Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
I can almost feel the excitement that the researchers of the Nautilus Exploration Program must have felt when their robotic explorer met this glorious sperm whale at 598 meters (or 1,962 ft) below the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. Here’s what the researchers had to say of the encounter: The whale circled…
Watching the stunning opening titles of the FITC Toronto 2015—a conference for digital creators of all kinds—is like watching the life of the whole of humanity flash before your eyes. The video—created by motion graphics artist Will Reid—sums up human evolution in three minutes full of pure eye candy. Will Reid is a video editor…
Being able to carbonate water in your own home is awesome. Not being able to inject the same magic bubbles into every other liquid you can get your hands on? That’s a drag. But no longer! The SodaStream Mix is a new machine that can bubblify non-water. Are you quaking with glee yet? I know…
Roman Holiday put together this video that shows the close up shots in everyone’s favorite action movie (or Christmas movie or just movie) Die Hard. I can hear the Yippee Ki Yay just from watching these scenes. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
The sprawling construction sites buried below NYC are carefully regulated places, inaccessible to the public. But one photographer has been exploring these caverns and tunnels for 15 years at the MTA’s request—and his work paints an amazing picture of life underground. His name is Patrick Cashin, and he was a Newsweek lab technician and photographer…
Tumblr user AVBH transformed the official poster of The Avengers: Age of Ultron into an amazing animated GIF you can enjoy for the rest of the eternity. He broke it down to five smaller GIFs so we can appreciate all the details—and luckily, it doesn’t take forever to download. Here’s the original illustration by Ryan…
Inflatable helmets, glow-in-the-dark spray paint, a laser that makes a temporary bike lane—a heck of a lot of products have hit the market recently pledging to keep cyclists safer. But is it the responsibility of people on bikes to use any gadget necessary to stay safe? Or is this distracting from the bigger argument that…
Star Wars has a long history of merchandising everything, right down to the characters you see in the movies for mere moments. Who doesn’t remember heroes like Toryn Farr, Willrow Hood or Yak Face (apologies, Saelt-Marae)? Now even characters seen for literal seconds are getting the Hot Toys treatment. I’ll forgive you if at first…
Gosh, wouldn’t it be nice to play a little Bloodborne tonight? Shame my wife will be using the TV. If only I had a way to stream games from my PlayStation 4 to another device. How about a hacked version of the PS4 Remote Play app that works on Android phones and tablets—and my Nvidia…
DolphinSafe.gov. CouldIHaveLupus.gov. GovGab.gov. These were real, registered websites at one time until they were terminated. In some cases—take CyberSafe.gov or Americorpse.gov for example—it’s easy to see why. Thanks to some digging by a MuckRock user named Dean Triplett, a full list of terminated URLs is now available online. It doesn’t go back all the way,…
From a bridge that makes walking an adventure to a cost-effective way to revitalize an aging port, Architizer’s A+ Awards announced yesterday include smart and simple architecture for everyday life. Here are a few public structures that make grand statements about our changing cities or solve a universal problem in a beautiful way. The annual…
Following up on the Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker Buildable Figures revealed at Toy Fair 2015 earlier this year, Lego is introducing four new figures at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California, this week staring with Obi-Wan Kenobi and the lightsaber-hoarding General Grievous. Jango Fett and Commander Cody Buildable Figures will also be revealed this…
Paul Wex’s Interrupt is an absolutely beautiful look into people and life in southeast Asia. It’s filmed entirely in slow motion with a vintage 35mm OM Zuiko lens on a Canon 5D Mk3 and the footage of random daily life is peaceful and serene and stunning and unreal. Its like the video has stopped time…
Was Siri programmed to be a Russian homophobe? A Russian-language speaker living in London recorded some rude responses to questions about being gay from Apple’s digital assistant. “Is gay marriage normal?” Alex asks. “I believe this emotion should be considered negative,” Siri responds. BBC Russia tested Siri and received similar responses to Alex, publishing a…
Tax Day is HERE, and whether you’re eagerly anticipating a sizable refund or are dreading a hefty bill, there’s nothing to gain by putting off your tax filing any longer. Here’s a guide to filing your taxes online—including the best services for your buck. IRS Free File Your first stop should be to the IRS…
Of all the exclusive Star Wars Celebration merchandise revealed over the past week, this Salacious Crumb hanging wall clock has to be one of the most unsettling. The character was seen hanging around Jabba the Hutt’s palace in Return of the Jedi, and its time-telling doppleganger presumably has moving eyes and a swinging tail like…
The new MacBook has all kinds of tricks up its sleeve, from a new keyboard to a force feedback trackpad, and of course a lovely new hi-res screen. But maybe the coolest new feature is deep on the inside: terraced batteries that can put more power in a thinner package. iFixit just got its hands…
There’s just nothing quite like the sound and feel of typing away on a keyboard with genuine mechanical switches under each key. But while most mechanical keyboards are giant and designed to permanently live on your desk, the TEX Yoda has a much smaller form factor and footprint making it easier to travel with so…
If you’re a pet owner who’s truly devoted to their dog, then your pup probably has more chew toys than it knows what to do with. But there’s a good reason to consider adding one—or three—more to its collection. Not only are these new Paww dog toys durable, they also randomly dispense treats, and are…
Wireless charging is one of those kinda-handy things that’s almost been about to go mainstream for five years now. But Duracell is tired of waiting for the wireless charging revolution. Duracell wants you to wirelessly charge by plugging in this dongle instead. Wait, what? The Duracell Powermat Power Ring is a $50 inductive charging coil…