Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
In the past few months, dozens of media outlets reported on a disturbing secret app being used by ISIS members to exchange secure messages. The media reports were based on one another, as well as the word of a volunteer hacking collective called Ghost Security Group (GSG). Another story has also made the rounds recently:…
Like the Cuddle Clones website, the people behind a Toronto-based company called Pibborafi want to create a stuffed clone of your beloved pet dog. But unlike Cuddle Clones, only a select few pups will be chosen since the process is completely free, and they have to be rescue dogs to even be considered. It’s an…
A hammock is supposed to be the most relaxing thing that this world has to offer. It is the picture of carefree contentment. This giant hammock hung over a canyon though? Absolutely intense, the total opposite. People use the spacenet to base jump and slack line and other extreme things that’s so batshit fun and…
If you love live music, the new Here Active Listening System is an impossibly nerdy idea that might change the way you experience your favorite hobby. I’ve been using one of the first production versions of the sound-altering tech for a few days, and I’m excited about the potential for a world in which I…
At CES Fitbit released the Blaze, a different type of fitness accessory that was as much focused on fashion as fitness. Fitbit seems to be running with the idea, literally, with the new Fitbit Alta bracelet. The Alta packs in a lot of the convenient features that also made their way to the Blaze. The…
The following photos show a place that you might think serves as a supervillain’s lair at first glance. As a matter of fact, there are no dark schemes being plotted here—only dark matter physics. Unfortunately, unless you’re a particle physicist living and working in Canada, you wouldn’t normally have the chance to visit the world’s…
A passenger jet has safely made an emergency landing at Mogadishu’s international airport after an explosion pierced a large hole in its fuselage. Two people were injured and unverified reports claim that a person may have fallen out of the hole during the incident, which occurred above Somalia. A policemantold the Associated Press that “residents…
Transistors are everywhere—in your computer, car, phone, and refrigerator—but they’re not shrinking fast enough to satisfy our hunger for ever-faster devices. A new kind of light-based transistor might just fix that. At its most straightforward, a transistor—or field effect transistor, to give the microscopic device found in all your electronics its proper name—is just a…
This dreamy photo, which looks like a modern take on Through the Looking-Glass, actually shows how German researchers are testing mirrors for solar power plants at DLR, the German Aerospace Center. The test methods developed at DLR are used to examine mirrors from a variety of manufacturers, to assess how well solar mirrors reflect sunlight.…
You probably really want Canon’s new $6,000 flagship DSLR. But if you were on the fence, the beautiful noise it makes as its shutter flicks open at 16 frames per second—like a kind of soothing machine gun rat-a-tat-tat—might just convince you. The guys at ePHOTOzine got their hands on the 1D X Mark II and…
Do not adjust your monitor. This is a perfectly normal forest, but it happens to be the view that’s seen through the eyes of a 3D laser scanning system developed by a company called Treemetrics. While the name may sound slightly whimsical, there’s a serious purpose to the scanning, which is supported by the European…
This looks like the kind of thin material you might make a trash bag out of. But that would be a waste because this material, made from carbon nanotubes, is stronger and more compliant than kevlar or carbon fiber. Carbon nanotubes have been an exciting prospect in material science for years now: At the microscopic…
There’s no denying that 360 video is wonderful, immersive and, in some cases, almost exhilarating. But YouTube isn’t content: Apparently it’s building capabilities that will allow it to stream 360-degree video live. According to BuzzFeed, sources “familiar with the company’s plans” have told it that “YouTube has been meeting with 360-degree camera manufacturers about adding…
High-speed internet is improvingacross the US, but not everyone is experiencing the same level of improvement. Google wants to help solve that problem, albeit in a highly limited fashion. The search giant announced last year it will provide free gigabit ethernet to public housing connected with Google Fiber. Residents of these buildings will automatically gain…
I’ve been using Kindles since ebooks were barely a thing, and while the hardware has come a very long way, the user interface has been lingering. At long last, the much-neglected homescreen is being fixed. The biggest improvement is a new homescreen, which highlights your most recent books and recommends new things you should buy…
Mythbusters attempted to turn a car into a pancake with the help of 1,000 pounds of ANFO (ammonium nitrate fuel oil) and a giant steel plate which resulted in a ginormous explosion and a really spectacular shockwave. Seeing the whole thing in high speed, you can see the shockwave grow like a bubble beyond the…
Apple’s new UFO headquarters/backup plan for escaping the planet is continuing to take shape, as yesterday’s update from a drone shows. As someone used to seeing only municipal construction projects, the speed with which the $5 billion build is happening is remarkable. A video from 18 months ago basically shows a giant concrete ring, while…
Swiftkey is the most innovative and interesting predictive keyboard maker in the business, and Microsoft is a software giant that’s trying to push its artificial intelligence cred a little higher. According to a report in the Financial Times, it’s a match made in heaven, to the tune of $250 million. Swiftkey is best known for…
The rainbow bagel looks like a Willy Wonka creation crossed with used play doh set in a reality that I’m not quite prepared to live in. It exists at The Bagel Store in Brooklyn, New York and is topped with a schmear of Funfetti cream cheese made with cake mix and is something you can…
After the Super Bowl leaves town, San Francisco can stop vandalizing corporate statues and go back to focusing on more important projects, like imagining the day the Bay Bridge bike path might finally cross the entire San Francisco Bay. A new bike and pedestrian pathopened along the reconstructed Bay Bridge in 2014, but residents are…
