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NASA. Audi. ABC. Lufthansa. The MTA. Beginning in the 1960s, some of the world’s best-known corporate entities were immortalized thanks to the work a group of graphic designers who were responsible for introducing to the notion of “branding.” And now, there’s an anthology that collects them all in one place. It’s not that branding didn’t…
In the past few decades, food allergies have been increasingly and mysteriously on the rise. A possible explanation lies with our gut bacteria, which have been reshaped by our soap- and antibiotics-laden lifestyles. A new study in mice adds intriguing evidence: one particular type of bacteria prevents sensitivity to peanuts. https://gizmodo.com/the-case-against-antibacterial-soap-1579577962 Several years ago, Catherine…
Compared to searching for text, searching for images is super hard. But a new way to index and navigate through averaged images—those blurry composites that pull together millions of images into one—could radically change the way that we search for photos or products online. Although image averaging is well-known for its artistic applications—like Jason Salavon’s…
Well, here’s timely NSA revelation for you: The Intercept reports that the spy agency built a “Google-like” search engine for its seemingly bottomless cache of data on persons of interest. This tool allows the spy agency to share over 850 billion records with nearly two dozen U.S. government organizations, including the FBI and the DEA.…
It’s been almost exactly six months since the Sochi Olympics wrapped up and the world promptly moved on to speculating about the Rio 2016. Since then, the area has been left holding the proverbial bag—which as Russian photographer Alexander Belenkiy shows us, is full of too many buildings and not enough people to occupy them.…
It’s hard for many of us living here in the early 21st century to imagine a world without satellites. Well, in fairness, we don’t really think about satellites at all. Much like electricity or tap water, we only remember how vital they are when they stop working. Our GPS devices, smartphones, and modern military infrastructure…
Even if you’re not “a gamer,” you’ve heard of Twitch. It’s a live-streaming juggernaut, the fourth-highest source of peak-time internet traffic in the United States, the place that did that Pokemon thing. It only makes sense that Google wanted to buy them, and that Amazon just did. In fact, the surprising thing is that more…
The rumors are true, Amazon is in fact buying Twitch for $970 million, despite rumors that Google almost pulled the trigger just weeks ago. While the price didn’t crest Google’s rumored billion, it’s certainly up there, but still a steal for the household name of live-streaming. Amazon and Twitch’s statements on the acquisition are unsurprisingly…
Before the Emmy winners are announced tonight and they grasp their shiny trophy on stage in front of millions, each one of those statuettes began as a pool of pure virgin metal, liquified at 700 degrees. That’s hot. The team at Chicago-area R.S. Owens has been manufacturing the awards for 38 years, and this short…
Ikea is synonymous with the suburbs; part of the furniture shopping ritual has always included an often-lengthy drive to a industrial or semi-rural area of your town. But this summer, the company is testing out a new paradigm for its empire: Stores in the city. With far fewer spots for cars. This week, Bloomberg sent…
In villages all over Hungary you’ll find cube houses—more or less identical in shape but painted in fantastical colors by their residents. While these houses may look utterly delightful and whimsical to our eyes, they’re less welcomed in their own communities. In her book Hungarian Cubes, photographer Katharina Roters tells the story of standardized housing…
Astronomy has come a long way in the 405 years since Galileo’s historic first survey of the night sky over Florence in 1609. The next generation of terrestrial telescopes are set to peer deeper into the cosmos and further back in time than ever before. We sat down with Dr. Patrick McCarthy, Director of the…
Google launched iOS app Slidestoday, along with updates to its Docs and Sheets apps. Slides lets you collaborate on presentations from your mobile devices, including PowerPoint files. The whole push is geared to make sure people who create stuff using Google products don’t get frustrated when they can’t pull them up on different devices. If…
You’ve spent months seeing your News Feed littered with headlines promising you that you won’t believe what happens next, but now Facebook is finally taking steps to cut down on spammy, obnoxious clickbait. While headlines like the one above—which generally pique your curiosity without actually giving you any real information whatsoever—tend to get a lot…
According to The Information (paywall), Amazon is in “late-stage talks” with Twitch over a possible acquisition. This is particularly shocking since it’s been previously reported that a YouTube and Twitch team-up for $1 billion was pretty much a done deal. But now it seems Amazon is making a play to steal Google’s live stream dreams.…
You know what makes every vacation cruise better? Gimmicks! Lots and lots of expensive, high-tech gimmicks. And the newest ship from Royal Caribbean, the Quantum of the Sea, apparently has all of them. All of the gimmicks, right there on a single ship. Ignoring the fact that Royal Caribbean clearly has no idea what “quantum”…
Released in tandem with the Moto X last year, the Motorola Skip was a handy, if slightly silly little NFC fob that you could use to unlock your phone. According to documents posted by Droid Life, the new version will be Bluetooth enabled, making it way more useful. According to the supposed user manual for…
You can outfit an entire kitchen for $100 today with this 15 piece cooking set. These pots and pans have a unique heat spot indicator to let you know when they’re fully preheated, and they command a 4.5 star review average. I’m not the biggest fan of non-stick, but even if these only last a…
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On August 25, 1989, Voyager 2 sailed past Triton, capturing our first real look at Neptune’s moon. With half the moon lost in shadow, we only got a glimpse of the icy moon. Now that footage has been restored and enhanced for your viewing pleasure. The most detailed map of Neptune’s moon Triton. Full resolution…
