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The S-97 Raider—Sikorsky new attack helicopter—is out and it is not only gorgeous. It’s absolutely badass. It is based in the same technology as their X2 technology demonstrator, which broke the world helicopter speed record in 2010: 260 knots—that’s 299.2mph (481.5km/h) vs the 172mph of conventional helicopters. According to Sikorsky’s Mike Miller, it “is an…
It’s been months since Google first gave us a glimpse of Android L and the Material Design manifesto. But now, the slick-looking operating system is finally getting close to primetime. At least that’s how this new video from SamMobile of a Samsung Galaxy S5 running Android L makes it seem. This is hardly the first…
As the landmark signifying an entirely new way to travel throughout the state, California’s first high-speed rail station needs to look firmly towards the future. Thanks to a material called ETFE that turns its roof into a giant plastic balloon, this Anaheim station showcases groundbreaking design and engineering as part of its progressive transit mission.…
James R A Davenport grabbed all the book covers of the top 10 best selling books from 2000 to 2012, according to USA Today. Then he put all of them together (1,300 books) in one giant graphic. What he discovered is quite interesting: There is a TON of fascinating structure within this visualization. Early on,…
Starting the first Sunday in October, Toys”R”Us will be giving away an exclusive and limited set with each $75 Lego purchase. Each successive week, another model in the series will be released. October 5 – October 11: Theater October 12 – October 18: Pizza Place October 19 – October 25: Fire Station October 26 –…
To us olds, it might not immediately be apparent why Snapchat is good for anything other than sending people NSFW photos and videos. But to the kids, it’s the only way to communicate. Casey Neistat explains in his latest video. The filmmaker has a wonderful knack for turning everything into a fun video, and this…
Next generation sleeping bags are attempting to boost comfort while shedding weight by ditching the traditional mummy design for something more akin to your bed at home. What’s The Matter With Mummies? Well, nothing really. They’re an effective, efficient solution for packing you into as much insulation as possible with minimal weight and volume. But,…
The first president to install electric lighting at the White House was Benjamin Harrison in 1891, but he never touched the light switches himself, for fear of being electrocuted. This was a reasonable fear, given how crude household electric wiring could be at the time. Some sources contend that he and his wife would sometimes…
Amazon currently has all of the 2013 Lego Castle sets on sale. These are phasing out of the product line very soon. Now is a really good time to pick them up. Forest Ambush (70400) $7.99 (was $11.99) Gold Getaway (70401) $13.59 (was $19.99) Gatehouse Raid (70402) $22.25 (was $29.99) Dragon Mountain (70403) $45.37 (was…
NPR’s Planet Money has a feature on household inequality in the United States shown in graphics. The graphic above on household income over the last 40 years is particularly striking: After adjusting to inflation, you can see that the lowest incomes have barely moved. In fact, they went down. By contrast, the top layers of…
After years and years of deliberation, the first phase of the Second Avenue subway is finally getting built. The effort is a lot more complex than you’d even imagine. The New York Times takes us behind the scenes in its third installment of the Living City series—showing us the unintended byproduct of heavy infrastructural construction:…
A few months ago, the world found out that Facebook made its users into test subjects, showing some folks artificially happy (or artificially sad) News Feeds to see if it affected the emotions in the user’s own posts. The internet was not happy about that. Now, Facebook says it’s updated its research guidelines in response.…
A few weeks ago, fabled streaming music service Deezer finally made its way to America exclusively on Sonos systems, and exclusively in the form of its new, CD-quality Deezer Elite. Today, Bose gets in on the action too. Bose SoundTouch music systems now come with a Deezer Premium account baked in, so that you don’t…
Ikea has made buying furniture as easy as picking up milk at the corner store, but as convenient as the company’s flat-pack approach to selling desks and shelving is, the assembly part can still be a pain. Its new living room line, though, uses specially-designed wedge dowels, allowing the pieces to be assembled using only…
Michael Kelleyis a Los Angeles-based architectural photographer and aviation lover who often catches himself “at 2am looking up articles on aviation” (I know that feeling.)So when the opportunity came to recreate the famous Pan Am way-of-fly using a vintage 747, he jumped right in.His new photos are perfect. From its founding in the 1920s to…
At one time, Epecuén was a booming resort city: a grand town on a beautiful lake, attracting vacationers from all over Argentina in the 1920s with its revitalizing salt waters. There were hotels, nightclubs, and restaurants. Today, it’s a thicket of bleached white ruins, latticed with rusted steel and fallen power lines. Like so many…
Apple’s throwing us a bone, folks. Despite the seemingly never-ending hiccups of iOS 8, the company has apparently decided to respond to overwhelming demand and reintroduce the much-missed Camera Roll feature in iOS 8.1. It’s a little unclear exactly what this means, however. Mention of the Camera Roll magically and quietly appeared in the iOS…
Eneloops are really the only rechargeable batteries you should consider buying, and the massive Super Power Pack is both in stock (not a given), and on sale today. That gets you a charger, 12 AAs, 4 AAAs, 2 C spacers, and 2 D spacers. [Eneloop Super Power Pack, $47] Get these deals and more, and…
Taking out the trash is never fun. Vacuuming the living room is rarely enjoyable. But few chores are as despised as having to clean the hair from the drain cover in your shower. Thankfully, a clever designer named Chen Wanting agrees, and has come up with a brilliantly simple solution allowing long hair to be…
When Reddit user IHunt gets bored at work, he takes discarded Starbucks coffee cups and doodles over the company’s Mermaid logo and turns her into lovely stylised versions of comic book characters and more. My favourite might just be IHunt’s take on the new Batgirl design seen above, but his Wolverine and Teenage Mutant Ninja…
