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The world at the end of this century won’t look the same as it does today. It will be hotter and drier, with far less available space in which to grow food—and the crop that will be doing the best under that new system won’t be a food crop at all. The USDA put out…
Many car accidents happen because the driver gets distracted or is too tired to drive. In order to help solve this issue, a company called Alchemy Technology has teamed up with Acer to develop a security mechanism, which uses EEG headsets to detect a driver’s brain activity, and slow the car down if it seems…
Texting is long overdue for a makeover. The simple, utilitarian Short Message Service (SMS) has served our messaging needs well for more than a decade, but as our texts become increasingly crammed with photos, videos, and more, it’s clear that SMS can no longer meet the needs of the average smartphone user. That’s where Rich…
Amazon has raised its free shipping minimum to $49 from $35. (A $25 order of books still qualifies for free shipping.) All the more reason to sign up for Amazon Prime. Contact the author at [email protected].
“You get what you pay for” is one of those tried-and-true idioms that’s especially relevant in high-end electronics. Want a nice camera or a computer that’ll actually play Max Payne 3? Expect to shell out top dollar. So imagine Markus Fuller’s surprise when he pulled open the chassis of a $700 replacement battery for the…
Researchers from the University of Oxford have rewritten positive memories associated with cocaine in mice. The achievement could expand our understanding of memory, while demonstrating that it’s possible to neurologically reverse ingrained bad behavior, such as drug addiction. Neuroscientists Stéphanie Trouche and David Dupret from Oxford’s MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit trained mice to prefer…
What’s the most amazing thing about bubble wrap? Popping it. Oh the delicious sensation. What kind of evil monster would want to eliminate the wonderful pop? All it takes is a little epoxy and some light sanding to turn everyone’s favorite packing material into a cruel joke to be played on unsuspecting dinner guests. At…
Gmail was practically founded on the principle of never having to delete an email again. But the service has been kicking around since 2004, and all of those old newsletters, chain emails, and special deals aren’t doing much except counting against your Google account’s 15 GB storage capacity. Fortunately, a quick search is all it…
Accessible drone technology is creating a bizarre future in the world of movie making. In 2014, pictures taken by drones of filming for The Force Awakens prompted the production team to consider buying an anti-drone “shield” to protect secrets. For Episode VIII, they’re deploying drones of their own to take down rebel scum. https://gizmodo.com/star-wars-producers-wanted-a-fully-operational-drone-de-1637404816 A…
Jeb Bush is no longer running for president, and even his trolls are abandoning him. Since last year, the owner of JebBush.com has redirected the site to Donald Trump’s campaign page. Now it seems Jeb is too irrelevant to be domain pranked. The forlorn Floridian dropped out of the presidential race this weekend, and now…
Apple charged out of the weekend ready to wage war with the FBI over a court order to unlock a terrorist’s iPhone. In a memo to staff, Tim Cook proposed the formation of a government commission to settle the matter. The feds, for their part, show no clear signs of backing down from the order.…
This art installation, known as Dazzle room, was created by Japanese artist Shigeki Matsuyama after he learned about a kind of camouflage used during the First World War. Matsuyama’s installation features a strong contrast pattern made of black and white stripes and shapes, which is borrowed from dazzle camouflage—also known as razzle dazzle—used mainly during…
Your smartwatch screen may soon be rather more impressive: This 4.7-inch organic LCD display is flexible enough to wrap right around a wrist. Produced by FlexEnable from the UK, the screen squeezes a full-color organic LCD onto a sheet that measures just one hundredth of an inch thick, which makes it highly conformable. The company…
Sony showed off three new concepts at the Mobile World Congress today, but they all share one thing in common: They’re a little bit creepy. Among the products on display were a life-logging camera, called Xperia Eye; a projector, called Xperia Projector; and a little robot somewhat similar to the Amazon Echo, called, worryingly, Xperia…
Airplane seats can be a tight squeeze for some people. But a new patent from Airbus suggests that one solution might be to make its seats a little more like park benches, to accommodate all kinds of widths of human being. A patent application which describes a “Re-Configurable Passenger Bench Seat” has been filed to…
AT&T has announced that it’s going to work with Intel in order to use LTE networks to help fly drones way beyond line-of-sight. The partnership will investigate how land-based data networks can be used to stream video and beam back flight information. The initiative will, AT&T claims, “help address many challenges the category faces, including…
At this point, the Apple-FBI scrap over putting a backdoor in iOS has started to get a little messy. Now, the FBI’s director James Comey has spoken out in an attempt to calm the situation, writing that “the San Bernardino litigation isn’t about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message.” In…
Sony’s announced a variety of mid-high range phones today at Mobile World Congress, all under a new Xperia X umbrella. And there’s something for everyone: A regular Xperia X, the side bezel-free Xperia XA and speed-boosted Xperia X Performance. The design is certainly sleek, withe the rounded edges looking not dissimilar to an iPhone. Sony…
Sony clearly watched Joaquin Phoenix in Her. Its latest announcement is an earpiece that interacts with your phone to inject the sweet mutterings of an AI straight into your skull. Welcome to the future. Just how “artificially intelligent” is it? So so. The earpiece features a proximity sensor which it uses to tell your phone…
The fifth generation of mobile networks—or 5G for most of us—is still a little way off providing your phone with data. But at Mobile World Congress, Verizon has announced that it as least already testing the technology. The Verge reports that the carrier has been working with Ericsson, Intel, Nokia, Samsung, and Qualcomm. With them,…
