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I was born in Spain to Spanish-speaking parents, who in their infinite wisdom, brought me up speaking English. I’ve always resented missing the opportunity to be brought up bilingual — adults seem to have such a tough time learning languages, compared to children. But why is that? YouTuber Tom Scottexplores the fascinating — and often…
I don’t know what compelled this white rabbit to pop out of nowhere and run straight into the avalanche and start hopping away but I can use my human brain to come up with rabbit reasons. I only see three options: it sees the collapsing snow as a giant mate orgy. It thinks jumping around…
Yes, yes, alright! Here we are! We have Apple Musicnow, yet another subscription streaming music service. This time, it’s from Apple, though. Is it worth switching to? Well, maybe. We’re just getting our hands on it now. But among our staff here at Gizmodo there’s basically only one question that matters: How does it compare…
It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, but now we have a substance that could one day allow doctors to activate different parts of your brain using nanoparticles and magnetic fields. It’s even possible that this area of research could one day make our brains programmable. Image: PLoS One Florida International University…
It seems like practically everyone recommends personal lubricants these days. And there’s no doubt that there’s a big upside to reducing friction that can cause chafing and pain. But how do these products put slippery in a tube? For example, BioFilm makes two versions of Astroglide water-based lubricants, Regular gel and Ultra Gentle gel for…
We know they’re bad for us. We know we shouldn’t like them. BUT STILL WE DO. What building that everyone else considers ugly occupies an architectural soft spot in your heart? In last weekend’s New York Times, Alexandra Lange asked seven starchitects to defend seven buildings which are hated by the public. Zaha Hadid, designer…
The next time you find yourself traveling around the Scottish Highlands, instead of grabbing a bus or other sensible form of public transportation, Google Maps suggests taking a ride on the mythical Loch Ness monster. It’s an amusing Easter egg, but unfortunately not actually a real option. Which is sad, because getting from Augustus to…
Movies like the Terminator series have convinced us that robots are eventually going to kill us all. That’s still eventually going to happen but we’ve got a long way to go before we build a T-1000 or even an Arnold version, because as DARPA’s 2015 Robotics Challenge shows, even the best and smartest robots right…
A few weeks ago we got our first look at the new Force Awakens Stormtrooper action figure, our first step into the wider world that will be the movie’s merchandising frenzy later this year. Even more pictures have emerged, revealing a fancy box for the toy, hinting that we might be seeing it even sooner…
Today at WWDC, Apple announced a slew of new features and products. Energy was high, Drake was in the building, but a lot of the big reveals looked a lot like the features and products of rivals…especially Google. Imitation is the sincerest form of trying to kill the competition? Here’s a quick rundown of some…
Ever since humans started building tall things, birds have been pooping on them, including high-voltage power lines. In the 1920s, Southern California power grid was beset by streams and streams of bird poop. In the recent issue of Environmental Humanities, history of science professor Etienne Benson traces the impact of birds on Southern California’s power…
To be clear: the ex-girlfriend of Shaynna Sims’ boyfriend was already dead from natural causes. But that didn’t stop the Tulsa, Okla. resident from paying the deceased a funeral-home visit, where it’s alleged that she slashed the woman’s facefrom hairline to nose, cut her hair, and chopped off a toe and a breast. She also…
Walking around in San Francisco can get tough because the city is just so damn hilly. Up and down and up and more up and you start to wish you could just flatten the streets. Karen Cheng and Ross Ching tweaked reality a bit by positioning the camera so it looks like those hilly streets…
It’s been the dream of countless nerds since at least 1989. We want our hoverboards, and we want them now. But if Neil deGrasse Tyson is to be believed, we’re going to be waiting for a while. The Huffington Post recently talked with Tyson about the likelihood that we’ll see hoverboards like the ones in…
Believe it or not, that modern-looking tin can in the sky you’re flying—with its touchscreen TVs at every seat—most likely took flight for the first time decades ago. All of those fancy electronics are upgrades sucking on outdated power systems. That’s why these trolley carts were created to deliver a different kind of juice. Researchers…
Legionary. Century. Centurions. Cohorts. Legions. These are all terms for a certain group or type of Roman soldier. This rather interesting break down of the Roman Army shows how the army was organized, how Roman citizens were Legionaries and non-Roman citizens were Auxiliaries and how those soldiers were grouped together. You can learn a lot…
Frustrated with your fancy new MacBook’s single USB-C port? OWC wants to be your laptop’s knight in shiny, connected armor with a brand new USB-C dock that turns its lone port into 11 additional connections so you can have all of your hardware and accessories plugged in at the same time. You’ll not only get…
Velvalee Dickinson, a Stanford grad who’d worked in the financial industry, moved to New York City from San Francisco in 1937, where she soon opened a shop that sold collectible dolls. But by 1942, she’d added a third entry to her resume — or at least she really, really tried to: spying on behalf of…
Apple is so hellbent on dominating the streaming music game, it’s doing something I never thought I’d see: Bringing its first app ever to Android. Starting this fall, Apple’s new Beats-fueled streaming music service will be available on Android phones. Apple Music is the first native Apple app to bust out of Apple’s walled garden.…
A flying saucer plummeted through the skies over Hawaii today in the second test of NASA’s new Mars landing system. If this had been a real flight to Mars, we’d have just killed a rover by slamming it into the planet below. Top image: A balloon carried the LDSD to 120,000 feet over 3 hours…
