Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
For a lot of city dwellers a bicycle is their primary form of transportation—even once they have kids. So a Swedish designer named Lycke von Schantz has come up with a clever child’s bike seat called the Påhoj that instantly transforms into a lightweight stroller once you arrive at your destination. The Påhoj is still…
Here’s a really neat photo that shows a US Marines CH-53E helicopter during a training exercise at night that makes it look like the blades of the military chopper have been replaced with star-powered flight. It’s like a helicopter of the cosmos that has the ability to create portals into another universe. The US Marines…
Smack dab in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, 1,000 miles from human civilization, lies one of the most isolated towns in the world. It’s on an island called Tristan da Cunha, and for the first time, it’s looking to the outside world to plan its future. It takes more than a week to…
Jay Z’s newly acquired and relaunched streaming music service Tidal claims only one difference from Spotify and the rest: superior audio quality. Is it worth switching? Here’s a simple testthat’ll help you decide whether it’s worth forking over $20 a month for the best of the best quality. Sixteen of the world’s richest pop stars…
Hillary Clinton told the world that the reason she exclusively used her personal email as Secretary of State because she “wanted the simplicity of using one device.” But thanks to a FOIA request, we now know that Clinton used multiple devices for email, including an iPad and a BlackBerry. She also mixed her personal emails…
If you have a stylish friend he will tell you that sunglasses aren’t just made to protect your eyes from the burning sun. He’ll say that wearing sunglasses makes you look better, cooler. Dick Moby is an Amsterdam-based brand that makes really cool sunglasses and they also put together this cute video to show how…
Launched in late 2013, the littleBits Synth Kit lets you snap together the different components of a synthesizer into an extremely minimal modular instrument. Today, littleBits is adding three new modulates to its lineup, allowing its toy synth to connect with other musical tools like, uh, your computer. For those unfamiliar, littleBits is a modular…
The days of having to wire up a complete replacement outlet to add a USB charging port will soon be long gone. The same folks behind the SnapRays Guidelight, a replacement cover that added night lights to almost any outlet in your home without wiring, is back with an even better product. Their new SnapPower…
During a performance a band is completely reliant on its drummer for setting the rhythm, but what about during rehearsal when a musician is practicing alone? Or when a musical group doesn’t have a drummer? That’s where this new wearable comes in. It doesn’t tell time, it doesn’t have notifications, and it can’t run apps.…
It takes a lot of hard work, a considerable amount of natural talent and a little bit of luck to be able to eat like Homer Simpson in real life. Caolan McArthur and CinemaRaven managed to accomplish the Herculean feat (with the help of a sped up camera) and basically created a live action version…
Elon Musk teases some new Tesla tech, Jay-Z wants to change the world (with a music streaming service), and benchmarks lay the rumored Z4 bare. Welcome to Bitstream, all the news tidbits and rumors you missed in the last 24 hours. Elon Musk does what he wants. Revolutionize electric automobiles? Check. Jump start the private…
It’s about time. We’ve had decent enough glimpses at Bandai’s upcoming Figuarts toys for Avengers: Age of Ultron through blurry magazine scans in the last month, but now the company have put out a set of official images to let us have a proper gawk at these beautiful plastic Avengers. We’ve seen the official pictures…
It took a couple tries, but Microsoft finally had a critical hit with the Surface Pro 3. It was what we wanted the first Surface to be. It wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty damn useable. But at $800 (and going up to nearly $2,000), it’s also expensive. The Surface 3 is Microsoft’s attempt to…
National Geographic’s Your Shots features this spectacular picture of a scuba diver swimming under a massive shoal of fish at Cabo Pulmo, in Baja California peninsula, Mexico. The picture, shot by Californian photographer Jeff Hester, shows a colorful ocean full of life but that wasn’t always the case: I believe this is what our oceans…
You don’t need to see a cattle yard to identify its existence; the smell alone is usually enough. Now, though, you’re breathing in not just the aromatic compounds you likely know well—but a selection of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant DNA, too. A new study by researchers from Texas Tech University sought to explore the airborne transmission…
Feeling dizzy? These amazing vortices were formed by the MC-130J Commando II Special Operations tanker aircraft during its flight to the Kadena Air Base in Japan on March 19th. Three variants of the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft were recently delivered to U.S. military operators from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. [Andrew McMurtrie/Lockheed Martin]
When I see British designer and calligraphist Seb Lesterwork I picture myself sitting quietly next to him just watching him do his job. I’m sure calligraphy is a very relaxing thing to do, this video—where he skillfully recreates famous logos by hand—proves that it’s also a mesmerizing thing to watch. The first time I’ve learned…
The Gregorian calendar is full of wonderful mathematical quirks, and here’s one of them: under its regime, a century will never start on a Sunday. Or a Wednesday or Friday, for that matter. The reason is (fairly) straightforward. The Gregorian calendar completely cycles every 400 years; add 400 years to any date, and the day…
As everything around us, from phones and fridges to bicycles and trash cans, begins to connect to the Internet, there’s an increasing desire for low-power chips. Like this one, which can last for over ten years on a single battery charge. Made by Atmel, theSAM L21 32-bit ARM family of microcontrollersr is based on ARM…
The Supreme Court has confirmed in a ruling that if the government places a GPS tracker on someone’s person or their belongings, the act counts as a search—something that remains protected by the Fourth Amendment. As part of a case referred to as Grady v. North Carolina, the Supreme Court heard about how Torrey Dale…