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An amusement park called Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, is putting the finishing touches on its new mega coaster called the Fury 325. The first hill sends riders plummeting down an 81-degree drop at 95 miles per hour and before the ride is officially open, you can now take a test drive from the comfort…
Congratulations! We all just survived another seven complete revolutions aboard Mothership Earth. Time to celebrate with new apps. This week we got stuff that’s going to make eating food better, Tweeting better, making music better, and chatting securely better. Let’s find out how. Android Caviar As the name suggests, Caviar is food delivery at a…
Say hello to the Seagate 160 GB external hard drive. It runs on USB 2.0, is nearly a foot long, and weighs a sturdy five pounds. So hurry on down to Walmart to scoop one up for your very own—on sale! Oh, and by the way,it came out in 2004. Consumerist spotted the (terrible) dealsitting…
If our planet is going to support an extra four billion people by the end of the century, we’ll need to find some creative new ways to feed ourselves. One option would be to turn buildings into farms and grow our crops in the air. Another: To install networked food computers in everybody’s home. I’m…
One of the most obvious ways in which Android differs from iOS is the way you can customize your home screens with panels and widgets. We’ve picked out some of our favorite ones for adding features and functionality to your device—use them as quick shortcuts for key tools without having to open up the full…
If there’s one thing kids are inherently good at, it’s digging. Be it looking for the prize inside a box of cereal, or unearthing worms and other treasures in a garden. And when you combine that with dinosaurs—another popular obsession for kids—you get this fun dino skull digger that kids can wear like a glove…
CSI: Cyber is not a good television show. It is hackneyed and paranoid. But come on. You already knew that. This is the kind of show that uses unironic Hackers-style web 1.0 pixelated graphics to represent the digital world. Here’s something else you should know: It’s kind of like a diaper. Unequivocally full of shit,…
What is billed as the world’s largest dog show, Crufts 2015, is getting under way in England today. And to commemorate the occasion, Samsung tasked its designers and engineers with creating the world’s most advanced and fully featured dog house. Does it matter that it would cost $30,000 to build? Most dog owners would happily…
A rose is a rose is a rose, except when it’s actually a yeast. A company called Ginkgo BioWorks in Boston is partnering with French fragrance company Robertet to create a genetically-modified yeast that makes the rose oil used in perfumes. Why go through all the trouble of recreating rose oil with yeast? The goal…
Giant iPads! Engine destroying lasers! Cars controlled by your smartwatch! It isn’t science fiction, it’s reality! This is the news you may have missed in the last 24 hours (or so). The 12.9-inch giant iPad. The rumor of legend. Just became a little more real with reports from the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg saying…
No one, not even these fighter pilots, can’t resist a chocolate bar when the munchies strike. This video shows how the pilot in the front passes a Snickers bar to his colleague just by opening his hand and letting it float to the back of the cockpit dragged by the acceleration forces. So cool. SPLOID…
When the Skylab orbital workshop was damaged on launch, it lost its sunshield and started overheating. This is a story of Alyene Baker saving the station, and a story of never underestimating the importance of being able to improvise with a sewing machine. Top image: Sewing a replacement sunshield for the damaged Skylab. Left to…
In serious emergencies, blood loss can be a rapid and unstoppable cause of death. Now, a team of researchers has developed an injectable enzyme that can stop wounds from bleeding. Could this be bye bye, Band-Aid? The team from the University of Washington has created a synthetic polymer that they call PolySTAT. A man-made substance…
Although I’ve studiedthe basics of graphic design, every time I see a cool poster, or a beautiful record cover, my mind goes through the same process. Something like “Wow, that’s cool. How the hell did they make this.” Professional graphic designer James Whiteexplains in this interesting video how he does it. Take a look. SPLOID…
When the microwave was first introduced it seemed like it would be the perfect all-in-one kitchen appliance that made cooking as easy as setting a timer. But rubbery meats, scalding hot beverages, and soggy pizza slices proved otherwise. The Cinder Sensing Cooker, however, could very well be the perfect kitchen appliance for aspiring chefs who…
Cockroaches have often been selected for remote control cyborg treatment, but they’re typically given instructions by electrically stimulating their antennae. This little, critter, though has the electrics on his back hardwired into his nervous system, allowing for human remote control of his motor functions. The cockroach in the picture carries a battery-powered microcontroller—much like the…
Hillary Clinton has now spoken out after it’s become apparent that she’d used a personal email server during her stint as secretary of state between 2009 and 2013. Despite what her actions may suggest, she wants you to be able to read her email. Those in positions of state officialdom are supposed to use official…
Jack Tew and Sorcha Anglim came up with such an awesomely creative way to tell a love story and one that makes so much sense: From the sole perspective of the bedroom. The short, Me & You, is filmed completely from the ceiling of the room, giving you a bird’s eye view of the entire…
Game of Thrones is a beautiful show to watch because the world is so interesting and the characters are so twisted and the story is so screwed up and the sets are so picturesque and the special effects are so well done. But strip all of that away and use crude animations to replace all…
Britney could never really sing and she could only really dance in choreographed stunt pieces and eventually became a crazy person and then a mom but when she was a superstar, she was one of the brightest to ever burn. It’s almost fitting to watch a musicless version of her music video because it’s just…
