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I look to my left and see a sorrowful parent sitting on the curb, comforting his daughter. I look to my right, and I see notes of sympathy among many flowers. Around me, I hear people murmuring respects and singing in French. I’m in the middle of a vigil in the streets of Paris, a…
Tall buildings were the vanguards of the modern world. They completely changed how cities functioned, bringing forth totally new social and urban systems. The reasons they changed cities are surprisingly similar to the reasons they may change the way computer memory is built. Imagine a skyscraper. Each floor might contain a different company or program–one…
Rejoice, for Serial has returned. The second season of the popular podcast is here, with a new case to try in the court of public opinion. Focused on the disappearance of Private Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan, this time around Serial is going big. Buckle up, kids. Spoilers ahead for Serial episode one, “DUSTWUN” Previously, on…
As more tech companies are fighting to enter the drone market, Chinese drone titan DJI just dropped some news that’ll give its products an edge, in everything from agriculture to fighting fires: thermal imaging. DJI is teaming with thermal imaging and infrared tech company FLIR Systems to produce a thermal imaging camera for its line…
The hoverboard backlash always seemed inevitable. First, there’s the misleading name. Then, there were videos of painful accidents and even hoverboards spontaneously combusting. And today, Overstock.com announced that it would no longer sell the gadgets due to safety concerns. This is just the beginning. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is already in…
Uber has long insisted that it’s simply a tech company, not a driving service—and new legislation supports that narrow definition of its growing corporate empire. Guess which company helped draft the legislation. Guess. Guess. Guess. Guess. Guess. From Reuters: In Ohio, state Rep. Bob Hackett said Uber, Lyft, the taxi industry and other parties were…
East Asia’s secluded dictatorship says it’s got the technology to make monstrously destructive hydrogen bombs. Fat chance, say some defense experts. Leader Kim Jong Un apparently told North Korean state media on Thursday that the nation has turned into “a powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate [a] self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend…
Chromecast Audio, Google’s dongle that turns any speaker with an aux jack into a wireless speaker, has only been out in the world a few months, but it’s already getting some new powers that help justify the teensy dongle. Today, Google announced two new features. The coolest is the new ability to sync together multiple…
For the first time, paleontologists have isolated original blood vessels from a dinosaur. You’re looking at the tattered fragments of the structures that channeled blood through the legs of Brachylophosaurus canadensis, a 30-foot-long hadrosaur that roamed Montana 80 million years ago. The vessels were isolated by molecular paleontologist Tim Cleland, a post-doc at the University…
The world wilted a little bit after learning that price-gouging pharmaceutical executive and human cesspool Martin Shkreli bought an impossibly rare Wu-Tang album for $2 million. But guess what. Wu-Tang reportedly wrote a brilliant clause into the sales contract that would enable them to get it back. A random guy tweeted out a screenshot of…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the thumbs up to a genetically modified chicken that produces a drug in its eggs. It’s the latest addition to a growing area in medicine known as “farmaceuticals.” The drug is called Kanuma, or sebelipase alfa, and it’s used to treat a rare and devastating disease known…
Kaboom! It’s no surprise that a basketball would explode if you pumped it with a ridiculous amount of air but it’s really cool to see it unravel in super slow motion. The ball basically disintegrates and you can see the limp leftovers tear apart from each other as the orange sphere separates from having too…
We asked for your worst encounters with difficult IT workers. From actual spying to crumbling infrastructure to people who had HR on speed-dial, you’ve endured a lot. These are your stories. Wait…what? ArchitectQueenBitch wrote: I had an office IT guy aid and assist a jerk in our civil department who was really creepily stalking me…
What did you have for breakfast? Eggs? Scrambled? Were they good? Of course! Everyone loves scrambled eggs and any variation of it is edible. But there are very easy ways to make scrambled eggs more luxurious and pillowy and delicious. America’s Test Kitchen says to add extra yolks, add dairy, whisk with a fork so…
The first launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 after its explosion is set for December 19th! The return to flight of the reengineered rocket will carry a payload of relay satellites into orbit–its first flight since its dramatic June launch failure. Almost six months ago, the rocket exploded due to a weak strut leading to…
Venus, you look different even from here. Did you gain an orbiter since last time we saw you? Venus is that distant, bright sparkle in the night sky over Earth. No matter how hard you squint, you’re not going to see Venus’s new climate observing spacecraft, Akatsuki–but it’s there! Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui snapped this…
Technology is full of rumors on what might be—ranging from the highly probable to the likely impossible. Covering technology means slogging through dumb press releases, scam-y Kickstarters, horribly photographed leaks, and hazy speculation that often needs another level of scrutiny to figure out if its even worth my (and your) time. When rumors fall apart,…
Despite their sketchy pink goop origins, those consistently-shaped McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets are too addictive to ever give up. And you can lie to yourself all you want, but deep down you know you want this Lego McNuggets vending machine sitting in the corner of your office. Powered by Lego Mindstorms, the vending machine can intelligently…
Windows 10 has a lot going for it, but you might not like every change it has to offer. If you’re pining for the old analog-style clock that popped up from the notification area in Windows 7 and Windows 8, then a quick bit of registry editing can let you relive the old days. If…
It’s been a year since the first season of Serial reached it conclusion. But now armchair detectives everywhere can immerse themselves in the new, second season because you can download the first installment right now. The new episode, Dustwun, is available on the Serial website and iTunes. The servers seems pretty bogged down right now,…
