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Tony Stark goes through Iron Man suits like they’re going out of fashion. It seems like Hot Toys have a very similar approach, because they’ve announced another two Iron Man related figures that they would really like you to add to your Iron Legion. Yes, you didn’t think that the Age of Ultron 1:6 figure…
One thing robots are notoriously bad at is learning by doing. You can pack plenty of information into a robotic brain, but ask a bot to teach itself a new motor task—even one as simple as stacking blocks or unscrewing a water bottle—and you’re probably shit out of luck. That, however, might be changing very…
The Lizzie Borden Chronicles ends tonight, alas, but if you’ve been enjoying the gruesomely campy show, get a behind-the-scenes peek via Geeks of Doom’s series of interviews with the show’s writers here and here. And, of course, check back tomorrow for our recap of the series finale!
Last Tuesday, an onshore pipeline belonging to the Texas-based oil company Plains All American burst, spewing roughly 105,000 gallons of crude down a storm drain and into an undeveloped stretch of coastline just north of Santa Barbara. Roughly a fifth of that oil made its way into open water. It may be the worst oil…
Why doesn’t it have a back button? I ask no one in particular. Why do I have to reach all the way up there to go back where I came from? Soon, there may be an answer for my iPhone frustration—a screen protector with a virtual back button. Halo Back, a new Kickstarter project, is…
If life in a future megacity isn’t for you, your hour of escape is fast approaching. Especially if you don’t mind living alone in a 14 x 7 x 7-foot pod. Well, what if I told you the view was fantastic? Ecocapsule, which calls itself “the first truly independent micro-home,” is a new, teeny tiny…
Pizza Hut stopped tasting good a long time ago. The company’s recent parody of selfie sticks, however, is spot on. According to the video’s earnest narrator, our selfies face an existential threat. What, you ask, could endanger the sacred selfie? None other than the absurd stick invented to turn every life experience into a desperately…
In its latest attempt to brand itself as a media entity, Snapchat is now hiring journalists to cover the 2016 presidential race. To Snap the race, more accurately. The wildly popular photo-sharing platform has been working to fashion itself a news service since earlier this year, when it launched “Discover”, a feature that doesn’t actually…
It takes a disaster to shock us out of complacency. In January 1969, an oil well blew up off the coast of Santa Barbara, spilling an estimated three million gallons of black goo into the ocean—then the largest oil spill in U.S. waters ever. As images of dead birds and blackened beaches flooded the media,…
Contrary to what the news cycle pounds into our brains, the electric car conversation does not begin and end with Elon Musk. There’s a more affordable and more relevant urban mobility solution than Tesla. I’m talking about the humble golf cart, which is already well on its way to ruling the world. As Thomas Bartman…
The Predator was already a pretty extreme design. Square-Enix’s Play Arts Kai line just took that extremity, ripped its spine out and then used it as a club to beat the extremeness to death. Oh dear. Yes, when Play Arts Kai isn’t doing insane things to the worlds of DC, Marvel or Star Wars, they’ve…
Americans want privacy as much as ever—but in the digital age, most of us think it’s a lost cause. That, at least, is the depressing takeaway from a new Pew report, which shows that our faith in digital service providers (and ourselves) to protect our data is abysmally low. Top image: Shutterstock The report summarizes…
Mecca—the ancient holy city that’s been the site of Islamic pilgrimages for millennia—is being turned into Disneyland. Helping complete its transformation? This 2,000 foot-tall hotel, which will tower over the city like a desert fortress on steroids, projecting a dazzling green laser show at night. The world’s largest hotel is planned to open in Mecca…
Without a doubt, this is one of the coolest airplane videos I have ever seen. Thanks to the magic of telephoto lenses, the moon in this infrared clip looks impossibly gigantic. The fact that a KC-10 tanker is refueling another KC-10 tanker make the entire thing feel unreal—as in “I had a hard time believing…
This week at Gizmodo, we got our hands on Buckminster Fuller’s FBI file, recounted your worst PayPal horror stories, told you why you need to stop drinking bottled water, and hung out with Neal Stephenson to chat about his latest novel. Here are the highlights. Stop Drinking Bottled Water There are few things on this…
It’s the weekend, friends! In America, it’s a long weekend — Monday is off for Memorial Day, and everyone barbecues, as dictated by tradition. What’s cooking, Gizmodo? My Memorial day plans are basically to have no plans. I keep telling friends I “might be” going away, when the truth is that I intend to retreat…
Breakthroughs in synthetic biology have suggested a bizarre and realistic possibility for the future of black market drug trade. Genetically-altered yeast could be used to make opiates for hospitals seeking a source of the painkillers — and then appropriated by drug dealers who want to homebrew heroin. Over at Wired, Lexi Pandell reports on a…
Which of the current presidential hopefuls have the strongest social media base? You might be surprised. Rand Paul blows Hilary Clinton away on Facebook, while Clinton creams Paul on Twitter. No one likes Jeb Bush. Since there are many candidates, I’m only including those with social media followings above 10k on the major platforms, and…
So, they say robots are supposed to be stealing all our jobs. Soon. And service jobs at especially at risk. Included in that group? Those who usher us through the magical portal of happy hour: bartenders. It’s Friday afternoon, you’ve made it through the long week, and it’s time for Happy Hour, Gizmodo’s weekly booze…
Insects with nightmarish spiky penises that can harm their mates are really nothing new. But a new study in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology has determined that given the right conditions, wielding a nightmarish spiky penis could also harm a different species. Image: Kyogoku, D. and Sota, T. 2015 The study, led by Daisuke Kyogoku…
