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Wouldn’t it be nice if your plants could email you when they’re thirsty? Thanks to a NASA spinoff, they can! This tiny sensor measures electrical pulses, creating a proxy for determining leaf rigidity and thus its general health and need for water. Originally developed for astronauts to take the guesswork out of watering (because yes,…
Alberta’s Skyline Trail is popular for a reason. It offers stunning alpine scenery, exciting hiking, and it’s easy to access. We spent two days trekking it; here’s everything you need to know to tackle it yourself. Why should you go? Hikers are greeted with alpine country within a few hours of embarking on the Skyline…
Raccoons are the only good thing on Instagram. Feelin’ blue? Please direct yourself to the Instagram search bar and type in #RaccoonsofInstagram OR #MyPetRaccoon. Then sit back. You did it. Yes, you heard me. Raccoons. On Instagram. Good. Does this raise questions about the ethics of domesticating wild animals? Sure! Oh boy, yeah. Big time.…
Just when the Android-iOS divide was getting a little bit confusing, Apple has released its first user-centric app for Google’s mobile operating system. It’s a beta version of Apple Music, and it’s now available for download. The Cupertino executives really hope Android users like it. To be honest, the idea of Apple building an app…
It’s every smartphone owner’s worst nightmare: while climbing onto your motorcycle your phone accidentally falls out of your pocket and lands perfectly underneath your bike’s rear tire right before you’re ready to do a burnout to impress your friends. But it turns out it’s not the end of your device. You’re probably going to have…
Inspired by bioluminescent organisms, the DIY biohackers at Grindhouse Wetware have unveiled their latest creation—a magnetically activated, LED-equipped silicone implant. As Motherboard reports, the Pittsburgh-based biohacking collective performed three implantations in conjunction with a simultaneous operation in Dusseldorf last Saturday. The new light-up device, dubbed the Northstar V1, is about the size of a large…
Pollution levels in northeast China are breaking records. In fact, the air quality being recored in the city of Shenyang is 50 times what the World Health Organization (WHO) says is safe for breathing. China’s state news agency is comparing conditions to the end of the world. Smog warnings have been increasingly damning over the…
Before you can send an astronaut to space, you need to be certain you won’t destroy fragile human bodies during a harsh launch and reentry. To do this, astronauts get custom-molded seats tailor-made for their bodies. Each of the Mercury 7 had custom-molded seats for the first crewed NASA spaceflights. But before seats could be…
Lunch has been decided for me. Maybe even dinner too. The fates have spoken and after watching the entire process of a pizza get made from the perspective of a pizza maker (pizzaiolo!), I need to eat a slice of pizza immediately. I don’t know how it’s possible to put in all the work of…
Wired’s ongoing investigative series, Is Smashing Lego in Slo-mo Still Awesome?, continues with a TIE Fighter model that meets its unfortunate demise at the hands of a pair of falling rocks standing in for asteroids. The pilot appears to have survived the attack mostly unscathed, however his TIE Fighter is yet another write-off for the…
There’s a certain ignored artistry to manhole covers in New York City. Millions of people walk over thousands every day and pay no attention to what they look like or where they’re from or how they’re made. They come from all over the world, with one of the largest exporters of manhole covers being in…
Google developed two very good email clients for the web, Android, and iOS, but you don’t have to choose between them. It’s possible to use the two apps together, taking advantage of the best features from both to power through your overflowing inbox. Here are some tips on how to do it without getting in…
We’ve all been in that unfortunate situation when we’re lost with no reception, and our phone’s navigation features are neutered as a result. Now, Google is offering a dead simple solution. You can download snippets of the world for offline navigation and search. There’s one small but unsurprising catch: The new feature is available now…
Archaeologists digging in the ruins of Cidade Velha, the once-thriving city on the Cabo Verde islands off the west coast of Africa have found the oldest Christian church in the tropics, and the horrible reason why the city was once so rich. Cidade Velha was at one point the second richest city in the Portuguese…
A parking lot outside an IHOP in Meridian, Mississippi collapsed the other day leaving a nearly 400 foot by 35 foot gash that swallowed around a dozen cars. Authorities don’t know whether it’s a sinkhole that opened up or a drain collapse that caused the ground to give out like that. They don’t think it’s…
We’re getting closer to Christmas—for many, that means presents, and for the young and young at heart, Santa. But now Santa’s fiendish friend from folklore is getting the spotlight in this adorable new plush toy from Warpo—the team behind the retro Legends of Cthulhu figures. And we’ve got an exclusive first look! Like Legends of…
You can now pre-order Samsung’s Gear VR headset—the device that looks like it may finally push VR into the mainstream—from Best Buy for $100. If you’re clamouring for some VR, you can head over to Best Buy now and pre-order one of the devices right away. The retailer gives an official release date for the…
The HTC One A9’s price is up and down like a yo-yo. After starting life at $400 then jumping up to $500, it’s now on sale in the HTC online store for $400 once more. Whether you wanna buy the thing, though, is another matter entirely.
Sometimes at the end of long, hard week, it’s easy to wallow in self pity: “I doubt many people have it this hard,” you think to yourself. But this interactive visualization can help you see just how many people share your experiences of day-to-day life. Put together by Nathan Yau, the charts make use of…
The winners of the 2015 Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards were announced last week as part of the the World Architecture Festival—and the results are predictably stunning. The image above, shot by Fernando Guerra, took first prize. It shows the vibrant orange, yellow and green hues of the EPFL Quartier Nord, a new mixed-use building…
