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A few years ago, Williamsburg resident and real estate entrepreneur Dan Levy went skiing and marveled at the efficiency of the mountain’s new gondola lift. The cabins were so large that he felt like he was on a New York City subway car. And then it dawned on him: Why not build a gondola lift…
I remember laughing at the idea of playing badminton in high school. And even after watching all those epic badminton rally videos that pop up every now and again on YouTube, the idea of hitting a birdie (or shuttlecock) back and forth with mini-rockets still seems funny to me. This first person view of the…
Some men produce sperm that are poor swimmers, a major cause of infertility. To help, researchers from Germany have developed motorized cyborg “spermbots” that can be guided directly to an egg. This isn’t the first time that scientists have fooled around with sperm. Back in 2013, a team led by Oliver G. Schmidt positioned bull…
We know that cities will need to get taller and denser in the next few decades. Yet it’s not easy to convince residents to build skyscrapers. This Swedish proposal for Stockholm’s downtown incorporates light, greenery, and public space into its tall buildings. It makes density look beautiful. The plan named Klarastaden, “clear city” in Swedish,…
Mobile payments, like Apple Pay and Android Pay, is a nascent technology saddled with the ambitious goal of unseating the simple, plastic-y way of paying for things. It hasn’t been going so well. Now, Android Pay is using another tactic to change your mind—giving away free stuff. Google’s calling it Tap 10. Although the company…
Did you hear? Bitcoin is dead. It’s over. Or wait, is it just dying? Is it having a crisis? There is trouble in paradise. The ideals have been lost. In a Medium post, former Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn declared that the Bitcoin experiment had run its course. The community had failed. The technology couldn’t develop…
In his final State of the Union, President Obama hinted about building a “21st century transportation system.” Now we know he was actually sitting on a plan to dramatically change the way Americans get around. 2016 has already been a wild ride for autonomous car news. First Google was rumored to announce something at CES.…
A book is a very simple thing, right? It’s just a bunch of paper with some scribbles. But if you wanted to make a book from scratch, it’s basically an impossible task. Watch as Andy George from How to Make Everything chops wood, strips papyrus, makes glue from hide, carve out a pencil from a…
8Bitdo is probably best known for its Bluetooth gaming controllers, including the NES30 that paid homage to Nintendo’s original 8-bit console. But the company is now expanding its catalog with a new Bluetooth speaker that longtime gamers will find equally hard to resist. Like the NES30, the 8Bitdo Retro Cube Speaker borrows most of its…
Researchers from Italy and Tunisia recently uncovered an unusual fossil: a bus-sized marine crocodile with teeth meant to crush bones. The fossil’s location suggests that the Jurassic extinction event that occurred over 200 million years ago may have been a long, gradual process, rather than a sudden, global snuffing out. If you were transported 130…
Android’s always given developers more elbow room when it comes to hacking into its mobile OS. Here’s a case in point: putting a connection speed indicator in the Android status bar (and notification tray). The app we’re going to use for the job is Internet Speed Meter Lite though there are alternatives out there. It…
The DARPA Robotics Challenge put countless robots through a series of real-world challenges that involved driving, drilling holes, and climbing stairs. But let’s be realistic, the only thing any of us really want a robot for is housework, and that’s what ATLAS is finally learning. The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, or IHMC…
New York is one of my favorite places in the world because of so many things but in certain moments (especially during the winter) it can be a miserable place to live as you wonder if it’s worth it to be freezing and packed on top of people and question if the city is all…
There was a time when traveling by trains meant passengers could sit down for full-service meals in dining cars just like in high-end restaurants. Everything was fancy, even the menus. The following selection of old menu covers does a brilliant job of showcasing the golden era of streamlined locomotives (watch out for the legendary Aerotrain!)…
I’m afraid of food poisoning. So the never-ending news of nationwide E. coli outbreaks linked to Chipotle is terrifying. But it’s not just the fear of bacteria-laced burritos that’s scary. It’s the faulty farming system that Chipotle’s pioneered. Update 1.15.2015: Chipotle just announced that it would be closing every single store for a food safety…
The last time the folks at Coren Puzzle tried to solve their ludicrous 22×22 custom Rubik’s Cube, the whole thing exploded in their hands. But that was just a minor setback it seems, because they finally having a version that works perfectly—if you have the patience. The number of possible ways this cube can be…
Tardigrades, or “water bears,” are renowned for their remarkable survival skills. But these microscopic creatures are far more indestructible than we thought. In a recent experiment, scientists in Japan successfully revived a tardigrade that had been frozen for more than three decades. That’s a new record. Tardigrades are tiny water-dwelling extremophiles that are capable of…
In a symbolic kick in the pants to the coal industry, the Obama administration will announce today that it’s freezing new coal mining leases on public lands, the New York Times reports. It’s the latest in a series of strategic moves by the president to wean America off fossil fuels, something that leaders of 195…
Will Google Play finally be available in China? Is another TV channel gearing up for streaming? Is Motorola’s Moto G in the midst of its swan song? Who knows! But we can at least pull apart the rumors and see what’s legit and what’s shit. The rating system: 💩= Likelihood is very high 💩💩= Probably…
You can quickly wash a soiled shirt in your bathroom sink, but if you don’t have a clothes dryer in your apartment you can forget about wearing it right away. Hanging it to dry takes hours, unless the hanger you’re using is actually this compact clothes dryer from Thanko. The vast majority of Thanko’s catalog…
