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Urban blight is nothing new. The signature image of plummeting real estate is block after block of properties vacated as businesses move out. Now the high price of real estate in American cities is creating a new phenomenon: In otherwise healthy economic areas, the rents are climbing so high they’re driving businesses away—and no other…
Ever wonder what would happen if you gave a dog a camera? You don’t have to anymore: Nikon did it, and the results are endearingly fun. Nikon strapped a Bluetooth heart rate sensor, a custom built camera case and a Coolpix L31 to an adorable border collie named Grizzler. The rig is pretty simple: if…
This week’s future is a social experiment. What if Earth had a robotic overlord who decided to ban all weapons? All fights would have to be hand to hand. Would there be less death that way? Less casualties? What counts as a weapon anyway? Listen to the episode to find out! To work through what…
Starting today, you’ll be able to test the first wave of truly connected cars. Android Auto is now available on its first integrated vehicle, the 2015 Hyundai Sonata. As you head to your local dealership to test drive it, you can practice talking to your car on the way: “Ok, Google…” Android Auto will be…
The Oculus Rift VR headset lets you see into another world—but not your own. It’s not like Microsoft’s HoloLens, where you interact with 3D objects in your world. At least, not yet. Oculus just bought Surreal Vision, a startup dedicated to pulling the real world into VR. Surreal Vision specializes in something called “real-time 3D…
I saw two movies this past weekend. One was about a terrifying futuristic dystopia filled with endless betrayal and a complete lack of hope. The other one was Mad Max: Fury Road. There’s plenty to dissect in Disney’s new film Tomorrowland — from the misguided romanticization of the 1960s as a techno-utopian’s paradise, to the…
America woke up to some frustrating news today. Charter, the fourth-largest cable company in America, wants to buy Time Warner Cable, the second-largest, as well as Bright House, the tenth-largest. If the deal goes through it’s going to affect come 23 million internet customers directly. Not in a good way. Major cable mergers like this…
This is beyond silly but to stitch together this wonderful minute clip of slapping from movies is a work of art. All kinds of slapping is going on here with all sorts of sound effects from all sorts of movies. It goes from being slightly amusing to giggle funny to ridiculously riotous. SPLOID is delicious…
Just before midnight, UPS’s Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky begins to come alive. Boeing 757s start roaring overhead. Packages whoosh by on miles of conveyer belts. Before the sun is up, 1.6 million packages will be unloaded and loaded again, sent along toward their final destinations. As magically as packages seem to appear on our doorsteps,…
Europa, the icy moon of Jupiter, is a favourite target for everyone from serious exobiologists to optimistic science fiction authors as a likely setting to find alien life in our solar system. Today, NASA announced the nine instruments that will be on-board the next robotic explorer to investigate the enigmatic world. Artist’s concept of the…
This is about as IKEA as it gets. The Swedish flatpack furniture giant is in the late stages of developing a line of furniture that’s made out of paper. That’s right: paper. Not cardboard. This durable stuff is a fascinating composite of repurposed pulp that can be molded into any shape. The craziest thing? It…
A Mesa, Arizona building owned by Apple, Inc. Caught fire today. The fire is reportedly out, according to multiple source, but you can still see the smoldering building and firefighters working the scene in images from the likes of NBC 12. The building looks suspiciously like the building that was subject to some Apple news…
So Jony Ive has a new title. So what? This banal little reshuffling could have a much bigger impact on Apple than you’d think. As Ive steps back from running day-to-day operations, it will make room for new designers—and a new design language—to emerge from the studio he managed for 20 years. And it’s about…
Timmy the ThinkGeek Monkey isn’t sad. Not one bit. He’s just trying to fit in with his new friends! They’ve got, shall we say, a darker taste in fashion. They shared his love of Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Minecraft, so why not reciprocate? Oh, and $122 million in cash didn’t hurt either. Today, Hot…
After our call to stop drinking bottled water, we asked for reader advice for how to kick a bad habit. You responded with with hard-earned wisdom and tips for how to cut back or cut out everything from sugar to smoking. Here’s how to break free. From a professional: BrianF wrote: I am a Behavior…
If there is no snow to snowboard it only makes sense to hook yourself onto a helicopter and take your snowboarding to the clouds. Watch as stuntman Wildman Adrian Cenni carves on clouds 6,000 feet in the air while the helicopter flings him around at 80mph. It looks so sick. Like a human Silver Surfer…
One of the US Air Force’s most high-tech weapons is a tool that can’t hurt people — but it kills electronic devices. The CHAMP (Counter-Electronics High-Powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project) is a computer-frying device that emits a strong blast of targeted microwave energy that can take down enemy data centers and infrastructure without blowing anyone…
If you’re lucky enough to be heading to the 2015 San Diego Comic Con in July, you’ll be one of the first people able to buy this limited edition Tiny Fey/Amy Poehler SNL Weekend Update action figure set from Entertainment Earth that even comes with a fold-out cardboard news desk. You can actually pre-order the…
Maybe you’re familiar with the asshole behavior of cowbirds. Known as “brood parasites,” cowbirds lay eggs in another bird’s nest and trick the host bird into raising cowbird offspring at the expense of her own. Like I said, assholes. But birds can learn to recognize imposter eggs. That’s where 3D printing comes in. To study…
An earth-shattering 9.8 earthquake is coming this week! At least according to your weird uncle’s Facebook page. The Big One is supposed to hit this Thursday, May 28th, thanks to a planetary alignment predicted by Nostradamus and some random guy in the Netherlands. Except that it’s all bullshit. The video below already has over half…
