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Sex educators Megara Bell and Brian Flaherty (both from the Boston group Partners in Sex Education) are a little stiff on camera, but the message of their delightful science demonstration (with controls!) is clear. If you’re in a pinch, microwavable plastic wrap is impermeable to viruses and you can use it to fashion a MacGyver-like…
Remember that awful news of Russian hackers stealing the personal information of 100,000 taxpayers? Turns out the Internal Revenue Service lowballed the number. The agency now says that over 600,000 people were targeted with 300,000 unlucky persons losing their data privacy completely. This is disconcerting, but it’s not surprising. Months before the massive attack was…
My, my, my. Shake Shack, unquestionably the best tasting burger chain on the face of planet Earth for people with discernible taste and half working tongues, is upping the decadence in its latest burger by going surf and turf. That is, they’re adding a beautifully buttery layer of lobster to their already perfect burger. I’m…
It’s the dog days of August, so you’ll want to read this ode to working dogs. And cool down by watching a couple of nut jobs climb an iceberg. And check out the innovations in this new line of ultralight climbing knives. Here’s what’s new outside. An Ode To The Working Dog: Our friend Will…
The capacity of our digital storage devices has skyrocketed in recent years. But there’s one storage medium that still kicks the crap out of our state-of-the-art solid state, and humans didn’t invent it. It’s called DNA. A team of scientists is trying to figure out whether the double-helix molecules that encode every plant, animal and…
It’s the stuff of legends: the knight riding to the Crusades with the key to his lady’s chastity belt tucked under his armor. But it’s about as real as stories of Prester John or the Holy Grail. As Sara Laskow writes for Atlas Obscura: References in European texts to chastity belts go back centuries, well…
People are terrified that they’re being exposed to radiation all the time, whether from a distant nuclear accident or the mobile device snuggled against their head. Generally, they are wrong. Here are the most radioactive objects in the world around you, and the truth about which ones cause health problems. What Do We Mean by…
Jeff Bezos hopes his minions are “having fun” and “laughing along the way.” The mega-billionaire said as much in a staff memo to address the accusations of widespread villainy and abuse in the ranks of Amazon’s best and brightest. “Dear Amazonians,” the memo begins. It should say: “Dear Amazombies.” If you believe a single account…
Mad Max: Fury Road was such a perfectly crafted action movie that it almost feels wrong to watch these deleted scenes, as if we’re trying to second guess the tightly wound story of the movie. But I just need more Mad Max in my life, here are three deleted scenes from the Blu-Ray. Just a…
Hey there, fans of candy and open-source mobile operating systems. Google just announced that the codename for the latest version of its mobile OS, Android M, is “Marshmallow.” Combine it with Gingerbread and KitKat, and you can make some weird software s’mores. And just in case you haven’t been keeping up, check out all of…
With its golden hills, lush green forests, and turquoise-colored ocean, Big Sur is one of the most beautiful places you can visit, but it looks even better from above — while paragliding. My girlfriend isn’t inherently the “outdoorsy” type, but she does appreciate amazing scenery, good food, and relaxing in nature — so for the…
Whether your employer requires it or you’re just a paranoid stonewall of personal security, two-step authentication simply does a better job at protecting your online life. But it adds a bit of hassle, too. Now, researchers are testing how to use ambient noises in your environment to confirm your identity, instead of codes texted to…
Back in 2012, YouTube started hiding the tags associated with videos to stop people copying popular combinations. They can still be attached to clips—and they’re still factored into searches—but they’re not visible while you’re browsing around the site. If you find them useful, you can bring them back with the help of a simple Chrome…
The sun produces trillions and trillions of watts every second—who wouldn’t want to harness some of that energy for a drastically reduced utility bill? But figuring out what the cost/benefit of installing (or if you an advantageous locations) required a lot of work. Now, Google just needs your address. Project Sunroof is a new Google…
Sure, in the former Expanded Universe, Boba Fett gained the reputation of being the meanest bounty hunter around—but in the movies, he’s better known for his less-than-graceful encounter with the Sarlacc pit. Hot Toys’s newest Star Wars toy capitalises on that moment, but makes it look a lot cooler, for Boba’s sake. This isn’t the…
Are you hesitant to buy your child a Barbie doll for fear of reinforcing negative stereotypes about women? Instructables user mikeasaurus had the same concerns, but found a clever way to empower kids by turning the iconic doll into an all-purpose multi-tool. The hack isn’t terribly difficult to do yourself, especially if you’ve got a…
It’s unfair. Something so simple and basic should not be able to leave a lasting impact on me like this. The act of sharpening a knife, though absolutely a skill, is a chore of maintenance, not something that can be this satisfying to watch. But just take in this video below, hear the knife on…
Most researchers developing artificial intelligences are working towards a goal of making robots that can one day adapt to any situation. But researchers at MIT have instead created an AI that can learn to drift an RC car, which means that one day the terminators will drive even better than Ken Block can. The machine…
It’s not only lazy students and Buzzfeed editors who steal from Wikipedia. James Heilman is an emergency room doctor and Wikipedia editor dedicated to improving the site’s medical information. He tries to fix articles where other Wikipedia editors make mistakes, as The Atlantic explained in a recent story about editors on the site. Last year,…
Were you flying to or from the eastern seaboard over the weekend? I’m so sorry. A botched software update caused hundreds of flights to be delayed or cancelled on Saturday and Sunday, so there’s a decent chance you had a bad trip. What happened? A software upgrade, of course. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confessed…
