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These days, blockbuster movies print money with the same formula and it usually begins with a movie trailer that looks, sounds, and feels identical to the blockbuster movies that come before it. It’s no accident, studios are so careful in their marketing of big budget movies that they end up looking the exact same as…
Google is gearing up to make a better messaging app, according to the Wall Street Journal. If it’s as solid as some of Google’s other recent introductions, this is potentially exciting news. The new mobile-focused app would reportedly employ artificial intelligence and chatbots in an effort to lure users in. The chatbots would work much…
It’s believed that over 3,200 Washington state prisoners were released from their sentences early because of a bug which miscalculated time credits for their good behavior. CNN reports that the bug was introduced into computer systems in 2002, when an updated version of court rulings about good beahvior credits were introduced. Apparently three percent of…
It’s finally been announced that the music of The Beatles will be available to stream on nine different services as of 12:01 AM local time on Christmas Eve. According to the official Beatles website, the streaming services providing the music of the Fab Four will include: Spotify (both free and premium accounts) Apple Music Slacker…
Until now, you had the ability to opt out of a trip through the Transportation Security Administration’s full-body scanners and instead undergo a thorough physical screening. But a new document issued by Homeland Security allows the TSA to make the scans mandatory ‘for some passengers.’ Slashgear reports that a document was released last week that…
Tardigrades are tough little critters, and now one of their secrets for longevity has been revealed. It might sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but the creatures seem to coat themselves in glass when they don’t have enough water to live normally. The strange little creatures, sometimes called water bears, tend to live…
You might be able to stream The Beatles on Christmas Eve, on pretty much any online music service you choose to use, according to a series of new reports. Update: Yep, it’s official! Billboard speculated last week that The Beatles may start streaming on Christmas Eve, though details were scant at the time. But a…
A court in New Zealand has judged that Kim Dotcom can be extradited to the U.S., where he could face trial over huge copyright infringements speculated to have cost music and movie companies in the region of $500m. The court ruled that Dotcom, along with three other defendants—Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk, and Finn…
I have a problem. I spent the past few weeks scouring gift guides in hopes of stumbling into something that I could buy. The problematic part is that I don’t need anything. And yet, I kept looking and looking and looking. It’s because I’m dumb and stupid and want to buy stuff because that’s what…
New York City will definitely not be having a White Christmas, but when winter finally does arrive, sanitation trucks will be hauling some of the city’s snow-melting salt out of this quite beautiful sculpture. Turns out this is also an incredible story about how city buildings can be done right. The Manhattan Districts 1/2/5 Garage…
The bobtail squid stays alive because it attracts and keeps a specific kind of bacteria. Scientists still don’t know exactly how it does this, but new research could shed light on why some people get hit with the closely related flesh-eating bacteria. Like a fair amount of ocean animals, the bobtail squid shimmers with bioluminescence.…
If you thought waking up on Christmas morning to above-average temperatures and no snow on the ground was scary, Boston Dynamics gives us a far more terrifying glimpse into a dystopian future where Santa’s reindeer have been replaced with (highly kickable) trotting robotic dogs. In this (what’s the opposite of heartwarming?) holiday video we see…
Four-time World Cup champion skier Marcel Hirscher was doing his thing in a slalom race in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy today, minding his own business, when he was almost smoked by a news drone. “This is horrible,” Hirscher, who finished second, told ESPN. “This can never happen again. This can be a serious injury.” No…
Standard treadmills only reach a maximum incline of around 9 degrees. But this one, developed by a team of physiologists at the University of Colorado Boulder, goes all the way to 45 degrees. The unique contraption is providing some insights into the best strategies for extreme uphill running. This is apparently the first time that…
On the day after Christmas, the largest container ship to call at a US port will stop by the Port of Los Angeles, the largest port in the US. But it’s largely just a PR event: Like many US ports, the Port of LA is not completely ready to welcome this size megaship, which will…
Mars InSight lander was set to blast its way towards the red planet just three short months from now. Today, NASA announced that leaks that had sprung up in the lander wouldn’t be fixed in time. The next window to send it back won’t be for two years—and whether it will make it then isn’t…
Researchers in France have developed a self-setting foam that can repair defects in bones and assist growth. Eventually, this advanced biomaterial could be used to quickly regenerate bone growth and treat degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis. Injectable calcium phosphate cements (CPCs) have been around for nearly a hundred years, and they’re frequently used in orthopedics…
You probably know at least one person who always tends to bet on the loser. From laserdiscs to New Coke, they adore the unpopular product. Turns out that that’s a predictable trait, and the people who display it are “Harbingers of Failure.” What happens when a group of professors from MIT, Northwestern University, and the…
A frustrated writer and poster enthusiast got upset when she had a hard time getting a Patti Smith print delivered to her home in Brooklyn. What did she do? She redesigned the slip that the United States Postal Service (USPS) uses to notify you that they’ve fail to deliver. Which makes me think: Why does…
We imagine a farm to be a place where people celebrate simplicity and get back to the land, and why not? Most of our food is sold to us that way. But farms are big business, and they’re more high-tech, with more specialized machines, than most people ever imagine. Olive Harvesting Here we have a…
