Tech News

Tim Cook Explains How He Decided to Come Out

Tim Cook appeared on Stephen Colbert’s new Late Show last night, and Colbert roasted Apple’s CEO with his usual charm. The clip above is one of the more serious exchanges from the segment. Colbert asks Cook about the company’s evolving social agenda, and specifically about how Cook updated the company’s position with regards to charity—he…

Politiwoops Is Still Dead, But You Can Read Millions of Politicians’ Deleted Tweets in a New Archive 

When Twitter unceremoniously killed Politiwoops, the Sunlight Foundation-founded site that compiled politicians’ deleted tweets, we lost a valuable tool for political transparency. It sucks, but here’s a silver lining: You can still access the archive of politician saying stupid shit on social media. The Open State Foundation has made the complete Politiwoops archive available by…

This Chameleon-Like Material Could Let Robots Camouflage Themselves In Real Time

A new chameleon-inspired “e-skin” that changes color the longer and harder you press on it could help engineers design wearables, prosthetics, and robots that are better at sensing pressure and temperature—just like human skin can. Published last month in the journal Nature Communications, the Stanford University research paper describes the stretchy, colorful polymer. Aside from…

iOS 9: Everything You Need To Know

iOS 9 is arriving today. But what we saw on stage at Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference this spring was more than just a yearly update to Apple’s mobile OS. It’s a glimpse at how Apple’s operating systems are being unified as it builds out new devices and platforms. iOS has never mattered more. Hello,…

Choo Choo Crash Bang! The Golden Age of Juvenile Trainwrecking

In mid-20th century America, a heartwarming Rockwellian drama played out in living rooms every Christmas Day. Presents were opened, and the room became a happily confused welter of ribbons and wrapping paper, punctuated with all manner of shiny new toys. A radiantly cheerful fire crackled in the fireplace. The air was filled with the sounds…

Microsoft May Use Cortana to Control Its Windows-in-the-Car System

Last year, Microsoft unveiled Windows-in-the-car concept. At the time, it shied away from explaining how people would interact with the system — but now it’s revealed that it could be powered by its smart assistant, Cortana. At a Microsoft event being held in Taiwan today, the chief operating officer Samuel Shen of Microsoft Asia-Pacific Research…

Watch the Biggest Ever Drone Swarm Take to the Sky

The robots are coming, thick and fast. A team of researchers from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey California has successfully lofted 50 drones into the air at once, all controlled by a single person — making it the biggest drone swarm ever to enter the sky. The Zephyr drones — custom craft made from…

Look Inside the First Ever U.S. Airbus Assembly Plant

This is the brand new Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility — where you seem to be able to eat your lunch from the floor. The European aircraft manufacturer inaugurated its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama on 14th September. Three types of airplanes – the A319, A320 and A321 – will be assembled in this…

Google Will Match Your Donations Towards the European Refugee Crisis

Europe is currently facing a migrant and refugee crisis pretty much unprecedented in modern times: Families fleeing war-torn states are making harrowing journeys across land and sea, risking their lives, often without any guaranteed salvation at the end. There’s lots that you can already do to help, but stepping up to the plate to bolster…

Good news for early Microsoft Surface adopters and other RT lovers: an update for the Windows RT 8.1 brings a Windows 10-like Start menu to the OS. It’s not an overhaul, but it breathes a little fresh air into the orphaned software.

The Amazing Racing-Inspired Art of Death Spray Custom

Death Spray Custom is a British artist whose playful designs appear on everything from chairs and gas cans to motorbikes and crash helmets. This beautiful video looks at the very normal man behind the incredible designs. From rural Wales, with no formal art training, Death Spray Custom would rather be racing on a track than…

This Teenager Was Arrested for Making a Clock His Teachers Thought Was a Bomb

When 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed arrived at school on Monday morning with a digital clock he’d built from scratch, he was keen to show his teachers the fruit of his labors. Instead, he was pulled out of class and arrested for attempting to build a bomb. The Dallas Morning News reports that Ahmed built the clock…

How Plants and Animals Would Colonise an Ice-Free Antarctica

Antarctica’s ice sheets could totally collapse if the world’s fossil fuels are burnt off, according to a recent climate change simulation. While we are unlikely to see such a dramatic event any time soon, we are already observing big changes and it’s worth considering what the worst case scenario might look like for the continent’s…

The World’s First 8K TV Will Cost $133,000

Next month, Sharp will put the world’s first 8K TV on sale. You may not have to take too long in considering a purchase, though — as it will cost an eye-watering $133,000. Technically the world’s first production 8K TV, the LV-85001 boasts an 85-inch screen stuffed with 7680 x 4320 pixels. That’s 104 pixels…

Segway Is Suing The Makers of That Thing Which is Not a Hoverboard

The Inventist Hovertrax is a $1500 auto-balancing skateboard that is very much not a hoverboard. It is also, according to Segway, in violation of a bunch of patents. According to the lawsuit, filed Friday in Delaware, Inventist is in violation of five of Segway’s patents. In particular, it’s violating US Patent 6,302,230, for an “automatically…

It takes $1500, 6 months, and a lot of farming to truly make a sandwich at home from scratch

How do you make a sandwich at home? Grab some bread, slap together some mustard and mayo, throw in some turkey, add some cheese, lettuce, tomato and onions, and then eat it right? That’s what normal people do but that’s a total shortcut. How do you truly make a sandwich at home and from scratch?…

Apple TV Games Will Have to Work With the Siri Remote

Apple’s upcoming set-top boxes will support third-party controllers for gaming, which is good news for anyone (everyone) who doesn’t like gaming with a touchpad. But that still doesn’t mean you should expect hardcore games from your Apple TV. In the App Programming Guide for tvOS, Apple outlines requirements for game developers — including, unfortunately, a…

After months of waiting impatiently, Spotify’s Running feature, which matches music to your running pace in an attempt to move yo ass, is finally coming to Android. Update your app through the Play Store, then get running. [Spotify] Contact the author at [email protected].

Here are 5 alternate movie endings that would have totally been more bad ass

Sometimes movies change their original, director intended endings because the audience gets too attached to characters or studios want to leave room open for sequels or we all just want a teeny bit of happiness after we sit in a dark room for two hours. But some endings shouldn’t change because the alternate endings were…

3 Ways That California Needs to Learn From Saudi Arabia Before It’s Too Late

It’s the drought but it’s not just the drought: California is currently facing unprecedented environmental challenges. It might not seem like they have a lot in common, but Saudi Arabia can teach California how to deal with its current water, energy, and transportation crises. Because, in a way, looking at Saudi Arabia is like looking…