tricks but the way he packages them: short and sweet and right in front of the camera with little to no explanation, it makes watching magic sso much more fun. There’s no long build up, there’s no need to weave a senseless…
For the past two decades, the number of genetically-modified crops has been steadily skyrocketing around the globe. Until 2015, when the number saw its first recorded drop. What’s going on? The numbers come from a report by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications looking at the span of data for worldwide biotech…
There are few natural phenomena as captivating as the northern lights. But you need to be in the right place at the right time if you hope to snap a memorable of them. Unless you’re marginally comfortable with Photoshop, and don’t have any moral conflicts about just faking them. If you’re a Photoshop novice, you’re…
Earlier today, Recode obtained some exclusive memes that offered insight into how Google’s employees really feel about Nest’s many, many problems. But while these disgruntled tech workers are busy lamenting the damage Nest has done to the Google name, they’re hurting themselves—and everyone they’ve ever loved—far more severely. With their embarrassing, shitty-ass memes. Putting aside…
The lesson, as always, is that we’re dumb. All of us. Even the smartest among us can never save us because we’re all so dumb. Why? Because when we hear the wrong words, we don’t bother to fix ourselves but instead adopt those wrong words into our language even though they’re clearly wrong. It’s great!…
It’s a strange sight: TSA agents with their distinctive blue uniforms and blue latex gloves searching through the clothes and bags of attendees at Trump rallies. But it’s not Trump’s idea. And it’s not just for Trump events. The TSA’s presence is a result of requests made by the Secret Service for assistance at presidential…
Ants are amazing at co-operation, using their bodies to form parts of chains, ladders, walls, and even rafts. A new study shows that the rafts built by ants are surprisingly well organized, the product of specialized skills and complex memorization tasks. More than perhaps any other species, ants are dependent on each other to achieve…
Here are picture perfect recreations of the food emojis we all love to drop in our text messages. You know the ones: the pizza slice, the taco, the foamy beer, the donut. Bon Appetit used a food stylist to recreate these popular emojis and it’s crazy how exacting their methods can be. To get the…
You’ve got to admire Google’s honesty. Right now, the company’s own safe browsing tool is flagging “google.com” as partially dangerous. Does that mean your computer is doomed if you need to Google search for “that funny video you saw that one time about a cat or something?” Likely no, Google—like lots of websites—is just unsafe…
The price of solid state drives has been on a steady decline for the last year, and they’re already a top pick for easily improving the performance of your laptop, desktop, or even your PS4. But they also make really fantastic external drives—if more expensive than a traditional hard drive. The reason? SSDs have zero…
As the weather gets nicer, it’s time to finally pause The Force Awakens and head outside for some fresh air and sunshine. That doesn’t mean you have to abandon Star Wars altogether. Not when ThinkGeek’s just revealed a wonderful kite collection full of X-Wings, Death Stars, and Droids. These aren’t your dollar store plastic kites,…
Electricity is powerful and astonishingly noisy. But why does electricity make this steel drill bit go up in flames? As YouTuber Lets Melt This explains, there are about 800 amperes running through the copper wires on either side of the bit. Copper conducts electricity very well. Steel, less so. That excess energy that can’t easily…
YouTuber LeafyIsHere mocked a man with a learning disability, describing him as “looking like he went through five different strokes” among other things, in an almost 11-minute rant that begins with Hitler jokes. Sadly, this is far from the first time he’s punched down at small-time creators. Leafy, who has amassed a following of over…
Most science labs maintain a temperature far below levels preferred by mice, and it’s taking a toll on their health. New research suggests these chilly mice are skewing science results across a wide range of research areas—and the problem is far worse than anyone realized. A new paper in Trends in Cancer by researchers from…
South Korea is getting ready to host the Olympics in 2018. But a new investigation by the Associated Press has revealed that the last time the country hosted the Olympics, in 1988, the country locked up thousands of so-called vagrants and was complicit in their murder and rape. The new report from the Associated Press…
Some really cool things happen when FullMag decided to blow up ballistics gel with some blasting caps. First, when the blasting cap detonates, the gel basically erupts and explodes into this dancing substance. But it doesn’t break! The flubber gel just expands wildly until it withstands the blow and then just traps the remnants of…
Whether you’re a fan of Keurig coffee machines or not, the product delivery method known as the ‘pod’ is here to stay. In the case of Miracle-Gro’s Gro-ables, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. The pods make planting a garden almost completely idiot-proof. Unless you find using a hose a challenge. Unlike Keurig’s coffee pods…
It started simply, with a new color option for the Apple Watch. It was called “Rose Gold,” and it fit with Apple’s appeal to make its new wearable more fashion-friendly. Then it came for our iPhones, iPads and Beats headphones. Now, with Apple’s latest hardware update, the MacBook’s gone pink. Luckily, color isn’t the only…
