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A report from security firm Palo Alto Networks has the paranoid corners of the internet freaking out today: the first fully-functional ransomware has been found screwing up people’s Macs. But put down the emergency whiskey, and don’t panic just yet. The news that ransomware has come to OS X isn’t good. Ransomware is a particularly…
Formula E isn’t just different from its conventional sibling in what’s under the hood. Up top, there’s power boost activated by tweets, a gentle whine instead of the iconic roar, and now 360-degree cameras riding on top. The 360-degree video is a highlight of the Formula E Buenos Aires race, including all a goodly number…
Nicaragua’s Momotombo volcano began erupting in last December, for the first time in a hundred years, throwing gas and ash into the air, and it looks spectacular in images taken from orbit. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) recently passed overhead and took an incredible picture of the volcano: This false-color image…
After almost 300 episodes and fifteen seasons on Discovery, the Mythbusters have called it quits. To commemorate the end, Thomas Crenshaw put together an amazing supercut that reminds us why the show was awesome. We miss it already. [Adam Savage] Contact the author at [email protected].
Remember the Florida man who landed his gyrocopter on the lawn of the US Capitol last year? The retired US postal worker pulled the stunt to raise awareness about campaign finance reform. Now prosecutors are saying that he came dangerously close to hitting a Delta flight. The gyrocopter pilot, Douglas Hughes, will be sentenced next…
This is pretty cool: Panasonic has announced at the International Home & Hardwares Show that they will be producing a Countertop Induction Oven. Induction Cooking uses magnetic induction to heat a ferrometal pan or cooking vessel, rather than using a flame or an electrical method that heats through resistance (like you’d find in a toaster…
Uh oh. Remember when Donald Trump called Marco Rubio “Little Marco” in the last debate? Well, now the internet is having a field day with this real photo of Marco Rubio sitting in a gigantic chair. The original photo is from back in August 26, 2015 when Rubio was visiting a furniture store in Franklin,…
The capital of Lebanon has been facing gruesome garbage issue since last July, when state authorities closed a major landfill without planning to open a new one. In this photo above, taken Thursday, March 3, 2016, a general view shows packed garbage bags on a street in Jdeideh, east Beirut. I really cannot imagine how…
Scientists from the University of Chicago have taken a look at the Curious Marie, a bit of meteorite containing perhaps the most valuable ceramic in the world. These ceramic elements can tell us whether the early universe created heavy particles—without containing any of those elements. The journal Science Advances contains images of an unremarkable-looking rock.…
Surrey NanoSystems is famous for creating Vantablack, a material so black that it absorbs all but 0.035 percent of visible light. That’s a lot. Things basically disappear when coated with the Vantablack carbon nanotubes. And yet, they’ve somehow made the material even blacker. Yes, the blackest black material has become even blacker. Surrey NanoSystems writes:…
If there’s one thing we’ve come to expect from El Niño, it’s that we should expect pretty much anything. After a dry, hot February convinced everyone that El Niño had left the building—or ditched California completely—a new set of storms have provided a glimmer of great wet hope. This is coming soon to a West…
Hmm. That’s not supposed to happen like that. And yet this gun safe—a GunVault GVB1000 approved by the California Department of Justice that uses a biometric fingerprint sensor to unlock itself—can be easily opened with just a paperclip. It’s a method that simply involves tricking the bypass lock to open the latch. That is way…
The long journey to restore safe water to the city of Flint, Michigan has finally begun: The first lead service line was swapped with copper pipe today. Following a press conference at the residential site, a lead pipe was excavated and replaced by workers, who were easily outnumbered three-to-one by members of the media. Assisting…
The decoration on these desserts are so perfect that it almost, almost makes you not want to eat them. But then you realize that the art is just delicious frosting and that both will eventually be destroyed so you make a sacrifice and begin to stuff your mouth with as many intricately designed pieces as…
Along with the Pyramids in Giza and the Colosseum, Italy has asked the United Nations to add another item to UNESCO’s list of protected landmarks: Pizza. The Guardian reports that Italy is submitting a new application to UNESCO that would add Neapolitan pizza to its list of recognized cultural landmarks. Although UNESCO’s world heritage list…
Here is a thing that exists in the world: The SnapBat, a baseball bat that is also a selfie stick. Goddammit. Though it’s apparently been around since this summer, the SnapBat landed in the spotlight once again today after Snapchat announced it would be partnering with Major League Baseball to give fans an “inside look”at…
California’s high-speed train has just been delayed by three more years. The first leg of the state’s high-speed railis now set to finish by 2025, not 2022 as planned. This could mean that Hyperloop—the Golden State’s other, even more futuristic transit plan—could beat the bullet train to the station. That first leg of California’s bullet…
If you’ve ever wondered why you knew the name Steven Spielberg before you knew anything about movies, just remember how much fun you had watching his movies. His eye for specific shots and his films’ visual style set the template for what we all enjoy in movies. Here are 30 of his most memorable from…
For the past four years, filmmaker Joe Nafis has been chronicling the construction of the Shanghai Tower. After 1,000 work hours and 350,000 photos, he’s put together a stunning timelapse video that you don’t want to miss. China’s Shanghai Tower is still not open to the public (for reasons that aren’t entirely clear), but its…
Here’s a nice little exploded and dissected visualization of a modern safe. For this particular model, over 500 parts are used to make up the impenetrable box with 26 hardened steel bolts keeping things shut tight. It’s also fireproof to up to 1200 degrees and has a lock with 1.2 million possible combinations. SPLOID is…
