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The Durian fruit is famous for being a botanical stink-monster. How does it put off such a rich array of offensiveness? We’ll tell you the results of a chemical analysis. Durian, with its outer spikes, its inner slime, and its arsenal of odors, is an example of what can only be termed edible Stockholm syndrome.…
Roland has a trio of new synthesizers called the Boutique Series. They are affordable miniaturized versions of three classic analog synths from the early 80’s. Say hello to the sweet electronic sounds of the good old days. The synths are modeled after the Jupiter 08 from 1981, the JX-3P from 1983, and the Juno-106 from…
It’s pretty simple even if we don’t want to acknowledge it: movies are pretty much set up all the same and a hero’s journey roughly follows a pretty universal 12-step process. Or at least that’s what Iskander Krayenbosch thinks in his animation The Hero’s Journey. He deftly utilizes characters from popular movies to prove his…
When you think of the United Nations, you probably don’t think of emerging tech like drones or floating fabrication labs. But those are exactly what the staid international organization, which turned 70 this year, wants to use to address issues humans face across the globe. I went to the UN Headquarters for the Solutions Summit…
There are some old and new faces in this week’s app roundup. But all of them have something fresh to add to the lineup. We’ve got a doodling app, an app for your health, and app for finally digitizing old photos, an app for the sports lovers out there, and more. Enjoy! Android Inkboard For…
Whether a long missive to a long-lost friend or your bank card details, losing a lot of data you’ve just painstakingly typed is not fun. Fortunately, there are tools that can help provide a safety net, including the impressive Type Machine. You are going to have to shell out a few bucks for the app,…
When all you’ve got is a magazine or some over-played smartphone games at your disposal, waiting out airport delays is a nightmare. But not if your carry-on luggage opened to reveal an epic water park inside, instead of clothing. In fact, you might actually be glad to be bumped from an over-sold flight and put…
Well hello there, overkill. This screen from Japan Display is a triumph in taking resolution to the extreme: it squeezes an 8K LCD module into a screen that measures just 17.3 inches. For those keen on numbers, that’s a screen that packs 7,680 x 4,320 pixels, or a staggering 510 pixels per inch. It also…
Understanding how the brain works is important, but going hands-on to test drugs or other treatments can be difficult. Which is why a team from Brown University has created these miniature ball-shaped brains for use in the lab. While these balls of brain cells don’t actually perform actual cognition, they do produce electrical signals and…
Asus is joining the likes of Samsung, Sony, and Dell in bundling up Microsoft apps, including Office, on its Android handsets. Slowly, Microsoft is spreading its tentacles across Google’s domain.
Think of heat and batteries, and you probably imagine a li-on cell bursting into flames. But now researchers think that a little heat at the right time could actually be used to extend the lifespan of a battery. During the cycles of charing and discharging, li-on batteries slowly degrade. One factor involved in that degradation…
It’s been a bad day for online security. Patreon, a crowdfunding website designed to let fans pay artists, has just had 15GB of its user’s data — and the site’s source code — dumped online. The 13.7-gigabyte data dump appeared on the internet today, and according to Ars Technica and security researcher Troy Hunt (of…
Vans are definitely not the footwear of choice for people seeking a sophisticated, well-heeled look. If you wear Disney-themed Converse, that’s particularly true — but that still won’t stop me buying up every pair of these Disney Vans I can lay my childlike hands on. Everyone’s favorite skateboarding shoes are being redesigned in collaboration with…
The fastest, most powerful, most accurate bows ever made are modern compound designs. What advantages do they have over traditional bows of yore and how do you shoot one? This year, I’ve learned the sport of archery. Starting out, I hadn’t shot a bow since Boy Scouts, but now, I can accurately hit a two-inch…
Over at The Atlantic’s CityLab, there’s a great post about how Japanese kids can run errands around town and take public transportation free of supervision. It’s thanks to the country’s incredible infrastructure and culture of safety. Broadly speaking, in Japan, folks generally assume they can depend on others. (Japan’s rock bottom crime rates back this…
Our plates are quite well-traveled these days, with foods from our backyards mingling with foods grown easily halfway around the world. Just how connected the food world has become is much clearer in these charts showing where every place in the world is getting (and sending) their food. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture just…
The Illapel earthquake that hit Chile in September shifted the ground by up to 1.4 meters. That’s awfully far to move the not-so-steady rock below our feet. A magnitude 8.3 earthquake hit Chile on September 16, 2015. The sudden snapping and release of tension in the tectonic plates shifted the very ground, with the greatest…
As sperm swim they transform chemical energy into motion, the way a car’s engine uses gas to propel you down the road. Like that engine, the process is complicated—if just one part stops working, the whole system can grind to a halt. This idea might lead to a contraceptive for men that’s reversible. In a…
An international team of scientists has scanned the genomes of 2,504 people from around the world to create the world’s largest catalog of human genetic variation (HGV). The extensive database will help them understand why some people are susceptible to certain diseases. No two people are identical, yet human beings share 99.9% of their DNA.…
Hurricane Joaquin strengthened to a Category 4 this afternoon on its way through the Bahamas. It’s now a large, powerful storm with sustained winds of 130 to 156 mph. The biggest threat, however, is Joaquin’s storm surge, which is raising sea levels five to ten feet in the Bahamas and could do the same —…
