Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Other than youth and recess and summer vacation and nap time and candy and junk food and energy and fast metabolism and hope and excitement and bubbles and being with your friends every single day and first memories and playgrounds and no worries and probably a million other things, one of the things that you…
A study out today from the Center for Disease Control confirms what many researchers already believed to be true: the Zika virus does indeed cause microcephaly as well as a wide range of additional and severe fetal brain defects. “This study marks a turning point in the Zika outbreak. It is now clear that the…
Android’s emoji are known for being just awfully designed. It’s not just a matter of style—in some cases they’re so different from other platforms that they can lead to some serious misunderstandings. The latest developer build of Android N reveals that Google is finally making its emoji look more human. Which is good, because what…
Bed bugs are among the most dreaded pests we have to deal with, and they’re proving to be a formidable foe. New research suggests that bed bugs are able to ward off insecticides by developing thicker skins. Bedrooms across the world are in the midst of a bed bug epidemic. This plague of bloodsucking parasites…
Ever wondered what exact scene condescending Willy Wonka came from or what Buzz and Woody were talking about in that Toy Story everywhere meme? Wonder no more. Here are 10 original movie scenes that became memes thanks to the power of the Internet and the curious filtration system it uses to transform ordinary scenes into…
The United States Navy just reported “multiple, aggressive flight maneuvers by Russian aircraft” on two separate occasions while in international waters. While conducting deck landing drills yesterday “two Russian SU-24 jets made numerous close-range and low altitude passes” near the USS Donald Cook. Earlier today, a Russian helicopter made multiple circles around the ship, followed…
Do you know what you learn when you see totally random objects like a shoe or an airsoft gun or a golf club or a computer speaker get cut in half by a powerful waterjet cutter? That there’s a lot of space in these things. Just big hollow areas next to the parts of the…
Yesterday, Zuckerberg waxed poetic about the future of global connectivity, and now day two of Facebook’s F8 developer conference is giving us more details. Two terrestrial based programs—no nifty drones needed—hope to technically leapfrog fiber with throughput speeds maxing out at a blazing 2.1Gbps. The first—called Terragraph—uses nodes placed throughout dense urban areas, whether perched…
Inky the octopus was not built for confinement—and so, he busted out. In the middle of the night, the wily New Zealand-based cephalopod apparently squeezed through a small gap in the top of his tank, scampered across the floor, and flung himself down the nearest drainpipe. If Inky is lucky, he made the 164-foot slide…
Why can’t I look away? Maggots and bugs and creepy crawlers gross me out in every which way and yet I’m so fascinated with seeing how they attack a John Dory and Gunnard fish over a multiple week period. The fish are wiped completely clean, there’s not a single bit of flesh on them after…
With a fantasy series like Game of Thrones, the invisible visual effects that bring the fictional world and creatures to life are just as important to the story as the show’s cast. Actor Ian Whyte plays a giant named Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun who towers over other characters in Westeros. And even though in…
As a civilization we are blanketing our planet with plastic. One of the most frightening illustrations of this fact is a prediction that by 2050, our oceans will contain more plastic than fish. Amazingly, a smart solution for reducing our reliance on plastic, and protecting marine life, could come from those very oceans, as well.…
Six years ago while vacationing with friends, Ian Burkhart suffered an accident that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. A new system now allows him to make complex movements with his hand and fingers, making him the first person in history to regain function using signals from his brain. The system, called NeuroLife, is…
Google’s AlphaGo computer may have bested a human in four out of five matches last month, but human beings still excel when it comes to intuitive leaps in problem solving. That’s the conclusion of a new paper in Nature by Danish scientists. Blending the two approaches yields the best of both worlds—a marriage of man…
It’s not as scary tall as climbing oversized skyscrapers but climbing churches can be just as frightening because the buildings are so much older and the spire is totally not meant to be climbed. Plus, what if one of those things he stood on just snapped off because, well, they’re old!? But one thing that…
Last night Donald Trump shed some light on one of the great mysteries of our time: How does the most infamous man on Twitter actually tweet? The answer? He spends most of the day shouting his tweets at assistants for them to send. But after 7pm it’s all him, baby. “During the day, I’m in…
There are a lot of ways to drink coffee but most of us don’t put much thought into it. Here’s a quick burst of different brewing methods, from the common cappuccinos and espressos to the always trendy aeropress and v60 pourovers to the more unique coffee cezve and siphon coffee. It’s a fun look at…
There’s bad news for Loch Ness Monster truthers, but good news for movie buffs: A recent expedition into the depths of Scotland’s famed lake has uncovered the Nessie replica used in the movie 1970 film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. The prop was thought to be lost after it sank during production, allegedly because…
Are you a fan of constructing cool things with little plastic bricks? Are you a fan of drinking? Then you’re going to love Gizmodo’s first ever Drink Beer and Build Stuff event on April 21. The deal is simple and silly fun. You and your friends can just swing by our headquarters in New York…
A decent robot mower will set you back a couple thousand dollars, considerably more than the robot vacuum that’s patrolling your living room for dust. But if you’ve got access to a 3D printer and a bit of electronics know-how, you can print and build a robotic mower for a fraction of the cost. You’ll…
