Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
When you look up at this cute little owl all wrapped up with his bulging eyes, it makes your heart melt. But weighing owls in blanket burritos is actually a common practice by researchers and vets. The photos above come from the Raptor Center Clinic at the University of Minnesota. The veterinary clinic was treating…
This short film takes its inspiration from the 1969 film Tops directed by famed designers Ray and Charles Eames, and is literally nothing more than footage of spinning tops of all shapes, sizes, and colors. But don’t be fooled, it’s more captivating as anything Hollywood has produced in the past decade. The featured tops are…
There’s no doubt about it, being able to see more than just the visible spectrum is the closest thing most of us will ever have to superpowers. Seeing the world through its heat signature is almost like having x-ray vision, and let’s not forget, even the Predator made sure to bring his thermal camera with…
Ever wondered where those electrons come from when you plug something into your wall? Well, the Wall Street Journal has a lovely map which shows the main sources of electricity in each of the U.S. states. In fact, it shows how it’s changed since 2001 too—not that you’d notice much difference at a glance. Look…
Most of our devices run (not for long enough) on lithium ion batteries. But there could be a new, old kid on the block—in the shape of a solid-state battery that can hold twice the charge as li-on. There’s nothing new about the solid-state battery: it simply swaps the liquid electrolyte in conventional lithium-ion batteries…
Even while it is all science-fiction, there are science mechanisms that can explain some superheroes. Stanford University biologist Sebastian Alvarado talks about the genetic transformations that made the Incredible Hulk and Captain America acquire their trademark superpowers. The Incredible Hulk Captain America All this said, the fact that there are mechanisms that explain these superheroes…
If there’s one thing better than a wonderful goal in soccer, it’s reliving it over, and over, and over, and over. Preferably in slow-mo. Ideally as a looped GIF. And almost certainly sourced from social media. But sadly, the UK’s Premier League is stamping out all such behavior. Speaking to BBC’s Newsbeat, the Premier League’s…
Boy do you have to be quick when signing up for new services these days. Dilly-dally a little and you’ll find that your favorite username has already been snapped up. Now, a new startup called Earlyclaim can automatically reserve your favorite username for you. “This is an effort to help people create a consistent online…
The latest version of Google’s Voice Search allows you to choose up to five languages as your default instead of just one—which means you can search in different languages without having to change a single option anywhere. Neat.
Microsoft announced its plans for a new standalone media player on Xbox One earlier this week—and it turns out that it will be perfect for watching torrents. https://gizmodo.com/the-xbox-one-could-soon-stream-tv-straight-to-your-phon-1620037840 The new player will support playback of both files from USB and local networks via DLNA. But more usefully, it will support a wide array of codecs—including…
This short film created by former Pixar animator Adam Wood is so good that Adam McKay and Will Ferrell will be producing a movie based on it. It tells the story of a clumsy janitor at a museum who accidentally finds himself inside the sophisticated, out-of-control armor of a famous supervillain. They are aiming for…
It’s Friday morning, and maybe you’re questioning your life a little: is it worth this long hard slog each week? But there are bigger questions to ask yourself, like, do you even exist in the first place? This lovely video by James Zucker is really just a super-accessible take on René Descartes’s Meditations on First…
Microsoft Research has created aSnapchat clone called Windup, which is available for Windows Phone 8 and 8.1. It lets you share pictures, videos and audio snippets, as well as text—and choose how long your friends get to see them for.
Pop-up ads have got be in the top five list of the digital world’s most hated things, not including Internet Explorer. Now, the man who invented them back in the mid-90s, wants to apologize. Ethan Zuckerman, the head of the Center for Civic Media at the MIT, says that he didn’t know what he was…
Looks like YouTube’s been completely redesigned for TV sets. The visual refresh looks not unlike YouTube’s iOS and Android apps, complete with a pretty, scrollable sidebar and a special focus on playlists. If you’re on the XBOX One, you should be updated already. If you have another set-top box, you should get the update shortly.…
Sure, the gyroscope in your smartphone is great for whizzing past the competition in Need For Speed. But did you know that it can also be used to eavesdrop on your conversations? Researchers from Stanford University and Israel’s defense research group, Rafael, have developed a way to turn a smartphone’s gyroscopes into crude microphones. They…
You might soon be able to pay for that Uber ride or that AirBnB reservation using bitcoin. The Wall Street Journal reports that eBay has been working to integrate bitcoin into its Braintree payments subsidiary. Who uses Braintree for backend payment processing? GitHub, Hailo, Fab.com, LivingSocial, OpenTable, Hotel Tonight, and many many others. This doesn’t…
Though CGI may be overused in some movies and poorly executed in more, some visual masterpieces have relied on the fantastic tool to create beautiful worlds that push the possibilities of our imagination. Here’s Watch Mojo’s list of the 10 most visually striking movies that are filled with CGI. Gravity Avatar The Lord of the…
Aside from going through security and lugging around your carry on and rushing to the gate and avoiding human swarms, airplanes are magical places. Okay, maybe not. But there’s beauty in how they operate. Just watch this ballet of airplanes at Shanghai’s airport. It’s like seeing man made shooting stars. Or a light dance with…
The charm of a perfect looping image cannot be denied. Old timey illustrations are delightful nostalgia inducers. Pair ’em together and hot damn: That is a recipe for sure-fire internet love. Drawing from seemingly endless stores of digitized archives, the Smithsonian Libraries have been posting original gifs on their Tumblr, and—spoiler alert—they’re wonderful. From The…
