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The original Boston Dynamics video of a bearded man bullying a robot with a hockey stick is haunting enough. But add a creepy narrator and a robot that really just loves his box, and you get a true glimpse at how the robot uprising starts. [YouTube] Contact the author on Twitter, or via [email protected]
Earlier this month, the White House’s Office of Science and Technology assembled a strange gathering: scientists, artists, engineers, and policy-makers, for a workshop designed to imagine how humanity could settle the solar system. The workshop, held in early February, was titled Homesteading in Space – Inspiring the Nation through Science Fiction, with the express purpose…
SpaceX’s SES-9 mission is slated to launch later today at 6:46pm from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The mission has been scrubbed twice already, so maybe the third time is the charm? https://gizmodo.com/watch-falcon-9-rocket-which-even-spacex-thinks-will-cr-1760867899 The company noted that they’re set to try another launch attempt tonight, but noted that they’re watching upper level wind speeds. To recap,…
We’ve been getting some fantastic images from the Cassini Spacecraft this year as it orbits Saturn, and one of its latest image from the ringed planet is no less stunning. Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas can be seen alongside Saturn’s rings. The picture was taken in early December, 2015. Tethys (660 miles or 1,062 kilometers across)…
1950s America relied on a greater share of renewable energy than the present day. The reason for that was that the nation’s lower demand for energy meant that the nation’s hydroelectric dams could supply most of that demand. Contact the author at [email protected].
The Los Angeles County Health Department is the latest victim of a ransomware attack, just days after a Los Angeles hospital coughed up $17,000 to unlock their files. According to department spokesman Michael Wilson, while the malware was discovered on five work computers, “There has been no spread of any ransomware virus or compromise of…
The Flint Water crisis has been a major wake-up call about the water quality in municipalities across the country. The Verge takes a deep dive into history behind the disaster in Michigan. Contact the author at [email protected] and on Twitter at @andrewliptak.
The latest episode of Every Frame A Painting has dropped, and Tony Zhou has taken a deep dive into Joel and Ethan Coen’s work on shots and reverse shots, and how it’s used to convey the film’s story. He describes this as some of cinemas’s most basic grammar, and it’s interesting to see how he’s…
There have been a ton of melodramatic statements made about Apple’s current disagreement with the FBI—many of them from Apple itself! But a tweetstorm from Piers Morgan this evening might take the cake. Morgan’s willfully ignorant and often inflammatory comments managed to engage the tech community and got some folks pretty riled up. Reading his…
The Ogasawara Islands, just south of Japan, are a beautiful and geologically active spot. In 2013, members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force noticed a “hot spot” among the islands, near the Nishinoshima volcano. They had found a small, entirely new islet, just south of the main volcano. The researchers describe their findings in the…
Your belly button is teeming with microbial life—a mix of many different species unique to you. Brooklyn-based artist Joana Ricou creates “portraits” based on individual microbiomes. The result is some surprisingly lovely imagery. Science has always informed Ricou’s art. Originally from Portugal, she studied art and biology at Carnegie Mellon University, spending equal time in…
In 1961, John F. Kennedy proclaimed that America would go to the moon. Eight years later, a human walked on the moon. In 2007, Washington DC began construction on a 2.2-mile streetcar. Eight years later… well, it still wasn’t finished. Finally, after almost a decade of delays, mismanagement, and shattered dreams, DC’s streetcar will open…
The Pope has met with so many leaders from the tech industry lately. Last month there was Tim Cook, and today His Chillness met with Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom. The question on everyone in Silicon Valley’s lips: Is the Pope trying to take over Silicon Valley? Okay nobody’s asking that. Systrom just presented Pope Francis…
Climbing something this high is concerning to begin with, but intentionally doing it without safety equipment borders on suicidal. Not only do you risk the obvious by doing unassisted solo climbs, but according to uploader Urban Adventures, “it’s easy to die from things you can’t see like radiation and electrocution.” So just add that to…
Reading about famous wars in textbooks has nothing on this interactive map of battles across space and time. And the blood-splattered depiction of civilization isn’t even the half of it. Wikipedia user Nodegoat created the map, shown above, by downloading 8,049 entries for battles that have taken place around the world over the apparently very…
Salem has shuttered its program that turned park landscaping responsibilities over to a crew of several dozen goats, after the goats ran amok, drove away park visitors, and cost the city tens of thousands of dollars. The city in Oregon first unleashed several dozen goats on its parks back in October, and just four months…
I like to drink. In fact, I like to drink more than I like to move. As in, move my body. I used those exact words when canceling a gym membership once. They wouldn’t let me cancel over the phone, so when I finally went to the gym and was asked why I wanted to…
Remember when thieves took advantage of crappy security on the IRS’ online tax transcript website and stole the personal information of 100,000 people? We already knew that initial number was a lowball, but we didn’t know how low—an IRS audit recently uncovered that over 700,000 people had their accounts breached, and 575,000 others were targeted…
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed Zika infections in nine pregnant women in the United States, all of whom contracted the virus while traveling. Three babies have already been born—one with a brain defect. Earlier today, the CDC said that of the nine cases of US pregnant travelers infected with Zika,…
There’s a zebra on the loose in New York! Or at least that’s what Twitter wants you to believe. The image went viral after Buzzfeed retweeted it. But it’s a fake. Mens Journal writer Shawn McCreesh has since admitted that it was just a joke. And actress Mary Lynn Rajskub made the same joke with…
